Evening star., 1921-06-12
Collector Of Wild Animals Tells Of His
With the Real Wild the Fish and the
Cocod-Locat How They Are
Capture by the Natvs-A Panic In Jungle

| by the promises Of omar and Mahom-
| med Munshee that every assistance
would be given me. I explained that
I had the permission Of the resident
| general and that the had offered me
men, but that I had refused, because
/ knew could depend on the men of
| this kampong-theyk knew everything
| that was to be known about the jun
| gle, and the whole world knew that
they were brave and cool-headed.
| impressed upon them that such work
| was not to be taken as play, and that
| 1t was a dangerous enterprise. The
| natives nodded sagely, You must be
them: for have made plans. If you
do as tell you to do. we shall be
| successful
| Then called upon the men who had
been sent out to locate tho orang-
outangs. They had found them about
two hours distance from the village:
they described the location and told
how 1t could be reached A general
discussion followed. I gave each man
a chance to express his ideas They
the. same time-and the council drag
ged on for hours. With the assist
| ance OF Omar. 1 kept the debate or
derly and we listened to all sorts Of
! opinions.
For the most part, they felt that It
would be necessary to kill the animals.
That, of course, was the last thing in
| the world that l wanted. 1t would mean
that the expedition was wasted effort !:
! there are few live orang-outangs in
geological gardens. but many stuffed
ones in museums. did not agree with
the idea that We should have to kill the
animals. but l did not entirely disag gree.
We compromised by reaching the de-
cision that. If they must be killed, l
should do the work and no man should
tyNy 70 txt thAr
The natives had seen what ono bullet
from my rife would do to a tree, and
they were convinced that an orang-
outang would stand a poor chance
= + &k
THE council broke up and work be-
= gan. had Omar set some Of his
men to making strong nets OF twisted
rattan He drew plans for the two cages
and had other men gather the limbs of
| trees for them. The cages were just
large enough to hold the animals and
| small enough to keep them from getting
any leverage on the bars After the
skeletons of the cages were built obey
were bound tightly with rattan ropes SO
! that. even If the bars were broken. the
orang-outangs would be in a network
The strength of a full grown orang-
outang is enormous. l have seen one
bend a one-inch steel bar as though it
| were made Of rubber. II he can brace
himself properly, with plenty OF room to
| exert his entire strength. he can bend
almost anything; but between bending
a bar and breaking a rope by pulling
there is great deal of difference. A
rattan rope will hold him. though
simple menagerie cage may not give him
any more trouble than a paper hoop.
J.. The strength of the orang-outang. or
wild man." as the name means in
Malay, is largely in his arms. The arms
OF a mias-the breed that we were
after-measure ten feet or more from
| tip to tip. The mias type. which is next
| in size to the gorilla, is somewhat larger
| than the ordinary breed. 1t IS distin-
| guiShed by darker color and by folds
Of skin at each side OF the face. Its
| body, from shoulders to hips, is about
! the size of a mans. 1t has short. unde-
ve!oped legs. long fingers and thumbs
that are mere stubs.
An orang-outang never travels on the
aground when he can swing from tree
j to tree, and, since there are very few
open spaces in the jungle, he seldom
goes down to get something. He can
swing incredible distances, hurtling
| through the air and catching branches
| with perfect accuracy:
| Orang- g-outangS usually live in colonies
| numbering from forty to sixty. and the
! largest and most powerful is chief.
They make their homes on platforms
! in the branches Of trees and they build
! the platforms by breaking OF limbs
and putting them crisscross. In mating
season the male and female live to-
gether. but the couples separate after
| the young are born. The mother takes
care of them and the father goes off
| about his business.
AS they do in the case Of most dan
gerous animals. the native collectors
hunt orang-outangs by killing the
| weapon they most often use, except
when they have guns. is the biow-pipe,
| which, in the hands Of an expert, is not
| to he despised. 1t is a long, slender tubs,
measuring from six to eight feet. made
from single joint of a rare bamboo
! The tube is allowed to dry and harden
and is wrapped tightly with rattan. The
darts, which are about the size Of steel
knitting needle. are made from the
midribs Of palm leaves. and at one end
there is small conical butt. which
] small nick is made in the shaft Of the
dart Just below the point, and the end
is coated with a deadly poison made
from the sap of the upas tree and
another species of the genus Ipo. When
the dart strikes the end breaks of and
remains in the wound: the poison acts
rapidly, first paralyzing. then killing
the victim. In warfare, also. the ma
tives poison kris and spear. and the
wound is invariably fatal.
+ + X
FIGHTING a full-grown orans-ou-
tang with weapons SO primitive
is extremely hazardous work, and the