CROCODILE FARMER

Evening Star, Issue 20428, 8 March 1930, Page 30

CROCODILE FARMER

THE INGENIOUS MALAY Mahomed was a young man who toiled not, neither did ho spin, but lolled up against the little gate which gave entrance to his small thatched hut (writes C.W., in the Melbourne ‘Age’). Possibly, as fruit on becoming ripe simply dropped into Mahomed’s hand, and periodically a cocoauut from the palms came down with a bump, life was pleasant and simple, for Mahomed, who had no cares or worries as far as" this life went, which was the reason why ho did not trouble to work. So you can understand that Mahomed was a good Malay. Now it so happened that one day, as he was doing his usual daily task—that is, sunning himself by his garden gate two Malay acquaintances passed by him carrying something colled round a pole, the ends of which they had over their shoulders, and with their strange burden they halted in front of Mahomed for an exchange of local news, and incidentally to try some limit, fastened on to the polo was a dead snake, a fairlv large python, which the two Malays told Mahomed they were taking to the police station to claim a reward. From that time on Mahomed suddenly got ambitious and hankered after the elusive dollars, a laudable change you might suggest. Perhaps Isa down in the village was the means of making him bestir himself, for Isa was a saucy-eved weneb, and comely to look upon, too. We might imagine Mahomed commencing on the change when, smacking his thigh with his band, his face expanded into a sunny smile, and we might almost have heard him say to himself: “ By Allah and all the Peris, I’ll do it!” Then does the fellow pack .all his belongings in a red handkerchief, which he ties on to the end of a stick, and throwing this over his shoulder like Dick Whittington so sallied forth on some secret mission. Did Mahomed enter into service with some rich titled Malay, marry the daughter, and live happy ever afterwards? Did ho enter the town and take up .that profession amongst the white men which his countrymen appear to take to, motor driving? If you think that, well, you have another guess coming. He turned his back on life, and taking a small kola (little native dugout canoe) he paddled away up into the interior, It is no use trying to follow him. I caii tell you what it is like if vou hanker after a journey into the said interior. You get into a small boat and push up stream. By day you will be incessantly worried by sandflies; you are shut in by deep, gloomy, impenetrable tropical forests on either side, and further on by tho eternal fringe of mangrove trees and oceans of foul, stinking, oozy mud; smells of dank rotting vegetation, and the lilthy steaming stench from the mud you will have in your nose and mouth; whilst on the banks, sometimes half in and half out of the water, Jio those slimy Samurian monsters the crocodiles. Still, if you persevere, by twilight, if you have not been devoured by mosquitoes, you will reach on the left tho point where a small creek runs into your river, and turn into this. Yon must lie low in the boat as you duck under tho great outspreading branches of trees, for this creek is narrow; yon may catch sight of an iguana dragging its way through the foul viscid mud, or some monkeys peering at you from the trees; whilst a positive concert of animals and insects will sing, whistle, chirrup, and shriek, and the bull frogs will bark. That creek will also bo alive with great devilish crocodiles, foul and awesome, who will lie with their long snouts Hat on tho surface and malignant eyes staving at you, wondering what tho intrusion means. And when you think that there is only 3iii of wood between you and them, and recollect what damage they can do with either snout or-swish-ing tail, well, you would not follow Mahomed for fun, would you? Well, at this spot our friend landed, and finding a little clearing cleared off before dark back into the river to pass the night at a Malay kampong (village) further up the stream, and make sonic arrangements. For ho had decided to erect a small hut up that crocodile infested creek and start in a business of his own, making use of the said crocks.

Behold hiin, then, alter a short space, at work witJi some assistants ho had prevailed upon to help him from tho village. Tho stream, or creek, near where it enters the stream 's stockaded across, thus allowing r nly water and small finny denizens of the stream to pass through. And many other stakes were also put across, forming pens, in .which crocodiles lived and flourished. There were old hoaryheaded reptiles of untold ages, young active ones swishing about in the creek, or middle-aged sedate ones sleeping out on the muddy banks, lying 'iko so many tree-trunks, their foul jaws slightly apart, showing an array of fearful teeth, and omitting a beastly odour. And Mahomed and Company would go slithering around seemingly quite at home with the samurian monsters, poking in tho mud, examining eggs, hatching there in the hot, filthy slime. And each egg that hatched saw Mahomed’s smile expand larger and larger, until, what with crocodiles hatching and hatched, one would say that the place, was run on a mass-pro-duction basis. Nor was our Malay farmer nnalive to the needs of his flocks’ gastronomic organs, for round Ins hut were many long-legged, skinny chickens and hens, and, snorting around, the more succulent small porker. He may have worked out a proper ration of albumenoids and carbohydrates for his creatures and calculated to a nice point how many pounds of pig make a hundredweight of live croc.

And when a, crocodile got to a longis'i length, or pay day canto along for Jos assist!!nts, then tvould they coax a crocodile on shore by fastening up a squealing porker, and, having “ enticed ” “ yo scaly one” front its base, suddenly cut olf its communications, or its line of retreat, and also cut off its life. Thou Hiey skinned the carcase, carefully throwing in the flesh to feed the living ones, dry it in the sun. and the morrow found Mahomed paddling down stream with a cargo of crocodile skins, bound for the police station. Arrived there, these he handed over, saving how he limited them in various parts of tho river, how lie had bravely killed them, and came in to claim the advertised reward. So that Mahomed got paid good dollars for his skins. He was congratulated for • doughty deeds, and was known all around ns the foe of all crocodiles, and a right valiant nutn to hoot. And very pleased ~ie people were at getting rid of so many crocs.

And the rains canto in due course, and still our crocodile catcher was in active business and had amassed a small fortune. But Mahomed was equally full of wisdom as cunning. Maybe, as a boy, lie had heard a certain talc of “carrying the pitcher to the well too often ” or maybe, a now district officer was more energetic, than tho last one in prying into places which wore dangerously near his business premises. Anyhow, lie decided that it was time to shut up shop and depart to other

parts of the country. So he sold out his business to his assistants, goodwill and all, and taking his Kola, ono night arrived at the village where Isa dwelt. Managing to get into communication with her, lie showed her a big. wad of dollars and try another business further down|she coast with Isa, as his active partpW And she? Well, she liked the look of the redoubtable Mahomed, and liked the look of those dollar notes, so when our erstwhile fanner seized her and carried her oil. her screams did not manage to awake the inhabitants.