Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1890-04-03

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river near its mouth would be hazard
GUS and foolhardy proceeding. In fact,
the cfocodiles of this region obtain the
most OF their food by scizing wild hogs
and other animals that are in the habit
OF swimming across the rivers.
Although ! have killed many man.
eating crocodile in Malay Peninsula and
Borneo. I am thankful to say that /
down by one, and all of my information
on that point is derived at second hand
from those who have seen such terrible
sights. In Borneo the villages of the
Malays are nearly always found along
the rivers and their tributaries, which
furnish the people means of travel and
also supply them with water. Each vii
lage has its landing-place, where the
canoes are tied, and here the people
battle and fill their bamboo pals with
| water.
1t is at these anding- places that the
tragedies nearly always occur In order
TO get the best water a fearless man or a
| thoughtless woman wades out a few
steps into the stream-going half waist
deep, perhaps-chatting and laughing
| with others who nearer shore are
nlllng their pals more cautiously.
lie fills his bamboo, shoulders it and
turns to wade ashore, when all at once a
pair OF tremendous jaws close upon his
leg like a living trap
| There is no escape. He shricks and
struggles wildly for an instant only: the
| powerful monster quickly backs into
deep water, dragging his human prey
with him, and with look of terror
which once seen can never be forgotten
the poor wretch is dragged under, and is
seen no more. Once in deep water the
hldeous reptile seizes his prey by the
body, and the miserable victim is
crushed to death and drowned at the
same time.
| Dyak parents are very fond of their
| children, and are brave to the death in
their defense. l was told of Dyak father
who, on seeing his little boy seized bv
| crocodile at the waters edge and dragged
into the stream. drew his sword plunged
in after him, and dived several times tc
the bottom of the river before he gave
| up all hope of saving hin.
On another occasion a crocodile seized
a man by the chest in the presence OF
his children, and swan with his prey
along the surface for some distance,
The terrified children ran along the
bank, crying to their father to gouge out
the crocodile's eyes, but although
he looked al them, he neither moved
nor spoke. being completely paralyze,l
| by the grip.
In the Sambas river man was once
seized by crocodile, and dragged out OF
large boat from among nearly twenty
companions. fn the Lingga river thir-
teen people were once eaten in one
month, and on various ether streams
many people have lost their lives.
A traveller in North Borneo visited the
site of village which had been aban-
doned on account of the crocodiles, and
he declares that 1.-THE reputation of the
place was so bad that when bathing
there in the boat l had man with i,
| full-cocked gun on board"
The Government Of Sarawak Territory
mas tor some years past waged an ex.
terminating war against the man-eating
crocodiles of that country. BY paving A
reward OF thirty-tive cents per linear
foot for every crocodile caught and
killed the most dangerous ones have
been exterminated, and the total num-
Der greatly reduced, In the year 1878
two hundred and sixty-six crocodilcs
were caught and the Government paid
out seven hundred and thirty eight dol.
lars in rewards to their captors.
The Malays and Sea Dyaks catch the
blood-thirsty beasts with sshook and
line The Zine is long rattan, with
dry cocoanut al the end to serve as
float, and the hook is a stick of tourh.
green wood. ten inches long and pointed
at both ends. to the middle OF which the
line is tied. The hook is baited with
dead fowl or monkey, or any other
small animal, which is fastened to it in
such manner that the hook and bait
will be swallowed together without dis
arrangement. When the combination
has been swallowed, the fisherman pulls
on the line, a bit of string breaks, and
tho hook at once turns crosswise in the
crocodile stomach.
The monster is then hauled up, bound
securely, dragged ashore and killed
without mercy. Often on cutting tho
stomach open are found beads, human
hair, bangles and pieces of clothing.
Whenever human being is carried off
by crocodile, the friends and relatives
of the deceased person diligently fish
for the monster until they catch him,
when he is generally ripped open alive
in revenge.
u
large man-eating crocodile and, to the
great joy of the Chinese who lived near
his haunts, l was fortunate enough to
catch him. He was the most repulsive
looking crocodile that had ever seen,
and have seen many hundred of these
monsters. He was precisely twelve feet
in length, and was very old, rough-look-
ing and ugly. His back was covered
with Shiny growth of fungus of some
sort, and he was altogether so hideously
ugly that preserved his skeleton only,
and threw his skin away.-William r.
Hornaday, in Youths Companion.
In Glasgow, Scotland, there is q
cooking school that has $50 pupils, who
are the wives and daughters of working
men, and they are trained in the art of
cooking so tn they can prepare pleas
ing and nourishing meal for six persons