MARVELLOUS MALAYA

Southland Times, Issue 18965, 12 June 1923, Page 15

MARVELLOUS MALAYA

FLYING FROGS AND CLIMBING FISH: BRITISH ENGINEER'S STORY OF JUNGLE WONDERS. Birds that can be zezrd flying a mile away and other* that deep upeide down like green peen han:..ng to a branch, fish that climb tree* nad gaze at pas-•era-by, full grown c-.-er which one can put in a pocket, caakes that fight men and can swallor. a cow, fish one •an bounce like a rubber ball, parachuting frogs, jungle dwarfs, and many other creatures of unbelievable weirdness were described Ly Carveth Wells, Fellow of the Rtyal Geographical Society, just back from a six year visit to the Malay Peninsula. 0. H. Sherwood, Executive Secret ary of the American Museum of Natural History, in speaking for the institution said:— “Mr Wells is an engineer who was at first commissioned by the British Government to go into the jungles of Malaya to lay out a railroad, 2nd was there six years. During that time he observed what he saw, and what he has done is to take the strange aspects o nature and stress them so as to make it, at first glance, seem unbelievable. A' far as we are able to learn, he has made ao untrue statement, and the scientific facts he relates are correct.” The Malay Peninsula is the most south ern portion of Continental Asia, and Mr Wells attributes many of its oddities of nature to its strange climates. It forms part of Farther India and extends from Indo-Qiina southwards to Sumatra, beginning at the gulf of Siam. In its area of only 85,000 square miles is the densest jungle in the world. So dense is this jungle where Mr Wells worked surveying for a future railroad, that for nine months, he says he never saw the sky. He visited two sections where no whiteman had ever been, and travelled many miles of territory which had never been officially explored. THE STRANGE NEGRITO. Before telling of animals which are as curious as the most fantastic creatures of the most disturbed nightmares it may be to start with an animal whose relations we recognise. This animal is man—the dwarf negrito, or Semang, who is believed by some to be the nearest relative of the Simian ancestors of the human race. Mr Wells took a photo graph of these, the most primitive people in existence, and it is now in the American Museum of Natural History. So far as is known thia is the only photograph ever taken of thia primitive race. The photograph shows a man and two women with their babies, as they walk-, ed through the jungle, entirely unaware of the near presence of one of the beings who inspire them with such deadly terror. It was merely by accident that the engineer got the picture, when he planted himself in a blind to snap any stray deer that might pass. The dwarf trio, attracted by chips near a fallen tree, advanced on a tour of inspection and Mr Wells was able to work the shutter of his camera twice before they slunk, terrified, into the seemingly impenetrable depths from which they had come. “Even in the brief glimpse of the strange creatures that I was able to catch,” said Mr Wells, “I observed several interesting things. The children borne on their mothers’ breasts, were ill and their faces were distorted with pain, while large tears rolled down their cheeks.. Their mouths were wide open, but they -never emitted a sound, and I drew the conclusion that the timid Negrito teaches its young that even crying must be -done silently to avoid de tection by those of whom they stand in such mortal dread.” The male is only four feet six inches tall, according to the explorer, but he is well formed. His little toe is as long as his big one. He, like the orangoutang. builds a thatch house in the tree tops. This he does for protection from animals. This primitive man lives on lisards, snakes and roots. He does not worship idols, but has a conception of an angry deity which he must propitiate by offerings of fruit. A LUCKY SNAPSHOT. “He is ao primitive,” continued Mr Wells, “that he has no villages or any form of communal life. Though I was in the jungle six years, I never came in personal contact with any of the dwarf Negritos, and took my pictures only with the greatest amount of luck aiding me. The Malays, who consider themselves civilised, occasionally capture a dwarf and make a slave of him. The ape man, whose skeleton has been found in Java, is supposed to be the missing link between the orang-outang and the dwarf Negrito. “The Negrito dwarf is the lowest type of human being, not excepting the Australian aborigine. It is estimated that they number about 20,000, although none can do better than hazard a guess. They live like wild animals. They have neither houses or clothing. Their weapon is a blowpipe with darts poisoned with upas sap. “In many ways the Negrito is not as amenable to civilisation as the great orangoutang. The ape of Malay builds a very respectable house in the trees. It employea leaf for an umbrella when it rains. This is more than can be said of these little people. Their language is most primitive and it is said that they cannot count above three, any greater number deing designate, as ‘many,’ Apes, on the other hand, inn tate man with intelligence.” Mr Wells, in continuing the subject of apes, said that the peninsula was the habitat of the gibbon, the only ape that walks like a man. It is the smallest of the an thropoid apes. Of these the chimpanzee is the most intelligent. The gorilla is the largest. The orang-outang most closely resembles man. The gibbon, however, a** cording to Mr Wells, naturally and habitually walks erect. Other apes when they descend to the ground, which is rarely, make progress by placing their knuckles on the ground and by half dragging their leg;. STRANGE WEATHER, TOO. There is no dry season and no wet season there and the result is that nature is very much upset. Fcr in stance, the explorer told of seeing two pigeons in the same tree, one of which was molting and the other nesting; also friut trees in the same garden, some blossoming and some bearing fruit. Darwin had a theory that in a country where there were no seasons bees would net make honey. Mr Wells, however, said that he had seen honey hives so large that they fell to the ground o. their own weight, and because this habeen going on for so many ages, the., natives mined for beeswax as if it were coal buried deep in the ground. The bustard qual is one of the strange birds which Mr Wells is introducing The male is very small and ugly, and the female, contrary to the usual run of things in bird life, is large and very brilliant in colouring. The beautiful female consents to lay the eggs, but then her work is finished. The cock is forced to sit on the eggs and hatch them, while his mate attends to her toilet and makes herself strong. She must be strong, for in the mating season the female fights for the male just as the male battles for the possession of a mate in these parts. Paroquets, or serindit, as they are called here, sleep upside down. When Mr Wells was asked why they adopted this unusual pose for rest he answered that he did not know, unless it was because they liked it. Most interesting of all the birds described is the one that makes a noise like a train and can be heard flying more than a mile away. “When you arrive in Malay, if it happens to be low tide,” said Mr Wells, “you will see fish walking about taking the air and climbing trees in order to get a good look at you. This may seem surprising, but got to the jungle and you will find earthworms coming out to.

