Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1890-11-28
BESIEGED By THE APES.
A Very Remarkable Adventure of an
Animal Hunter in the BOrneO
Sea.
A Vessels Crew Encounter a F0rmid-
able Army Of the ''Missing Link"
Order.
They Make it Lively for Them But are
Finally Driven off.

We sa.,ei out from the port of Borneo.
IN the island of that name, in d schooner
of ninety tons burden, to visit the island
to the north IN search of monkeys and par
| rots for the great animal dealer at Ham
burg. The craft and crew were under
charter for four months. The cap
tain was u Singapore half-breed and his
three sailors and cook were Borneo born
| had my man Thomas with me, and the
only cargo we carried consisted of cages
and articles for traffic.
| We had been knocked about for several
weeks, landing on various islands in the
! Borneo sea to make captives, and were at
anchor beside Il small island called Kui.
when a trader from the Mindanao pen
insua came along and gave us some in
! teresUing news. His craft carried only
! three men, but had run short of water
and been obliged to put in at an island
! thirty miles to the east for water The
! island was about three miles square and
| thlckly wooded, and entirely without set
! Element When at anchor in a sheltered
| bay, and just as they had hOisted in their
cask OF water, they were set upon by sev
| erai hundred apes of large size and ter
rlbly frightened. The craft was only
| twice her length from shore, and the apes
bombarded her with cIubs and stones. A
| score Of these animals had been preserved
as proofs. The trader gave us warning
| to look out for ourselves if we went that
way, and we made him present of to-
! bacco aud at once set sail. The apes he
| described were just the species | was
! looking for. being what Is called in the
east gorillas children They are found
only IN Sumatra and Borneo and few
| of the islands in the Borneo sea. 1t is an
established fact that every seven yea1s
these apes are subject to an epidemic
which sweeps themsoff in large numbers,
and for this reason they have been scarce
for many years past. In the year 1864 a
trader who landed on the island of Kirem,
about 200 miles from Manila, discovered
| over 500 dead apes along the beach.
We reached tle bay the trader had told
| us of about 9 o'clock the next morning The
shore pitched off into deep water, and we
anchored with just roOm enough for her
to swing to the tides. This brought the
stem of the craft within forty feet of the
trees when the tide came in, bat of course
we had to use the yawl to 90 ashore. We
neither saw nor heard anything except the
gaudy-cOlored parrots flying about, and
aft we had been at anchor about an
hour | took my men and went ashore.
The island was a perfect tangle. The
Srees grew almost as thick as they could
stand, and the ground was covered with
cr1Gpers and rank vegetation. We were
a quarter of mjie from the beach before
the ground cleared and then we failed to
get sight of ar ape. As it was a very hot
afternoon, the chances were that they were
asleep in the thick of the forest. We had
brought along with Us some pieces of
cloth of various coIors and these we now
hung on limbs and bushes and scattered
along the grOundtO bait the apes to the
landing.
We had made our way Us quietly as pos
sibIe, as fully believed in what the trader
hat told me- When we reached the land
ing got my monkey traps from the
schooner. These are steel traps with pad
ded jaws. We set six of them opposite
the craft, ard the only bait we used was a
red rag tied to the catch. Going on
board we had dinner, and then | brought
ont a navy rifle and fired three shots irto
the woods. That was to wake up the apes,
and 1t wasn't ten minutes before we heard
from them. Shrieks and cries and calls
reSounded through the forest, and then
the apes fairly swarmed down to the shore.
The cOIOred cloths angered and excited
them to the highest pitch, and their
coming was like that of an enraged mob
of human beings. The advance guard had
scarcely appeared before they rushed upon
the traps in great fury, and to their gre at
sorrow. Every trap received a victim.
and every victim screamed and Shrieked
and jumped about in the most exciting
manner.
The number of apes dumbfounded me-.
| honestly believe there were 5000 Of
them, great and small, and the noise they
made was deafening. Their first move
was to helr the victims in the traps.
They attempted to pull them out by main
force and when this failed they got stones
and clubs and tried to break the traps.
They had neither the strength nor iuge.
nuity. and when they realized this they
turned to secure revenge on us. We had
been expecting this move, and were ready
for it, or thought we We're We had four
guns or the rail, had covered the cabin
sky-light with boards, and the decks were
clear for action. The tide was vet run
ming in, and, although we could almost
look into the flashing eyes of the apes. we
knew they dreaded water and would hes
itate to swim out to US.
| don t know whose fault it was that
the yawlS painter. which was made fast
to the stITboard rail amidships was not
securely fastened. No one had given it
any thought until we suddenly saw the
yawl drive to the mango bushes stern
first. There was no surf IN that little bay,
and the tide would have held her there if
the apes bad taken no action The boat
was no sooner within leaping distance
than fifty of the animals sprarg into il.
and rs 1t reached the bushes it was held
there. The screams and yells of The apes
tor the next five minutes prevented speech
| Then. at a given signal all but one leaped
cut of the boat. A second signal all those
in sight on shore disappeared. leaving
| only the victims of the traps. These had
ceased their complaints and become quiet.
and now a great stiffness fell upon he
| island. | asked the captain what new
move he thought the leasts intended to
make, and he replied:
| Il think we shall have great trouble
with them. If there was breeze enough
| to stem this tide, | should be in favor of
| getting out rs soon as possible. They
| will board US in the yawl as socn as the
tide turns"
! pointed to the fact that there was only
| one are IN the boat, and that | could PIT
! 4 bullet through his head where he sat
| If one of the men would slip over the raj
! he could swim to the boat and secure ii.
| This was looked upon as a good idea.
| One of the Borneo men got quietly into the
| water and swan to the boat.
and when he was close upon it
l fred and killed the ape in
charge. His dying yell was answered
from a thousand throats. and In ten seconds
the boat was filled with apes The sailor
had to return empty handed. 1t was no
use to FIRE upon the beasts. as their num-
bers were so great, and we therefore re-
| newed our preparations for defense. The
crew proper told US in so many words that
they would not lift hand except to defend
themselves. as they considered it a crime
to kill IN ape. If the schooner was
boarded, then they would be justified in
fighting.
After a few minutes all the apes but
one again left the boat. The body Of the
one | had killed was carried ashore
The tide would OF turn until o'clock,
and we had nothing 10 do but wait and
watch.
| made shell out of a tin can filed
with powder and bullets. and the fuse to
this was to be lighted by Thomas when he
coulc heave it into the boat We had
three loaded guns and a revolver apiece
/ and I believe fhp two Of rs alone could