Death of Infant Mias, 57 



all this time it had not grown the least bit, remaining, both 

 in size and weight, the same as when I first procured it. 

 This was no doubt owing to the want of milk or other equal- 

 ly nourishing food. Rice-water, rice, and biscuits were but 

 a poor substitute, and the expressed milk of the cocoa-nut 

 which I sometimes gave it did not quite agree with its stom- 

 ach. To this I imputed an attack of diarrhoea from which 

 the poor little creature suffered greatly, but a small dose of 

 castor-oil operated well, and cured it. A week or two after- 

 ward it was again taken ill, and this time more seriously. 

 The symptoms were exactly those of intermittent fever, ac- 

 companied by watery swellings on the feet and head. It 

 lost all appetite for its food, and, after lingering for a week a 

 most pitiable object, died, after being in my possession near- 

 ly three months. I much regretted the loss of my little pet, 

 which I had at one time looked forAvard to bringing up to 

 years of maturity, 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 entomologizing excursion 

 when Charles* rushed in out of breath with running and ex- 

 citement, and exclaimed, interrupted by 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 



' Charles Allen, an English lad of sixteen, accompanied me as an assistant. 



