SEA TRAGEDY: OF THE JUNGLE FOLK 133 
we had attended to the two big orang-outangs. 
With the guides leading, we started into the dense 
jungle, and, after several hours of slow, tortuous 
traveling, we came to the tree where the animals 
lived. I could see, far up, the platform they had 
built. 
Fortunately the orang-outangs were not there, 
and we were able to inspect the location at our leis- 
ure. I stationed the men at one side, telling them 
to wait for us, and then Omar and Munshee and I 
circled the tree. The surrounding jungle was as 
thick as any I have ever seen; the trees were so 
close that their branches mingled and they were 
woven togther with creepers, vines and rattan. It 
was not possible to go forward a step without cut- 
ting the way. The tree in which the orang-outangs 
lived was the largest in the vicinity. Nearly an 
hour passed before I decided upon the course we 
would pursue. Squatting with Omar and Munshee, 
I explained how we would cut away the trees, so as 
to leave in isolation the one in which the animals 
had their platform; then, how we would cut that 
tree and tumble them into the net. 
We went back to the place where the men were 
waiting, and I put them to work at cutting the mass 
of creepers that bound the trees together. The jun- 
gle was so dense that it would have been impossible 
to fell the trees without first cutting the network 
woven between them; for it would have held the 
trees upright even though they were cut at the base. 
