Evening star., 1924-03-23

THE author Of this article, the first
- of an exceptionally gripping Sc
ries dealing with the capture and
training of wild animals, is already
widely known to newspaper and mag
azine readers for his previous ac-
counts of experiences in eighteen
years as a big-game trapper Oh the
Malay penincula, in Sumatra and
Borneo. Mr.. Mayer is also known, 1t
might be said, wherever a canvas
top" is pitched in any part of the
world-for the circus, whether in
Australia, the orient or America, was
his early home.
The present series has been the
result of demands from readers of
the previous articles, not the least
potent of which was the following,
from a courteous, appreciative Chi
neSe: "Mr. Mayer, it better you think
up more your former life in Malay
wild" While it has not been in any
sense a case of thinking up" the
events now to be recounted, since
they fairly thronged his memory with
their own insistence to be told, MT.
Mayer has been happy to accede to
the general request for more"
One of the best friends of Mr..
Mayer in Malaga was the Sultan of
Trengganu, who aided him in many
ways. At the start of the adventure
here recorded, Mr.. Mayer called upon
the sultan at his capital, kaula Treng-
ganu, and received from the amiable
sovereign proffer OF good wishes
and men for the expedition.
By CHARLES MAYER.
FTER a five day, journey up
~ the Trengganu river on the
- Malay peninsula. We reached
the last settlement in the
northwest, beyond which no native
was known to have ventured because
OF a weird superstition centered about
g mountain OF evil repute. I had long
wanted to tap this region, because I
had heard it was alive with animals.
1t was haunted. Any one crossing it
would be killed by tiger, or, worse
still, turned into a tiger.
Deciding to fight superstition with
superstition, L told the whole village
that l was pawang, an exorcist
assured them that never since the day
an evil spirit, and 1 promised them
protection. I asked that they go only
as far as the foot of the mountain
and agreed to persuade some of the
Sakai, the jungle people who lived in
its vicinity, to act as guides for US.
At last l succeeded in gathering a
sufficient number of men to so.
Our first adventure was a stumble
into the midst of tragedy. We came
upon a kampong or settlement where
we found the headman in d great
state of excitement. All about him
were women and children, wailing.
Keep still. Keep still" To me he
cried, Plenty of trouble, tuan, Oh,
what trouble
His answer to my question, had I
been less familiar with the region,
would have amazed me. There had
been terrible fight over the owner
ship of a wild durian tree which grew
in the jungle. \ native will make any
sacrifice to get the extraordinary
fruit of this tree. Four men and one
woman had been killed in the brawl,
and two men and a woman severely
wounded.
about the size of a pineapple. 1t has
green husk armed with tough, half
inch spikes. The fruit itself is di
vided into five or six sections not un-
like those of an orange. In each of
these is n seed about the size of
marble. One eats the fruit section by
section. sucking it from the seed.
Unfortunately, no one in this part of
the world is likely ever to taste it.
1t ripens far too quickly for export.
A CARLOAD of durians can be smelled
long before it comes into sight. To
western nostrilS this odor is pecul-
iarly disgusting. I was so repelled
by it that / had been in the Malay
peninsula for eight years before l
ate d single fruit. The first time /
tried it I did SO gingerly, holding my
nose. A group of natives gathered
round me, eager to have me like this
supreme delicacy. The first taste left
me in doubt, the second convinced me
that it might be good and the third
that it was good. And writing of it
now fills me with longing to eat
durian this minute.
In the height of tho season both
SHlIldiS anu men are dHIHldteu py d
desire for the durian that amounts
almost to a lust. Where it is, there is
the place for the hunters traps. No
species apparently can resist this
fruit. The elephant rolls it about
with his foot until the sharp points
are dulled, opens it by stepping upon
il lightly and eats first the pulp and
then the husll. The rhinoceros, the
tapir, the wild pig, the buffalo and
the deer all stamp upon it until it
opens. But the bear, the tiger, the
leopard and the smaller cats tear it
open with their sharp claws.
x X X x
WE left the village where the durian
had brought death and went on
our way. There were with me the
headman, ten of his men, three of my
boatmen and my Chinese boy" We
were breaking our way through vtr-
gin jungle. Each man carried thirty
pounds of rice and dried fish.
m /Z>I