A SPECULATION IN CROCODILES
The Blanchita continued on her course up the river with Clingman at the
wheel. There was no table in the fore cabin; and the dinner of the six
men, including the engineer, was served astern after the "Big Four" had
taken the meal. Louis attended to the engine while Felipe was at his
meals and occasionally at other times. A table is not a necessity for
the crew of a ship, and one is not used on board a merchant vessel; but
Louis insisted that all hands should fare equally well on board of the
little steamer.
The dinner was disposed of, and Wales was at the wheel. The men had
nothing to do, and a couple of them had assisted Pitts in washing the
dishes and putting the after cabin in order. It was an idle time, and
the "Big Four" were anxious to have something more exciting than merely
sailing along the river, the novelty of which had worn off; and they had
not long to wait for it.
"A crocodile ahead, Captain, on the port bow, sir!" exclaimed Wales, the
wheelman, whose duty required him to keep a sharp lookout for any
obstructions in the stream.
All of the party had their weapons within reach, including the three
seamen who were disengaged; but the latter were not expected to use the
rifles till they were ordered to do so by the captain or any one of the
hunters. The occupants of the fore cabin, the principal personages on
board, had the exclusive use of the forward part of the boat, though the
hands were at liberty to use the seats when they were not required by
any of the "Big Four." No order to this effect had been given; but the
men, under the influence of the discipline on board of the ship, had
involuntarily adopted the system.
"Slow her down, Wales," said Scott, after he had observed the situation
of the saurian.
The wheelman rang the jingle-bell, and the boat soon came down to
half-speed. The five hunters, including Achang, had their rifles ready
for use, though they still retained their seats. The reptile was not
asleep; and he appeared to have some notions of his own, for he was not
disposed to wait for the coming of the boat. He settled down in the dark
water so that he could not be seen, but the surface was disturbed by his
movements.
"Port the helm, Wales," said the captain quietly. "He is going across
the river."
Presently he came to the surface again, and was swimming towards the
opposite shore. He kept his head and a small portion of his back next to
it above the surface of the water, as the young hunters had seen in
Sumatra before.
"Full speed; give her a spurt, Wales," said the captain.
The wheelman rang the speed-bell, and then spoke through the tube to the
engineer. The boat suddenly darted ahead under this instruction, and was
soon abreast of the reptile, who was not at first disposed to change his
tactics. He evidently realized that he was pursued, and it seemed to
make him angry.
"The rascal has put his helm to port," said Wales.
"Look out there, in the waist!" shouted Scott to the seamen, a couple of
whom were seated on the rail, with their legs dangling over the side of
the boat. "Never sit in that way, men, unless you want to be carried to
the hospital with a leg bitten off."
"Will they bite, Captain?" asked Clinch.
"Bite? They are regular man-eaters on these rivers."
"I used to go in swimming with the alligators on the Alabama River; but
they all kept their distance," added the seaman.
The two men drew in their legs and moved inboard. Alligators, which are
generally considered harmless in the rivers of the Southern States, will
bite at anything hanging in the water. As Wales had suggested, the
crocodile had changed his course, and was now headed directly for the
Blanchita. He seemed to have concluded that there was no safety for him
in flight, and he had decided to fight.
"Your first shot, Louis," said Scott, who had not even taken up his
rifle, as if he thought there would be no chance for him after the
millionaire had fired.
Louis waited a minute or more till he could distinctly see the eye of
the crocodile, and then he fired. As has so often been said before, he
had been thoroughly trained in a shooting-gallery, and was a dead shot,
as he had often proved during the voyage. The bullet had evidently gone
to his brain, for the reptile floundered about for an instant, and then
moved no more. As Felix put it, he was "very dead," though the word
hardly admits of an intensifier.
"What are you going to do with him now?" asked the Milesian.
"I don't think we want anything more of him; but, like a poison snake,
he is a nuisance that ought to be abated," replied the captain. "I dare
say the rajah will be much obliged to us for making the number of them
even one less."
"How long is he?" Achang inquired, as he returned his rifle to its
resting-place.
"About ten feet," replied Louis.
"More than that," the captain thought. "I should say twelve feet."
"Then he is worth eighteen shillings to you," added the native.
"What is he good for, Achang?" asked Morris.
"He is good for nothing," replied the Bornean. "The crocodile here eats
men and women. Some are killed every year, and the government pays one
and sixpence apiece for the heads."
"That looks like a war of extermination upon them," said Morris.
"I don't know what that is; but they want to kill them all off," replied
Achang, who had improved his language so that his tutor seldom had to
correct it.
"That is the same thing. They pay by the foot for crocodiles here."
"The bigger they are, the more dangerous," suggested Louis. "Let us haul
him alongside, and see how long he is."
The boat had stopped her screw before Louis fired; and the captain
directed Wales to lay her alongside the saurian, which was done in a few
minutes. Ropes were passed under his head and tail; and with a couple of
purchases made fast to the horizontal rods over the rail, close to the
stanchions, the carcass was hoisted partly out of the water. The measure
was taken with a line first, to which Lane, who was a carpenter's
assistant, applied his rule, which gave twelve feet and two inches as
the length of the crocodile.
