A PERFORMANCE OF VERY AGILE GIBBONS
The cabin party went on shore and breakfasted with their Chinese friend,
who had invited them to the meal the evening before. It was a very
pleasant occasion, and it occupied half the forenoon. The host gave them
useful information, and listened with interest to their account of the
battle with the orang-outangs. When they left the house they found the
two Malays who had been their companions in the morning waiting for
them.
One of them presented a tarsier to Scott. It was a very pretty and
curious little creature, belonging to the monkey tribe. It had very
large eyes, and was certainly very cunning. It appeared to be playful,
but his new owner got a nip from its teeth which warned him to be
careful. The most curious part of the animal was its legs, the hind ones
being much the longer.
Its five slender toes ended in what looked like balls, which proved to
be flat, and acted like the foot of a fly, retaining by suction its hold
upon the tree where it lived. The spine of its neck was so constructed
that it could describe a circle with its head. Its long hind legs
enabled it to leap like a kangaroo.
The other Malay brought with him a flying dragon, a king of lizards,
said to be the reptile from which the fables of the original dragons
originated. It has a pair of membranes with the semblance of wings, with
which it sustains itself in the air in its leaps from one tree or branch
to another, as the flying-fish does in its flights over the water.
The party took leave with many thanks of the Chinese agent, and promised
to visit him on their return from up the river. Louis stated that they
wanted to kill one full-sized orang-outang, for the one killed by the
Malays was so cut up and chopped in the fight that she was not in
condition to be stuffed and kept as a good specimen.
"You will find them on the Simujan, but hardly anywhere else in the
island except in this vicinity, on the Sadong, Batang Lupar, and their
branches," replied the agent. "The orangs have been hunted so much,
especially by naturalists, that they are becoming scarce; and they are
likely to become extinct, for the scientists are looking for the
'missing link,' as they call it."
The speaker laughed as he made the last remark; and it was evident that
he was not a Darwinian, or at least that he had not followed out the
theory of evolution. Taking their places in the yacht, the captain gave
the order to cast off the fasts, the boat stood up the river, and soon
passed the scene of the morning's conflict.
"Gibbons!" exclaimed Achang, pointing to a portion of the forest where
the trees were sparsely scattered.
There were half a dozen of them, and they seemed to be engaged in a
frolic. This ape has been described in a former volume, for it is
abundant in Sumatra. Louis wished to observe the movements of the
animal, which has very long arms, is wonderfully agile, and a gymnast of
the first order. It could travel all over Borneo where forests exist
without touching the ground, passing from tree to tree in long leaps.
The boat was stopped in the river, in order to permit the party to
witness the exhibition which was in process, without the payment of any
admission fee.
Every branch was a trapeze, and no troupe of artists could compare with
them in the agility of their movements. Their long arms appeared to be
the key to their marvellous feats, for their legs were comparatively
short, and for the size of their bodies the animals possessed immense
strength.
"If some enterprising manager of a theatre devoting himself to athletic
exhibitions could secure the services of the half dozen gibbons which
are giving us a free show, he would make his fortune in our country,"
said Louis. "Don't try to see them all at once, but watch that fellow on
the right."
The one indicated grasped a horizontal branch with his hands, his arms
looking like the ropes of a swing. He was swaying to and fro with great
rapidity, apparently trying to see how fast he could go, for he put a
tremendous amount of vigor into his efforts. In an exhibition hall he
would have "brought down the house," and would certainly have received
an "_encore_."
Suddenly, while he was swinging at a dizzy speed, he let go his hold
upon the branch, and seemed to be flying through the air; but with his
fingered feet he seized another branch, not less than forty feet from
the first, and, with his long arms extended to the utmost, continued to
swing in this inverted position. The observers were so delighted with
this skilful performance that they applauded lustily by clapping their
hands. The noise did not disturb the performers, and the actor that had
so distinguished himself appeared to put even greater vigor into his
movements.
Possibly he was getting up a momentum; for he soon released the hold of
his feet on the branch, went flying through the air with his long arms
extended ahead of him in the direction of another favorable limb of a
tree, and grasped it with his hands. After swinging for a moment, he
drew himself up on the branch, and proceeded to walk up to a greater
height, using his hands to assist in keeping his equilibrium. This was a
fair specimen of the performance of every member of the troupe.
One of the company appeared to see something on the ground that
attracted his attention; and he made a flying leap to a lower branch,
and then dropped himself upon the soil. Looking about him for a moment,
he apparently discovered a bush with some sort of fruit on it, for he
immediately began to walk towards it. As a walkist he was far from being
a success, and his awkward movements excited the laughter of the
interested spectators. In his present _rôle_ he would have made an
excellent clown in a circus ring.
His short legs seemed to be incapable of fully supporting his body, and
he behaved like an inexperienced athlete walking on a tight rope without
a balancing-pole. His long arms served as this implement, and with a
bend at the elbows and the hands dropped down, he waddled along very
slowly.
"It's heavy sea for that fellow, and he looks like a landlubber trying
to walk the deck in a rough sea," said Captain Scott. "But I fancy the
performance is over, and it is time to shoot some of the actors if that
is what you intend to do."
