Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1891-01-09
AN APE HUNTERS STORY

We sailed out from tine port of Borneo,
in the island of that name, in 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 Singapore
half breed, and his three sailors and a cook
we're Borneo born. had my 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 islands in the
}orneo sea to make captives, and were at
nchor beside small island called Kui,
then trader from the Mindanao PENN
,ula came along and gave us some interest
ing news. His craft carried only three
men, but had run short of water and been
obliged to put in at an island thirty miles
20 the east for water. The island was
.bout three miles square and thickly wood
ed, and entirely without settlement.
While at anchor in sheltered bay, and
just as they had hoisted in their cask of
water, they were set upon by several hun
dred apes of large size and terribly fright
ened. 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
aim a present of tobacco and at once set
sail. The apes he described were just the
species was looking for, being what are
called in the east ''gorillas' children"
They are found only in Sumatra and Bor-
neo, and on few of the islands in the Bor-
neo sea. 1t is an established fact that
every seven years these apes are subject to
an epidemic which sweeps them off in
large numbers, and for this reason they
hive been scarce for many years past. In
the year 1864 a trader who landed ON the
island of Kriem, about 200 miles from Ma
nilla, discovered over 500 dead apes along
the beach.
We reached the bay the trader had told
us of about O'Clock 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, but Of course we
lad to use the yawl to go ashore. We
neither saw nor heard anything except the
gaudy colored parrots flying about, and
after we had been at anchor about an hour
| took my man and went ashore The
island was a perfect tangle. The trees
grew almost as thick as they could stand,
and the ground was covered with creepers
and rank vegetation. We were quarter
of mile from the beach before the ground
cleared, and then we failed to get sight of
an ape. AS it was a very hot forenoon,
the chances were that they were asleep in
the thick of the forest. Ws had brought
along with US some pieces of cloth of
various colors, and these we now hung on
limbs and bushes and scattered along on
the ground to ''bait'' the apes to the land
ing.
We had made our way as quietly as posi-
Bile, as l fully believed in what the trader
had told me. When we had reached the
landing | got my monkey traps from the
schooner. These are steel traps with padded
jaws Weset six of them opposite the craft,
and the only bait we used was a red rag tied
to the catch. Going on board we had dinner,
and then / brought out a heavy rifle and
fred three shots into the woods. That was
to wake up the apes, and it wasn't ten min
utes 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 colored cloths an
gered and excited them to the highest pitch,
and their coming was like that of an en-
ragged 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. Every trap re-
ceived a victim, and every victim screamed
and shrieked and jumped about in the most
exciting manner.
The number of apes dumfounded 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 victims in the traps They at
tempted 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 ingenuity,
and when they realized this they turned
to secure revenge on us. We had been ex-
pecting the move, and were ready for it,
or thought we were. We had four guns
on the rail, had covered the cabin sky
light with boards, and the decks were
clear for action. The tide WAS yet running
in, and, although we could almost look
into the flashing eyes of the apes, we knew
they dreaded water and would hesitate to
swim out to us.
don't know whose fault it was that the
yawl's painter, which was made fast to
the starboard rail amidships, was not Sc
curely fastened. No one had given it any
thought until we suddenly saw the yawi
drive to the mango bushes stern first.
There was no surf in that little bay, and
t1e ide would have held her there if the
apes had taken no action. The boat was no
ooner within leaping distance than fifty
i the animals sprang into it, and as it
reached the bushes it was held there. The
creams and yells of the apes for the next
i've minutes prevented speech. Then at
ii given signal all but one leaped out Of the
boat. At 4 second signal all those in sight
on shore disappeared, leaving only the vic
TINS of the traps. These had ceased their
complaints and become quiet, and now
great stiffness fell upon the island. |
asked the captain what new move he
thought the beasts intended to make, and
lie replied:
81 think we shall have great trouble with
them. If there was breeze enough to stem
this tide | should be in favor of getting out
as soon as possible. They will board lis in
the yawl as soon as the tide turns"
l pointed to the fact that there was only
one ape in the boat, and that l could put a
bullet through his head, where he sat. If
one of the men would slip over the rail he
could swim to the boat and secure it. This
was looked upon as good idea. One of the
Borneo men got quietly into the water and
swan for the boat, and when he was close
upon it fired and killed the ape in charge
His dying yell was answered from thou
sand Threats, and in ten seconds the boat
was filled with apes. The sailor had to re-
turn empty handed. 1t was no use to fire
upon the beasts, as their numbers were so
great, and we therefore renewed our prep
arations for defense, The crew proper told
us i'll SO many words that they would not
lift hand, except to defend themselves, as
they considered it a crime to kill an ape
Ii the schooner was boarded, then they
would be justified in fighting.
After few minutes all the apes but one
again left the boat. The body of the one I
had killed was carried ashore The tide
would not turn until O'Clock. and we had
nothing to do but wait and watch Imade