It Was Very
Interesting To See How Well He Had Chosen His Place, And How
Rapidly He Stretched Out His
Unwounded arm in every direction,
breaking off good-sized boughs with the greatest ease, and laying
them back across each
Other, so that in a few minutes he had
formed a compact mass of foliage, which entirely concealed him
from our sight. He was evidently going to pass the night here,
and would probably get away early the next morning, if not
wounded too severely. I therefore fired again several times, in
hopes of making him leave his nest; but, though I felt sure I had
hit him, as at each shot he moved a little, he would not go away.
At length he raised himself up, so that half his body was
visible, and then gradually sank down, his head alone remaining
on the edge of the nest. I now felt sure he was dead, and tried
to persuade the Chinaman and his companion to cut down the tree;
but it was a very large one, and they had been at work all day,
and nothing would induce them to attempt it. The next morning, at
daybreak, I came to the place, and found that the Mias was
evidently dead, as his head was visible in exactly the same
position as before. I now offered four Chinamen a day's wages
each to cut the tree down at once, as a few hours of sunshine
would cause decomposition on the surface of the skin; but, after
looking at it and trying it, they determined that it was very big
and very hard, and would not attempt it. Had I doubled my offer,
they would probably have accepted it, as it would not have been
more than two or three hours' work; and had I been on a short
visit only, I would have done so; but as I was a resident, and
intended remaining several months longer, it would not have
answered to begin paying too exorbitantly, or I should have got
nothing done in the future at a lower rate.
For some weeks after, a cloud of flies could be seen all day,
hovering over the body of the dead Mias; but in about a month all
was quiet, and the body was evidently drying up under the
influence of a vertical sun alternating with tropical rains. Two
or three months later two Malays, on the offer of a dollar,
climbed the tree and let down the dried remains. The skin was
almost entirely enclosing the skeleton, and inside were millions
of the pupa-cases of flies and other insects, with thousands of
two or three species of small necrophagous beetles. The skull had
been much shattered by balls, but the skeleton was perfect,
except one small wristbone, which had probably dropped out and
been carried away by a lizard.
Three days after I had shot this one and lost it, Charles found
three small Orangs feeding together. We had a long chase after
them, and had a good opportunity of seeing how they make their
way from tree to tree by always choosing those limbs whose
branches are intermingled with those of some other tree, and then
grasping several of the small twigs together before they venture
to swing themselves across.
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