chap, iv.] A BYAK HOUSE. 83 



Near the landing-place we found a fine house, 250 

 feet long, raised high above the ground on posts, with a 

 wide verandah and still wider platform of bamboo in 

 front of it. Almost all the people, however, were away 

 on some excursion after edible birds'-nests or bees' -wax, 

 and there only remained in the house two or three old men 

 and women with a lot of children. The mountain or hill 

 was close by, covered with a complete forest of fruit-trees, 

 among which the Durian and Mangusteen were very 

 abundant ; but the fruit was not yet quite ripe, except 

 a little here and there. I spent a week at this place, 

 going out every day in various directions about the moun- 

 tain, accompanied by a Malay, who had stayed with me 

 while the other boatmen returned. For three days we 

 found no Orangs, but shot a deer and several monkeys. 

 On the fourth day, however, we found a Mias feeding on 

 a very lofty Durian tree, and succeeded in killing it, after 

 eight shots. Unfortunately it remained in the tree, hanging 

 by its hands, and we were obliged to leave it and return 

 home, as it was several miles off. As I felt pretty sure it 

 would fall during the night, I returned to the place early 

 the next morning, and found it on the ground beneath the 

 tree. To my astonishment and pleasure, it appeared to be 

 a different kind from any I had yet seen ; for although a 

 full-grown male by its fully developed teeth and very 

 large canines, it had no sign of the lateral protuberance 



g2 



