132 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 
the natives avoid it except when a beast becomes a 
menace to the village. An orang-outang in battle 
is ferocious. If it is treed and afraid to come down, 
it goes into a paroxysm of fury. It will bite its 
arms, tearing the flesh away and inflicting frightful 
wounds. If there are two of the animals, they bite 
and hug each other. An orang-outang that has 
been struck by an arrow can follow the natives in 
the trees or on the ground while the poison is taking 
effect. The only refuge from the frenzied creature 
is the smoke of a fire, and, when it is sufficiently 
enraged, even that will not stop it. The best chance 
lies in keeping it so harried that it does not know 
whom to attack; once it decides on a particular na- 
tive, the native is as good as dead. When the poison 
begins to work, after an animal has been wounded, 
the natives end the fight with knives. The possibil- 
ity of an orang-outang attack is a danger that all 
the men must be prepared to face, and the duty of 
engaging in an orang-outang hunt is no less im- 
portant than that of making war. It was but 
normal, therefore, that, as soon as I had convinced 
the villagers of my trustworthiness, I should have 
their hearty support. 
After putting the men to work on the nets and 
cages, I selected a crew of twenty-five to accompany 
me while I went out to get the lay of the land. I 
warned the men against doing anything that might 
frighten the animals unnecessarily and explained 
that we should do no hunting for smaller game until 
