There are certain animals in Sarawak, very little mentioned by
travellers, with which we are always surrounded. These are the lizards
which run up and down the walls of all houses in the tropics. They are
light grey-green in colour, make a funny little noise, and on this
account the natives call them chik-chak. They have the peculiar and
rather disagreeable property of shedding their tails; once or twice
they have dropped these appendages on to my head as they ran to and
fro on the ceiling. It sometimes happens that if a picture or a piece
of furniture standing against a wall is moved, a very large black
chik-chak, about twice the size of an ordinary chik-chak, will come out
from behind these shelters. I have noticed that a great many rooms are
inhabited by one of these black chik-chak ensconced behind such safe
retreats, and these giants of the same species are called by Malays,
“Rajah chi-chak.”
One might also make remarks of an uncomplimentary nature about
centipedes and scorpions, but I know very little about these formidable
insects--if they are insects. I only remember on a certain afternoon,
when getting up from my usual siesta, I saw on the muslin walls
of my mosquito house a large black thing looking like a miniature
lobster. I called the Rajah, who at once recognized it as an enormous
scorpion. He took hold of a spear leaning against the wall, so as to
kill it, well knowing the awful effects of its sting. I could never
have believed what a difficult thing it is to kill a scorpion. Its
shell is apparently so thick that it takes a long time to give it its
death-blow. I hate seeing anything killed (although on this occasion
it was absolutely necessary), so I rushed out of the room. Needless to
say, the Rajah ultimately dispatched it.
As for snakes, I am not going to say a word against them. They are the
most beautiful creatures one can possibly see, and in my experience
they are not nearly so deadly or so dangerous as people seem to think.
The most deadly snake in Sarawak is the much-feared hamadryad. Its
dangerous character comes from its very virtues. Whenever a hamadryad
is laying her eggs, her mate looks after her safety, and resents the
presence of any human being within yards of where she has her nest.
One afternoon, one of our Malay servants came screaming up the steps
leading from the garden to our verandah, closely followed by one of
these hamadryads, and had not a Guard seen her danger and killed the
snake, she must have been dead in three or four seconds.
Although beasts of prey, such as tigers, panthers, etc., are unknown
in Sarawak, the most dangerous reptile in the country is without doubt
the crocodile. I do not think that any statistics have been taken of
the loss to human life caused by these creatures in Sarawak, but that
their victims are numerous is certain, for every one living in the
country has known, or has witnessed, the destructive powers of these
creatures. I remember when we were at dinner one evening, we heard the
most terrible commotion in one of the little streams running around our
garden. They came from a man and from the women folk of his house, and
we sent to inquire the cause. We were told that the man had gone to
bathe in the creek near his house, and had been seized by a crocodile.
The man had laid hold of the log which served as a landing-stage, and
the crocodile had managed to tear off one of his legs. He was taken to
his house, and although our English doctor did all he could for him, he
died the next morning.
I have often, in my excursions up and down the river, been followed in
our small river boat by these reptiles, and generally the boat boys
were the first to see the tiny conical roofs above their eyes--the only
portion to be seen above the water--and as these move swiftly towards
the boat, you conclude that you are being followed by a crocodile.
The experience is not a pleasant one, although it is seldom that the
reptile is powerful enough to upset a canoe capable of carrying six or
seven people. The danger to the inhabitants of Sarawak lies in the fact
that they go about from one house to another on the river-banks in very
small canoes, which only hold one person. Sometimes the canoe is so
small you can hardly see its wooden sides, and its solitary occupant
appears as though he were sitting on the water, paddling himself along.
Both men and women are very skilful in the management of any craft on
the waters of these rivers, and despite the fact that crocodiles often
with a swish of their tails knock the boats in the air, and seize the
occupants as they fall back into the river, paddle in hand, the people
seem quite indifferent to the risks they run in these small canoes.
A great many years ago, before Kuching became as civilized as it is
now, and when it had few steamers on the river, an enormous crocodile,
some twenty feet in length, was the terror of the neighbourhood for
three or four months during the north-east monsoon--the rainy season
of the country. Our Malay quartermaster on board the _Heartsease_ was
seized by this monster as he was leaving the Rajah’s yacht to go to his
house, a few yards from the bank, in his little canoe. It was at night
that the crocodile seized him, the canoe being found empty the next
morning. Although no one had actually witnessed the calamity, it was
certain the poor man had been taken by the monster. This was his first
victim, but others followed in quick succession. The crocodile could
be seen patrolling the river daily, but it is very difficult to catch
or shoot such a creature. At length the Rajah, becoming anxious at the
turn affairs were taking, issued a proclamation offering a handsome
reward to any one who should succeed in catching the crocodile.
This proclamation was made with as much importance as possible. The
executioner, Subu, bearing the Sarawak flag, was given a large boat,
manned by twenty paddles, painted in the Sarawak colours, and sent up
and down the river reading the proclamation at the landing-stages of
Malay houses. Looking from my window one morning, I saw the boat gaily
decorated and looking very important on the river, with the yellow
umbrella of office folded inside and the proclamation from the Rajah
being read. A few yards behind the boat I imagined I could see, through
my opera glasses, the water disturbed by some huge body following it.
