126 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 



show such familiarity with this new sport assist- 

 ing me, I stationed the natives on the banks with 

 their boats and then I went up-stream with the 

 dynamite. There was breathless silence as they 

 saw me strike a match and touch it to the fuse. 

 When the explosion came, they gave a shout and 

 darted out in their boats to gather in the fish. After 

 the excitement had subsided, and all the fish had 

 been compared for size and weight, I dropped an- 

 other stick. The men enjoyed the sport immensely, 

 and we made a hilarious afternoon of it. The most 

 sober person in the village was my coolie boy, who, 

 as he went quietly about his business of arranging 

 my living quarters, muttered, "Semua gila (All 

 crazy)." 



AH, who had become a good shot, showed the 

 villagers my express rifle, and demonstrated what 

 an explosive bullet could do to the trunks of trees. 

 The men were fascinated by that power of destruc- 

 tion, and they passed their fingers reverently 

 over the barrel and listened to AH's stories while 

 he cleaned it. AH had traveled all over the Far 

 East with me and he gave marvelous interpreta- 

 tions of what he had seen. He could hold an au- 

 dience of natives spellbound for hours and, inci- 

 dentally, he was an excellent publicity man for me. 

 In his whole-hearted, childish, Malay fashion, he 

 accepted me as the greatest man in the world and 

 he was never contented unless others did so too. 

 He was in great measure responsible for the success 



