I had spent about seven months in the forests of British North
Borneo, going many days' journey into the heart of the country, had
made fine natural-history collections and had come across a great
deal of game, including elephant, rhinoceros, bear, and "tembadu" or
wild cattle, huge wild pig and deer of three species being especially
plentiful. But above all I had come across a great many "orang-utan"
(Malay for "jungle-man") and had been able to study their habits. One
of these great apes has the strength of eight men and possesses an
extraordinary amount of vitality. One that I shot lived for nearly
three hours with five soft-nosed Mauser bullets in its body.
But I had not yet seen the REAL jungle-man in his native haunts --
the head-hunting Dayak, as the Dayaks are rarely to be found in North
Borneo, whereas the people on the Kinabatangan River (where I spent
most of my time) were a sort of Malay termed "Orang Sungei" (River
People). So, as I was anxious to see the real head-hunting Dayak,
I determined to go to Sarawak, which is in quite a different part of
Borneo. To do this, I had to return to Singapore, and thence, after a
two days' voyage, I arrived at Kuching, the capital of Sarawak. Except
for a Chinese towkay, I was the only saloon passenger, as strangers
rarely visit this country.
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