Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-07

II HAD been in Borneo on and of for
years, and during the course Of this
time had discovered lot about the
native inhabitants attitude toward the
jungle, It did not take me very long
to learn that the natives do not think of the
jungle simply as a dense growth of mangrove
bushes. cOcoanut trees and entangled elephant
grass; they think Of it as a great spirit as a
huge personif1ed force able to rule them and
conquer them. Likewise they think Of the
animals not as Just animals, but consider them
as beings possessing souls, definite thoughts and
personalities.
In BQrneo this feeling of the natives is par
dculariy strong toward the tiger This mighty
beast Of the jungle sometimes almost dominates
the entire lives Of the inhabitants. They see
the sinister power of an al-consuming blood
thirsty nature the personification Of the cruelty
OF the mighty jungle itself, which surrounds
their stockaded villages and to their ignorant
minds stretches with the same density Of
green foliage and large trees to the very end
Of the world. . 49,.
have visited villages where the natives have
been afraid to mention the very name of tiger
because of their superstitious fear that the devil
spirit which rides on the tigers back might
mysteriously hear them and in anger jump of
and dgvour them. The tiger is feared in these
regions as a cunning devil and cruel man.
killer. The inhabitants have feared the beast
SO long that the tiger has taken advantage of
the fear and become the master.
ORDINARILY the tiger is not . man-kiIler.
The normal tiger has an instructive fear
of man. He is game killer He loves deer,
Wild pig possum or any other animal that is
gDoa TO eat and not cunning enough to get
away. But civilization has developed and
men have invaded the jungles, built their vii
lages, and in order to get meat for themselves
TANNED out the game the tiger has found it
Increasingly dificult to get his normal food
Consequently he has had to look for another
kind of food, and man has provided this In
oster TO tin their rice fields men have brought
eattie, oxen and tame buffalo to the jungle
villages. It is thus that the tiger has become
O cattle killer. In most places throughout
Polynesia the natives submit almost ta1nely to
this killing of their cattle by the tiger.
Again there are the tigers who have become
crippled either by age or injury 50 that they
are too slow to catch game easily or even to
kill cattle. and in hunger and desperation they
attack man Then, discovering how easy 1t Is
to kill a human, they become regular man
killers. But there Is also another kind of tiger
active, cunning and strong-who kills men for
gAa sake of killing. Tigers Of this type are the
dangerous man-killeFs.
shall never forget the first time I ventured
cut on an expedition to trap one of these man.
kllefA I had my own staff Of native trappers
and also huge bodyguard of other natives
t0T the entire population of each village we
passed through joined as we travelled. Nat
Watly, as long as this lasted. I was not very
successful in my trapping. The crowd Of ma
ttveS always defeated me, for just as the ma
t2es have fear Of tigers, the tiger has fear
a. hlmans and though q hungry old tiger
n43ht like one Of them for his dinner he is
cgnFing enough to keep hidden when there are
- merry about. -.
,R Yss Ro{ mill sssSpsped tie Villagers troflss
coming with us and carried ,oR with, III ~