arillus, like the mace which surrounds the nutmeg, and which alone he
seemed to eat, biting off the thick outer rind and dropping it in a
continual shower. I had found the same fruit in the stomach of some
others which I had killed. Two shots caused this animal to loose his
hold, but he hung for a considerable time by one hand, and then fell
flat on his face and was half buried in the swamp. For several minutes
he lay groaning and panting, while we stood close around, expecting
every breath to be his last. Suddenly, however, by a violent effort
he raised himself up, causing us all to step back a yard or two, when,
standing nearly erect, he caught hold of a small tree, and began to
ascend it. Another shot through the back caused him to fall down dead. A
flattened bullet was found in his tongue, having entered the lower part
of the abdomen and completely traversed the body, fracturing the first
cervical vertebra. Yet it was after this fearful wound that he had
risen, and begun climbing with considerable facility. This also was a
full-grown male of almost exactly the same dimensions as the other two I
had measured.
On June 21st I shot another adult female, which was eating fruit in a
low tree, and was the only one which I ever killed by a single ball.
On June 24th I was called by a Chinaman to shoot a Mias, which, he said,
was on a tree close by his house, at the coal-mines. Arriving at the
place, we had some difficulty in finding the animal, as he had gone off
into the jungle, which was very rocky and difficult to traverse. At last
we found him up a very high tree, and could see that he was a male of
the largest size. As soon as I had fired, he moved higher up the tree,
and while he was doing so I fired again; and we then saw that one arm
was broken. He had now reached the very highest part of an immense tree,
and immediately began breaking off boughs all around, and laying them
across and across to make a nest. 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
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