I 
150 S U M A T R A. 
dred. Their traps, of which they can make variety, are very ingeniouiTy 
contrived. Sometimes they are in the nature of ftrong cages, with falling 
doors, into which the beajft is enticed Uy a goat or dug cnclofed as a bait : 
fometimcs they manage that a large timber ihall fall, in a groove, aci ofs his 
b^ck : fometimcs he is nookd about the loins with ftrong rattans ; fome^ 
times is led to afcend a plank, nearly balanced, which turning when he 
is paft the eenterj lets him fall upon fharp {lakes prci>ared below- In- 
ftances have occurred of a tiger being caught by one of the former 
modes, which had many marks in hi^i body of the partial fuccefs of this 
la£t expedient. The efcapes, at times, made from them by the natives 
are truly furpriz.ing, bur thefe accounts in general carry too romantic an 
ail to admit of being repeated as fat^s. The fize and Jflrength of the 
fpecies which prevails on this ifland is prodigious. They are fa id to 
break with a Jftroke of their fore paw, the leg of a horfe or a buffaloei 
and the largcft prey they kill is ^vithout difficulty dragged by chcia into 
the woods. This they ufually perform on the fecond night, being fup- 
pofed, on the firft, to gratify themfelves with fucking the blood only. 
Time is by this delay afforded to prepare for their deftrucftion ;,and to the 
methods already enumerated, befidc Chooting them, I Ihould add that 
of placing a vefl'el of water, ftrongly impregnated with arfenic. near the 
carcafe. which is faftciied to a. tree to prevent its being carried off. The 
tiger having fatiated himfelf with the fleih, is prompted to alTuage his 
thirft, with the tempting liquor at hand, and perilhes in the indulgence. 
Their chief fubfiftence is moft probably,, the unfortunate monkeys with 
which the woods abound. They are de Qribed as alluring them to their 
fjte, by a fafcinating power, iimilar to what has been fuppofcd of the 
fnake, and I am not incredulous enough to treat the idea with contempt^ 
having my (elf obferved that when an aligator or crocadile, in a ri ver, 
comes under an overhanging bough of a tree, the monkies, in a ftate of 
alarm and deflradtion, crowd to the extremity, and chattering and trem- 
bling, approach nearer and nearer to the amphibious monfter that 
waits to devour them as they drop, which their fright and number ren- 
And of aiiga- ^^^^^ almoft Unavoidable. Thefe aligators likewifc occafion the lofs of 
many inhabitants, frequently deflroying the people as they bathe in the 
river. 
tors. 
