The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1904-06-30
low mud-banks ahead as carefully as

low mud-banks ahead as carefully as
you can.
"Tuan, tuan, to the right, to the right,
comes a whisper from behind you. The
head of the koleh swings round a little.
and there, on a bank of sandy mud.
lies an indistinguishable something. 1t
may be crocodile or it may be a piec
of driftwood; at any rate you are creep
ing nearer and nearer every minute.
and you cover it with the rife. Sud
denly the erstwhile log seems to break
about two feet from the end nearest
you, and patch of dull, Whitley yellow
becomes visible 1t is the under side of
the throat, and instinctively you pick i
up with your foresight and fire. Di-
rectly you have fired, paddle as quick
ly as possible. for, hit or miss. he will
have made off into the river Examine
the bank carefully. and If you are lucky
there will be few dark blood stains on
the sand, and in nine cases out of ten
that is all that you will ever see of your
kill
On one occasion well known sports
man in the Straits killed instantaneous
ly big brute some twenty feet long,
using service rifle and Mark w am
munition. The dum-dum penetrated
the horny cartilage just below the eye,
and mush-rooning at once, drilled the
crocodile from end to end. This, how
ever, was at an unusually close range.
say ten to fifteen yards, and the impact
must have been terrific. In the PENN
sula, as elsewhere, the precise signifi-
canoe of the terms crocodile and alli-
gator as applied to the indigenous sau-
Rams of the country, Is matter of fire.
quent and sometimes bitter dispute.
Not being a skilled naturalist, I can
only add as my quota to the discussion
the remark, based on personal observa-
ton, that both the long-pointed snout
of the true crocodile (Cpalustris) and
the broad, squat head of the gavial
seem to be equally common in the riv-
ers of the west coast.
The Malays, despite their conversion
to the tenets of Islam, still retain
firm belief in the pirits of forest, sea
and river. and on many jungle stream
where the water swirls black and deep
round some out-jutting rock, you may
frequently see attached TO tree close
at hand, tiny pieces of white cloth and
baskets of plated rattans filed with
fruit and rice. Ask your boatman what
they mean, and he will reply that they
are "anchak,'' a Dyak word signifying
offering. Drop the subject until you
have camped for the night, and then,
in all probability discreet questioning
will elicit the fact that the spirit of
the stream dwells beneath the aforesaid
rock, enshrined in the mortal body of
some giant crocodile.
Naturally 1t follows that to assist in
depriving spirit of Its earthly resi-
dence is reckoned to be an ill-advised
proceeding and among the natives any
accident that may occur when out
crocodile shooting is put down to SUI
pernatural intervention. Only year
ago four men were out after crocodiles
up one of the small rivers near Singa-
pore, and, on returning shoreward one
of the men was unlucky enough to
pick up q. loaded rifle by the muzzle. 1t
exploded, causing very serious wounds;
but to this day the Malays of the dis
trict firmly believe that the spirit of
the river had thus shown displeasure
at their intrusion.
Nevertheless. given ordinary luck
and a fairly steady koleh, there should
be no danger and the man who does
not experience thrill of delight when.
after half an hours silent watthing,
every sense on the alert. he sees and
fires at the huge loathsome brute. who.
mortally wounded, churns the water
into a furry Of mud and spume, is no
descendant of Ninrod. and to him the
Joys of the hunter are as a sealed ]
book, which he, alas, will never COM
pletely open.-H. n. Hipwell in the
London Field.