The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-12-10
GIANT APE AND SERPENT.
a DESPERATE STRUGGLE IN THE
WILDs OF BORNHO.

LONDON. Dec. AS agent for Womb
wells menagerie. at one time the larges
collection Of wild animals in England, or il
the world in all probability. visited India
Africa and Oceanica in search of all tina
was rare and wonderful In bird, beast AM
fish, and in my travels made many marrow
escapes from the creatures that hunted
But it was in Borneo that the most terrible
adventure of my life befell ME, when, fac
to face with the gigantic orang outsng,
was only saved by a strange chance. 1t wal
in the early sixties that set out from the
coast city of B-anal for the interior of the
island in search Of a living specimen Of the
animal l spoke OF. had been warned OF
the ferocity and strength Of these creatures,
with their almost human intelligence, but il
was my vocation to meet danger, and 1 had
been 80 often in periIous situations that
had come to believe in luck as being on my
side.
| So selecting three or four Of the strongest
| and brightest of the natives that applied to
me to join me in the excursion, l provided
myself with plenty of provisions to last me
| several weeks, and carried with me my net,
in which to ensnare the animal. besides all
| the weapons | boosted of. The woods are
very dense on the western shore of the
! island, rising gradually to the foot of the
mountains that traverse the land from
| southwest to the north, and from the vest
ern shore to the eastern; and from the
| density we procesded very slowly, often
| having to wait until the uUderKro with and
trailing vines, which latter are sometimes
as thick as a mans thigh, was cut away by
| the short axes the men carried on their
shoulders. But was repaid for the time
- IL 80
the finding of several rare serpents and the
! trapping of couple of birds even less COM
mon; but | was anxious to capture nv
orang-outang, and every night spread my
net, hoping TO be aroused by the struggles
of the great ape. l gathered from the
natives that they stood In terror of the AMI
mails. and / knew that If ran upon one of
them inadvertently | would in all proba-
bility have to meet it alone.
One day, while camping on the banks of a
smoll, sluggish stream that flowed from the
distant mountains, / took my gun and
walked a short way from the camp, hoping
TO find some animal that would furnish meat
for our breakfast. when l saw two little
creatures hanging from the limb Of a tree,
and on approaching them saw that l had
had the luck TO come across two newborn
orang>outangs Calling my men to come
quickly with one Of the small cages
l carried with me, placed the little whim-
pering things in comfortable bed
made of moss and cotton, and disnissing
the natives after they had spread the net
about the tree for me, laid in wait for the
mother, which l knew would return.
kept my gun beside me, though hoped to
capture her alive. In about an hour she
came, and, swinging herself up into the
tree, began TO look for her children, Not
finding them, she sprang from limb to limb
until she had searched the entire tree, utter
ing low, moaning cries, and at last sitting
down under the tree, looking up into it and
weeping aloud for her lost darlings ! de-
clare the creatures grief touched me SO that
had l had my way ! would have run and
gotten them for her, but as yet she had
not ventured into the meshss of the
net, and when she did 80 and was
captured meant to restore the
babies TO her, both for humanity's
sake and because l wished to preserve the
little things alive. as 1t would add to the
value OF the capture, and calculated on
getting over $3.50 for the trio. But as l
watched the mourning mother she began to
scent the air, and presently leaped to her
feet with roar of fury, and | knew she
had scented the presence of human beings,
and raising my gun l aimed at her breast in
case OF her discovering me and attacking me
before she fell into the net. But as she walked
around the tree, evidently seeking some clue
to her enemy, her feet became wrapped in
the cords and she fell heavily TO the ground.
Thinking had secured her, l
shouted aloud for the natives to
come and help me to tie her, but. see
ing my prize, they advanced 30 slowly that
l had TO threaten TO Withhold their wages if
they did not come at once, as the orang-
outang was struggling so violently that |
feared she would make her escape ere
could secure her. At this threat the men
came on. but still showed no disposition to
touch the creature, which was uttering shrilI
cries OF fury and fear and crashing her
long, formidable teeth at US; so pulling out
my bottle OF ether aud the sponge | used IN
capturing the more dangerous animals,
tied 1t to long cane, which thrust under
the animals nose. She fell at once and the
men coming I'D helped me to secure her
with stout rope.
The young orang -outangs were then
liberated, and on the mother coming to her
self she sucked them. / knew the little
fellows were not likely TO run away as long
as they were with their mother. Camp
was struck and we started on our homeward
way. going slowly because of the necessity
OF tying the orang-outang's feet 80 that she
could not escape, thought leaving them so
that she could walk, led behind the horse
We had gone several miles when a sort of
roar was heard in the woods at some little
distance behind US, and from having heard
1t that day when the orsng-outang was
caught, recognized it as the cry of another
Of the animals. The captive heard it also
and, raising her dropping head gave a shrill
answer 1t was evidently her mate. who
on coming home, had found his family
gone, and had at once started after
them. The natives turned pallid and broke
and ran in insane terror. Most of them
plunged into the river, while two sought
refuge in the branches Of tree growing on
the bank. As for me. looked to the load
ing or my gun and got out my knife,
orouchlng beneath the trunk of giant sage
tree, and waited for the great ape that
came running, leaping, swinging himself
from limb to limb Of the trees as best suited
the speed he was making. When he at last
caught sight Of the young orang-outanRs
and their manacled mother he gave a
scream. half of joy, half of rage, at the
sight, and running 30 his loved ones began
TO hug them and lick their faces with his
great red tongue. This welcome oyer with. he
cast his ewes about him to ascertain the en-
envy who had done all this, and catching a
glimpse OF the men in the tree swung him
self up into its branches. Seeing this. the
unfortunate wretches climbed up into the
highest limbs, into which the weight of the
orang-outang would prevent him following
them, but they had not counted on the cum
ming OF the beast. Standing on the last
branch that would support him, he reached
up with his long hairy arm and drew the
limbs on which the Bornoese sat down until
he picked them from their seats as if they