Among the reptiles, the most important is the crocodile, which attains a maximum length of seventeen feet, and is very destructive to human life. It seldom happens that a person escapes or is rescued, after being seized in this burly reptile’s powerful jaws. Some years ago the Sarawak government began a war of extermination against the crocodiles, by offering a reward of 35 cents a foot for all killed in the Territory. In 1878, 266 crocodiles were killed, and $738 paid out in rewards. I discovered a crocodile’s nest containing fifty-five eggs. The native crocodile hunters use hook and line. The hook, or alir, as it is called by the Malays, is a simple contrivance made of wood, tied at the end of a tough bark rope. Another saurian, the gavial, is found in Borneo. It is not unlike that of the Ganges, called by Dr. Gray, Tomistoma schlegelli. This species inhabits the headwaters of some of the rivers, and is rarely seen. In the swampy forest near the coast, small reptiles are very abundant. There are pythons in Borneo twenty-four feet long. Two twelve-foot specimens were brought to me, and a monster python twenty feet six inches long, I purchased alive in a cage, and put to death for its skin and skeleton.
Notwithstanding the contrary opinion of many observers, I think it can not be said with truth that Borneo is rich in bird-life. There are 392 species on the island. The finest bird is the argus pheasant. In life its plumage has a soft, velvety richness which is never seen in a dry specimen. These birds are extremely shy, and are taken by the natives in snares. Hornbills of several varieties are numerous. A bird of great commercial value is the swallow which builds the edible nest, so dear to the palate of the Chinese mandarin. These nests are built in caves, and are of a gelatinous substance resembling white glue. Their shape is like a small soup ladle with a broad, flat handle about an inch long. There are two kinds of nests, the white and the black, the former being most prized. A picul (133 pounds) of these is worth from two to three thousand dollars.
Borneo is favored with a great variety of very interesting mammals. So far as is at present known, there are ninety-six species, thirty-three of which are not found elsewhere. In apes and monkeys the island is especially rich. At the head of the list is the huge, red-haired orang-utan, of which we will speak presently. Then comes the long-nosed monkey, with its immense flabby proboscis. The Nasalis is a large species of monkey, found in the same localities as the orang, always over the water, and usually in large troops. It is something marvelous to watch a troop of monkeys, when terrified by an attack with firearms. They head directly away from the danger, and gallop madly through the tree-tops along the larger branches. Another interesting mammal is the long-armed ape, Hylobates concolor. This animal is extremely wary, and so rapid in its flight as to render pursuit exceedingly difficult. The flying lemur is also found here. Another curious monkey is the tarsier, a small, nocturnal animal. The krah, Macacus cynomolgus, actually swarms in the low trees along the river banks. The clouded leopard, the otter-cat, and civet cats of two species occur, and also several other small members of the cat tribe. Two species of bear are found, the smallest known. The Indian elephant occurs in the extreme northeastern part of the island; also the rhinoceros and tapir. These three are very rare. The thin-haired deer is very common in Sarawak Territory, and is frequently noosed by the natives. The muntjac, or rib-faced deer, is occasionally met. Wild hogs are very abundant and destructive. They sometimes measure forty inches at the shoulder, and are good swimmers. Many beautiful squirrels are found here, and also, remarkable bats, the bear cat, otter, porcupines, and other small mammals which fall an easy prey to the hunter-naturalist.
