Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 116
Rungus longhouse, northern Borneo.
the guns of poachers from the peninsula looking for skins and feathers. They
can occasionally be seen in the distance, fl ying above the trees. And other
animals are in short supply as well. In a day-long hike near the immense Mulu
caves I managed to spot one small and extremely worried-looking squirrel.
As we saw in Chapter 5, the removal of top-predator animals and birds from
these forests will have a devastating long-term impact on their diversity even
when the forests themselves remain intact.
The dynamics of the Great Migration
The Great Migration was not some inexorable march of peoples determined
to reach Australia. It was a far slower and more dif use process. Small groups
of people fanned out into unpopulated country, establishing encampments
and adapting to the new conditions that they found. Many of these tribal
groups, isolated for long periods, developed unique languages and cultures.
