I THE ORANG 49 



is too windy and cold there for him ; but, as sooti 

 as night draws on, he descends from the height 

 and seeks out a fit bed in the lower and darker 

 part, or in the leafy top of a small tree, among 

 which he prefers Nibong Palms, Pandani, or one of 

 those parasitic Orchids which give the primaeval 

 forests of Borneo so characteristic and striking 

 an appearance. But wherever he determines to 

 sleep, there he prepares himself a sort of nest : 

 little boughs and leaves are drawn together round 

 the selected spot, and bent crosswise over one 

 another ; while to make the bed soft, great leaves 

 of Ferns, of Orchids, of Pandanusfascicularis, Nipa 

 fruticans, &c., are laid over them. Those which 

 Mtiller saw, many of them being very fresh, were 

 situated at a height of ten to twenty-five feet above 

 the ground, and had a circumference, on the 

 average, of two or three feet. Some were packed 

 many inches thick with Pandanus leaves ; others 

 were remarkable only for the cracked twigs, which, 

 united in a common centre, formed a regular 

 platform. " The rude htit" says Sir James Brooke, 

 " which they are stated to build in the trees, 

 would be more properly called a seat or nest, for 

 it has no roof or cover of any sort. The facility 

 with which they form this nest is curious, and I 

 had an opportunity of seeing a wounded female 

 weave the branches together and seat herself, 

 within a minute." 



According to the Dyaks the Orang rarely leaves 



168 



