MYSTERY FILM :: Arnošt Vašíček :: LAKE MONSTER

'The calm surface of the lake suddenly became agitated. With a deep snort, strange beast's head suddenly emerged. The low short skull was dominated by large dark eyes, and a long tongue lolled out of its mouth. A massive serpentine neck rose over a metre above the water in close proximity to our boat. I didn't see its trunk in all the confusion. I had a terrible fright and let go of the paddle for a moment. The boat slowed. The monster stood there motionless, staring directly at us.

       My French passenger gathered his wits and began searching his backpack for a camera. The animal kept its eyes on us while slowly, one would say cautiously, going under. It was very strange.  This mysterious thing didn't flinch like other animals that get scared when they spot you and try to escape with a sudden quick movement. The creature, as if aware of its strength and superiority, retreated dignified into the depths. It sunk straight down slowly, but it didn't disappear completely. A few seconds later, we saw it swimming about thirty metres away from us. It was picking up speed and was steadily circling the boat. Its long serpentine body rose above the surface in arcs, creating waves. Then the animal suddenly changed direction and swam towards the bay.'

       Rak Idiris is a member of the Jakun ethnic group. He's been living on Chini Lake for over forty years. He had heard about this mysterious water creature, called Naga by the natives, since he was a child, but it wasn't until 1999 that he saw it face to face for the first time. And he wasn't alone. At the time, he was transporting a French botany student in his boat; this expanded the already extensive number of reliable eyewitnesses. 

     DRAGON FROM CHINI LAKE

       Chini Lake is the second largest natural body of water in Malaysia. It is made up of a series of twelve lakes, connected by a river and numerous canals. Belts of dense reeds and mangroves line the shores. In this area, one soon gets the feeling that he was somehow miraculously transported deep into prehistoric times. Stumps of rotting trees and huge culms of ferns rise from the swamps and coastal shallows. Giant goannas prowl the swampy underbrush and snakes lurk on overhanging branches. The shrill cries of hornbills rend the air.

      The landscape, still untouched by civilisation, abounds with rare trees and herbs. Gigantic trees with massive roots climb high into the sky. A plant similar to ginseng - the mysterious 'tonkgut ali' - which the natives believe to be a very strong aphrodisiac, grows in secret places.

      A tropical forest interwoven with ribbons of watercourses stretches from horizon to horizon. There are only a few places where the surface of the lake is empty for hundreds of metres in each direction, but in most places you can see protruding floating islands and vegetation. The boat often weaves its way through dense grasses, or carefully navigates under a kilometre-long arch of a narrow green tunnel formed by tall trees.     

     The complex labyrinth of natural canals, rivers and numerous meanders creates perfect hiding spots for even large aquatic animals. According to zoologists, over eighty species of freshwater fish live here, including the 'ikan tapah' that is a staggering five metres long.

     The Jakun people, who often fish in the lake, claim that an even greater animal hides in the depths - a giant water lizard with a snake-like body - the – naga 'Seri Gumum'. Many of them have seen this monster with their own eyes. Rak Idiris and I tried to find them.

         SEARCHING FOR EYEWITNESSES

        The deep forests in the central part of the Malay Peninsula are inhabited by the last 80,000 or so members of the original indigenous tribes. They are known to foreigners as Orang Asli, which means indigenous peoples. This generic name actually encompasses three distinct ethnicities: Negritos, Senoia and Proto-Malays, which also include the Jakun people. They are considered one of the most primitive groups in terms of their customs.

      It's as if time had stopped in the distant past. Men, armed with blowguns and poison arrows, organize hunts for wild boars, deer, snakes and monkeys. It is said that hunters can reliably hit their target from a distance of thirty metres. The jungle is their home, even though they are threatened by tigers, wild elephants, huge pythons and poisonous snakes. But they are uneasy when they set sail on the lake.  

      'I will never go fishing at night again,' says Nami, a young man. 'I set out on my boat from Melai, heading for the reed island where we often find fish. These fish also attracted the Naga. I could see in the bright moonlight how the floating tufts of grass began undulating strangely, as if they were being lifted up from below by an invisible force. It was windless and there is no undercurrent in this place. Then something lightly brushed against my boat and rocked it. I froze in fear. A large serpentine body appeared on the black surface before disappearing into the depths. This repeated itself a few times until I lost sight of the creature.'

