CHAPTER IX 



LIFE IN THE JUNGLE 



All the peoples of Borneo support themselves in 

 part by hunting and trapping the wild creatures of 

 the jungle, but for the Punans alone is the chase 

 the principal source of food-supply ; the various 

 natural products of the jungle are, with the excep- 

 tion of cultivated sago in some few regions, their 

 only marketable commodities. 



Hunting 



The wild pig {Sus barbatus^) is the principal 

 object of the chase, but deer of several species are 

 also hunted and trapped. The largest of these 

 (Cervus equinus) is rather bigger than the English 

 fallow deer ; the smallest is plandok, or mouse deer 

 [Tragulus napu and T. Javanicus), standing only 

 about eight inches at the shoulder ; intermediate 

 in size is the muntjac (Cervulus muntjac). There 

 are also small herds of wild cattle {Bos sondaicus), 

 a small rhinoceros {R, sumatranus), large lizards 

 ( Varanus)y various apes and monkeys, and a large 

 porcupine {Hestrix Crassispinus), and several small 

 mammals, such as otters {Lutra), bear- cats 

 {Arctidis), and civet cats [Paradoaurus) of various 

 species, all of which are hunted for their flesh, as 



^ There are said to be two other less common species of wild pig, but 

 probably there is only one other. 



143 



