216 JIN ABU FINDS 



Indian land ; and again I saw a tiny and perfectly 

 formed miniature of a deer, standing not over 

 twelve to fourteen inches high at the shoulder ; the 

 smallest of all the known deer species. Twice I saw 

 and once killed what they call a fish tiger, which is 

 of a grayish brown with black stripes, rather good- 

 looking, and about the size of a small leopard ; once 

 too I shot but did not get a villainous-looking croc- 

 odile ; and on the day following I shot and did get a 

 thirteen-foot python which unblinkingly, and stu- 

 pidly, it seemed, stared at me from a low limb on 

 which its head and about three feet of body rested. 

 I also at the same time got the shivers with thought 

 of the cold, ugly-looking, baneful thing's caress, 

 had I missed the shot— for in that wilderness of 

 undergrowth, running away was all but impossible. 

 But for the most part I did not leave the boats- 

 could not in fact— and the only human beings we 

 saw were an occasional glimpse of a native in a 

 dug-out, swiftly, silently stealing out from the lane 

 he had hewn into the palms to reach a fish trap or 

 perhaps some bit of high ground back from the 

 river, where he gathered rattan to sell to the Chi- 

 nese traders. Usually at every junction of rivers 

 we found a little settlement of three or four houses, 

 either floating at the water's edge or set full six feet 

 high above the ground on stakes driven deep into 

 the mud bank. 



