He now moved very rapidly and very noiselessly for so
large an animal, so I told the Dyaks to follow and keep
him in sight while I loaded. The jungle was here full of
large angular fragments of rock from the mountain above,
and thick with hanging and twisted creepers. Eunning,
climbing, and creeping among these, we came up with the
creature on the top of a high tree near the road, where the
Chinamen had discovered him, and were shouting their
astonishment with open mouth: “ Ya Ya, Tuan; Orangutan,
Tuan.” Seeing that he could not pass here without
descending, he tprned up again towards the hill, and I got
two shots, and following quickly had two more by the
time he had again reached the path; hut he was always
more or less concealed by foliage, and protected by the
large branch on which he was walking. Once while loading
I had a splendid view of him, moving along a large
limb of a tree in a semi-erect posture, and showing him to
be an animal of the largest size. At the path he got on
to one of the loftiest trees in the forest, and we could see
one leg hanging down useless, having been broken by a
ball. He now fixed himself in a fork, where he was
hidden by thick foliage, and seemed disinclined to move.
I was afraid he would remain and die in this position, and
as it was nearly evening I could not have got the tree cut
down that day. I therefore fired again, and he then
moved off, and going up the hill was obliged to get on to
some lower trees, on the branches of one of which he fixed
himself in such a position that he could not fall, and lay
all in a heap as if dead, or dying.
I now wanted the Dyaks to go up and cut off the branch
he was resting on, but they were afraid, saying he was not
dead, and would come and attack them. We then shook
the adjoining tree, pulled the hanging creepers, and did all
we could to disturb him, but without effect, so I thought it
best to send for two Chinamen with axes to cut down the
tree. While the messenger was gone, however, one of the
Dyaks took courage and climbed towards him, but the
Mias did not wait for him to get near, moving off to another
tree, where he got on to a dense mass of branches and
creepers which almost completely hid him from our view.
The tree was luckily a small one, so when the axes came
we soon had it cut through; but it was so held up by jungle
ropes and climbers to adjoining trees that it only fell into
a sloping position. The Mias did not move, and I began
to fear that after all we should not get him, as it was near
evening, and half a dozen more trees would have to be cut
down before the one he was on would fall. As a last
resource we all began pulling at the creepers, which shook
the tree very much, and, after a few minutes, when we had
almost given up all hopes, down he came with a crash and
a thud like the fall of a giant. And he was a giant, his
head and body being full as large as a man’s. He was of