78 BORNEO— THE ORANG-UTAN. [chap. iv. 



him at the same place as the first individual I had shot. 

 He was feeding on an oval green fruit having a fine red 

 arillus, like the mace which surrounds the nutmeg, and 

 which alone he seemed to eat, biting off the thick outer 

 rind and dropping it in a continual shower. I had found 

 the same fruit in the stomach of some others which I had 

 killed. Two shots caused this animal to loose his hold, 

 hut he hung for a considerable time by one hand, and 

 then fell flat on his face and was half buried in the 

 swamp. For several minutes he lay groaning and panting, 

 while we stood close round, expecting every breath to be 

 his last. Suddenly, however, by a violent effort he raised 

 himself up, causing us all to step back a yard or two, 

 when, standing nearly erect, he caught hold of a small tree, 

 and began to ascend it. Another shot through the back 

 caused him to fall down dead. A flattened bullet was 

 found in his tongue, having entered the lower part of the 

 abdomen and completely traversed the body, fracturing the 

 first cervical vertebra. Yet it was after this fearful wound 

 that he had risen, and begun climbing with considerable 

 facility. This also was a full-grown male of almost exactly 

 the same dimensions as the other two I had measured. 



On June 21st I shot another adult female, which was 

 eating fruit in a low tree, and was the only one which I 

 ever killed by a single ball. 



On June 24th I was called by a Chinaman to shoot a 



