made of Medang timber. This man was fortunate enough to kill a Dragon, of which according to him there was only very limited supply even then. He skinned it, and nailed the skin as a sort of sheathing round his boat, which had the effect of vastly increasing its speed so that a trip to Pekan and back, which in these effete times takes about a month, used to be accomplished in 24 hours. This lasted for some time, but one night, lying at anchor, the boat sank, and could never afterwards be found. It also seems that shortly after this, a close season was proclaimed for Dragons, and no more skins could be obtained, which was unfortunate, to say the least of it.
About half an hour's poling above Kuala Medang, the dismemberment of the Jelai begins, the Anak Jelai as it is called going off to the left, taking a S. W. course. A little farther up, the main stream divides again, the Seran going to the right or N. E., and the Telom going straight on or about due North. The Telom is much the larger stream of the three, and under ordinary conditions should still retain the name of Jelai. According to my ancient Malay friend, however, when the prehistoric geographers were naming these rivers, some little discussion arose among them as to which of the three should retain the name of Jelai, and to settle the matter they decided to weigh a given quantity of water from each, and the water from the left hand branch proving the heaviest, it retained the name. The Seran, from where it branches off to the right, keeps a pretty general N. E bearing for a day and a half's poling, when Kuala Besi is reached. Then it divides again, the Seran keeping about its old course, while Sungei Besi bears slightly west of, north, and its bead waters get round very close to the head waters of the Telom. The Seran forms the highway to Kelantan and hundreds of Kelantan coolies pass up and down to work at the Silensing mines, there being a short day's tramp after leaving navigable water to get over the Dinding Range.
So far, I can only learn of three Europeans who have been over that route, and none who prior to my trip had been up Sungei Besi.
From the junction of the Telom and Seran up to Kuala
