AND THE MALAY STATES 73 



liquid that the white man is always yearning to make and which will 

 turn anything into gold. The type of coolie in Malaysia is, however, 

 far superior to that in Ceylon. They are better formed, stronger, and 

 far more self respecting. Nor do they call the white man "master" ; 

 to them he is "tuan" (sir). 



There are many tigers in the Malay peninsula and some in the 

 island of Singapore. In the bit of jungle where we secured the latex 

 of the Gutta-jelutong there often lurked a tigress who swam over 

 from the main land and had her nest there. As a rule they are trouble- 

 some only as they steal the Chinamen's pigs, and while there is now 

 and then one who gets to be a man eater, it is not European meat that; 

 they seek, but the flesh of the coolies. They are very clever and hide 

 themselves so well that one may almost step On them in going through 

 the jungle. Once they are discovered* however, they charge for the 

 intruder, uttering a tremendous roar. If they are not wounded and 

 the charge is avoided, they slip off into the jungle and are almost instantly 

 lost to sight. There is a record of a large tigress with two cubs that 

 terrorized twenty miles of well traveled road, killing on an average a 

 coolie a day for months. She was finally killed by a spring gun, but 

 the cubs escaped. They did not turn out to be man eaters. The tigers 

 are fond also of killing the water buffalo. To do this they hunt in 

 pairs, one cutting the creature out of the herd, while the other lies in 

 wait, and at the right moment springs on his victim, seizes it by the 

 neck, and, leaping high in the air, throws the whole weight of his body 

 in such a way that the neck is instantly broken. Referring again to the 

 man eaters, they kill their prey by a stroke on the neck, and in feeding 

 eat only the coolie's legs. 



The most vicious beast in Malaysia, and one that both Europeans 

 and natives dread, is a bison, something like that of India, only larger. 

 It is a huge animal, six feet high at the withers, short legged, and heavy 

 bodied. It lives in the forests, feeds on fruits, and usually attacks man 

 on sight. They are very hard to kill and are the dread of the foresters. 

 It is easily the largest ox in the world, and by far the most dangerous. 



There are, of course, many snakes, and of them the cobra seems 

 to be the best known. The Singapore cobra is a much more vicious 

 appearing reptile than is its cousin of Ceylon, and with different habits. 

 It is known as the black cobra and rarely bites, choosing rather to 

 eject the poison at the eyes of its enemy, and at eight or ten feet distance 

 it is a pretty fair shot. If the eye is not at once treated by some sort 

 of alkali, or if the venom gets in an open wound, the results are quite 



