A Battle-Royal “You Dirty Boy”--Bavarian “Death-Boards”--An Extraordinary Sacrifice, etc., etc.
Our first photograph represents what must have been a battle-royal, and one which ended fatally for all concerned. It took place during the night, in the back yard of a house in Central Queensland, Australia, and the combatants were all found dead in the morning exactly as seen in the photograph. It is supposed that the snake must have bitten the kitten, and the mother cat, coming to its rescue, fought the snake and broke its back, but not before she had been fatally bitten herself. Cats are well known to be very clever at breaking snakes’ backs with their claws.
[Illustration: A BATTLE ROYAL WHICH ENDED FATALLY FOR ALL CONCERNED--THE SNAKE KILLED THE KITTEN, AND THE MOTHER, COMING TO THE RESCUE, KILLED THE SERPENT, BUT SUCCUMBED HERSELF TO THE SNAKE’S BITE.
The top snapshot on the next page was taken during a tramp through the jungly district around Sourabaya, a small town in Java. The picture shows a Javanese woman washing her child under a falling stream of water. Evidently the youngster is not enjoying the performance, and evinces his disapproval of the proceedings by kicking out in all directions and struggling vigorously. As a result of these contortions the outline of his body in the picture is rather obscure. It is interesting to note how the water has been brought to the rudely-constructed circle of masonry which serves as a reservoir. Having no system of pipes to facilitate the distribution of water, the natives fall back on Nature to assist them in this direction. They cut down betelnut trees, split them in half from top to bottom, and scoop out the inside substance, thus making a series of cylindrical troughs. These are dried in the sun, after which a number of them, joined end to end and placed at a gentle slope, will convey water from any natural source to within convenient distance of a village or group of houses. The end of one of these artificial water-courses is seen in the picture.
[Illustration: “YOU DIRTY BOY”--A JAVANESE MOTHER WASHING HER CHILD IN A “HOME-MADE AQUEDUCT.”
Here is a curious little snapshot from Java. The ancient cannon seen in the photograph is situated near the railway station at Batavia, the capital of the island, and is believed by the natives to possess the peculiar power--particularly strange in the case of so incongruous an object as a cannon--of enabling childless married people to raise a family. In pursuance of this strange belief many offerings are placed by the superstitious near the cannon; three are seen in the foreground of the photograph. Another legend which attaches to this particular gun is to the effect that when it and another piece of ordnance, which is also situated somewhere in the island, are brought together, the Javanese will become a great and independent nation.