Exploring expedition from Selama, Perak, over the mountains to Pong, Patani, in November
Arthur T. Dew, then Magistrate and Collector of Selama, Perak, published this official journal of a mountain exploring expedition conducted in November 1883 under the direction of Resident Sir Hugh Low, K.C.M.G. The expedition’s purpose was to determine whether a practicable route existed from Selama to Pong in Patani, with a view to constructing a road through the disputed territory should Anglo-Siamese negotiations restore it to Perak. The account, supplemented by a brief 1874 journey narrative by W.E.M., provides a rare first-hand description of the uncharted highland corridor between the Krian and Rui river systems.
Summary
Dew assembled a party of approximately thirty Patani Malays under Penghulu Mahomed Dahari, several semi-civilised Semangs, and two Klings, and set out from Selama on 13 November 1883. The critical navigational problem was the absence of any known European route across the Gunong Inas–Titi Wangsa range; the sole guide with prior knowledge of the destination was a Semang named Bunga, who recalled passing through from Pong thirteen years earlier and could offer only a vague description of the route (p. 105). The party followed the Krian River upstream to its source, crossed the ridge between Gunong Inas and Titi Wangsa, and descended via the Sungei Krong into the Sungei Rui, which they followed to Pong. The crossing was arduous: the Krian was forded fourteen times in a single day, the ridge at one point narrowed to six feet with a hundred-foot precipice on either side, and the party lost their way repeatedly in dense rain, at one point walking a full circle before recovering the track (pp. 106–111).
Upon reaching Pong on 23 November, Dew found a diminished Siamese settlement of six houses where twenty had formerly stood, the population having been conscripted by the Raja of Patani for forced labour. The nearby Klian Pong tin mine, once worked by five hundred Chinese, was abandoned, while Klian Intan still employed about a hundred Macao and Hylam miners (pp. 112–113). The return journey, taken via Klian Intan, Baling, Kupang, Bakar, Sedin, and Mahang, traversed Patani territory and exposed the party to the lawlessness of the region—Dew noted that Kupang’s inhabitants had looted and burned all Chinese shops, and that the whole area had been repeatedly raided by gang-robbers (pp. 115–117). The expedition concluded at Hulu Selama on 28 November, fifteen days after departure.
The supplementary account by W.E.M. describes an earlier 1874 journey from Province Wellesley to Selama, documenting the route over the “thirty-three hills” and noting that the paths were entirely unexplored by Europeans at that time, with the only other parties encountered being Chinese woodcutters and Sumatran Malay tin-miners (pp. 120–123).
Key Findings
- The expedition covered the full round trip in fifteen days of continuous marching (13–28 November 1883), with the outbound jungle crossing taking ten days and the return via established tracks taking five (pp. 105, 120).
- The Krian River was forded fourteen times on 17 November alone; at its upper reaches it was a mere six-foot-wide cascade of big rocks, while at lower crossings it ran to armpit depth over boulders (pp. 106–107).
- Pong at the time of the visit consisted of only six Siamese houses (reduced from twenty); rice sold at twelve cents per gantang and fowls at three to nine cents each (p. 112).
- Klian Pong, formerly employing five hundred Chinese miners, was completely abandoned; Klian Intan retained approximately one hundred Chinese (Macaos and Hylams) under a single towkay, and Klian Kalik housed thirty to forty Hokkien Chinese (pp. 112–113).
- Tin carriers on the Klian Intan–Baling route were paid fifty cents per half pikul; the Baling River was navigable by native boats to Kwala Muda in three days (pp. 114–116).
- The ridge crossing between Gunong Inas and Titi Wangsa included a narrow point only six feet broad with a hundred-foot precipice on each side, and the party reached an elevation of approximately 1,500 feet on a spur of Titi Wangsa (pp. 107–108).
Conclusion
Dew’s journal demonstrates that a route from Selama to Pong was physically feasible but extremely demanding in the wet season, requiring skilled local guides and tolerating significant navigational uncertainty. The condition of the settlements and mines encountered—abandoned or diminished—suggested that the disputed territory held limited immediate economic value, though the tin at Klian Intan and the potential for a cart-road between it and Baling indicated some commercial prospect should the area come under Perak administration.
Context
- Dew was the appointed Magistrate and Collector of Selama at the time of the expedition; the journal was written as an official report to the Perak Residency, commissioned directly by Sir Hugh Low in the context of Anglo-Siamese boundary negotiations over the Patani–Perak frontier.
- The supplementary 1874 account by W.E.M. (likely W.E.M. being a senior colonial officer in Province Wellesley) provides a comparative baseline showing how little the routes had changed in the intervening nine years, and confirms that Selama was still in its infancy as a mining settlement at that earlier date.