72 
DEATH TO THE TIGER ! 
to the shorter kreiss ; and with these they pen him up 
in a corner, and lance him to death with as much or 
more gusto than they w^ould a tiger. As many as forty 
persons were once killed by one of these maniacs before 
he could be “cornered;” and yet there is no la^^y against 
the use of opium.* ** 
The word “ muck** is a corruption of the Javanese 
“amoak/* to kill ; and this latter is seldom heard, except 
when some poor wretch is ranging the frightened town 
with strained muscles and starting eyes, and with death 
closing around his path at every stride. 
In regard to tigers, another of the party remarked 
that as many as eighteen hundred had been killed on 
the island in a single year; but I subsequently learned 
that eleven hundi*ed was the greatest number for one 
year. The Government pays so much a head for each 
one that is destroyed, and keeps a regular account of the 
number. These animals are very destructive to cattle, 
and numbers of the natives also lose their lives yearly by 
them. 
In the interior of Java there is yet a native prince, 
who holds his power from the Dutch, receives a regular 
salary, and keeps up the shadow of their ancient cus- 
toms. He has the title of Sooletan, and we somehow 
found ourselves talking about him. My journal says : — 
“ Out of his salary he must support an army of at 
least two thousand men, as quite that number is re- 
quired to make up one of his grand tiger-hunts. Then 
he has his household expenses, his harem, his dancing- 
girls, &c. Singular beings are these dancing-girls. 
Taken at a tender age from the mother’s care, they are 
