82 THE ALLIGATOR DOCTOR. 



biporcatus) and some kinds of serpents, testify the 

 suitableness of the climate for them. The alligator is 

 in some of the rivers of the west coast plentiful and 

 voracious. It is said, that on the Sambas river it is 

 dangerous in the highest degree to sleep in boats : 

 they do not swarm in the river Sarawak as in that 

 just mentioned, though they are numerous, and occa- 

 sionally destructive. Many superstitions are observed 

 by these half Mahometans respecting them, for it is 

 supposed that they cannot be caught without the 

 assistance of a person who charms them, called the 

 ' dukun buaya,' or the alligator doctor. 



In November, 1845, two persons having been 

 taken by the alligators, the dukun was sent for 

 to Sadong, a town and river to the eastward : the 

 traps were set by him, which merely consisted of a 

 cage made of bamboo and placed on posts above the 

 water. In this was confined a Pariah dog, that by his 

 barking and howling he might attract the alligators 

 to the true bait which was hung beneath : it was a 

 dead monkey, through the body of which had been 

 passed a stout stick with a fine small rattan made 

 fast to the centre. During the night the bait was 

 taken away, and the doctor, accompanied by a great 

 many men, went to search for the rattan, which, being 

 small, passes between the crevices of the teeth so that 

 the animal cannot bite it, and it remains attached to 

 the stick, which by this time the alligator, in his at- 

 tempts to evacuate, has got athvvartwise in his throat. 

 The top of the rattan floating soon discovers the 



