Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1870-01-26

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at the rate of six miles an hour, so as tC
keep their pursuers on therun, one of these
was killed but could not be secured.
For six weeks from this time the author
was kept a prisoner in the house with. an
infamed ulcer
He then proceeded up branch Of the
Simunjon River to Semabang, where orangs
were said to abound. On the fourth day
after his arrival he shot ull-grown male,
of different species from any he had pre-
| vlously seen. Finding no more orangs
here, he returned to the mines, and went
! up another branch Of the river to place
called Menyille, where he was accommo-
dated In the verandah of Dyak house, IN
which were several great baskets of dried
human heads. The very day of his arrival
he shot an adult male of the small orang,
which fell dead, but was caught in the fork
of tree, which was tall, perfectly straight,
and smooth barked, and without branch
/ for fifty or sixty feet. He tried to persuade
| two young Dyaks to cut down the tree but
they preferred climbing up it. They
first went to neighboring clump Of BAN
boo, and cut one of the largest stems
From this they chopped off about
| a foot, which they split, and thus
made couple of stout pegs, which they
J sharpened at one end. With an extern
porized mallet they drove one Of the pegs
| into the tree, and tcstet its secureness by
| hanging their whole weight upon it
| When about two dozen of these pegs We're
made, they cut some very long and slender
| bamboo from another clump, and prepared
| some cord from the bark of small tree.
! They now drove in peg very firmly at
| about three feet from the ground, and
bringing one Of the long bamboos, stood it
| upright close to the tree, and bound it
firmly to the first two pegs, by means of
| the bark cord. and small notches near the
head of each peg. One of the Dyaks now
stood on the first peg, and drove in a third
about level with his face, to which he tied
| the bamboo in the same way, and then
mounted another step, standing on one
foot, and holding by the bamboo AT the peg
Immediately above him, while he drove in
the next one. In this manner he assembled
about twenty feet, when the upright bam-
boo becoming thin, another was handed up
| by his companion, and this was joined on
| by tying both bamboos to three or four OF
| the pegs. When this was also nearly end
ed, third was added, and shortly after the
| lowest branches of the tree were reached
along which the young Dyak scrambled,
and soon sent the Mas tumbling headlong
down.
At this station he afterwards shot two
adult females and two young ones; and on
his return down the stream he bad the
/ good fortune to secure, after long chase
with tie water of the flooded country up to
his waist. very old Mas, which, when
measured, turned out to be by far the
! largest specimen he had met with; for
though the standing height was the same
as the others tour feet two inches), yet the
outstretched arms we're seven feet nine
inches (Which was six inches more than
! in the animal killed on May 23) while the
immense broad face was thirteen and a
| half inches, whereas the widest he had pre-
i Viously seen was only eleven and a half
inches, and the girth of the body was
feet y inches. From these measurements
Mr.. Wallace is inclined to believe that "the
length and strength Of the arms, and the
width Of the face, continue 1pcresing o Ii
very great age, while the standing height
| from the sole of the foot to the crown OF
the head, rarely, if ever, exceeds feet
/ inches"
This was tho last Mas that Mr.. Wallace
! shot. making his sixteenth victim; and, rs
nine Of these were killed between April q,
and June 27, the sport must be regarded
| as decidedly good. We give these details
of his successful sport in the hope that we
may induce some enterprising countryman
to forego his Devastating for q season,
with a view of trying his hand at his .pool
relations in BorneO, where he will not
only find a hearty welcome from the
Dyaks, who regard the Mas as their natrl-
raj enemy, but may succeed in solving the
problem referred to by Mr.. Wallace, as tc
the supposed existence of a Bornean orane
as large as a gorilla.
A Icrh+ III
the Mas should only be found in certain
parts of Borneo and Sumatra; why, for ex
ample it should be quite unknown in tht
Sarawak The habits and mode of life o
the animal explain this apparent difficulty
It requires a wide extent of unbroken anC
equally lofty virgin forest, where the coun
try is low, level and swampy, for it's com
Portable existence. Such forests form
their open country, from tree-top to tree
top without ever being obliged to descend
to earth" These conditions exist where
; the Mas is found, while in Sarawak there
is no continuous forest, the soil being
principally occupied by the Niga palm.
The following is brief summary of Mr.
; Wallace's account of the habits and mod,
of life of the Mas when at home in his ma
J tive forests:
He may be seen walking deliberately
, along the larger branches, in the semi
erect attitude consequent on the grea
length Of his arms and the shortness of hi
!, legs; and this disproportion between th
limbs is further increased by his walking
on his knuckles and not on the palms 0
his hands. He chooses branches which in
termingle with an adjoining tree and seiz
? ing the opposite boughs, tries thei
strength and quickly SWINGS onwards; neve
along at the rate of six miles an hour. TIL
long and powerful arms are of the creates
use in enabling the animal to climb witt
ease the loftiest trees, to pluck fruit 70
food, and to gather leaves and branche
with which to make its nest.
| We have already described how it form
/ 3 nest when wounded, but it uses simila
; one to sleep on; and each animal is said t.
, make a fresh one every night If, however
=; this were the case, Mr.. Wallace think
that the deserted nests, or their remains
would be far more abundant than is actual
. ly the case. The Dyaks say that when it j
= very wet, the Mas covers himself over
after he has gone to bed, with leaves O
, pandanus or large ferns, He remains il
: bed till the sun has dried up the dew
These animals feed all through the middl
/ of the day; their diet consisting almost ex
clusively of fruit with occasional leaves
) bud and seeds. The celebrated Durian /
{ a special favorite, and is eaten voraciousl
} wherever it grows surrounded by forest
, but they will not cross clearings to get q
it. Iu only extreme eases-as when Sc
: verely pressed by hunger or thirst-wil
: they descend to the ground.
According to the Dyaks, the only ari
: mails that ever venture TO attack the Mia
are the crocodile and the python; and the
always fall victims to their temerty. tn
only chance which the crocodile has Of at
tacking HIM is when the Mas Is driven t.
: seek food on the banks of a river; but OF
;; trying to seize him, the Mas springs ol
his enemy's back, and kills him by mail
strength, pulling open the jaws and rippin;
up the throat. Que of MIR. Wallace's in
formants stated that he had seen such
fight What splendid subject for pic
; ture by Landseerl
l The habit which these animals have @
e throwing down branches upon their as
I,