68 Borneo — The Okang-Utan. 



I looked about for a jDlace to skin him, but not a bit of dry 

 ground was to be seen, till at last I found a clump of two or 

 three old trees and stumps, between which a few feet of soil 

 had collected just above the water, and which was just large 

 enough for us to drag the animal upon it. I first measured 

 him, and found him to be by far the largest I had yet seen, 

 for though the standing height was the same as the others 

 (4 feet 2 inches), yet the outstretched arms were V feet 9 

 inches, which was six inches more than the previous one, and 

 the immense broad face was 13|- inches wide, whereas the 

 widest I had hitherto seen was only 11|- inches. The girth 

 of the body was 3 feet 1^ inches. I am inclined to believe, 

 therefore, that the length and strength of the arms, and the 

 width of the face, continues increasing to a very great age, 

 while the standing height, from the sole of the foot to the 

 crown of the head, rarely if ever exceeds 4 feet 2 inches. 



As this was the last mias I shot, and the last time I saw an 

 adult living animal, I will give a sketch of its general habits, 

 and any other facts connected with it. The oi"ang-utan is 

 known to inhabit Sumatra and Borneo, and there is every 

 reason to believe that it is confined to these two great islands, 

 in the former of which, however, it seems to be much more 

 rare. In Borneo it has a wide range, inhabiting many dis- 

 tricts on the south-west, south-east, north-east, and north- 

 west coasts, but appears to be chiefly confined to the low and 

 swampy forests. It seems, at first sight, very inexplicable 

 that the mias should be quite unknown in the Sarawak valley, 

 while it is abundant in Sambas on the west, and Sadong on 

 the east. But when we knoAv the habits and mode of life 

 of the animal, we see a sufticient reason for this apparent 

 anomaly in the physical features of the Sarawak district. In 

 the Sadong, where I observed it, the mias is only found when 

 the country is low, level, and swampy, and at the same time 

 covered with a lofty virgin forest. From these swamps rise 

 many isolated mountains, on some of which the dyaks have 

 settled, and covered with plantations of fruit-trees. These 

 are a great attraction to the mias, which comes to feed on 

 the unripe fruits, but always retires to the swamp at night. 

 "Where the country becomes slightly elevated and the soil 

 dry, the mias is no longer to be found. For exapij)le, in all 



