CHAPTER XI 



On the Batang Lupar in Search of the Orang-Utan — From Kuching 

 to Lingga on the " Heartsease " — Pulo Burong and its Palms — We 

 Ascend the Batang Lupar — The Burong Bubut — The Ikan Sumpit — 

 A Singular Loranthus — Marop — I take up my Quarters with 

 Chinamen — Explorations in the Neighbourhood — An Albino 

 Woman — My First Orang-Utan — Races amongst the Primates — 

 A Large Specimen of " Mayas Tj aping " — Discontent Amongst 

 the Chinamen — A Strange Cure — Brief but Successful Hunt 



DURING the two years I had been wandering among the forests 

 of Borneo, I had not yet met with a single Orang-utan ; 

 but up to that period botanical collections had so occupied my time, 

 and the country I had explored had given me such rich results, 

 that I had not cared to stray far from Kuching, where the great 

 anthropoid ape is very rare, and to go in search of it on the Sadong 

 or on the Batang Lupar, where it abounds. 



On the Sadong Wallace had long resided and collected ; I there- 

 fore chose the Batang Lupar, whence I could easily pass into 

 the Dutch territory of Kapuas, and visit the lakes which exist along 

 the upper portion of the course of that great river. 



In March, 1867, the Tuan Muda, having occasion to send his 

 gunboat, the Heartsease, to Lingga, kindly allowed me to take 

 this opportunity of going there with the larger portion of my pro- 

 visions, while at the same time my men were to take the sampan 

 which was to convey me during the remainder of the journey. 



At 8 a.m., on March 17th, the Heartsease left her moorings, 

 steamed down the Sarawak river, and reached the sea by the 

 Maratabas channel. The weather was splendid ; the sea like a mirror. 

 We turned eastwards, making straight for the mouth of the Batang 

 Lupar. Behind us rose the dark bold outline of Tanjong Po, 

 slowly emerging from the thin morning mist ; and on our right the 

 low coast line revealed itself with its monotonous fringe of verdure, 

 consisting of mangroves where the shore is muddy, and of casuarinas 

 where sand prevails. Behind this belt of interminable forest 

 rises Gunong Lessong, remarkable for its truncated form and its 

 wide base. 1 Passing quite close to Pulo Burong, I could see that 



1 Lessong is the name given by the Malays to the large wooden mortar 

 for husking rice. For this operation they use a long thick pestle, which is 

 not unlike our grape piler. Gunong Lessong owes its name to its resemblance 

 to one of these mortars turned topsy-turvy. 



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