HERE'S another tale of the unexplained. Late last year, visitors have noticed an odd 'growth' shaped like a bear's head on the trunk of a tree at the back of the uncompleted ruins of Kellie's Castle near Batu Gajah in Perak.

This has prompted a new wave of interest in the place, attracting hordes of visitors curious to see for themselves the tree with a 'bear face'.

For years, Kellie's Castle has exuded a mysterious air that evokes an eerie feeling - as if some spirits from another world roam the place.

There are many tales of the place, including visitors who claim to have seen a six-year-old white girl in what's called Helen's Room.

After listening to so many 'haunted tales', one can't help feeling as if 'someone' is always hovering about as one moves from room to room on the upper floor.

The corridors are where most claimed to 'see' William Kellie-Smith, the Scottish planter who built the castle way back in the 1900s. The castle has a record of sorts.

On sunny days, sunlight streams through a series of arches on the two floors, casting ghostly shadows on the verandah running the length of the building.

Though it's mainly a skeleton building, the grand mansion has a tower, wine cellar, stately columns, Moorish-style arches and walls embellished with Greco-Roman designs. The walls are said to have been built using a mixture of duck egg white, chalk and lime.

There's also a rooftop courtyard, Kellie-Smith's master bedroom, daughter Helen's room, son Anthony's room, estate workers clinic, emergency stairways and a ventilation hole.

Kellie-Smith came to Malaya at the age of 20, and was involved in the early construction of public roads in South Perak. With his share of the profits from the construction venture, he bought 388 hectares of jungle land in the Kinta District and planted rubber trees.

In 1905, Kellie-Smith built his first mansion, named Kellas House, as testimony to his prospering rubber estate venture. In 1915, he employed 70 workers from Madras to construct a castle, but tragedy struck when a breakout of Spanish flu killed most of the workers.

Kellie-Smith was told that a temple must be built to appease the gods. He then built a Hindu temple near his still-uncompleted castle.

There is however another version of the story. It was said that he vowed to build the temple if his wife, Agnes Smith, bore him children. When she did, the temple was erected.

Work on the castle resumed after the temple was completed but tragedy struck again and the castle was never completed. On a visit to Lisbon, at the age of 56, Kellie-Smith died of pneumonia and his wife sold the estate in Kinta and then left the country.

Over the years, the sturdy castle has waged battle with the undergrowth. Although creepers sprout from its interior and gnarled tree roots fill the compound, much of the interior is undamaged.

Only animals like spiders and insects have made the structure their 'home'. Perhaps it is true after all that old man Kellie-Smith is still somewhere out there, keeping watch on his uncompleted castle.