164 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 



game he preys upon has gathered and where the 

 village cattle are regularly watered. 



It is quite useless to devote much time in hunt- 

 ing the hill or game killing tiger that preys upon 

 game alone ; they are so scattered over a large tract 

 of jungle and so active and wary that it is only by 

 accident that they are ever brought to bay. 



The average size of a full-grown tiger is from 

 eight and a half to nine feet from nose to tip of 

 tail and weight from two hundred and seventy-five 

 to three hundred and twenty-five pounds. 



One day an old friend, Tungku S'leman, a petty 

 rajah from Kelantan, then under the Siamese Pro- 

 tectorate but now under the British, called on me 

 and invited me to go back with him to his district 

 to trap or kill tigers, and he assured me I would 

 be able to get some fine tiger cubs. I was in fact 

 very anxious to secure a few good specimens of 

 young tigers, but as his district was far inland, near 

 the boundary line of a small state called "Rawang," 

 I did not think it worth my while to go, for it would 

 involve a lot of time, and knowing the Malays and 

 their ways so well, it might mean that I would have 

 to beat about the country on a wild goose chase. A 

 Malay will always exaggerate, no matter on what 

 subject, and, as stated elsewhere in my articles, they 

 finally believe what they are telling. They will 

 never do today what can be put off until tomorrow 

 "Nou-tee Bess-so" (wait tomorrow) is one of the 

 principal words in their vocabulary. 



