anished
from the scene, and the professor was dragged, smiling though confused,
out of the bog. These things affected him little. His soul was large
and rose superior to such trifles.

The virgin forest into which they penetrated was of vast extent;
spreading over plain, mountain, and morass in every direction for
hundreds of miles, for we must remind the reader that the island of
Borneo is considerably larger than all the British islands put together,
while its inhabitants are comparatively few. Verkimier had been
absolutely revelling in this forest for several months--ranging its
glades, penetrating its thickets, bathing, (inadvertently), in its
quagmires, and maiming himself generally, with unwearied energy and
unextinguishable enthusiasm; shooting, skinning, stuffing, preserving,
and boiling the bones of all its inhabitants--except the human--to the
great advantage of science and the immense interest and astonishment of
the natives. Yet with all his energy and perseverance the professor had
failed, up to that time, to obtain a large specimen of a male
orang-utan, though he had succeeded in shooting several small specimens
and females, besides catching the young one which he had tamed.

It was therefore with much excitement that he learned from a party of
bees'-wax hunters, on the second morning of their expedition, that a
large male mias had been seen that very day. Towards the afternoon they
found the spot that had been described to them, and a careful
examination began.

"You see," said Verkimier, in a low voice, to Nigel, as he went a step
in advance peering up into the trees, with rifle at the "ready" and
bending a little as if by that means he better avoided the chance of
being seen. "You see, I came to Borneo for zee express purpose of
obtaining zee great man-monkey and vatching his habits.--Hush! Do I not
hear somet'ing?"

"Nothing but your own voice, I think," said Nigel, with a twinkle in his
eye.

"Vell--hush! Keep kviet, all of you."

As the whole party marched in single file after the professor, and were
at the moment absolutely silent, this order induced the display of a
good many teeth.

Just then the man of science was seen to put his rifle quickly to the
shoulder; the arches of the forest rang with a loud report; various
horrified creatures were seen and heard to scamper away, and next moment
a middle-sized orang-utan came crashing through the branches of a tall
tree and fell dead w