Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The symptoms were exactly those of intermittent fever, accompanied by watery swellings
on the feet and head. It lost all appetite for its food, and, after lingering for a week a most pi-
tiable object, died, after being in my possession nearly three months. I much regretted the
loss of my little pet, which I had at one time looked forward to bringing up to years of ma-
turity, and taking home to England. For several months it had afforded me daily amusement
by its curious ways and the inimitably ludicrous expression of its little countenance. Its
weight was three pounds nine ounces, its height fourteen inches, and the spread of its arms
twenty-three inches. I preserved its skin and skeleton, and in doing so found that when it fell
from the tree it must have broken an arm and a leg, which had, however, united so rapidly
that I had only noticed the hard swellings on the limbs where the irregular junction of the
bones had taken place.
Exactly a week after I had caught this interesting little animal I succeeded in shooting a
full-grown male Orang-utan. I had just come home from an entomologising excursion when
gasps, 'Get the gun, sir,—be quick,—such a large Mias!' 'Where is it?' I asked, taking hold
of my gun as I spoke, which happened luckily to have one barrel loaded with ball. 'Close
by, sir—on the path to the mines—he can't get away.' Two Dyaks chanced to be in the
house at the time, so I called them to accompany me, and started off, telling Charley to bring
all the ammunition after me as soon as possible. The path from our clearing to the mines led
along the side of the hill a little way up its slope, and parallel with it at the foot a wide open-
ing had been made for a road, in which several Chinamen were working, so that the animal
could not escape into the swampy forest below without descending to cross the road or as-
cending to get round the clearings. We walked cautiously along, not making the least noise,
and listening attentively for any sound which might betray the presence of the Mias, stop-
ping at intervals to gaze upwards. Charley soon joined us at the place where he had seen the
creature, and having taken the ammunition and put a bullet in the other barrel we dispersed a
little, feeling sure that it must be somewhere near, as it had probably descended the hill, and
would not be likely to return again. After a short time I heard a very slight rustling sound
overhead, but on gazing up could see nothing. I moved about in every direction to get a full
view into every part of the tree under which I had been standing, when I again heard the
same noise but louder, and saw the leaves shaking as if caused by the motion of some heavy
animal which moved off to an adjoining tree. I immediately shouted for all of them to come
up and try and get a view, so as to allow me to have a shot. This was not an easy matter, as
the Mias had a knack of selecting places with dense foliage beneath. Very soon, however,
one of the Dyaks called me and pointed upwards, and on looking I saw a great red hairy
