St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-03-22

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the rivers and their tributaries, which
furnish the people mean Of travel and
also supply them with water. Each vii.
lsge 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 . fearless nan or q
thoughtless m wades out . few
steps into the stream-going half waist
deep, perhaps-chatting and laughing
with others who nearer shore are
filling their pals more cautiously.
He fills his bamboo, shoulders it and
turns to wade ashore, when all at once a
pair Of tremendous jaws close upon his
leg like . living trap.
There is no escape. He shrieks 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 eve be forgotten,
the poor wretch is dragged under, and is
seen no more. Once in deep water the
hideous reptile seizes his prey by the
body, and the miserable victim is
crushed to death and drowned 1T the
same time.
Dyak parents are very fond Of their
their defense. was told Of a Dyak father
who, on seeing his little boy seized by q
crocodile at the waters edge and dragged
into the stream. drew his sword, plunged
in after him, and dived several times to
the bottom of the river before he gave
up all hope of saving him.
On another occasion q crocodile seized
a man by tho chest in the presence Of
his children, and swan with his prey
along tho 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 At them, he neither moved
nor spoke. being completely paralyzcd
by the grip.
In the Sambas river a man was ono
seized by . crocodile, and dragged out OF
. large boat from among nearly twenty
companions. In the Lingga river thir-
teen people were once eaten in one
month, and on various other streams
many people have lost their lives.
A traveller in North Borneo visited the
site Of a village which had been aban-
doned on account of the crocodiles, and
he declares that 1.-The reputation of the
place was 80 bad that when bathing
there in the boat I had . man with a
~full-cocked gun on board"
The Government Of Sarawak Territory
has for some years past waged an ex-
terminating wal against the ~man-eating
crocodiles Of that country. BY paying q
reward Of thirty-five cents per linear
foot for every crocodile caught and
killed, the most dangerous mes have
been exterminated, and the total num-
Der greatly reduced. In the year 1873
two hundred and sixty-six c~rocodiles
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 ''hOok and
line" The sine is a long rattan, with
. dry ocoanu at the end to serve as .
float, and the hook" is . stick Of tough,
green wood, ten inches long and pointed
at both ends, to the middle Of which the
line is tied. The ''hook" is baitcd with
. dead fowl or. monkey. or any other
small animal, which is fastened to it in
such . N 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
the hook at once turns cr0sswise in the
crocodile's stomach.
The monster is then hauled up, bound
securely, dragged ashore and killed
without mercy. Often IN cutting the
stomach open are found beads, human
hair, bangles and pieces Of clothing.
Whenever . human being Is carried of
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.
once fished on the Malay plan for .
large man-eating crocodile and, to he
great joy of the Chinese who lived near
his haunts, I was fortunate enough to
catch him. He was the most repulsive
looking crocodile that ] had ever seen,
and I 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 l preserved his skeleton only.
and threw his skin away.-William I.
Hornaday, in Youths Companion.
The Poorest People IN Earth.
In both India and Egypt it is women
who collect the fuel for the family.
They do this by going along the road