i28 



A VISIT TO SELANGOE. 



where he stood, then struggled to rise again, when we both 

 fired again, and one ball took effect in his brain. He gave a 

 tremendous shudder, settled down where he stood with his 

 back up and his legs all doubled under him, and in a couple 

 of minutes was quite dead. 



He was a male specimen with tushes only, and not quite 

 full grown. His back was completely encrusted with a hard 

 cake of dry mud to protect him from the swarm of huge flies 

 that constantly followed him. Being amply provided with 

 knives and whetstones, we set to work on the spot to cut out 

 the skeleton, and the following day mustered a gang ofcooli.es 

 who carried the bones out of the jungle to our quarters at Batu. 



Elephants are plentiful throughout at Selangor territory, 

 and particularly so in the Kwala Lumpor district. They of- 

 ten do great damage to the paddy-fields and gardens, and oc- 

 casionally an old rogue pulls down a Malay house. It is my 

 opinion that it will soon be found necessary for the Government 

 to offer a reward for dead elephants in Selangor, or they will be- 

 come a great nuisance to the native agriculturists. It is not 

 likely that elephants will ever be caught and trained to ser- 

 vice in that territory, and hence the quicker they cease to be a 

 dreaded nuisance the better. 



We were at Batu in the durian season, and often visited 

 the trees in the forest when the Malays were collecting the 

 fruit as fast as it fell. Like the Jakuns, they build little huts 

 high up against the trees, usually 15 or 20 feet from the ground, 

 to get out of the way of wild beasts. But the rascally ele- 

 phants often take the trouble to pull down even those high 

 platforms and frighten the inhabitants half out of their wits. 

 The herd to which we paid our respects had just the night be- 

 fore visited several durian camps and had torn down the high- 

 est platform of all, as if to show the Malays that it was of no 

 use trying to build a hut out ot'tkeir reach. Of course the Ma- 

 lays fled to the jungle. There are several large caves in the 

 vicinity, and the Jakuns are in the habit of taking refuge in 

 them when the elephants become too neighbourly. 



Wild cattle (bos sondcricus) are common in the densest 

 •tingle near Batu, and on one occasion Mr. Syers caught a 

 glimpse of one individual, but was unable to get a shot. We 

 often saw their spern, and spent some time in hunting for them, 

 but did not succeed in bringing off a specimen, The inevi- 

 table kra (macacus cynomolxjus) was often seen ; and squirrels 

 were ako plentiful ; we obtained 4 species. Rhinoceros horn- 



