Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-01-15
Hunting the Orane.Outaur.

that wide belt of low, forestcovered
swamp which lies between the sea
coast and the mountain ranges of the
interior. extending entirely around the
western half of the island. Last year,
while on collecting expedition for
Prof. ii. A. Ward. ] had ample oppor-
tunity to study the habits of the orang-
outang in its native forests. / visited
Borneo in August, 1878, for the sole
purpose of obtaining specimens of the
Bornean simia and to study the different
species. l visited the territory of
Sarawak and for two and half months
devoted my entire time TO hunting the
orang along the river Sadong and its
tributary. the Simujan. This whole
region is one vast swamp, covered every
where with dense growth of lofty
virgin forests. During the fruit season,
from the middle of January TO May |,
the food of the orang Is the durion,
mongasteen and rambuton. During the
hot months of May, June, and July they
retire far into the depths of the forests
and are exceedingly difficult to find.
But during the season of the heaviest
rains, from August to November, when
the forests are flooded, the orang are
found in the vicinity of the rivers. |
soon found that the only way TO reach
them would be to paddle up and down
the rivers and watch for them in the
tree-tops. Near the source of the
Simujan river and far beyond the last
Dyak village we found great numbers
of orang nests and some which were
quite new. The nests consists of
quantity of leafy branches broken off
and piled loosely into the fork of n tree.
The orang usually selects n sapling and
builds his nest in its top, even though
his weight causes 1t to swav alarmingly.
He often builds his hest within twenty
five feet of the ground, and seldom
is fully three feet in diameter, but
usually not more two, and quite fiat on
the top. There is no weaving together
OF branches. In short, the orang builds
n nest precisely as n man would build
one for himself were he Obliged to pass
the night in a tree.top, and had nothing
to cut branches with. / have seen one
or two such nests of men in the forest,
where the builder had only his hands
to work with, and they were just as
rudely constructed, of just such ma
terials, and in about the same position
as the average orange nest. Upon this
leaiy platform the orang lies prone
upon his back, with his long arms and
short thick legs thrust outward and up
ward, firmly grasping, while he sleeps.
the nearest largest branches within his
reach. On several occasions surprised
these animals upon their nests, and
once / had IN opportunity to watch an
orang while it constructed its resting
place. He never uses n nest after the
leaves become withered and dry; no
doubt because the bare branches are
not comfortable to lie upon. ] never
saw or heard of any house building by
orang-outangs.
We found the animals most numerous
along the Simujan river near its source.
Our manner of hunting was to make
trips up and down the river in our boat,
padding slowly and silently along,
keeping careful lookout. Sometimes
in rounding n bend in the river we
would come full upon n huge, black
faced, red-haircd animal, reposing
quietly or feeding. / aimed to shoot
them through the chest, and thus
either kill them at once or disable them
so that they would be unable To get
away. On several occasions succeeded
in killing n large specimen with single
bullet. 1t would Mt all times have been
an easy matter to have shot them
through the head, but this would have
ruined their skulls. As soon as an
orang was fired at. If not killed Mt once.
he would begin climbing away with all
haste.
/ think we may fairly consider the
orangs the most helpless of all quadru-
mana. Owing TO the great weight of
their bodies and the peculiar structure
of their hands they cannot run nimbly
along even the largest branches, and
never dare to spring from one tree to
the next. The weight OF an adult male
ranges from 100 to 100 pounds. Owing
10 the disproportionate shortness of his
legs, his progress depends mainly upon
his long. sinewy arms, and very often he
goes swinging through a tree-top by
their aid alone. Upon the ground the
orangs are the picture ofthe most abject
helplessness. and in their native forest
they are very seldom known to descend
to the earth. They are utterly incapa-
BILE of standing fully erect without
touching the ground with their hands,
and for them to be represented in draw
ings and museums as standing erect Is
contrary TO nature.-IrofesSOr Honidday.