VIII
THE STORY OF MAT ARIS
I smote him as I would a worm
With heart as steeled, with nerve as
firm
He never woke again
WHITTIER
IT was in the year 1876 that 2 man named Mat
Aris, of no occupation and less repute, per-
suaded one Sâhit to take his wife Salâmah and
start on a journey through the jungle to a distant
country. The interest of Mat Aris in this couple
was a desire to get rid of Sâhit and possess himself
of the woman Salamah, for whom he had conceived
an overmastering passion.
The travellers began their journey at a spot many miles up the Perak River; their road lay along a jungle track, and so sparsely inhabited was the country they were to pass through, that they could net even find a habitation in which to pass the
night. They had to look forward to many days’
53
