SEA TRAGEDY OF THE JUNGLE FOLK 135 



directions when we started them by pulling on the 

 ropes. I allowed myself to be guided entirely by 

 the judgment of the natives; they appreciated my 

 confidence and took care to see that the work was 

 done accurately. 



The hacking of the parangs and the conversation 

 attracted hundreds of jungle animals, including 

 many of the smaller orang-outangs. We did not 

 molest them, and they grew bolder, until we had a 

 large, chattering, screaming audience watching us 

 work. 



Long before the two big brutes came back to 

 their home, we were on our way to Omar's kam- 

 pong, with the first stage of the work completed. 

 The jungle as we left it did not appear greatly dif- 

 ferent from the way it looked when we arrived. I 

 knew that the orang-outangs would realize that 

 some one had been there, and yet I was fairly cer- 

 tain that the absence of human beings would re- 

 assure them. And, too, they would have several 

 days to accustom themselves to whatever changes 

 they noticed. 



At the kampong, I called the men together again, 

 this time for an informal council. I told them that 

 I had considered carefully everything they had said 

 the day before, and that, after inspecting the loca- 

 tion, I had come to the conclusion that we could 

 easily capture the animals. It would be simply a 

 matter of rapid work and of each man's thoroughly 

 understanding his job. Drawing a circle on the 