The orang-utan is found only in Borneo and Sumatra, but is more abundant in the former island. It is most numerous in the Sarawak Territory. This animal occupies the fourth highest place in the animal kingdom—first, man; second, gorilla; third, chimpanzee; and fourth, orang-utan. This name signifies “Jungle-man,” and is derived from two Malay words, “orang,” man, and “utan,” jungle. The latter word is usually corrupted into “otang” or “outang.” The animal itself is rare and difficult to find. In August, 1878, I went on a hunting expedition for orangs to the Sadong River, at the mouth of which I settled and commenced prospecting. One day two men arrived from the headwaters of the Simujan River. They said they had seen two mias (orangs), and suggested that I should go up to their village for a week or so. This I did, and was very successful, taking thirty-one orangs during my first month. In my visit of three months I secured forty-three orangs. Of these twenty-seven fell to my rifle, the remainder being shot for me by natives. Our plan of hunting was to paddle leisurely up and down the streams in a Malay sampan, or dug-out canoe, and watch the tree-tops on both sides as far back as we could see. I was armed with a Maynard rifle and field glass, while three stout Malays or Dyaks furnished the motive power at the paddles. Once in sight of an orang it was a comparatively easy matter to send a ball into its breast. On one occasion, while paddling up the Simujan River on a bright forenoon in September, the Malay suddenly exclaimed “Mias! Mias! Tuan!” The other paddlers backed water at once, but we saw nothing until the boat had been backed several yards. Then we espied simply the knee of a large orang which was lying asleep on a branch about twenty feet above the water, and twenty yards from us. Its body was completely hidden by the foliage, so I stood up in the boat and fired at its leg to arouse it. It started up instantly, growling hoarsely with pain and rage, and started to swing away with a reach that was surprising in its length. Fortunately, the water was deep; there were no screw-pines to hinder our progress, and in a moment our sampan was directly under the old fellow, who then climbed high into the tree-top to escape us. It was a huge old mias chappin, the species with the expanded cheeks, long-haired, big and burly. It growled savagely at us, and one of my Malays kept saying, “Chappin! Mias Chappin! Fire, sir, fire! That’s Mias Chappin. Big—big.” My companions were all intensely excited, but I knew the old fellow was ours, and waited for a good shot. In a moment the opportunity came, and I fired twice in quick succession at the orang’s breast. It stopped suddenly, hung for a moment by its hands, then its hold gave way, and it came plunging downward, snapped off a large dead limb on the way, and fell broadside into the water, with a tremendous splash which sent the spray flying all over us. As we seized the arms and pulled the massive head up to the surface of the water, the old fellow gave a great gasp, and looked reproachfully at us out of his half-closed eyes. I will never forget the strange, and even awful sensation with which I regarded the face of the dying monster. There was nothing in it in the least suggestive of anything human, but I felt as if I had shot some grim and terrible gnome or river-god—a satyr, indeed. It was a perfect giant in size, larger than even the natives had ever seen before. Its head, body and limbs were of grand proportions, and its weight could not have been much, if any, less than 190 pounds. This individual is now in the National Museum, to the extreme left of the group of orangs in the Mammal Hall. The tallest specimen I secured measured four feet six inches, but my largest one, that just described, measured half an inch less in height.
There are two species of orang found in Borneo: Simia Wurmbii, characterized in the males by very broad, flat cheek calossities, and Simia satyrus. English naturalists recognize a third species, Simia morio, but without any tenable grounds for doing so.
Orangs in a state of nature are seldom if ever seen on the ground. At night this animal builds a nest in the forks of a tree or on the top of a small sapling, by breaking off a quantity of green boughs, and piling them in the crotch. On these he lies upon his back, grasping with hands and feet the largest branches within reach. Orangs are perfectly harmless to human beings unless brought to bay on the ground. They are then as fierce as tigers. Their food consists of wild fruits, particularly the durian when in season, the tender shoots of the Pandanus, and the leaves of certain trees.
Although the aboriginal inhabitants of Borneo are divided into several tribes and scores of sub-tribes or clans, they may with reasonable exceptions be described as one body, or sub-race, viz.: Dyaks. In general terms, a Dyak may be described as a Bornean semi-savage, of Malay extraction, with straight black hair, a yellowish brown complexion, and smooth face of the Malay type. He is rather below medium stature, but athletic, and of active and warlike disposition. He is usually clad only in a bark loin-cloth, but sometimes wears a sleeveless jacket, and particularly in war, on which occasions it is made of skins or padded cloth. He is armed with sword and spear, and possibly the sumpitan also for blowing poisoned arrows. He invariably lives in the jungle, in a long house-village set up high on posts. Although he has no religion whatever, and worships nothing, he has profound regard for the rights of property, respects his wife, and treats her and his children with the highest consideration. His sustenance is rice, fowls, pigs and fruit grown by himself, wild animals slain in the forest, and wild fruit, supplemented by a few things which he receives in exchange for wax, gum, rattans and gutta, although these are generally given for brass-wire, beads, cloth and other ornaments. He has no written languages, builds no monuments, makes no pottery, and only one kind of coarse cloth, carves rather neatly in wood, and works but little in iron. His bearing is independent, dignified, respectful. He is a trustworthy friend, but a dangerous foe.
In my judgment the aboriginal inhabitants of Borneo may be divided into four great tribes: The Kyans, Mongol Dyaks, Land Dyaks and Sea Dyaks. This classification differs very widely from any hitherto proposed.[K]
The Kyan tribe is numerically the greatest, probably exceeding a quarter of a million. They are less civilized than the other tribes, are exceedingly warlike and aggressive. They decapitate their slain enemies, and keep the cleaned skulls as trophies.
The Mongol Dyaks inhabit northeastern Borneo. They have been greatly influenced by contact with the Chinese, with whom they have intermarried. In appearance they resemble the other Dyaks.