hough the
mouth was large and the lips rather thick. Numerous brass rings
encircled his arms above and below the elbows. His only other piece of
costume was a waist-cloth of blue cotton, which hung down before and
behind. It ended in three bands of red, blue, and white. There were also
rows of brass rings on his legs, and armlets of white shells. At his
side he wore a long slender knife and a little pouch containing the
materials for betel-chewing.

"Yes, and he is as good as he looks," said the hermit. "His name is
Gurulam, and all the people of his tribe have benefited by the presence
in Borneo of that celebrated Englishman Sir James Brooke,--Rajah Brooke
as he was called,--who did so much to civilise the Dyaks of Borneo and
to ameliorate their condition."

The prophecy of Moses about the professor was fulfilled. Just as it was
growing dark that genial scientist returned, drenched to the skin and
covered with mud, having tumbled into a ditch. His knuckles also were
skinned, his knees and shins damaged, and his face scratched, but he was
perfectly happy in consequence of having secured a really splendid
specimen of a "bootterfly" as big as his hand; the scientific name of
which, for very sufficient reasons, we will not attempt to inflict on
our readers, and the description of which may be shortly stated by the
single word--gorgeous!

Being fond of Verkimier, and knowing his desire to obtain a full-grown
orang-utan, Gurulam went off early next morning to search for one.
Half-a-dozen of his comrades accompanied him armed only with native
spears, for their object was not to hunt the animal, but to discover one
if possible, and let the professor know so that he might go after it
with his rifle, for they knew that he was a keen sportsman as well as a
man of science.

They did not, indeed, find what they sought for, but they were told by
natives with whom they fell in that a number of the animals had been
seen among the tree-tops not more than a day's march into the forest.
They hurried home therefore with this information, and that
day--accompanied by the Dyak youths, Nigel, the hermit, and
Moses--Verkimier started off in search of the mias; intending to camp
out or to take advantage of a native hut if they should chance to be
near one when night overtook them.

Descending the hill region, they soon came to more level ground, where
there was a good deal of swamp, through which they passed on Dyak roads.
These roads c