Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-10-10
land OF BIG SNAKES.
-,,l studer, OF Singapore, Tells a
Good Sized story.


conssi Adolph G.. studer, who is home on
- m P reporter, and it has grown
9.,rderfllly during recent years. 1t will
=. @ct. soon rival Calcutta, which is the
'--,ssr mort on the Asiatic coast. 1t has
.a5 streers, well graded and well drained.
The public buildings are large and hand
ma bnllt OF durable stone, and there
"a many fine private residences. From
=. ,osirion OH an island at the most south
=, noint Of Asia, it is the stopping place
~ all vessels going to and from the East,
and lis traffic is consequently enormous.
o-or 900 steamers call at the port every
.- Thsisland on which Singapore is
!!Srarad was, comparatively short time
.go mass OF jungle. Now there are
"a 610 inhabitants in the city. 1t is a
,o.nopolitan place, and YOU can find on
~ streets representatives from every
,srntrv i'm Europe and Asia, the Esqul-
Cra.,y Of 5 barla possibly excepted. The
prabmin Of India iOstles with the ubiqui-
an. ni-tail from China, the swarthy Arab
'r,5 -1e fair CirCassian. and the TREVOR
,t,rner, Of Persia with the betel-chewinQ
T.j8v. | remember few days after i
o.,yad at Singapore, in 1871. in which
ysar vas appointed by President Grant,
vas invited out to dinner. | got the
ta.,1 clerk 10 ask my pRlanquin driver
# he knew where my friends house was,
md 1e said he knew 80 we started. AT
tsr goiur some distance the driver sud
oauy stopped in the middle of lane of
bamboo canes rising as high as house.
twas pitch dark, and the driver began
;abberinQ al NE, |, OF course, could not
understand a word he said, nor could l
reDlv intelIigibly to him, so at last he put
The reins in my hands and went off. He
returned about fifteen minutes shaking
his head ana again began asking me some
thing. 1t was then about $3.50 O'Clock,
and was due at dinner at :; so at last,
finding couldn't make him understand,
] motioned MIN to drive me back to town.
Al another time | was taken TO the house
o,t1e wrong man. To pat myself on an
equal footing with the natives, buckled
down, and, by studying night and day,
soon learned enough Of the MALAY
tongue to make myself understood. Al
Ter t1St had no difficulty, and now can
speak the language as freely as l can
EAIhsh."
Are the tigers and other wild animals
as destructive and dangerous as they used
70 bel"
perhaps not quite as much, but it is
almost al everyday occurrence for some
one Of the natives TO be carried OFF by one
o. the ferOciOus beasts. Numbers are
killed whose deaths are never reported to
The police. Sometimes bodies are found
living out in the jungle with the neck bro
ken and half eaten. The tiger grows to
aD immense size there. A full-grown
tigers paw will leave a mark in soft soil
which could scarcely be covered by a large
saucer. In killing man or beast the
tiger always approaches from behind,
md, springing on the back of the victim,
breaks the latter's neck with a stroke Of
ts powerful paw. Then the tiger sucks
be iugular vein and sometimes the calf
II the leg of the victim. According to the
ltate Of his tigership's appetite, he then
AJ1er eats the choice and feshy parts of
be dead carcass or leaves it until he is
hungry, when he returns and finishes it,
Lney have terrible teeth and can crush a
orse's or bullock's bone with as much
ase as dog could a chickens. The tigers
ire so bold when hungry that they Will
AIRY on a woman or a child from
house in broad daylight, carrying them
WITH as much ease as a cat does a
nouse.7
Are there no measures taken to exter
innate themY'
There is a reward of $25 for every tiger |
llled. 1t used to be $50, but they became |
70 plentiful that the price for their death |
lad to be reduced. One of the most IA |
nous tiger hunters Singapore ever boosted !
vas man named Carroll, an overseer of |
sugar plantation. He was a South Car |
!nian, and always used an old Kentucky |
me. lie was a dead shot, and sometimes |
dlled TWO man-eaters a day. When a
aTcass was found in the woods he would |
% out to 1t, and either dig hole in the
round IN which to conceal himself, or
.imO a tree, from which he could Get a
oCu shot at the tiger when he came to
,Lsn the remains Of his victim. From
MS colgne OF vantage be use to fetch them
very time. He was never once burf
y Vne beasts, and at last died OF Jungle
ever1 J"-sAo
what other wild animals are to be
oaad IN your neighbOrhOodT'
'Un, there's a long list of them. The
ulsle SIMPLY warns with life. OF the
g4lhts taere are the spotted leopards,
leei2hs, pumas and the black leopards,
ls 'dtter OF which are only to be found
'l.n US linen there are rhinOceri ele-
'e'lIs' tapirs, deer and antelope Of all
mus ana great, fierce buffalo. One
llu d deer Is most beautiful. It is a
Iacelul httle thing, standing only n foot
.sl ana shaped just ike large deer. 1t
caHeo the 'Pluntok' pronounced
ts4o :, Then there are the largest GRO
ooIes 10 De found IN the world. When
.9ing up the river often shot these mon
is, put we could never get them be-
'use 'hey Immediately sank. They do
=. .a'!ul havoc among the natives, attack
T.. 'leh In their little boats, which they
P'e. ana then catch the occupants as
1.! lall IN the water.''
are there any snakesp
leS' indeed. We have the python and |
+ , '..l xmas or boa constructors and lots
,, ,l'S ser varieties. II all the stories /
soSo uearu or the size t. which the py-
len grows are true, then there are some
n tV4ously Dig ones on our island. One
n "e stories relates that one night a
,'| dlu ms wife We're going up the river
NJ, -" g2at They were lying becGlmed and
4 n 'onlan was stretched out in the bow
4. sac y'dt with her arm hanging over
sr s.Ie' suddenly something touched
ana u. ana she called out to her hus-
ssNi VINO Immediately went to her. Just
b...Ne saw the head Of large python
n. We. tue gunwale OF the boat, and pull
n 'te MS kris, a sharp dagger, which
yle Malays carry when going
-s',.si me jungle, he plunged It into the
M , ,.It mead. pinnlng 1t to the boat.
rs.r eapon went crashing through the
,es e. ana the next morning the reptile
Il ttsouhu lylng dead on the bank. while
NEE .e smaller trees around il we're
et''leo and broken by the snake in its
.',.i struggles. IL was measured and
IN. y. - ne y fathoms, or - feet long. | {
!, t9 ~ many persons who went to
bal 1 -,. ueAu python that this was the ac-