26 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 



no longer do business with him he had cheated 

 them once too often and he saw in me a means 

 of resuming trade. We had no written agreement 

 and no understanding as to my commission, but I 

 was content to start work on that basis because it 

 meant experience. 



It was customary for the members of the crew 

 of a boat to buy animals, splitting the risk between 

 them, and sell them when they reached European 

 or American ports. Soon after I had reached the 

 agreement with Mahommed Ariff, a German boat 

 came into port and I went out to interview the cap- 

 tain. I found that he had had previous dealings with 

 the Malay and that he had sworn never to buy an- 

 other animal from him. Finally, he agreed to make 

 some purchases, but he took care to draw up a 

 paper in which he said that he was buying on my 

 representation. 



I reported the deal to Mahommed Ariff, but when 

 I went the next morning to deliver the animals, I 

 found that he had sent them to the boat during the 

 night and had collected the money for them. He 

 refused to give me my commission because, he said, 

 the captain was an old customer of his. The boat 

 was about to sail and there was no time to get the 

 captain ashore and settle the dispute. However, I 

 had the written statement signed by him, that the 

 animals had been bought from me, and I surprised 

 Mahommed Ariff by suing him. He was a surprised 

 Malay when I produced the paper in court, and he 



