60 Borneo — The Orang-Utan, 



the face broadened out to a ridge or fold at each side. His 

 outstretched arms measured seven feet three inches across, 

 and his height, measuring fairly from the top of the head to 

 the heel, was four feet two inches. The body just below the 

 arms was three feet two inches round, and was quite as long 

 as a man's, the legs being exceedingly short in j)roportion. 

 On examination, we found he had been dreadfully wounded. 

 Both legs were broken, one hip-joint and the root of the spine 

 completely shattered, and two bullets were found flattened 

 in his neck and jaws ! Yet he was still alive when he fell. 

 The two Chinamen carried him home tied to a pole, and I 

 was occupied with Charley the whole of the next day, pre- 

 paring the skin and boiling the bones to make a perfect 

 skeleton, which are now preserved in the Museum at Derby. 



About ten days after this, on June 4, some Dyaks came to 

 tell us that the day before amias had nearly killed one of their 

 companions. A few miles down the river there is a Dyak 

 house, and the inhabitants saw a large orang feeding on the 

 young shoots of a palm by the river-side. On being alarm- 

 ed, he retreated toward the jungle which was close by, and 

 a number of the men, armed with spears and choppers, ran 

 out to intercept him. The man who was in front tried to 

 run his spear through the animal's body, but the mias seized 

 it in his hands, and in an instant got hold of the man's arm, 

 which he seized in his mouth, making his teeth meet in the 

 flesh above the elbow, which he tore and lacerated in a 

 dreadful manner. Had not the others been close behind, the 

 man would have been more seriously injured, if not killed, as 

 he was quite powerless, but they soon desti-oyed the creature 

 with their spears and choppers. The man remained ill for 

 a long time, and never fully recovered the use of his arm. 



They told me the dead mias was still lying where it had 

 been killed, so I offered them a reward to bring it up to our 

 landing-place immediately, which they.promised to do. They 

 did not come, however, till the next day, and then decomposi- 

 tion had commenced, and great patches of the hair came off", 

 so that it was useless to skin it. This I regretted much, as 

 it was a very fine full-grown male. I cut off" the head and 

 took it home to clean, while I got my men to make a close 

 fence about five feet high round the rest of the body, which 



