174 ^'^^^ Orang Hunt in Borneo 



This is where the orang makes his home. Home is hardly an 

 accurate word to use, for the orang's home is wherever night 

 happens to overtaken him. When darkness falls, the animal selects 

 some small tree with a bushy top, where he soon builds his nest. 

 This nest, or "lampin," as the Dyaks call it, is a platform of leaf- 

 covered branches placed in a secure place in the tree. In making 

 it, the animal reaches out in every direction and breaks off or 

 bends over all of the branches it can grasp. These are arranged 

 in a careless manner so as to form a rude but substantial plat- 

 form or nest, the smaller leafy branches serving to make it quite 

 comfortable. Here the orang-outang sleeps, flat on his back, one 

 or both feet firmly grasping a limb of the tree, with perhaps one 

 hand similarly employed. Mr. Hornaday is of the opinion that 

 the same nest is occupied for several successive nights, but care- 

 ful inquiries among the Dyaks lead me to believe that it is more 

 probable it is used but once, the animal preferring to build a new 

 nest, to returning, even for a short distance, to an old one. These 

 deserted nests are very abundant in the jungle, especially along 

 the edges of small streams. A wounded orang will often betake 

 itself to some high tree and hastily built a nest as a protec- 

 tion against the bullets of its pursuers. If these happen to be 

 Dyaks, with their old rusty flintlocks, such protection serves its 

 purpose admirably, but of course it is worthless against 45-90 

 Winchesters. 



Two or three methods may be followed in hunting the orang- 

 outang. The best is by boat, using a small "dug-out," with two 

 Dyaks to paddle. By following along the small streams and water 

 ways cut through the swamps by the Dyaks, one can move very 

 quietly and can cover a long distance in a day. The chances of 

 success are good, as the orangs frequently resort to the edges 

 of these small streams for the purpose of feeding on the tender 

 shoots of the ''bladdin," or screw pine. Another method is to 

 hunt over the hills, or just along the edge of the swamp, while the 

 third is to wade right into the swamp after the game. This 

 method is .not very satisfactory, and involves the hunter in ex- 

 ceedingly hard work. It is much more successfully done by 

 the almost naked Dyaks, who have spent the most of their lives 

 wading in these very swamps. ^ 



My first successful hunt after orangs was comparatively easy 

 work. We had gone a full day's journey up the Simangang river, 



