In This Manner He Ascended About Twenty Feet; When
The Upright Bamboo Was Becoming Thin, Another Was Handed Up By
His Companion, And This Was Joined By Tying Both Bamboos To Three
Or Four Of The Pegs.
When this was also nearly ended, a third was
added, and shortly after, the lowest branches of the tree were
reached, along which the young Dyak scrambled, and soon sent the
Mias tumbling down headlong.
I was exceedingly struck by the
ingenuity of this mode of climbing, and the admirable manner in
which the peculiar properties of the bamboo were made available.
The ladder itself was perfectly safe, since if any one peg were
loose or faulty, and gave way, the strain would be thrown on
several others above and below it. I now understood the use of
the line of bamboo pegs sticking in trees, which I had often
seen, and wondered for what purpose they could have been put
there. This animal was almost identical in size and appearance
with the one I had obtained at Semabang, and was the only other
male specimen of the Simia morio which I obtained. It is now in
the Derby Museum.
I afterwards shot two adult females and two young ones of
different ages, all of which I preserved. One of the females,
with several young ones, was feeding on a Durian tree with unripe
fruit; and as soon as she saw us she began breaking off branches
and the great spiny fruits with every appearance of rage, causing
such a shower of missiles as effectually kept us from approaching
too near the tree.
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