Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
curator, states 'that it is by no means one of the largest size;' which means that it is about 4
feet high!
Having these undoubted examples of error in the dimensions of Orangs, it is not too much
to conclude that Mr. St. John's friend made a similar error of measurement, or rather, per-
haps, of memory; for we are not told that the dimensions were noted down
at the time they
were made
. The only figures given by Mr. St. John on his own authority are that 'the head
was 15 inches broad by 14 inches long.' As my largest male was 13½ broad across the face,
measured as soon as the animal was killed, I can quite understand that when the head ar-
rived at Saráwak from the Batang Lupar, after two if not three days' voyage, it was so
swollen by decomposition as to measure an inch more than when it was fresh. On the whole,
therefore, I think it will be allowed, that up to this time we have not the least reliable evid-
ence of the existence of Orangs in Borneo more than 4 feet 2 inches high.
