The hunters, having kept the log in sight, then attach the
ends of the rattans to the boat, tow the reptile to the bank, and
haul him up on dry land. They secure his tail and feet with nooses,
which they lash to a pole laid along his back, and lash his jaws
together. Throughout these operations the crocodile is addressed
deferentially as LAKI (grandfather). He is then left exposed to
the sun, when he soon dies; in this way the people avoid the risks
attaching to slaying the crocodile with their own hands.
CHAPTER 9
Life in the Jungle
All the peoples of Borneo support themselves in part by hunting and
trapping the wild creatures of the jungle, but for the Punans alone
is the chase the principal source of food-supply; the various natural
products of the jungle are, with the exception of cultivated sago in
some few regions, their only marketable commodities.
Hunting
The wild pig (SUS BARBATUS[53]) is the principal object of the chase,
but deer of several species are also hunted and trapped. The largest
of these (CERVUS EQUINUS) is rather bigger than the English fallow
deer; the smallest is plandok, or mouse deer (TRAGULUS NAPU and
T. JAVANICUS), standing only about eight inches at the shoulder;
intermediate in size is the muntjac (CERVULUS MUNTJAC).
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