New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-11-15
AN AMERICAN NATURALIST ABROAD.

TWO YEARS IN THE JUNGLE; BY WILLIAM ,3dr, T.
HoRSADAY. With Maps and Illustrations Cn"''o
ScTbners sons. ~,
Mr. Hornadav spent nearly three years IN collect
;ng material for Profess Wards Natural Science
establishment During that time he explored lhdla'
Cevlon. the Malay Archipelago and Borneo ana ac-
cumulated the observations with which nc mas
1IIed t,is large volume lie worked very hard, and
with great enthusiasm He was mighty hunter
ond snccessful one. He ehOt crOcodlles, tigers
elephants. deer, ourang-outangs, monkeys pears
boars. and divers other game. lie canght anu
purchased and dissected and prepared all
manner of sea creatures. lie appears
10 have been as happy when preparing SKINS anu
skeletons as when stalking large game in the
Aninalla forests or crocodlles on the river sand
Nots Of India. The skeletOnzing of an elephant
,,aigbno several tons and involving work the mere
,bouoot of which makes an ordinary person I'M
oon,fortable was to him a labor OF delight. ana
even when the strOng-stomdcded natives were
sickened by the effects OF tropical sun upon TINS
buce carcass he merely lighted his pipe to tone the
atmosphere down a little. and buckled TO again.
II is evident that Mr.. HOrnaday is born collect
or and that Professor Ward knew what ne was
about when he sent him on his mission. OVernO"-
mr. with energy and enthusiasm, conscientious TO
admiration IN the details of his work. never leav-
inc TO Others what lie could do mach better him
tution. patient and cheerful under hardship and
,r;vatiop. indefatIgabe in research and indomlt-
obia in endurance a more thoroughly fit man for
.ucb an expedition could not have been found. The
amount of work he accomplished is astonishing,
md the fact that he was hunting for scientific ILL.,
etitution, and not for the pot or for the
mere qualification of his organ of destructiveness
adds TO the interest of his lively description. That
the style is indeed the man Is shown very plainly
throughout these pages Our naturalist pants his
own portrait in the most faithful manner. We see
how the consciousness of relative funcss OF
knowled ye in his own field leads him here and
there TO venture into unfamiliar paths rather too
confidently, as, for instance, when he dogmatizes
ON the religion of Iudia, concerning which he EVIL
IDENTITY knows next 10 nothing. His running OBJ
.ervations on the country, the people and nstItu-
lions are often untustworIhy for the same
raoso, He is a dashng, pushing young
sc;an.ist with distuctvely American
o,tor,rise and intellectual feaTlesspess, and his
faults arc for the most part those OF youth In the
hunting camp and on the trail lie IS dehgbt1ui
breezy graphic and natural lie does not affect to
slight his own work. but he does not boast OF H.
and what is still more to his credit he conscien-
t;cuSv records his failures as we'll his successes
There Is, however an incident III his hunting ca
reer which calls for disapprovai. and he himself
has had the frankness to acknowledge that bis ac-
ton in this case was "mean." We refer to his cap
ture of young monkey and the causing II to cry
out. that its sympathizng fellows. who yearned TO
rescue il, might be brought to pat themselves
within gunshot. That was deed which not even
the needs of science can palliate.
That Mr. Hornaday was not usually prone to acts
of lnbumanity Is shown by bis success in tanning
the young DURAN g-outang "Old Man." of whose af-
fectionate disposition and amusing prauks much
more might have been written without any danger
of wearying the reader. The adult ourang-outaDg
appears to be scarcely tamabe, and the majority of
even the young are savage. The account Of the
ribbons, which hurl themselves through the tree
tons in tho strangest revolutions. turning like
wheels, catching now by their hands and next
nv their feet. and swinging themselves
with such swiftness that man
on the ground running fast cannot
keep no with them is very interesting So also
are the authors observations on the Sea Dyaks OF
Borneo. a people who appear to have attained to
n higher plane Of morals than can be found in civ
flied societies; who are chaste. honest. truthful
neaceful. affectionate and sound in mind and body
= people who have no epidemics, among whom con-
sumption, smallpox and typhoid fever are un'
known. WHOSE women occapy as important place
IN the community ~ those OF the United States