The natives had noticed this too, and it was absolutely proved that
wherever the boat went up or down the river, the monster followed it,
as if in derision of the proclamation.
A great deal of etiquette had to be observed after the capture of this
crocodile. As it was being towed a captive to the place of execution,
the process to be observed required that it should be first brought to
the Rajah, and until it was safely landed in the Rajah’s garden, the
most complimentary speeches were made to it: “You are a Rajah”; “You
must come and see your brother”; “You are the light of the day”; “You
are the sun and moon shining over the land,” etc. These flattering
remarks were made by the captors as they dragged the huge scaly thing
to its doom, but once it was safely in the presence of the Rajah, it
was made a target for the most insulting language. I saw the crocodile
as it lay helpless with its paws tied over its back in the Rajah’s
garden. The Malays were careful to keep out of reach of the switch
of its tail, as one blow from it would have seriously injured anyone
who went too near. The Rajah having passed sentence, the reptile was
dragged off to be killed by having its head cut off. This done, the
body was opened, when human remains, together with the rings and
clothes of our unfortunate quartermaster, were found, thus proving our
surmises as to his death to be correct.
Full of excitement and zeal after what had taken place, the Malays who
had captured the crocodile considered that the deceased quartermaster’s
silver ring, in which was set a diamond of the country, should be
presented to me. Therefore, Talip, holding the ring between his thumb
and forefinger, with many bows and ceremonious speeches, brought it
to me for my acceptance. I am sorry to say that my feelings were too
strong for me on the occasion, and I could not possibly touch the
thing. I was so sorry, and told Talip I was grateful for such kindness,
but that I thought the ring ought to belong to the victim’s wife or
daughter. I sent my thanks for the kind thought, and was very glad when
Talip and the ring disappeared from view. So ended the history of the
great crocodile, whose doings are even now spoken of in Sarawak.
As we are on the subject of animals, we must not forget to talk about
those very delightful creatures, the monkeys. A most delicious Gibbon
exists in Sarawak, which the natives call the wah-wah; it is the one
which imitates the sound of running water in the morning. Wah-wahs are
easily tamed, and quickly take to human beings. I was presented with
one of these little animals by Datu Isa, wife of the Datu Bandar, and
its pathetic little jet black face, its round, beady, frightened eyes,
its grey fur fitting its head like the wig of a clown, soft almost as
that of the chinchilla but thicker and longer, and its black arms and
legs, made it a beautiful little creature. Datu Isa placed the animal
in my arms, when it clung to me as children do. The care of this little
being, so helpless, so frightened, so full of a want of affection,
really made me quite miserable. I tried to give it the food it liked,
I took great care of it and kept it always with me when I was in the
house, but it went the way of beautiful sensitive animals taken by kind
ignorance into the company of human beings. Like most monkeys of its
kind in captivity, the poor little wah-wah developed pneumonia a few
months after it had been given to me, and died. It was a great grief to
me, and I begged my Malay friends, as kindly as I could, not to give
me any more such charming and yet such sorrowful presents. The wah-wah
cannot live in captivity, for it is the lack of their own natural
food that kills these delicate creatures, though they will eat almost
anything, even cocoa-nut, which is fatal to them.
A friend of mine, a Malay woman living in the Malay town near our
house, possessed an Albino wah-wah. It was considered a powerful
“mascotte,” and it lived with her people some time. It must have died
during one of my visits to England, for I never heard of it again after
I left Sarawak for the first time. On my return, I asked my native
women friends what had happened to it, but they were very reticent in
giving me news of the little creature. At last they said: “It went to
another world, and we would rather not talk about it any more.”
Another interesting animal in Sarawak is the buffalo. These animals are
tiresome when they come into contact with Europeans. In fact, they are
dangerous to meet, should they be uncontrolled by natives. Natives,
apparently, can do what they like with them. They never ill-treat the
animals, but talk to them as though they were human, this treatment
making the beasts tame and easy to manage. In one of our settlements,
near a coal-mine, where buffaloes were required to drag trucks of coal
to and from the mines to the landing-stage, whence it was shipped to
Kuching and Singapore, the animals were housed in stables made of
palm leaves, and their keepers, who were Boyans, stayed with them. In
course of time, the stables became unfit for habitation either for man
or beast. The Rajah therefore ordered new stables to be built for the
buffaloes and their keepers. When the new stables were finished and
ready for their reception, it was noticed that neither the buffaloes
nor their keepers made any use of them. The Rajah, hearing this, made
inquiries, when the overseer of the coal-mine, a native who wrote
English, sent the Rajah a dispatch informing him that the animals
were so much annoyed and put out with their new quarters that they
absolutely refused to occupy them, and therefore their keepers, not
wishing to incur the displeasure of their friends, preferred to stay in
the leaky dwellings. In course of time the question was satisfactorily
solved, for the Rajah being of a tactful nature, usually surmounts
difficulties that may arise with any of his subjects, men or buffaloes.