NOTES ON PERAI 361 



under the wooded bank or far out in the muddy current. 

 Sometimes one will flash into the air for a second and then 

 drop back with a small splash. But usually they swim near 

 the surface, rippling here and there in a never ending search 

 for food, or darting after some unwary denizen that uncon- 

 sciously crosses their path, leaving ever widening circles be- 

 hind them in their flight. Often the only sign is the scurry 

 of a few tiny fresh-water flying fish scattering in many direc- 

 tions, flipping over the water as they go, all fleeing from 

 those dreadful blood-thirsty jaws. 



Hours sometimes pass without a movement in the water 

 and then suddenly there is a splash, and you know that the 

 perai are at work. If you toss a small lizard into the pool 

 or a wounded bird drops into it, even though the water be as 

 quiet and as innocent-looking as the sky above, you may be 

 sure that one or more of the hungry pirates are lurking in its 

 dark depths, ready to pounce upon whatever comes ; and you 

 may be sure that the poor victim will never reach the bank 

 toward which it so vainly struggles. Suddenly the wild flut- 

 ters stop, only to recommence with increased frenzy. There 

 is a disturbance about with ripples running to the shore; 

 the swimming creature strives vainly against some agency 

 that pulls it down; then it disappears and the waters are 

 quiet once more; only a few bubbles float upon the surface. 

 Below, in the coffee-colored darkness, that which was but a 

 few moments ago a living full-blooded reptile or bird, now 

 fills the black maws of the demons of the pool. 



Many gruesome tales come to us from the natives who 

 live along the banks of the infested waterways. Some stor- 

 ies are true and many, doubtless, are the products of their 

 inventive imaginations. But the fact remains that these fish, 

 together with the sting-rays and the electric eels, make wad- 

 ing in these waters extremely dangerous and unpleasant. 

 Yet in the vicinity of Kalacoon, the perai never made an at- 

 tack upon man, and one could bathe with impunity. A few 

 miles up river this would have been suicide. There is scarce- 





