onsisted simply of tree-trunks laid end to end, along which
the natives, being barefooted, walk with ease and certainty, but our
booted hunters were obliged to proceed along them with extreme caution.
The only one who came to misfortune was, as usual, the professor; and in
the usual way! It occurred at the second of these tree-roads.

"Look, look at that remarkable insect!" exclaimed Nigel, eagerly, in the
innocence of his heart. The professor was in front of him; he obediently
looked, saw the insect, made an eager step towards it, and next moment
was flat on the swamp, while the woods rang with his companions'
laughter. The remarkable insect, whatever it was, vanished 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 g