New-York tribune., 1921-11-20

about their platform. Through the no,. i
could hear the at work with their ma
angs; then came the crashing of trees. IT,.
jungle seemed to fold up, and the bio ~.
stood alone. The orangs screamed and buyoos
each other. Men rushed forward with ~
bundles of dry grass and started the fra.
others came with wet leaves to maLo
smudge. One Of the orangs started az 70 !.
come down, and l reached for my rife bn.
when the smoke struck him. he went bach !,
ths platform, screaming and tearing the t,..
Then, as the smoke became more dense II.
two animals climbed higher and sat on u.
topmost limb, arms and legs wrapped arsjnd
each other, completely terrified.
Dense clouds of smoke rolled up from Is.
smudges, enveloping the tree completely ana
hiding the orang-outangs, who perched alof.
screaming and coughing. The big rattan not.
were in place. with the men holding Thorn
ready to cast when the tree came down. Otbsr
men, armed with sharp-pointed poles, stood
behind, to pin the beasts down if the nets did
not fall in the proper position. They were 50
excited that l spent several minutes in casu.
ally walking about talking with them and
calming them
We cleared away the litter of tree trunl.
and creepers from the spot where the big tree
was to fall, so that there might be nothing
underfoot to interfere with rapid work: then
| gave the signal for the tom-toms The racke.
began again and the crew of men detailed A
cutting the tree ran through the smoke bar.
rier, waving their parangs and shouting. |
err nrrfci do hn
orangs and keeping the men at their stations
Omar was with me, and Munshee was with the
men who were doing the cutting We could
hear the big knives hacking into the tree.
A messenger from Munshee came with the
word that the tree was ready to drop. gave
hasty glance around me, told the men to be
the alert and sent him back with instruc-
tions to let the tree fall. Once again through
the din of toms and shouts we could hear
chopping; the tree swayed for a moment, the
orang- -outangs screamed with terror and the
men with the nets crouched, ready to spring
Slowly the tree toppled and came down, gath
ering speed as it fell, exactly in the spot we
had marked.3 When it struck the entire jungle
seemed to be in upheaval
The orang- -outangs abruptly stopped their
cutlery. AS they l1st the ground they were
parayzed with fright A net went sailing
over them. In an instant they came to their
senses and began fighting. With long black,
powerful arms they lashed at the rattan they
leaped and struggled, biting the ropes and
tearing great gashes in their bodies They
screamed and chartered furiously. One of
them reached out and grabbed d native by the
throat, whipping him through the air and
breaking his neck. The native struck the
ground several yards away, blood pouring
from his nose and mouth.
| yelled to the 1Sen to cast the second net
and secure it to the trees. The orangs kept UP
a constant battle, lashng and heaving under
the ropes that pressed them to the ground
Their arms and legs became entanged in the
meshes of the nets and they wasted their
strength in wrenching and squirming, while
we fastened them down. The natives, crazy
with excitement, pressed in, tumbng over one
another.
Our material had been put to the greatest
test and would hold the animals, | knew, for
they could not again equal the struggle of the
first few minutes SO, because l wanted ttem
to have room to become thoroughly tangled In
the nets, l ordered the ropes slackened trae
Just then, while I was standing near the
nets, experimenting the work of making them
fast, a huge paw shot out and grabbed my
ankle. I was jerked off the ground and, as
fell, my hands caught the limb OF tree.
clung to it with all my strength, feeling my
fingers weaken and slip while the brute pulled.
The joints at my hips and knee panied me for
an instant, then my leg became numb. The
men stood terrified and l could not yell at
them; felt myself growing dizzy and simply
wondered why some one did not do somethi2g
Then Omar grabbed club and pounded the
orang's arm; the pulling stopped, and real
lied that | was being dragged away from the
nets. For several minutes | 100 groggy
to know what was happening, but the idea that
the natives might kill the orang -outangs while
| was disabled made me sit up They were
standing there, looking first at me and then at
the animals, wondering what to do. ] told
them | was all right and began feeling my leg
1t was not broken, but it had been badly
wrenched that l could not stand OH it.
While sat on the ground directing tne work
the men gathered the outside meshes of the
nets and ran rope through them Then, s3
the other ropes were loosened, they pulled the
moose close, and the two brutes were in SACK.
For the first time | had an opportunity to ex-