66 SOME VISITS TO BATAM ISLAND. 



Found that the new lantern I intended to do night shooting 

 with had no wick so made some out of a piece of towel and 

 went for a long walk with it on my belt after dinner: no 

 result except that I was nearly choked by the smell of burning 

 paint. 



"25th. A futile morning in the forest : found a collection 

 of old shelters, Malay pondok type, probably made by the 

 " orang utan " of Batam. Half a dozen rats, but all badly 

 damaged by ants. Sat out all the evening in a deserted 

 garden and just before dark a medium-sized " nang-oi " 

 trotted up. Fired at 60-70 yards and found immediately — 

 not for the first time — I had forgotten to put the rifle lever 

 over. Pig cleared away into lallang warmed up by slugs: 

 nothing else put in an appearance except mosquitoes. My, 

 gun-borrowing friend said with truth pigs were to be seen in 

 the clearings if watched for long enough! 



"26th. Nothing in the traps and only monkeys in the 

 jungle. Set some large traps for musang and afterwards 

 watched for pig. Went for a walk with bulls-eye after dinner 

 but saw nothing. 



"27th. Only two specimens in the traps: had to shoot 

 squirrels to make work. The pig-shooter returned his gun; 

 says he has sat up for three nights without seeing anything. 

 A large trap caught a tortoise (Cyclemys platynota) later in 

 the day. No luck with the pigs again. Found a large centi- 

 pede in my mosquito net which should evidently have been 

 taken as a sign that the bed was not safe as in the night a 

 coconut crashed through the roof and landed on my pillow 

 (Memo, always to strip coco-palms before dwelling beneath 

 them). 



" 28th. The usual frost in the jungle. A young napu 

 was brought in and another tortoise got into the traps; evi- 

 dently these reptiles are attracted of the putrid meat which 

 forms the bait. A pig had also been caught but he success- 

 fully pulled out/' 



This sort of thing went oh for several days during which 

 I got nothing -but' monkeys, rats, squirrels and tupaia. Traces 

 of pigs were everywhere, huge tracks some of them, and I 



Jour. Straits Branch. 



