JUNGLE STRATAGEMS 41 
of making myself known to the agent, because I 
foresaw future commissions. He, like many others, 
was tired of doing business with Mahommed Ariff, 
who took every possible advantage of his customers, 
and he was pleased to find a white man in the field 
of collecting. 
We re-crated the python and shipped him off to 
Liverpool, after feeding him twelve ducks each day 
for five days. With that stomachful, he could last 
out the entire voyage and arrive in England with a 
good appetite. 
It was difficult to get the Malays from the coast 
to go up into the jungle. They fear it and have 
superstitions about the hantu that live there. Most 
of the men refused point-blank when I asked them 
to accompany me, and others thought of various 
things they had to do at Palembang. Ali was will- 
ing, however, and he developed into an expert jun- 
gle-man. Boatmen from the coast poled us up the 
rivers, but they returned to the coast immediately 
because they were unwilling to remain away from 
their families. 
It was after my return to Palembang that I be- 
came acquainted with the inland of Sumatra and 
with the Orang Ulu, who are quite different from 
their brothers on the coast. They are more indus- 
trious and have not lost their simplicity and honesty 
by coming into contact with Chinese business 
methods. They received us kindly and I had no 
difficulty in making friends with them. During the 