"That makes him worth eighteen shillings," said Achang.
"About four dollars and a half," added Morris. "We could make something
hunting crocodiles. If we could kill ten of them like that fellow it
would give us forty-five dollars."
Louis and Scott laughed heartily at this calculation, and thought the
idea was derogatory to the character of true sport, though they did not
object to turning their victims of this kind into money.
"Must we carry the carcass of this beast down to Kuching in order to get
the reward, Achang?" asked Morris.
"The head will be enough; and they can tell how long he is by the size
of it."
"How shall we saw the head off? Can you do it, Lane?"
"I can do that," interposed the Bornean, as he went to a bundle of
implements he had procured in the town and from the natives.
He drew from it a very heavy sword, from which he took off the covering
of dry leaves, and applied his thumb to the edge of the weapon. Then he
picked out a straw from some packing, and dropped it off in pieces, as
one tries his razor on a hair. It appeared to be as sharp as the
shaving-tool, and he was satisfied. All hands watched his movements with
deep interest. He secured a position with one foot on the side of the
boat, and the other on the back of the crocodile. With two or three
blows of his sword, he severed the head from the body, and a seaman
secured it with a boathook.
All hands applauded when the deed was done, as the Bornean washed his
keen blade. The operation excited the admiration of all the lookers-on,
it was so quickly and skilfully done. Louis wished to examine the
weapon, and it was handed to him. It was heavy enough to require a
strong arm to handle it; and it was sharp enough for a giant's razor, if
giants ever shave, for most of them are pictured with full beards.
"I suppose this is a native's sword," said Louis, as he passed it to the
captain.
"Dyak _parong latok_; _parong_ same thing, not so long," Achang
explained.
"I suppose that is what the Dyaks used when they went head-hunting,"
said Felix.
"No head-hunting now; used to use it, the Hill Dyaks. Used in battle
too; split head open with it, or cut head off."
"What other weapons did the fighting men use?" asked Louis.
"They carried a shield, and used a spear with the parong latok; no other
weapons. Two kinds of Dyaks, the Sea and the Hill."
While the native was talking, the seamen, by order of the captain, had
hoisted the head of the saurian into the sampan towing astern, placing
it on a piece of tarpaulin. The carcass was cast loose, and probably was
soon devoured by others of its own kind.
"We might find some eggs in the crocodile," said Achang, as the body
floated past the boat.
"We don't want the eggs," replied the captain, turning up his nose.
"Good to eat, Captain. My naturalist used to eat them. Very nice, like
turtles' eggs, which Englishmen always put in the soup."
"None in my soup!" exclaimed Scott, with a wry face, to express his
disgust.
"I suppose they would be all right if we only got used to them,"
suggested Louis.
"As the man's horse did when he fed him on shavings," sneered Scott.
"I did not take very kindly to turtles' eggs when we were in the West
Indies; but I got used to them, and then liked them," added Louis. "In
Africa the natives eat boa-constrictors, and think they are a choice
morsel. Some of our Indians eat clay, and I suppose they like it."
"Something up in the trees yonder, Captain," said Wales, as the boat
approached some higher ground, which was not overflown with water, as
most of the shore below had been.
"Monkeys," added Achang, not at all excited.
"I don't think I care to shoot monkeys unless it is for the purpose of
examining them," said Louis. "They are too small game, and they are
harmless creatures."
"Strange monkeys in here," continued Achang. "Not these," he added when
he had obtained a sight of one of them. "These no good."
All eyes were directed to the tree; and at least a dozen common monkeys
were there, such as they had seen in the museums at home. The steamer
continued on her course, and a couple of miles farther on the forest was
inundated. Some of the trees appeared to be inhabited.
"Plenty of elephant monkeys in here," said Achang.
"Elephant monkeys!" exclaimed Louis. "I never heard of any such animals.
Are they called so because they are so large?"
"No, sir," said Achang; "because they have such long noses."
"There are a dozen monkeys in that tree, and they look very queer," said
Louis, as he elevated his double-barrelled fowling-piece, loaded with
large shot, and fired.
One of them dropped, and another when he discharged the second barrel.
The boat was run in the direction of the tree till it grounded in the
mud. The captain proposed to go for them in the sampan, when Clingman
volunteered to wade to the tree for the game, and soon returned with the
two victims of the millionaire's unerring aim. They were placed in the
waist, and all were curious to see them. The rest of the tribe scampered
away over the tops of the trees, crying, "honk, honk, kehonk!"
"They are proboscis monkeys, and old males at that; for they have very
long noses, which is the reason for the name, and why Achang calls them
elephant monkeys," said Louis, as he turned the creatures over. "The
noses of these two reach down below the chin. They stand about three
feet high, but are rather lank, like the tall pigs."
While the party were examining them, the captain gave the order to back
the boat, and then to go ahead. She was moored for the night soon
after. The next morning, by the advice of Achang, the Blanchita was
headed down the river, for the native declared that they would find no
different game on the banks of the Sarawak.