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.
About ten days after this, on June 4th, some Dyaks came to tell us that
the day before a Mias had nearly killed one of their companions. A few
miles down the river there is a Dyak house, and the inhabitants saw a
large Orang feeding on the young shoots of a palm by the riverside. On
being alarmed he retreated towards the jungle which was close by, and a
number of the men, armed with spears and choppers, ran out to intercept
him. The man who was in front tried to run his spear through the
animal's body, but the Mias seized it in his hands, and in an instant
got hold of the man's arm, which he seized in his mouth, making his
teeth meet in the flesh above the elbow, which he tore and lacerated in
a dreadful manner. Had not the others been close behind, the man
would have been more seriously injured, if not killed, as he was quite
powerless; but they soon destroyed the creature with their spears
and choppers. The man remained ill for a long time, and never fully
recovered the use of his arm.
They told me the dead Mias was still lying where it had been killed, so
I offered them a reward to bring it up to our landing-place immediately,
which they promised to do. They did not come, however, until the next
day, and then decomposition had commenced, and great patches of the hair
came off, so that it was useless to skin it. This I regretted much, as
it was a very fine full-grown male. I cut off the head and took it home
to clean, while I got my men to make a closed fence about five feet high
around the rest of the body, which would soon be devoured by maggots,
small lizards, and ants, leaving me the skeleton. There was a great gash
in his face, which had cut deep into the bone, but the skull was a very
fine one, and the teeth were remarkably large and perfect.
On June 18th I had another great success, and obtained a fine adult
male. A Chinaman told me he had seen him feeding by the side of the path
to the river, and I found him at the same place as the first individual
I had shot. He was feeding on an oval green fruit having a fine red
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