372 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[August i, 1904. 



MALAY HOUSE IN JOHORE. 



and hide themselves so well that one may almost step on them 

 in going through the jungle. Once they are discovered, how- 

 ever, they charge for the intruder, uttering a tremendous roar. 

 If they are not wounded and the charge is avoided, they slip 

 off into the jungle and are almost instantly lost to sight. There 

 is a record of a large tigress with two cubs that terrorized 

 twenty miles of well traveled road, killing on an average a coo- 

 lie a day for months. She was finally killed by a spring gun, 

 but the cubs escaped, but did not turn out to be man eaters. 

 The tiger is fond also of killing the water buffalo. To do this 

 they hunt in pairs, one cutting the creature out of the herd, 

 while the other lies in wait, and at the right moment springs 

 on its victim, seizing it by the neck, and, leaping high in the 

 air, throws the whole weight of its body in such a way that the 

 neck is instantly broken. Referring again to the man eaters, 

 they kill their prey by a stroke on the neck, and in feeding eat 

 only the coolie's legs. 



The most vicious beast in Malaysia, and one that both Euro- 

 peans and natives dread, is a bison, something like that of In- 

 dia, only larger. It is a huge animal, six feet high at the with- 

 ers, short legged, and heavy bodied. It lives in the forests, 

 feeds on fruits, and usually attacks man on sight. They are 

 very hard to kill and are the dread of the foresters. It is easily 

 the largest ox in the world, and by far the most dangerous. 



There are of course many snakes, and of them the cobra seems 

 to be best known. The Singapore cobra is a much more vicious 

 appearing reptile than is its cousin of Ceylon, and with different 

 habits. It is known as the black cobra and rarely bites, choos- 

 ing rather to eject the poison at the eyes of its enemy, and at 

 eight or ten feet distance it is a pretty fair shot. If the eye is 

 not at once treated by some sort of alkali, or if the venom gets 

 in an open wound, the results are quite serious. While I was 

 at the botanic gardens, Mr. Ridley was treating the eyes of his 

 fox terrier, who had just killed a cobra, and in the fight got his 

 eyes full of poison. 



Returning from the botanic gardens, I called upon Messrs. 

 Huttnach Brothers, to whom I had letters of introduction. 

 They are large traders, sending shiploads of rattan from Sing- 

 apore, and bringing great cargoes of coal from Japan. They are 



also agents for tin mines in Johore.and incidentally handle 

 much Gutta-percha. They were of the opinion that the Mar- 

 coni system was already affecting thegutta market, as there was 

 much in stock in Singapore, and according to their advices a 

 great deal unsold in England. Through their courtesy I was 

 taken to the Chinese merchant quarters and shown the reboil- 

 ing process that prepares the gutta for the markets of Europe 

 and America. We first visited the offices and storehouses of 

 the Teck Wah Liong Co., where we met the senior member of 

 the firm, a very polite, intelligent Celestial, who spoke good 

 English. Our interview took place in a fine ante room fur- 

 nished in Chinese fashion, with many sturdy ebony chairs set 

 close to the walls, while huge lanterns hung from the ceiling. 

 In the rear rooms were many brick tanks about 20X20 feet and 

 5 feet high, covered with cement, in which the gutta was stored 

 underwater. The floor was tiled and piled high with blocks 

 and rolls of gutta, which, to keep off oxidization, was frequent- 

 ly wet down by turning a stream of water on it by means of a 

 hose. Although they were equipped with reboiling tanks, none 

 were then in use, so we were taken to a nearby warehouse 

 where the work was in progress. 



The Gutta-percha as the reboilers receive it comes in large 

 crumbly cakes. These cakes are put in a tank and boiled in hot 

 water, after which the mass is run through a large mangle 

 turned by two coolies and fed by a third. It is next dumped 

 into a tank of cold water, allowed to cool, and then stacked up 

 to dry out. After drying it is cut into shreds by coolies who 

 use great cleavers for the purpose, and it is again boiled and 

 sheeted and cooled as before. This same process is gone through 

 with a third time, but when the sheets come from the mangle 

 this time the gutta is folded into neat rectangular blocks and is 

 ready for market. This boiling, sheeting, and cooling, tough- 

 ens thegutta appreciably and also allows of certain admixtures 

 that are supposed to be suited to some grades. For example, 

 in some of the lower grades a modicum of Pontianak is often 

 introduced. All the gutta that I saw was said to have come 

 from Borneo in small lots, though my informants told me that 

 they received shipments occasionally from the Philippines. 



I had heard so much of Johore and its young and athletic 

 sultan that I had a desire to see it at close range. I was.there- 



NEW MOHAMMEDAN MOSQUE, JOHORE.— VIEW FROM SEASIDE. 



