CHAPTER XXIX. 



FROM SARAWAK TO THE SADONG. 



Hunting near Kuching. — Crocodiles in the Sarawak. — A Dangerous Pest. — War 

 of Extermination. — From Sarawak to the Sadong. — The Simujan Village. 

 — A Hunt for an Orang-utan. — In the Swamp. — On the Mountain. — Valu- 

 able Information at Last. 



While I remained a few days at Sarawak to gather information 

 about the orang-utan and other animals before making a start for 

 the jungles, I purchased from a Malay a very good small boat to 

 use as a hvmting-boat, and made several excvirsions up and down 

 the river. 



I was surprised at finding proboscis monkeys {Nasalis larvatus) 

 along the west bank of the river, not more than two miles below the 

 town. I fired my rifle at one we found sunning himself at the edge 

 of the jungle, knocked him oflf his perch in a twinkling, and the 

 next moment we sprang ashore, or at least into two feet of soft 

 mud, and waded landward. "We reached the edge of the under- 

 growth and endeavored to penetrate it, but after a long struggle 

 with the thorny tangle we gave up beaten, and the monkey got 

 away. We found another monkey, the krah [Macacus cynomolgus), 

 quite numerous along the river, but, the mud was so deep and the 

 jungle so thick and thorny that we failed to secure more than one 

 specimen. Had this been my only opportunity we would have 

 secured good specimens of both species regardless of difficulties ; 

 but we knew we would have better chances elsewhere. 



A few specimens were brought to me at the hotel, among which 

 was a fine female Manis Javanica, here called " tingeUng," with a 

 tiny young one chnging to her. The latter was quite a prize, being 

 of a good size to preserve entire in alcohol, while the mother fur- 

 nished a fine skeleton. Squirrels are abundant along the river, and 

 my new hunter distinguished himself by bringing in half a dozen. 

 Turtles and beetles were brought to me by the Malay small boy, 



