GO 
NA TURAL HISTORY. 
occasion, when pursuing them, did they move so fast as to preclude his keeping pace with tiiem easily 
through a moderately clear forest, and even when obstructions below (such as wading up to the neck) 
enabled them to get away some distance, they were sure to stop and allow the hunters to come up. 
lie never observed any attempt at defiance ; and the wood which sometimes rattled about his ears was 
broken by their weight, and not thrown down, as some people imagine to be the case. 
If pushed to extremity, the large male with crests on its head, and (which is called “Pappan”) could 
be formidable; and one unfortunate man, who, with a party, was trying to catch a large one alive, lost 
two of his lingers, besides being severely bitten in the lace, whilst the animal finally beat off its 
pursuers. When the natives wish to catch an adult, they cut down a circle of trees round the one on 
which he is seated, and then fell that also, and close before be can recover himself, and try to bind him. 
lie also notices the little dread the natives have ol them, and that they form seats rather than nests in 
the trees. 
These observations regarding their habits have been slightly opposed by Mr. Wallace, whose 
descriptions of Chang- — or, as he prefers to call it, from the Dyak language, Mias hunting — and of their 
habits, are undoubtedly the most reliable. 
lie spent a long time in the great islands of Borneo, Java, and Sumatra; and one of his principal 
objects in visiting the first especially was to obtain an insight as to the nature and life of the great 
man-like Apes of the country. After some time spent in hunting, lie succeeded in shooting a full-grown 
male Orang-utan, and he describes the scene as follows : — 
“ 1 had just come home from an entomologising excursion, when Charles rushed in, out of breath 
with running and excitement, and exclaimed, interrupted by gasps, 4 Get the gun, sir — be quick such 
a large Mias !’ ‘ Where is it? ’ I asked, taking hold of my gun as I spoke, -which happened luckily to 
have one barrel loaded with ball. ‘ Close by, sir — on the path to the mines ; he can’t get away/ Two 
l)yaks chanced to be in the house at the time, so I called them to accompany me, and started off, 
telling Charley to bring all the ammunition after me as soon as possible. The path from our clearing 
to the mines led along the side of the hill, a little way up its slope, and parallel with it at the foot a 
wide opening had been made for a road, in which several Chinamen were working, so that the animal 
could not escape into the swampy forest below withe ut descending to cross the road, or ascending to 
got round the clearing. We walked cautiously along, not making the least noise, and listening 
attentively for any sound which might betray the presence of the Mias, stopping at intervals to gaze 
upwards. Charley soon joined us at the place where he had seen the creature, and having taken the 
ammunition, and put a bullet in the other barrel, we dispersed a little, feeling sure that it must be 
somewhere near, as it had probably descended the hill, and would not be likely to return again. After 
a short time I heard a very slight rustling sound overhead, but on gazing up could see nothing. I 
moved about in every direction, to get a full view into every part of the tree under which I had been 
standing, when I again heard the same noise, but louder, and saw the leaves shaking, as if caused by 
the motion of some heavy animal, which moved off* to an adjoining tree. I immediately shouted for all 
of them to come up and try and get a view, so as to allow me to have a shot. This was not an easy 
matter, as the Mias had a knack of selecting places with dense foliage beneath. Very soon, how- 
ever, one of the Dvaks called me and pointed upwards, and on looking I saw a great red hairy body 
and a huge black face gazing down from a great height, as if wanting to know what was making such 
a disturbance below. 1 instantly fired, and he made ofi* at once, so that I conld not then tell whether 
I had hit him. He now moved very rapidly and very noiselessly for so large an animal, so I told the 
I)yaks to follow and keep him in sight while I loaded. The jungle was here full of large angular 
fragments of rock from the mountain above, and thick with hanging and twisting creepers. Running, 
climbing, and creeping among these, we came up with the creature on the top of a high tree near the 
road, where the Chinamen had discovered him, and were shouting their astonishment with open 
mouth: ‘Ya, ya, Tuan! Orang-utan, Tuan!’ Seeing that he could not ]>ass here without descending, 
lie turned up again towards the hill, and I got two shots, and following quickly had two more by the 
time he had again reached the path ; but he was almost more or less concealed by foliage, and 
protected by the large branch on which he was walking. Once while loading 1 had a splendid view of 
him, moving along a large limb of a tree in a semi-erect posture, and showing him to be an animal of 
the largest size. At the path he got on to one of the loftiest trees in the forest, a id we could see one 