         Forty-year-old Hussin has met the water dragon several times.

        'I was fifteen years old the first time. I was fishing with my father in Laut Jembareau, when a large beast suddenly rose from enormous waves. It was just ten or twelve metres away from us. In the torchlight we saw a monster with a menacing head and a snake-like body. It had no legs, just a body that was about nine metres long and thicker than our boat. His skin was gray, but his belly seemed pale. When the creature swam, part of it was visible above the water surface and part of it was submerged.'      

       Hunter Samit also saw the Naga twice. 'I was startled by an open mouth full of sharp teeth sweeping by the side of the boat. It had a thick but very agile trunk. It rippled in the water, creating arches on the surface. It swam very fast and completely differently than big fish do.'

       The shaman from the north shore almost caught the dragon. 'I went to check the nets I had set the night before early in the morning, and I could see from a distance that something is happening in the depths. The water on the surface was foaming and bubbling, and sometimes a dark shadow flickered in it. I thought it was 'iken tapeh - a large fish', and I looked forward to my catch. I prepared my spear to finish it off. I was about seven metres away when a massive long tail shot out of the water. When it hit the water again, it created a wave that rocked the boat. I sat on the bottom to prevent it from tipping over. Suddenly, a jagged head burst from the vortex with strings of the net around its neck. The dragon was swaying furiously as if it was trying to free the rest of its body from the net's grip. Then he shot up even higher. His scaly trunk rose in the air. He was grey with a hint of green. The skin on his yellow throat had a different, finer texture. His mouth resembled a triangle from below. Then the creature crashed down again, causing the water to splash high. I could clearly see him hunch his body and quickly swim away. There was no need to collect the net, almost nothing remained of it.' 

       The mystery of Chini Lake was extensively covered by The Straits Times, which printed the statements of other eyewitnesses in October 1991. One of them admitted to reporters that after meeting the Naga, he no longer had the courage to stay on the water longer than absolutely necessary. 'I couldn't do it even if they paid me.'

      The considerable number of eyewitnesses indicates that the water dragon 'Seri Gumum' is not a mere mythical creature, but a very real animal. However, the lack of information prevents us from reliably determining the species. Is it a completely unknown animal not described by science, or just an overgrown specimen of a common inhabitant of the forest? One of the most mysterious animals on our planet - the Sunda Gharial - lives in Malaysia.

It can grow to a length of four and a half metres. It is characterised by its narrow jaws that are used to catch fish, which is its main source of food. It primarily lives in freshwater lakes and near rivers. Not much is known of its habits. It likes to seek out abandoned places and hides in coastal vegetation. It is the most mysterious of all the twenty-two known species of crocodiles.

    Could the unknown animal from Chini Lake be an unusually large gharial?

    The natives rule this out. The gharial boasts beautiful skin typical for crocodiles, while the water dragon is scaly, and it does not have the distinct narrow jaws of the gharial. Its slender agile trunk resembles a snake rather than a lizard.

   Could this description be the solution to the mystery?

   Giant reticulated pythons live in the jungles on the banks of Chini Lake. Could a particularly large specimen of this reptile be mistaken for a lake monster?

 IN SEARCH OF MONSTERS

 Do ominous creatures lurk in the dark waters of the Great Lakes? Are mysterious humanoid beings hidden in the world's remote corners?

 To explore these questions, author and researcher Arnošt Vašíček embarked on expeditions across numerous countries. He was the first to film the sachama, a massive serpentine creature from the Amazon, confirming indigenous reports dating back over a thousand years. In Mali, he documented the Andambulu humanoids among the Dogon tribe. In Malaysia, he encountered the water dragon of Lake Chini, and in Sri Lanka, he searched for Niettavo, a smaller version of Bigfoot, with the Veda tribe.

 Vašíček's book, *In Search of Monsters*, compiles the most fascinating cases from his quest to uncover unknown creatures. It features a unique photograph of 20 cm tall dwarfs from Indonesia, a mummy of an unidentified creature from Peru, and the head and torso of a water monster. These surprising discoveries and eyewitness accounts suggest that even as we enter the third millennium, our planet may still harbor unknown beings reminiscent of prehistoric monsters.