II 



JUNGLE STRATAGEMS 



"^HE entire population of Palembang came to 

 marvel at the size of the python, and, before I 

 realized it, I had acquired a wonderful and wide- 

 spread reputation as a collector. I was soon be- 

 sieged by requests to go out and capture all kinds 

 of enormous animals most of them imaginary, of 

 course, for a Malay can imagine anything. Once 

 he starts with "Sahya fikir (I think)," you may 

 expect to hear many wonderful tales if you have 

 time to stop and listen to him. 



To Malays nothing seems impossible, and it is 

 difficult to hold them down to actual facts. They 

 will hedge about with "I think" and "barang-kali 

 (perhaps)" until you give up in disgust; and then 

 they will offer to bring their brothers or other rela- 

 tives, who will repeat the performance. Sometimes 

 I used to spend hours in wondering how their minds 

 worked, and I came to the conclusion that they talk 

 merely with a desire to please. They want to tell 

 anything you want to hear, regardless of whether 

 it is true or not. It is exasperating and occasionally 

 funny. For instance, several years after I left 

 Sumatra, I was traveling through the jungle, look- 

 ing for elephants. At one village I talked with the 



