Pagan races of the Malay Peninsula - Sabrizain.org

CHAPTER IV.
Hunting, Trapping, and Fishing.
Although the aboriginal tribes of the Peninsula do
not usually resort to the hunting of game until their
supply of vegetable food begins to give out, and they
thence begin to feel the pressure of want, yet from the
moment they set out on the chase they shake off their
apparent apathy and appear as if transformed, show-
ing themselves most keen, clever, and determined
hunters. Their rate of progress through even the
thickest parts of the jungle has already been noticed.
In shooting, they are most careful and accurate, seldom
wasting an arrow or a dart, and simple as their
weapons may appear to us, they are able with these
imperfect means to attack and destroy both the elephant
and the tiger. Their powers of scent, sight, and
hearing are very fully developed ; they are credited
with the power of tracking snakes (which, however,
have a fairly strong odour) by their smell alone.
Their knowledge of the movements of game amounts
to intuition ; they know better than any one the rare
hot springs and " salt licks " where the wild beasts
congregate, the small cleared patches on lonely
mountain-heights where the argus pheasant " dances,"
or the monkey-king hunts for grubs, and the far-off