The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-06-08

where, drawn Dy Cnlnamen, DuI tney are
not much patronized by the European
community, who usually prefer hiring a
ghary.
The island of Singapore consists of a
number of small hills 100 to 300 feet
high, the SUBMITS of which are still
covered with dense jungle. These hills,
as we'll as the valleys below, are the
abodes of tigers, and frequently one Of
these animals invades the very suburbs
of Singapore.
In character the Malay and tiger are
not unlike. They are both cunning,
treacherous and fearless, and, when
reused to anger, bloodthirsty and fero-
cious. They also both hold human life
in the most reckless contempt. Any
how, be that as it may, there is no hunt
er in the world that can excel the Malay
at tracking and snaring tigers. Their
iavorite way of catching them alive is
by digging pits. These are usually
placed at the junction of several paths,
and they are 30 well concealed with
leaves and sticks that often in wandering
through the Jungle huve nearly fallen
into them. If the pit is sufficiently deep
the tiger, when once trapped in this
manner, seldom escapes. II LIE is to be
taken alive ropes are passed round his
legs and other parts Of his body to rem
der him helpless, and then sort oi
bamboo cage is put over him. Every
thing must be made secure and the tiger
rendered perfectly helpless before he is
lifted out OF the pit, and it is an ex-
trcmely difficult feat to accomplish, but
the Malays are adopts at it. They gen.
orally starve the tiger for two or three
days before commencing operations, thus
reducing his strength.
The Malay ls not demopstrative, and
never openly expresses his feelings. BE
exhibits reserve, dlffidence and even
bashfulness, which is in some degree at.
tractive and leads the observer to think
that the ferocious and bloodthirsty char.
acter imputed to the race must be exsg.
gerated. He is very slow and deliberate
in his speech, and especially backward in
introducing the subject he has come to
discuss. Though he does seem to hold
the European in contempt, as well as
other races, yet he is always profusely y
polite when he meets one. "Tabeh
Tuan," is then his favorite expression,
which translated into plain English means
chow are you, sir2'' If, though, he
meet European who in his opinion has
done a mean action and is not worthy of
that salute he will pass him with sulky
indifference manifested on every feature
of his countenance. He is lazy and not
fond of work. His favorite pastime Is
fishing, and as long as he can catch suf-
fcient fish he will never hire himself out
for manual labor.
In the interior of the peninsula q wild
and savage race of people called the
Sakis are found. They are believed to
have been the original cong uerors of the
country, and between them and the Ma
lays deadly rivalry exists. They live
entirely by themselves in nomadic
state. They are occasionally met With in
some parts of the interior, but it is the
wisest plan not to speak to them, as they
are very distrustful of strangers. Their
favorite weapon is the "blowpipe,"
small instrument through which they
blow a poisoned arrow with deadly pre-
cision long distance. In fact these ar