old tale of frail woman, and she gave birth to a child, which, to the astonishment of all, was human only to the waist, underneath that it took the shape of a serpent. The parents, knowing she had no lover among the young men of the village, naturally suspected something supernatural, and their thoughts reverted to the fact that they had often observed a snake crawling across the yard at a certain time, but had not interfered with the harmless reptile. Now, however, they kept watch, and, when the snake appeared, killed it, which action proved so unpropitious that it was resolved never again to kill a snake, but this was not the worst, for the act roused such a spirit of revenge among the serpents that they all swore an eternal enmity towards mankind. By the aid of the priestesses they were deprived of the faculty of assuming other than their natural shape, thus limiting their power of doing evil; ever since, however, the bite of the bulong has proved fatal, and that of many other snakes causes great suffering.
It may be here added that when a man is bit by a "bulong" snake the vicinity is searched, and the first specimen found is tied up near the sufferer. If the man dies—as is nearly always the case—the snake is roasted to death; if, however, the suction applied in such cases to the wound arrests the poison and he recovers, the snake is released.
Few proverbs are found among the aborigines, certainly none worth recording. The same may be said of riddles. Nicknames abound, but would lose all their significance in translation.
The wave of Chinese immigration has already rolled in among this people, but born traders as the Chinese are, they are matched by the east-coast aborigines. The trading instinct bequeathed to them by their Malay progenitors has slumbered for long yet readily responds to the call, and in the zest with which the vocation is pursued old traditions and customs are being quickly forgotten. Although for different reasons—for the Chinese officials are paternal in their dealings with the southern "savages"—to those who would wish to study the aborigines as such, South Cape must regretfully echo the call of North Cape, " Come quickly or you will be too late."
South Cape, Formosa,
September, 1886.
