RAVEN — ^JACKING IN EAST INDIAN JUNGLES 
31 
sunlight filtered through the dense foliage in slender beams of light, 
I shot and trapped by day and hunted with the light at night either by 
following the little trails made through the forest or, as proved to be 
more profitable, by paddling and poling on the river seated in the bow 
of the narrow canoe. The Punans would either squat behind me to 
paddle or stand to pole and maneuver the canoe where there were 
rapids, or where fallen trees had blocked part of the passage. I remem- 
ber very distinctly that on one occasion we were quietly drifting down 
stream and not a word had been spoken since we left camp. The 
Punans stood up and took the poles and I knew we were approaching 
rapids. The banks of the river were rather high at this particular spot 
and the tall trees in some places formed an arch over the river. Long 
lianas hung down from branches high over the river and the roots trailed 
and swayed in the swiftly flowing stream. The canoe started down the 
rapids, guided skillfully between the rocks and away from the breakers, 
which, although only a few inches in height, would have been sufficient 
to swamp it. I continually played the rays of light from the lamp 
along the banks and over the river. As we were nearing the lower end 
of the rapids I caught the reflection of the eye of an animal ahead and to 
my left. The canoe was gliding swiftly, so holding the light with my 
left hand I grabbed my shot gun with my right, raised and fired it 
quickly just as the canoe was swept down the last of the rapids and 
came out on a sleek quiet pool where the river was somewhat wider. 
I then spoke to the Punans telling them that I had shot some kind of 
a cat for the eye had appeared bright and white. They were much 
surprised for they had seen nothing. They spun the canoe around and 
when it came along side the bank I carefully replaced my gun in the bow, 
after having reloaded it, and chmbed out on the roots which overhung the 
bank. The Punans seemed surprised that I put my gun down and asked 
if I were not going to take it, to which I replied with calm assurance 
that I could tell by the reflection of the eyes that the animal was only 
a cat. I clambered over a mass of roots, vines, clay, rocks and dead 
leaves to the top of the bank fifteen or twenty feet above the river and 
then just as I put my hand over the broad flat buttress-like root of a 
large tree I touched a warm and furry body and saw before me the animal 
I had shot, Felis neuhulosa, the clouded leopard, the largest of the 
Felidae to be found in Borneo. It is one of the most beautiful members 
of the cat family, with a pattern of grays and black, somber yet 
handsome. 
