The Advance

RUNNING AMUCK.

THOUGH in the school geographies the Malays are the type of one of the five great races, they are in numbers but a small fraction of mankind. And well indeed it is that such is the case, for they are killers from away back. They are of a peculiar, nervous constitution. Every one habitually carries a knife or short sharp sword, and on occasion any Malay is liable to take a murderous fit.

"Even in Singapore," says a British officer in a recent report on that city, "sheer excitement will often cause a Malay to break into an amuck, but in every such case I think it will be found that the amucker was a man accustomed to frequent fighting in wild communities."

"A big 'durbar' was held not long ago at Sandakan, in British North Borneo. The various wild Dyak chiefs present were all being kindly treated and honored, if only for policy's sake. An old brother officer of mine stepped out from the reception hall for a breath of fresh air in the open. The overstrained excitement of a wild Dyak sitting near by snapped at the sudden apparition of the white man from the mysterious interior. With a yell he leaped, and with a razor-edged kris cut at the unfortunate officer's head, cleaving a gash in his face which took twelve months in Piccadilly to heal. Before he could repeat the blow he was cut down and overpowered by the surrounding natives, and lived to regret his excitement and control his nerves."

Nice sort of people these to have about the house! But it has been clearly proved that the desire to "run amuck," like any other criminal desire, can be controlled, for when a British governor recently announced that he would hang, cremate and scatter the ashes of any amucker, and actually did it in one case, there were no more for a year. Killing they did not mind—that only sent them to Malay heaven, but scattering the body, as they believed, left them with no hope for the future.

The deliberate amucker, says the same British officer, usually prepares himself by smoking intoxicating drugs till he is frantic. Then he will spring up and attack the nearest person with one or two savage slashes. Such person being taken by surprise is generally wounded to the death, while the smoker, having burned his ships behind him and intoxicated with the sight and aroma of blood, dashes out for a wild mad dog run in the open, striking savagely at anything living in his way.

The cry of "Amok! Amok!" is raised with the same promptitude as that of "Mad dog!" in our streets, and all those who have nerve enough to leap nimbly one side have little difficulty in avoiding the temporary madman's beeline career. Many, however, paralyzed with terror, suffer the consequences of weak nerves and impeding obstacle in the runner's path. It is permitted to all and any person to shoot, cut down or otherwise dispose of the life of a madman running amuck.

Little by little the British are reducing the amuck business to a minimum. Recently they have armed their native policemen with short rifles and taught them marksmanship, and now when a Malay starts "amuck" he generally stops in a few rods with a bullet in his vitals.