IN BORXEAX FORESTS [chap. 



appeared inexhaustible, and many of them — I may say several 

 hundreds — turned out later to be new to science. Doria. on his 

 part, brought home insects, birds, and other animals which his Per- 

 sian taxidermist Kerim had to skin and prepare. But even the 

 Malays had begun to understand our work, and the}- often brought 

 us animals, usually alive. 



In a short time we had thus got together a fine series of skins and 

 a goodly collection of live animals. Amongst the latter were several 

 " plandoks " (Tragulus napii), one of the most diminutive species 

 of the chevrotain tribe. We fed them on the flowers of the Simpor, 

 botanically, Dillinia suffruticosa. of which we had an abundance 

 close to the house. The plandok is an extremely timid creature, 

 with eves so large and beautiful that mata -plandok (Tragulus- 

 eyed) is an endearing expression used by Malay lovers in praise of 

 the lady of their affections. 



Another singular creature which we fed with no great trouble on 

 bananas is the " kongkang " of the Malays (Xycticcbus tardigradus), 

 one of the lemurs. It is a nocturnal animal, and sleeps all day long 

 with its head between its legs. The Malays regard it with supersti- 

 tion, and believe it to possess various supernatural attributes. It 

 certainlv is a weird-looking creature. We had also several " tang- 

 ling " of the Malays, the singular scaly anteater (Manis javanica) ; 

 as well as viverras or " munsangs," wild cats or palm-civets 

 (P'aradoxurus), and a lot of monkeys, of which there is no lack in 

 Sarawak. These we kept tied up to the bars of the verandah. 



The " krah " and the ' : berok " or " bruk : ' of the Malays 

 (Macacus cynomolgus and M. ncmestrinus), which of all the Bornean 

 monkeys are most tolerant of captivity, often came in large parties 

 to the trees along the river close to our house. The latter is 

 tamed bv the natives and taught to gather coconuts. 



The " bidgit " and the " lotong " of the Malays (Semnopithecus 

 froniatus and 5. femoralis), and the " wa-wa," an anthropoid (Hylo- 

 bates mulleri),3ie also very frequent about Kuching. The latter is, 

 of course, tailless, of a dark grey colour, with soft fur, a small round 

 face, and immensely long arms. In the mornings the adj oining forest 

 echoed with its singular and characteristic call. It is so strange a 

 sound that for a long while I could not believe that it came from a 

 monkev : it was to me more like the loud harmonious cry of some 

 large bird. It consists of the syllables wa-wa mam* times repeated 

 with great force, dropping in tone and increasing in rapidity. The 

 wa-wa thrives fairly weU in captivity, feeding on fruit and boiled 

 rice or " nassi " ; which, strange to say, was eagerly taken by all the 

 animals we kept in our menagerie, whether frugivorous or carni- 

 vorous. The wa-wa certainly might excusably be credited with 

 carnivorous propensities to judge by the great development of its 

 canine teeth. It moves with astonishing rapidity from tree to tree, 