sing to you. The fish I speak of happens to be the climbing perch, and can stay out of the water as long as its gills are wet—about twenty minutes. It climbs by means of gills and its front fins.” TIGERS WON’T EAT YOU. There is one interesting tradition regarding animals that Mr Wells refutes. He says that wild animals are not wild. The jungle there abounds with lions and tigers, yet Mr Wells said he was never troubled by them. He contends that the man-eating tiger is an abnormal animaL Every one that has been captured, he said, has been examined and found to be diseased, or to have broken teeth. Normal tigers do not attack, unless they are first attacked, because they can get all the food they want much more easily. “The most dangerous thing in the Malay,” he continued, “is the hamadryad, or king cobra, the biggest of all poisonous serpents. He is a cannibal and lives on other snakes. Also he is the only snake in the world that will attack a man. Of course, the real danger from this snake is to interfere with it. If you kill one, another will come out looking for vengeance. They not only will attack you, but chase you. “My wife, who was with me four years in the jungle, was attacked by a hamadryad in the compound of our camp. She was on the way to take a bath in our outdoor bathroom when she saw a huge snake hiding and evidently waiting for her. “She had no more than seen it when the snake started for her. She ran a few paces and grabbed up a bamboo stick, which she used to sweep the serpent away. All the time she was calling for help. One of the coolies heard her and rushed in and killed the snake with a heavy club. The snake was nine feet long, and we learned later that the same coolie had killed its mate earlier that morning.

“Cocoanut and fruit trees abound in Malay and monkeys are maintained to gather the nuts. These monkeys have tails about an inch long and are extremely intelligent. When nuts are needed the Malay summons his ape attendant and leads him to a convenient tree. Something like this ensues: “ ‘Come new,’ says the Malay, ‘climb that tree and get me a nut.’ “Up goes the ape and, of course, selects the smallest and most accessible of the bunch. “ ‘Not that one,” shouts the master. ‘The big one—over there.’ “The ape chatters angrily, makes faces, and after repeated urgings finally twists loose the nut and drops it. This is repeated until the harvest is sufficient and the animal is rec. This no doubt is the origin cf the travel ’.er’s tale of monkeys hurling nuts on passing wayfarers. “One of the prime amusements of the Malay is fighting fish. Two fish are kept in separate bottles and exhibited before the battle. Wagers are freely given and taken on the outcome of the battle between these small fish, one and one-half inches long. Some of the champions have records equaling that of Jack Dempsey. When all is ready the fish are placed in the same bottle and the fight starts. It continues until one combatant sinks to the bottom.” But for fish stories this one from the explorer takes the blue ribbon, although it is said to be a common story in the Malay Peninsula. They tell about a. fish you can play ball with. It is the puffer fish and by way of being the poorest fish among fish. When the Malay fishermen returns from a day's catch his naked children rush out asku#r for this unfortunate water creature. If the children find one in the basket, and the chances are that they will, for there are usually one or two out of a catch of edibles, they rub the stomach of the fish on the ground. W’ith each rub the fish takes in a new puff of air until finally it ie swelled up like a balloon. The youngsters bounce it on the ground and toss it about like a ball. When they get tired of this they throw it back into a tub of water, where it floats about until it has exhaled this excess of air and goes swimming away none the worse for the game. “There are five animals in Malaya which can fly,” said he. “Wallace’s flying frog is one. This is a freg which can jump out of a tree* and soar on the air by means of its web feet. Then there is the flying lemur, commonly called the flying cat. This creature jumps off some high place and parachutes to the ground. And also the flying dragon, a very beautifully colcured lizard which is able to fly from one tree to another by distending its skin very much as the prehistoric birds without feathers were able to fly.”