272 HUNTING THE ORANfi. 



Captain Rodney Mundy, in his work on " Borneo and Celebes," 

 has a good many things to say about the Orang, and amongst 

 the rest, he gives us a spirited account of an Orang shooting 

 adventure. The captain was going up the Sadong river with 

 a party of natives, for the express purpose of seeing the Orang in 

 his own woods. On reaching a part of the stream where the 

 river widens out into a broad forest lake, they suddenly came in 

 sight of one of the gentlemen, quietly seated amid the branches 

 of a tree on the banks of the stream. Startled by the noise, the 

 animal made off before the captain and his party could land ; 

 but, immediately they reached the bank, a hot pursuit was com- 

 menced, the Orang being seen from time to time, as he slowly 

 passed from tree to tree in advance, while his pursuers struggled 

 on through the jungle beneath. Presently, after crossing a 

 slight ridge of elevated land, the sportsmen were brought up by 

 a dark, deep, ugly-looking swamp, over which the Orang, with 

 outstretched arms, swung himself along. Finding that his pur- 

 suers had halted, he stopped too, and from the top of a tree kept 

 up an occasional grunting bark. Not to be daunted, the captain 

 threw off his trousers and shoes, and followed by several of the 

 natives, plunged into the swamp, where he soon found himself 

 struggling up to his shoulders, with the rifle in one hand and 

 the ammunition in the other. As they advanced, the water 

 luckily shoaled to the waist, and they had time to look for the 

 Orang, which was still seated in the position he had at first 

 taken up. The captain and a native chief now fired together at 

 a distance of about forty-five yards, and it was evident that one 

 or both balls had taken effect, for the monster went more and 

 more slowly from one tree to another ; while the sportsmen kept 

 loading and firing as fast as their situation allowed, and, wading 

 here and there, enjoyed the full excitement of the sport. The 

 woods rang with shot and the shouts of the Dyaks, who, waving 

 their spears and brandishing their swords, rushed from one spot 

 to another to catch a glimpse of the devoted brute. At length a 

 fortunate shot from the captain's rifle, through the creature's 

 head, brought him from the top of a lofty tree, crashing through 

 the branches, with a heavy splash into the water, and finished 

 the sport. The animal proved to be one of the smaller species, 

 termed by the natives the Mias rembi, and measured four feet 

 one inch in length. 



