THE SAVAGE WORLD. 
169 
causing them to be attacked by other animals. Captain Basil Hall has given 
the following animated account of a fight of this kind, got up for the amuse¬ 
ment of the Admiral, Sir R. Hood, and performed by a corps of Malays in the 
British service : 
“ Very early (he says) in the morning, the party were summoned from their 
beds, to set forth on the expedition. In other countries, the hour of getting 
up may be left to choice; in India, when anything active is to be done, it is a 
matter of necessity; for after the sun has gained even a few degrees of altitude, 
the heat and discomfort, as well as the danger of exposure, become so great, 
that all pleasure is at an end. The day, 
therefore, had scarcely begun to dawn, when 
we all cantered up to the scene of action. 
“ The ground lay as flat as a marsh for 
many leagues, and was spotted with small 
stagnant lakes connected by sluggish streams, 
scarcely moving over beds of mud, between 
banks fringed with a rank crop of draggled 
weeds. The chill atmosphere of the morning 
felt so thick and clammy it was impossible 
not to think of agues, jungle-fevers, and all 
the hopeful family of malaria. The hardy 
native soldiers, who had occupied the ground 
during the night, were drawn up to receive 
the Admiral, and a very queer guard of 
honor they formed. The whole regiment 
had stripped off their uniform, and every 
other stitch of clothing, save a pair of short 
trousers, and a kind of sandal. In place of 
a firelock, each man bore in his hand a 
slender pole, about six feet in length, to the 
extremity of which was attached the bayonet 
of his musket. His only other weapon was 
the formidable Malay creese, a sort of dag¬ 
ger, or small two-edged sword. 
“ Soon after the commander-in-chief came 
to the ground, the regiment was divided 
into two main parties, and a body of reserves. 
The principal columns facing, one to the 
right, the other to the left, proceeded to oc¬ 
cupy different points in one of the sluggish 
canals, connecting the pools scattered over the plain. These detachments 
being stationed about a mile from one another, enclosed an interval where, 
from some peculiar circumstances known only to the Malays, who are 
passionately fond of the sport, the crocodiles were sure to be found in 
great numbers. The troops formed themselves across the canals in three par¬ 
allel lines, ten to twelve feet apart; but the men in each line stood side by 
side, merely leaving room enough to wield their pikes. The canal may have 
been about four or five feet deep, in the middle of the stream, if stream it can 
be called, which scarcely moved at all. The color of the water, when undis- 
HARPOONING AN ALLIGATOR. 
