The wild liogs plunge into the water to avoid the
dogs, and the natives then pursue tliem in boats and
lrill tbem with spears. As soon as the hunters return
to camp, they cut up the hogs, and smoke the pieces
over a smouldering fire. The dogs now skulk about
to seize a piece if possible, and while the natives are
crouching round the fire transforming the lean pork
into tough bacon, you are frequently startled by a
sharp yelping as some one finds his portion disappearing
beneath the jaws of one of these hungry brutes,
and a liberal chastisement is at once administered to
the thief with the first stick or club at hand.
Dec&mber 23d.—Last night there was another
heavy shower. The water poured down in torrents
through our thatching of palm-leaves, for we had
already found that both the boat’s sail and the old
tarpaulin afforded little protection here where the
water appears to fall in broad sheets. Late in the
evening the contrôleur came back from fishing. We
could hear the Malays that were pulling his boat
singing in an unusually loud and merry style, and all
gathered on the beach to see what wonderful monster
of the deep they had secured. It proved to be a fish
as large as a horse-mackerel, and weighing fully two
hundred pounds, which the cont/rolew had succeeded
in taking with a small line by chancing to get it
alongside the boat and securing it by gaffs. As our
stock of rice was getting low, we decided to return,
though I could scarcely feel satisfied, for I had hoped
to get a complete skeleton of the rare babirusa ; however,
the contrôleur more than made up the loss by
giving me half a dozen skulls of the equally rare antelope
of this region. We now crossed over to the
Celebes side to a village of four or five huts, to be
sheltered from the heavy rains that have drenched
us every night but one since we left Kema. A few
natives have moved here from Kema because they
take many fish off this part of the coast, and there is
a small stream emptying into the sea in the vicinity.
They live almost wholly by fishing, and have
cleared only a small place near their houses for a garden
of Indian corn. This evening they have shown
me one of the monsters of these forests. I t was an
enormous python. Its head has been taken off, but by
careful measurement I find it must have been at least
fifteen feet long. It was killed here the day before
yesterday by one of the natives living in the house
where we are now sheltered from the rain. Missing
his dog, he chanced to go to the brook where they
get water, and there he found this monstrous reptile
trying to swallow his favorite. As quietly as possible
he stole back to the village and gave the alarm,
and at once all went out and succeeded in cutting off
its head before it could disgorge its prey and attack
them. The natives are now taking off the skm to
make rude moccasins, which they frequently use
when hunting in the woods, or more especially when
travelling through the tall, sharp-edged prairie-grass.
They all agree that this tough, scaly skm is much
more durable for such a purpose than the best kind
of leather. Our old boatman tells me that he once
killed one of those great reptiles on Limbi, while l
was trying to swallow a wild pig. All the natives
assert th a t this monster sometimes attacks the wild ox,