256 
FOREST AND STREAM 
June, 1921 
THE CROCODILES OF MALAYSIA 
RELATING AN INTERESTING EXPERIENCE IN CATCHING A LARGE SPECIMEN IN 
THE DOMARING RIVER BY THE LEADER OF THE SMITHSONIAN BORNEO EXPEDITION 
By HARRY C. RAVEN 
B ESIDES the Gavial, Tomistoma 
schlegeli, three other species oi 
crocodiles from the East Indies are 
known, Crocodilus paluiris, C siamen- 
sis, C porosus. The latter is the larg- 
est living form known, said to attain a 
length of about ten meters.* The Ma- 
lays call it “Buaia”, the name they ap- 
ply to all members of this genus. On 
account of its habit of entering the sea, 
it is generally distinguished from it., 
relatives as the “Salt Water Crocodile". 
In most of the larger rivers of eastern 
Borneo I found it abundant. During 
the day these crocodiles offer but slight 
opportunity for observation, for they 
usually lie concealed in the neighbor- 
hood of river banks. Here they take 
advantage of overhanging branches, 
logs, floating vegetation and other de- 
bris. Apparently they ai'e not grega- 
rious like their African and American 
relatives, for only single specimens 
have been noticed. Sometimes they rest 
in the brush at a slight distance from 
the water or they may bask for hours 
without moving, on grass - covered 
shores or mudbanks. 
D URING my six years in charge of 
the Borneo Expedition of the 
Smithsonian Institution, I hunted 
very frequently at night in a boat, 
“jacking” along the shore. To the dis- 
tress of my native paddlers, our en- 
counters with these crocodiles (C poro- 
sus) were far too numerous, but they 
gave me a splendid chance to study 
their habits. Sitting crosslegged in the 
bow of a dugout canoe, propelled noise- 
lessly by the feathered strokes of 
skilled Malays or Dyaks, my searching 
lamp often caught the reflections of the 
eyes of these reptilians. The typical 
red glare, like glowing embers, would 
dispel all doubt as to their identity. 
While jacking from a canoe, one may 
approach a crocodile as it lies with all 
but its. head submerged in the deep 
quiet waters of these tropical rivers. 
Their preferred places are close to the 
banks of the rivers where the water 
is rather deep, and the trees of the 
forest overhang the bank. Invariably 
where crocodiles were found watchfully 
waiting in the water, the animal’s body 
would be nearly vertical in position, not 
horizontal, as it is when he swims about 
from place to place. The head would be 
level with the surface of the water so 
that all that showed above it were the 
eyes and nostrds; there would be a 
sharp bend in the neck so that the body 
could be held nearly upright and the 
tail propped against the bottom as a 
stabilizer. Sometimes it was seen that 
they held exactly the same position in 
very deep water where the tail did hot 
reach the bottom, thus they drifted or 
rested the fore limb on some object 
such as a branch protruding from the 
shore. 
When disturbed, crocbdiles resting in 
the above described manner almost 
without exception would draw down 
backwards into the water, out of sight. 
They could do this so quietly that there 
would not be even a ripple on the sur- 
face. However, if they found there 
was something to be feared very close 
to them they sometimes drew backwards 
so quickly that they caused the water to 
splash and swirl. At other times when 
they were shot at, they would recede, or 
else lunge forward and beat with the 
tail vigorously upon the surface. Dur- 
ing such excitement the animals are 
dangerous, for a single blow from the 
heavy tail would overturn or swamp 
a small canoe. 
Many times, while hunting on little 
streams in a small dugout canoe, we 
surprised crocodiles which were appar- 
ently sleeping. I very distinctly re- 
member an occasion near the mouth of 
the Berau River. I was looking for 
birds one morning and being paddled 
along a very narrow brackish creek by 
a couple of Malays. The canoe in 
which we were seated was about eight- 
een feet long by three feet wide. We 
had ascended some distance; low man- 
groves bordered the creek closely on 
either side and there was not enough 
room in which to turn the canoe around, 
I fired at a small sunbird — whereupon 
an enormous crocodile rushed towards 
us from between the mangrove roots. 
It entered the little creek almost within 
reach of the bow of the canoe, which it 
struck and shoved aside, as it made a 
wild scramble to get past, splashing us 
with mud and water as it went, and fol- 
lowed by a swell as it continued on down 
the shallow muddy stream. 
*IDe Rooij, Reptiles of the Indo-Austrahan P1 '‘ oto tt - B. Nichols. 
— Collecting sea anemones. 
Archipelago, Vol. I, p. 338, 1915.) 
A T Domaring I had an interesting 
experience with a crocodile. This 
is a place inhabited by a few Ma- 
lays and is some distance south of the 
Berau delta. It takes its name from the 
river whose mouth is at the south end 
of the village. Following a suggestion 
from one of my natives I had procured 
a large iron hook before leaving Berau. 
This I intended baiting for crocodiles. 
For several days I had been collecting 
various sorts of animals and after pre- 
serving parts of them I had thrown the 
remainder into the river that it might 
float out to sea. Perhaps it was the 
odor of this meat that had attracted a 
crocodile. 
One of my Malays said that he had 
seen on two consecutive afternoons a 
crocodile come from the sea into the 
mouth of the river. I shot a monkey 
and fastened its body on the hook to 
which a heavy wire, fifty feet of rope, 
and a white piece of wood had been at- 
tached. The baited hook was fastened 
loosely to the nipa palms which grew 
all along the south bank of the river. 
The bait hung about four feet above 
the surface of the water and the rope 
was draped about over some of the ni- 
pas so that it would fall into the water 
when pulled slightly. It was my opin- 
ion that four feet was too high to put 
the bodv of the monkey but my natives 
assured me that the crocodile would be 
eble to take it even if it were higher. 
The idea was that the crocodile should 
come and take the bait which he would 
not eat immediately but would drag 
down into the water and carry away to 
some quiet spot. Then during the dark- 
ness of the night when he had no fear 
of being disturbed he would pull his 
