They Were Playing Together, Standing Erect,
And Grasping Each Other By The Arms.
It may be safely stated,
however, that the Orang never walks erect, unless when using its
hands to support itself by branches overhead or when attacked.
Representations of its walking with a stick are entirely
imaginary.
The Dyaks all declare that the Mias is never attacked by any
animal in the forest, with two rare exceptions; and the accounts
I received of these are so curious that I give them nearly in the
words of my informants, old Dyak chiefs, who had lived all their
lives in the places where the animal is most abundant. The first
of whom I inquired said: "No animal is strong enough to hurt the
Mias, and the only creature he ever fights with is the crocodile.
When there is no fruit in the jungle, he goes to seek food on the
banks of the river where there are plenty of young shoots that he
likes, and fruits that grow close to the water. Then the
crocodile sometimes tries to seize him, but the Mias gets upon
him, and beats him with his hands and feet, and tears him and
kills him." He added that he had once seen such a fight, and that
he believes that the Mias is always the victor.
My next informant was the Orang Kaya, or chief of the Balow
Dyaks, on the Simunjon River. He said: "The Mias has no enemies;
no animals dare attack it but the crocodile and the python.
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