The Rajah considered the Orangs to be as dull and slothful as one could conceive, and on no occasion, when pursuing them, did they move so fast as to preclude his keeping pace with them easily through a moderately clear forest, and even when obstructions below (such as wading up to the neck) enabled them to get away some distance, they were sure to stop and allow the hunters to come up. He never observed any attempt at defiance; and the wood which sometimes rattled about his ears was broken by their weight, and not thrown down, as some people imagine to be the case.

If pushed to extremity, the large male with crests on its head (which is called “Pappan”), could be formidable; and one unfortunate man, who, with a party, was trying to catch a large one alive, lost two of his fingers, besides being severely bitten in the face, whilst the animal finally beat off its pursuers. When the natives wish to catch an adult, they cut down a circle of trees round the one on which he is seated, and then fell that also, and close before he can recover himself, and try to bind him. The Rajah also notices the little dread the natives have of them, and that they form seats rather than nests in the trees.

These observations regarding their habits have been slightly opposed by Mr. Wallace, whose descriptions of Orang—or, as he prefers to call it, from the Dyak language, Mias—hunting and of their habits are undoubtedly the most reliable.

Wallace spent a long time in the islands of Borneo, Java, and Sumatra; and one of his principal objects in visiting the first especially was to obtain an insight as to the nature and life of the great man-like Apes of the country. After some time spent in hunting, he succeeded in shooting a full-grown male Orang-utan, and he describes the scene as follows:—

ORANG-UTANS.

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“I had just come home from an entomologising excursion, when Charles rushed in, out of breath with running and excitement, and exclaimed, interrupted by gasps, ‘Get the gun, sir—be quick—such a large Mias!’ ‘Where is it?’ I asked, taking hold of my gun as I spoke, which happened luckily to have one barrel loaded with ball. ‘Close by, sir—on the path to the mines; he can’t get away.’ Two Dyaks chanced to be in the house at the time, so I called them to accompany me, and started off, telling Charley to bring all the ammunition after me as soon as possible. The path from our clearing to the mines led along the side of the hill, a little way up its slope, and parallel with it at the foot a wide opening had been made for a road, in which several Chinamen were working, so that the animal could not escape into the swampy forest below without descending to cross the road, or ascending to get round the clearing. We walked cautiously along, not making the least noise, and listening attentively for any sound which might betray the presence of the Mias, stopping at intervals to gaze upwards. Charley soon joined us at the place where he had seen the creature, and having taken the ammunition, and put a bullet in the other barrel, we dispersed a little, feeling sure that it must be somewhere near, as it had probably descended the hill, and would not be likely to return again. After a short time I heard a very slight rustling sound overhead, but on gazing up could see nothing. I moved about in every direction, to get a full view into every part of the tree under which I had been standing, when I again heard the same noise, but louder, and saw the leaves shaking, as if caused by the motion of some heavy animal, which moved off to an adjoining tree. I immediately shouted for all of them to come up and try and get a view, so as to allow me to have a shot. This was not an easy matter, as the Mias had a knack of selecting places with dense foliage beneath. Very soon, however, one of the Dyaks called me and pointed upwards, and on looking I saw a great red hairy body and a huge black face gazing down from a great height, as if wanting to know what was making such a disturbance below. I instantly fired, and he made off at once, so that I could not then tell whether I had hit him. 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 twisting creepers. Running, 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! Orang-utan, Tuan!’ Seeing that he could not pass here without descending, he turned 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; but he was almost 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 the kind called by the Dyaks ‘Mias Chapyian,’ or ‘Mias Pappan,’ which has the skin of the face broadened out to a ridge or fold at each side. His outstretched arms measured seven feet three inches across, and his height, measuring fairly from the top of the head to the heel, was four feet two inches. The body just below the arms was three feet two inches round, and was quite as long as a man’s, the legs being exceedingly short in proportion. On examination we found he had been dreadfully wounded. Both legs were broken, one hip-joint and the root of the spine completely shattered, and two bullets were found flattened in his neck and jaws; yet he was still alive when he fell. The two Chinamen carried him home tied to a pole; and I was occupied with Charley the whole of the next day, preparing the skin and boiling the bones, to make a perfect skeleton, which are now preserved in the museum at Derby.”