loo TIIROrCH CI-NTRAL BORNEO 



terminatctl. A Malay, the only hunter in Saniplt, told 

 mc that some are so old that they can no longer climb 

 trees. WTien wounded an orang-utan cries like a child 

 in quite an uncanny manner, as a Dutch friend informed 

 me. According to the Dayaks, it will wrest the spear 

 from its attacker and use it on him. They also maintain, 

 as stated elsewhere, that orang-utans, contrary to the 

 generally accepted belief, are able to swim. Mr. B. 

 Brouers, of Bandjermasin, has seen monkeys swim; the 

 red, the gray, and the black are all capable of this, he 

 said. 



From a reliable source I have the following story. 

 Eight Malays who had made camp on a small promontory 

 on the river, one morning were sitting about sunning them- 

 selves when they were surprised to see an orang-utan 

 approaching. He entered their camp and one of the Ma- 

 lays nearest to him instinctively drew his parang. Doubt- 

 less regarding this as an unfriendly action, he seized one 

 of the poles which formed the main framework of their 

 shelter and pulled it uj), breaking the rattan fastenings 

 as if they were paper. The Malays now all attacked 

 with their parangs, but the orang-utan, taking hold of 

 the end of the pole, swept it from side to side with ter- 

 rifying effect, and as the locality made it inifiossible to 

 surround him, they all soon had to take to the water to 

 save themselves. 



My informant, who had spent several years travelling 

 in Southern Borneo buying rubber from the natives, 

 t(^ld me that one day his prahu passed a big orang-utan 

 sitting on the branch of a tree. The Malay j)addlers 



