It is at such a time as this that the bird-hunter secures his richest prizes, and with comparative ease.
When the Malays find a tree which the birds have fixed upon as their dancing-place, a little shelter of palm leaves is built near the trunk among the branches, and in it before daylight the hunter hides himself, armed with a bow and several arrows which terminate in a rough knob. At the foot of the tree another hunter is concealed. When the dance has begun the native above shoots his blunt arrow with such force as to stun the bird, who is secured and killed by the one on the ground without its plumage being injured by a drop of blood. The others pay no attention to this sudden disappearance of their companion, and the slaughter is continued until the greater number of the birds are slain.
Philip gazed at this rare and beautiful sight nearly a quarter of an hour, and then, as if suddenly remembering his own necessities, he pushed forward once more among the matted and tangled underbrush.
Before twenty yards had been traversed the glimpse of a moving object among the trees caused him to utter a cry of joy. He had seen that which bore close resemblance to a human form, and quite naturally he believed it to be some inhabitant of the island.
Running at full speed, urged to put forth every effort by the belief that he would soon find aid, food and shelter, no inconsiderable distance was traversed during the next ten minutes. To his most intense surprise, however, he failed to see again this figure which had so raised hope, or even to discover in what direction it fled.
Disheartened, and fancying his eyes had deceived him, he continued to make his way forward; but not with the same energy as before. He became like one who toils without hope of a happy conclusion to the labor.
Courage revived again however when, on emerging from the thicket of palms through which he had been making his way to a more open portion of the forest, the same figure stood revealed to view.
Philip now watched with the utmost attention, and was surprised at the wonderful celerity of the stranger’s movements. He disappeared and then appeared again, passing from one point to another much more rapidly than any person could have run, and in many ways gave such evidence of fear that the shipwrecked young man advanced yet more boldly.
Upon arriving at the place where the supposed native had last been seen, Philip was startled, almost frightened, as the object of his search suddenly descended from the top of a tree at his very feet.
It was an ape!