The crocodile-wizard is sometimes credited with the power of calling the crocodile-folk together, and of discovering a man-eater among them, and an eye-witness lately described to me the scene on one such occasion. A Malay had been carried off and devoured by a crocodile at Larut, and a Batu Bara man, who went by the sobriquet of Nakhoda Hassan, undertook to discover the culprit. Sprinkling some of the usual sacrificial rice-paste (tĕpong tawar) and “saffron” rice upon the surface of the river, he called out in loud tones to the various tribes of crocodiles in the river, and summoned them to appear on the surface. My informant declares that not less than eight or ten crocodiles actually appeared, whereupon the Pawang commanded them all to return to the bottom with the exception of the one which was guilty. In a few moments only one crocodile remained on the surface, and this one, on being forthwith killed and cut open, was found to contain the garments of the unfortunate man who had been captured by it. Similar stories of the prowess of crocodile charmers are told by the Javanese.[291]
I shall now proceed to describe the methods and ceremonies used for the catching of crocodiles. The following is a description by Mr. J. H. M. Robson, of Selangor, of the most usual method, at all events in Selangor, but it would appear from remarks upon the subject in Dr. Denys’ work, that live as well as dead bait is commonly used:—
“A small piece of hard wood, about 6 in. or 8 in. long, and about three-quarters of an inch thick, is sharpened at both ends, and to the middle of this the end of a yard of twine is firmly fastened, the twine having about a dozen strands just held together by say a couple of knots, so as to prevent the crocodile from biting it through, as the strands simply get between his teeth; to the other end of this twine is fastened a single uncut rattan, at least 20 feet long, which can be only a quarter of an inch in diameter, but may with advantage be a little bigger; a small stick affixed to the end of the line, to act as a visible float, completes this part of the gear. Probably a crocodile will eat anything, but he is certainly partial to chicken—at least that bait is always successful in the Sepang river—so, having killed some sort of fowl, the body is cut right through the breast lengthways from head to tail, and the small piece of pointed hard wood inserted, and the bird bound up again with string. Next, two pieces of light wood are nailed together, forming a small floating platform about a foot square, and on this the fowl is placed, raised on miniature trestles. The small platform thus furnished is placed in a likely spot near the bank, and the rattan line is hitched over a small branch or a stake, so that the bait platform may not be carried away by the tide. By the next morning the rattan line, bait and platform may all have disappeared, which probably means that the crocodile, having swallowed the fowl, has gone off with the rattan in tow, a tug being sufficient to set it free, whilst the platform, thus released, has drifted away. A crocodile will try the aggressive sometimes, so, when going in pursuit, it is better to have a boat than a sampan,[292] but Malay paddles are the most convenient in either case. It is also advisable to have a second man with a rifle. The crocodile has probably a favourite place up-stream, so the boatmen paddle up on the look-out for the rattan (which always floats), finding it at length close to the mangrove roots bordering on the river, perhaps. The boat-hook picks up the floating-stick end of the line, and, with a couple of boatmen on to this and a crocodile at the other end, with the small pointed hard wood stick across his throat, the excitement begins. The crocodile plunges about amidst the mangrove roots under the water, and then makes a rush; the rattan is paid out again and the boat follows; then he rushes under the boat, perhaps at the boat, whilst the line is steadily pulled in. This sort of thing may last some time, but the only thing to be afraid of is the rattan’s getting twisted round a bakau[293] root under water, which might prevent a capture; otherwise, after a good deal of playing of a rather violent nature, the continual pulling of the rattan-holders in the boat, or his own aggressiveness, induces him to show his head above the surface, whereat the rifles crack, and the crocodile dies, though often not till four or five bullets have been put into different parts of his body.”[294]
I will now proceed to describe the religious ceremonies which accompany this performance.
The following outline of the ceremonies used in catching a crocodile who is known to be a man-eater, was taken down by me from the mouth of a noted crocodile-wizard on the Langat river. First, you take strips of bark of a river-side bush or tree called baru-baru (which must be cut down at a single stroke), and fasten them together at each end only, so that they form a rope with divided (unravelled) strands. This will form that part of your tackle which corresponds to the gut (pĕrambut) of a fishing line, (i.e. the part just above the hook), and the advantage of it is that the loose strands get between the crocodile’s teeth, and prevent it from being bitten through as a rope would certainly be.
Next, you take a piece of the bottommost rung of a house-ladder (anak tangga bongsu), and sharpen it to a point at both ends, so as to form a cross-piece (palang) such as will be likely to stick in the crocodile’s throat. Having fastened one end of the “gut” round the middle of the cross-piece, and the other to your rattan line, the length of which may be from ten to fifteen fathoms or so, according to the depth of the river at the spot where the crocodile is supposed to lie, you must next cut down a young tree to serve as the pole (chanchang) to which the floating platform and bait may be subsequently attached. This pole may be of any kind of wood except bamboo; so when you have found a suitable tree, take hold of it with the left hand and chop at it thrice with the right, saying a charm as you do so—
“Peace be with you, O Prophet Tĕtap, in whose charge is the earth,
Peace be with you, O Prophet Noah, Planter of Trees,
I petition for this tree to serve as a mooring-post for my crocodile-trap;
If it is to kill him (the crocodile), do you fall supine,