8G BORNEO— THE ORANG-UTAN. [chap. iv. 



one of which at a good height would certainly cause their 

 death. When about two dozen pegs were made, one of 

 them began cutting some very long and slender bamboo 

 from another clump, and also prepared some cord from the 

 bark of a small tree. They now drove in a peg very firmly 

 at about three feet from the ground, and bringing one of the 

 long bamboos, stood it upright close to the tree, and bound 

 it firmly to the two first pegs, by means of the bark cord, 

 and small notches near the head of each peg. One of the 

 Dyaks now stood on the first peg and drove ha a third, 

 about level with his face, to which he tied the bamboo in 

 the same way, and then mounted another step, standing on 

 one foot, and holding by the bamboo at the peg imme- 

 diately above him, while he drove in the next one. In 

 this manner he ascended about twenty feet, when the 

 upright bamboo becoming thin, another was handed up 

 by his companion, and this was joined on by tying both 

 bamboos to three or four of the pegs. When this was also 

 nearly ended, a third was added, and shortly after, the 

 lowest branches of the tree were reached, along which the 

 young Dyak scrambled, and soon sent the Mias tumbling 

 headlong down. I was exceedingly struck by the ingenuity 

 of this mode of climbing, and the admirable manner in 

 which the peculiar properties of the bamboo were made 

 available. The ladder itself was perfectly safe, since if 

 any one peg were loose or faulty, and gave way, the strain 



