The San Francisco call., 1904-07-03
MEN anazMAa1EERS In
THE F9Ee9HZ lie WORLD
MONEIf

nalI a dozen men pdOule DOWN SIredHI
until they sight the raft. Then, taking
the line ashore, they haul away, and
as by this time the hook is firmly
entangled in the crocodile's intestines,
he shows but little fight, and is easily
dispatched.
Both in Kedah and in Province We'll
lesly it is possible TO get a shot from
shore. and even in Penang Harbor an
occasional crocodile has been seen on
the muddy beach in front Of the club
These stray specimens must have
crossed from the mainland at least a
mile away, a fact which conclusively
disproves the theory regarding the
crocodile's helplessness in sea water
which has been seen several times. both
ashore and afioat, close to the fishing
village at Tanjong Tokang, a small
promontory not three miles from Pen
ang town. He is regarded as kramat-
i. e.. holy, or the abode of a spirit
by the Malay and Chinese fishers
thereabouts, who aver that he has
never yet been known to touch a
human being; and they certainly
testify to the reality Of their belief
by boldly working their prawn nets on
the muddy shadows a hundred yards
or more from shore.
On one occasion l was lucky enough
to get a glimpse of him as he scuttled
seaward, and the brief scrutiny thus
afforded did not evoke a desire for
closer acquaintance. His scales were
of a dull brown hue, differing entirely
4c do
olive green; the body seemed unusually
broad, and the tail stumpy and thick.
Needless to say, there was no gun
handy, or 1 wouldn't have had the luck
to see him.
Crocodile shooting is usually pooh
pohed on the ground that it affords
but Indifferent sport, and to a certain
extent this is true. But, nevertheless
it has charm of its own and if proper
care be exercised the sportsman will
usually be able to get a fair chance
for a shot during his days outing. and
if the bullet does strike home he has
the satisfaction of knowing that one of
the cruel brutes has gone to his ac-
count, and probably serves as a funeral
feast to his fellow reptiles at the same
4
from shore the best plan is to take a
canoe, or koleh. as the Malays term
them, together with a couple of men
TO paddle. AS to guns, of course, every
man has his choice, but 1t is difficult
to beat a IA Winchester for all round
work. Time your departure so as to
arrive at the river mouth shortly be-
fore dead low water, and then, as you
near the spot, load your rife, get as
far for'ard as you can and wait. The
Malays are up to their work, and pad
die the koleh swiftly through the water
with short, noiseless strokes, while you
search the low mudbanks 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 little, and there, on a bank
of sandy mud. lies an indistinguishable
something. 1t may be a crocodile or
it may be a piece Of driftwood; at any
rate you are creeping nearer and
nearer every minute and you cover it
with the rife. Suddenly the erstwhile
log seems to break about two feet from
the end nearest you, and a patch Of
dull. Whitley yellow becomes visible. 1t
is the under side of the throat, and
instinctively you pick it up with your
foresight and fire. Directly you have
fired, paddle assquickly 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 a well-known sports
man in the straits killed instantane-
ously a big brute some twenty feet
long, using a service rife and Mark "
ammunition. The dum-dum penetrated
the horny cartilage just below the eye,
and mushrooming 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 i'm
pact must have been terrific. In the
peninsula, as elsewhere, the precise
significance of the terms crocodile and
alligator, as applied to the indigenous
saurians of the country, is a matter of
frequent and sometimes bitter dispute.
Not being a skilled naturalist, / 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 &C. palustris) and
the broad, squat head Of the gavlal
seem to be equally common in the
rivers Of the west coast.
Z II