the drain, when the convict
dexterously seized it by the tail, and, drawing it out, held it
tight by the neck. The convict then teased the snake with his
coarse flannel 'kumblie,' or blanket, and it struck at it
several times with its fangs; when, with a sudden jerk, the
convict drew out the fangs in the blanket, and the snake became
perfectly harmless.

"The snake was afterwards sent on board H.M. surveying
schooner _Saracen_, and getting loose on board was summarily
destroyed, for none on board had been told that its fangs had
been removed."

_The Crocodile._--Govindhoo, a convict employed at the Pulo Obin stone
quarries, was admitted into hospital with a lacerated leg, the foot
being almost severed from the body. He was visited by one of us, and
told his story as follows:--

"I was walking along the sea beach close to the water, when I
was suddenly seized from behind, and I at once saw that I was
in the jaws of a crocodile. I had nothing in my hand but my
'roomal,' or handkerchief, with my keys tied in one corner. I
hit at his head with this, but it was of no use, and finding
myself being dragged into deeper water, I suddenly thought I
could dig out both his eyes,[16] and I did it, and very shortly
afterwards he let me go, and I half swam, half paddled back to
the shore."

The convict's leg had to be amputated.

[Footnote 16: Literally gouged the animal.]

The Malays say that there are three descriptions of crocodiles,
or, as they call them, "buaya." The first is the "katak" or
frog crocodile, the second the "labu" or gourd crocodile, and
the third is the "tumbaga" or copper crocodile. The frog
crocodile is the most active, and we have often been told by
Malay boatmen, when going up a river, to keep our hands and
shoulders well within the boat, for fear of their sudden
attack. There are, however, known to our naturalists a dozen
or more different forms of the crocodile proper, and it is said
that they have been found up to thirty feet in length; but from
eighteen feet to twenty feet is the longest found in the
Straits of Malacca. They may often be seen in the Malay rivers,
and on the coast, floating in the water, with the snout well
above the surface, on the look out for prey.

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No. 7

The Chinese have one superstition amongst