336 



Occiisioiially Malays would catcli liiiTs hv iiiylit, and weiv 

 I'cwardcd for doii)<; so; hut no cainpaian against fliers of this 

 natui'c was or^^'anist'd. ^lahiys hotii cat the hoppers thcnischos 

 and used thcni I'oi' rccdin^u- fowls. 



W'c \V( IT not willini;- to use ])oisoii : foi' the uuinhci' of hiilTahu'S 

 and cattk' in the Territory is (^Teat, the Malays keeping- InilTaloes 

 lor plouiihiiig etc., they and others keeping hulloeks For draught, 

 and i-uhher estates owning bullocks extensively. The bulTaloes 

 gi'aze witli little super\ision; herds of cattle are turned into the 

 lallang wastes dailv: and hy a circulai- we ascertained when con- 

 sidering the question that fifty-one out of fifty-six large I'uhher 

 estates at the time used bullocks for cultivation etc. A\'e hoped bv 

 destroying, say, To per cent of a swarm of ho])i)ers to bring the 

 destruction of the whole within the compass of their natural 

 enemies, most of which are destroyed along with the locusts when 

 poison is used. 



\\v illustrate this report hy nuips. whereon every l)i'ee(ling 

 place deteeteil is marked l^y a dot oi' a ring. It is necessary to 

 assunu' that the ivader knows enough of the geogi'aphy of the 

 Territory of Malacca to do without names on the maps. For some 

 I'eason the hi-eeding places fall \i'ry lai-gely within two circles, 

 wliich foi' con\enience we take as a circle of eight miles radius from 

 Aloi- (iajah and a similar circle from Jasiii. These villages may 

 not he the very centres of circles, 1(5 miles across, which would con- 

 tain the most breeding places: hut it is con\enient to make them 

 so serve as what we say later will show. 



There was a ))lentiful production of hoppers in othci' parts of 

 the Territory. 



Whethei' the greater al)imdance of hoppt'rs within the Alor 

 (iajah and Jasin neighbourhoods can l)e due to their gr.n'n rice 

 valleys keeping the fliers from mo\ing away, until their breeding 

 time came, or whether another cause must he sought we are un- 

 able to state. We do not think that the hi-eeding ])laces were so 

 much better I'eported near these centres than elsewhere as to cause 

 a false appearance of local prevalence. On the other hajid this local 

 prevalence Avhen realised determined in some measure where the 

 subordinates who had cliarge of the bag traps should live. 



The following table gives mukim by mukim (parish by parish) 

 the amount of work done against the locusts, the unit being one 

 day's work with a trap and gang of coolies. The thirty and mora 

 mukims which are not named in the talde are those where no 

 breeding occurred. 



