Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1891-01-23
BESIEGEO BY APES.

neo, in the island OF that name, i'll a
schooner of ninety tons burden, to
visit the islands TO the north in search
of monkeys and parrots for the great
animal dealer at Hamburg. The craft
and crew were under charter for four
months The captain was Il Singa-
pore half breed, and his three sailors
and cook were Borneo born. had
nv man Thomas with me, and the
only cargo we carried consisted Of
cages and articles for traffic.
We had been knocking about for
several weeks, landing on various is
lands in the Borneo Sea TO make cap
tives. and were at anchor beside n
small island called Kui, when a trader
from the Mindanao peninsula same
along and gave us some interesting
news. His craft carried only three
men. but had run short of water and
had been obliged to put in at an is
land thirty miles TO the east for wa
ter The island was about three miles
square and thickly wooded, and en-
tirely without settlement. While at
anchor in a sheltered bay, and just as
they had hoisted in their cask of wa
ter. they were set upon by several
hundred apes of. large size and terri
bly, frightened The craft was only
twice her length from shore, and the
apes bombarded her with clubs and
stones. A score of these missiles had
been preserved as proofs. The trader
gave us warning to look out for our
selves if we went that way, and we
made him present of tobacco and at
once set sail. The apes he described
were just the species | was looking
for. being what is called in the East
"gorilas children They are found
ONLY in Sumatra and Borneo Sea. 1t
is an established fact that every sew
en- years these apes are subject to an
epidemis which sweeps them off in
large numbers, and for this reason
they have been scarce for many years
past. In the year 1864 II trader who
landed on the island of Kriem, about
200 miles from Manila, discovered
over 500 dead apes along the beach.
We reached the bay the trader had
told Us of about . o'clock next morn
ing. 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, but OF course
we had to use the yawl TO go ashore.
We neither saw nor heard anything
except the gaudy-colored parrots fly
ing about, and after we had been at
anchor about an hour took my man
and went ashore. The island was
perfect tangle. The trees grew al
most as thick as they could stand,
and the ground was covered with
creepers and rank vegetation. We
were a quarter Of a mile from the
beach before the ground cleared, and
then we failed to get sight OF an ape.
As il 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 colors, and these we
now hung on the limbs and bushes
and scattered along on the ground to
bait" the apes to the landing.
We had made our way quietly as
possible, as fully believed in what
the trader had told me. When we
reached the landing | got my monkey
traps from the schooner. These are
steel traps with padded jaws We set
six of them opposite the craft, and
the only bait we used was red rag
tied to the catch. Going on board we
had dinner, and then / brought out
heavy rifle and fired three shots into
the woods That was TO wake up the
apes. and it wasn't ten minutes be-
fore we heard from them. Shrieks
and cries and calls resounded through
the forest, end then the apes fairly
swarmed down to the shore. The col
ored cloths angered and excited them
to the highest pitch, and their com
ing 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 own great sorrow Ev-
cry 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 help the vie
tins in the traps. They attempted to
pull them out by main force, aud
when this failed they got stones and
clubs and tried 10 break the traps.
They had neither the strength nor
the ingenuity, and when they real
lied this they turned TO secure re-
yenge on US. We had been expecting
the move and were ready for it, or
thought we were. We had four guns
on the rail, had covered the cabin
skylight with boards, and the decks
were clear for action. The tide was