Upon recovering consciousness he saw the solemn face of La Cueille, who was bathing his forehead and temples with the contents of the cups. When the Walloon saw him open his eyes he uttered a shriek of joy.
Wienersdorf extended his hand to him. The Walloon seized it and pulled him up on his legs. The Swiss was unhurt: his limbs were sound, though sore from the thrashing. At a little distance from him lay his assailant, whom Dalim was busy tying.
The Dayak and the Walloon upon first hearing the cries of the [[307]]Swiss had hurried to his aid, and upon seeing the struggle in progress Dalim had exclaimed in accents of terror:
“Kahio!”
He immediately cut a large branch, made it into a cudgel and requested La Cueille to do the same. They then approached the fighters as quickly as possible and Dalim began to belabor Wienersdorf’s assailant with all his might. The ape had not before observed their approach, but he now left the Swiss and made for his new enemies, cudgel in hand. The fight did not last long, but yet long enough to prove that, armed with the most original weapon, man was not equal to the animal, which, like a trained fencer, avoided the blows of his opponents, and succeeded in regaling them with a thrashing they would long remember. At last Dalim managed to catch hold of the stick of the monkey and grasped it firmly. La Cueille, who up till now had been unable to join in the combat, owing to the rapidity of the movements of the combatants, then dealt the monkey a blow on the head which rendered him insensible immediately.
“Kahio!” Dalim cried again, pointing to the animal.
“Orang outang!” La Cueille said.
“Kahio!” the Dayak repeated.
“Orang outang!”
This quarrel was only brought to an end by Wienersdorf who now began to move about, groaning slightly. The ape also commenced to move and tried to rise. But Dalim threw himself upon the animal, dealt it a few more blows, and finally tied its hands and feet. Wienersdorf in the meantime had gained his legs, assisted as we have seen by La Cueille. Many of their [[308]]cups of water had been spilled, trodden upon, or run empty, but they managed to save the valuable contents of about twenty. They now resumed their return journey, taking the animal with them.