"For one, I don't intend to do anything of the sort," replied Louis,
with considerable energy in his tones. "I don't believe in killing for
the sake of killing, or for the fun of it. My admiration of the skilful
performance we have just witnessed will not allow me to kill the actors
or any of them."
"What did we come to Borneo for, Louis?" asked the captain.
"To see the country, and explore some of its rivers."
"I thought we came here to hunt and fish," added Scott.
"I did not come here to kill harmless creatures for the fun of it. We
want a full-grown orang, and I am ready to hunt for him," replied Louis.
"We want him for the purpose of study, and to show to our friends on
board of the ship. I don't object to shooting any bird or animal to
extend our information."
Louis had his double-barrelled fowling-piece in his hand. Suddenly he
brought it to his shoulder and fired. All eyes were directed to the
shore, and a large bird was seen to drop upon the ground. The captain
started the boat, and ran her up to the bank. Clinch leaped ashore, and
soon brought the bird on board. Its plumage was highly colored and very
beautiful.
"What do you call that bird, Louis?" asked Morris.
"Chambers calls it simply the argus, but the more common name is the
argus-pheasant," replied Louis.
"Faix, he's a magnificent crayter; and what a long tail our cat has
got," added Felix, as he spread the bird out on the gunwale.
The last remark referred to the long tail of the bird, which made the
entire length from the bill to the end of it about five feet. Only two
of the feathers were thus prolonged, adding about three feet to the
dimension. The variety of colors were jet black, deep brown, fawn,
white, and a number of secondary hues. The bird, deprived of his
feathers, is about the size of an ordinary hen.
"But you can't see him at his best now that he is dead," continued
Louis, who had read up the animal life he expected to find in Borneo.
"Like a peacock, though to a less extent, he can spread out his pretty
feathers, but not in the same manner; for they open out in the form of a
circle, making a sort of round disk on his back and concealing his head.
If you could see the bird alive with his wings spread out you would find
every feather had a number of marks that look like eyes, and seventeen
have been counted on one of them. Each of these marks consists in part
of a jet-black ring, with other different colored rings inside of it,
which make the whole figure like an eye.
"You remember a fellow who was called Argus in mythology, who had a
hundred eyes, of which only two were ever asleep at the same time. This
bird gets his name from him; though the story is that Mercury killed
him, and Venus transferred his eyes to the tail of the peacock."
"Thanks for the lecture, Louis," said Scott when he had finished his
description. "It was certainly a part of our plan in coming to Borneo to
study natural history; and we are doing so instead of shooting all the
time."
Just at this moment Felix, who had wandered from the fore cabin to the
waist, discharged his fowling-piece. The Milesian was as good a shot as
Louis, for both of them had been trained in the same shooting-gallery in
New York. All hands rushed to the rail to ascertain what the hunter had
brought down. On the bank of the river they discovered a creature about
two feet long, lying on its back, and struggling in its death-throes.
Lane leaped ashore, and soon laid the animal on the gunwale of the boat
by the side of the argus. It was a queer-looking creature about the
head, and no one on board except Achang had ever seen one like it. For
the length of the head, the muzzle was very broad, hardly less than
three inches. It was covered with a soft and rather long fur on its
body, dark brown in color.
"What do you call my game, Mr. Naturalist?" demanded Felix, addressing
Louis, who was looking the animal over.
"_Cynogale Bennetti_," replied the young naturalist very gravely.
"Faix, that's jist what I thought he was whin Oi foired at him," added
Felix. "Sin O, gal! But what had Ben Netty to do wid it? Or was Netty
the name of the gal?"
"I gave you the scientific name because this creature has no plain
English name, though the natives here call it the _mampalon_," added
Louis.
"That's what we call it; but I forgot the name," said Achang.
"He is one of the otter family; and Mr. Hornaday, whose book I hope you
will all read when you return to the ship, thought it might be called
the otter-cat. I wish we could have taken him alive, for it would have
made a very nice specimen to set up in the cabin of the
Guardian-Mother."
"I should like to knock over the big orang-outang you want, Louis, my
darling," continued Felix. "There comes a covered sampan up the river,"
he added, pointing down the stream.
Many such covered boats are used on the rivers. On a frame of bamboo or
other wood was a covering of leaves, each of which is six to seven feet
long, and two inches wide. They are sewed together with a thread of
rattan, overlaying each other, like tiles or shingles, thus shedding the
rain. They were in strips or squares, so that they could be readily
removed. The sides were sometimes curtained with the same material. The
long leaves are taken from the nipa palm, which grows abundantly in the
island, and serves a great many useful purposes.
The boat waited to see the covered sampan, and later there appeared to
be two of them. As they approached, the familiar voice of the Chinese
agent was heard hailing the party. It appeared that this gentleman was
bound up the river to a Dyak village, a few miles farther up.
"You had better go with us," said the agent, as his sampan stopped
abreast of the steamer. "I spoke to you about a Dyak long-house; and you
will have an opportunity to examine one, and to sleep in it if you are
disposed to do so. You will be received very kindly, and have a chance
to see the people as well as the houses."
"Thank you, Mr. Eng Quee; we will certainly go with you," replied
Captain Scott, prompted by Louis. "We will heave you a line, and tow you
up."
In a few minutes more the steamer moved up the river with the two
sampans in tow.