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His chief regret is that he missed, during his visit to Borneo, the largest mias ever seen on the island. The natives discovered a troop, all of which made off except the leader. He showed fight, but soon ran up a high tree, from which the native weapons were unable to dislodge him. He was beyond their reach and there he sat.
Now, with monkeys, no less than with men, there is many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip, for the mias had just begun its meal, or, rather, its dessert, when a crocodile, which the professor had not observed and Nigel had mistaken for a log, suddenly opened its jaws and seized the big monkey's leg. The scene that ensued baffles description!
Ourang-outang, and other animals. The two sorts of mias. Description of the Rajah, his suite, and Panglimas, &c. The character of the natives. Leave Sarawak. Songi Dyaks. Visit Seriff Sahib. Buyat tongue. Attack by pirates. Sail for Singapore. Having returned to Sarawak, Mr. Brooke renewed his intercourse with the rajah; and his Journal proceeds: "Sept. 9th.
The next morning, at daybreak, I came to the place, and found that the Mias was evidently dead, as his head was visible in exactly the same position as before.
"Not in years," he returned; "but old, very old in experience, and stay, what was it that you were asking about? Ah, the big game. Well, we have plenty of that in some of the larger of the islands; we have the elephant, the rhinoceros, the tiger, the puma, that great man-monkey the orang-utan, or, as it is called here, the mias, besides wild pigs, deer, and innumerable smaller animals and birds "
In all these objects I succeeded beyond my expectations, and will now give some account of my experience in hunting the Orangutan, or "Mias," as it is called by the natives; and as this name is short, and easily pronounced, I shall generally use it in preference to Simia satyrus, or Orangutan. Just a week after my arrival at the mines, I first saw a Mias.
The mias stopped to look at him, seeming to think him a more dangerous antagonist than were we three females and our sick companion. Merlin caught sight of the mias, and bounded towards him. I now began to fear for our four-footed friend, for I knew the power of the creature, and how one grasp of its strong hands would in an instant destroy the dog.
Nothing daunted, the mias regained his footing, hauled his victim on to a mudbank, and, jumping on his back began to tear and pommel him. There was nothing of the prize-fighter in the mias. He never clenched his fist never hit straight from the shoulder, but the buffeting and slapping which he gave resounded all over the place.
While I was feeding the Mias, the monkey would sit by, picking up all that was spilt, and occasionally putting out its hands to intercept the spoon; and as soon as I had finished would pick off what was left sticking to the Mias' lips, and then pull open its mouth and see if any still remained inside; afterwards lying down on the poor creature's stomach as on a comfortable cushion.
Of the many whom I asked respecting them, at different times and in different places, the greater part of their own accord mentioned the difference between the mias pappan and the mias rombi. The animal when brought aboard was stated to be the mias rombi, or small sort. In short, the natives, whether right or wrong, make the distinction. 2d.
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