176 TALES OF A NOMAD. 



ing into the river as soon as we neared them. The 

 Borneo waters abound with these horrid saurians, which 

 grow to a very large size, sometimes attaining nearly 

 thirty feet in length. Many people are killed by them. 

 When hungry they will even take a man out of a boat. 

 This, however, is easily done, for the steersman of a 

 prahu sits perched upon the stern in the very way to 

 tempt a crocodile. 



The Government give rewards for their destruction, 

 and many crocodile skulls are brought in, but somehow 

 or other their numbers do not seem to decrease much. 

 The best way to catch them is to sharpen both ends of 

 a stick about a foot long, and fasten a line round the 

 middle. A crocodile will bite an ordinary rope in half, 

 so the portion of line nearest the bait is made of several 

 small strands. These get between his teeth, and he is in 

 consequence unable to sever them. The piece of wood, 

 which performs the office of a hook, is baited with meat 

 and is thrown into the river. A bladder or float is 

 attached to the other end of the line. 



The crocodile feeds more by night than by day. He 

 swallows the meat and swims off. Next morning the 

 natives examine the pool or river and soon discover the 

 float upon the surface of the water. They attach a long 

 line to the float and begin to haul. As soon as the 

 line is drawn taut the sharpened stick turns crosswise, 

 and thus the crocodile is fast hooked. He is then 

 dragged out of the water and despatched by spear 

 thrusts and cuts from the kriss or parang. 



There is a popular fallacy that the crocodile can only 

 live in fresh water. I have seen them make excursions 

 a considerable distance into the sea, and people are often 

 killed by them in salt water. 



