one of which at a good height would certainly cause their
death. When about two dozen pegs were made, one of
them began cutting some very long and slender bamboo
from another clump, and also prepared some cord from the
bark of a small tree. They now drove in a peg very firmly
at about three feet from the ground, and bringing one of the
long bamboos, stood it upright close to the tree, and bound
it firmly to the two first pegs, by means of the bark cord,
and small notches near the head of each peg. One of the
Dyaks now stood on the first peg and drove in a third,
about level with his face, to which he tied the bamboo in
the same way, and then mounted another step, standing on
one foot, and holding by the bamboo at the peg immediately
above him, while he drove in the next one. In
this manner he ascended about twenty feet, when the
upright bamboo becoming thin, another was handed up
by his companion, and this was joined on by tying both
bamboos to three or four of the pegs. When this was also
nearly ended, a third was added, and shortly after, the
lowest branches of the tree were reached, along which the
young Dyak scrambled, and 'soon sent the Mias tumbling
headlong down. I was exceedingly struck by the ingenuity
of this mode of climbing, and the admirable manner in
which the peculiar properties of the bamboo were made
available. The ladder itself was perfectly safe, since if
any. one peg were loose or faulty, and gave way, the strain
would be thrown on several others above and below it. I
now understood the use of the line of bamboo pegs sticking
in trees, which I had often seen, and wondered for
what purpose they could have been put there. This
animal was almost identical in size and appearance with
the one I had obtained at Semabang, and was the only
other male specimen of the Simia morio which I obtained.
It is now in the Derby Museum.
I afterwards shot two adult females and two young
ones of different ages, all of which I preserved. One of
the females, with several young. one§, was feeding on a
Durian tree with unripe fruit; and as soon as she saw us
she began breaking off branches and the great spiny
fruits with every appearance of rage, causing such a
shower of missiles as effectually kept us from approaching
too near the tree. This habit of throwing down branches
when irritated has been doubted, but I have, as here
narrated, observed it myself on at least three separate
I occasions. It was however always the female Mias who
I behaved in this way, and it may be that the male, trusting
more to his great strength and his powerful canine teeth,
is not afraid of any other animal, and does not want
to drive them away, while the parental instinct of the
female leads her to adopt this mode of defending herself
and her young ones.
In preparing the skins and skeletons of these animals, I