"_3d._--Beating between Points Api and Datu. The bay, as far as we
have seen, is free from danger; the beach is lined by a feathery row
of beautiful casuarinas, and behind is a tangled jungle, without fine
timber; game is plentiful, from the traces we saw on the sand; hogs in
great numbers, troops of monkeys, and the print of an animal with cleft
hoofs, either a large deer, tapir, or cow. We saw no game save a tribe
of monkeys, one of which, a female, I shot, and another quite young,
which we managed to capture alive. The captive, though the young of
the black monkey, is grayish, with the exception of his extremities,
and a stripe of black down his back and tail. Though very young, he
has already taken food, and we have some hope of preserving his life.
"We witnessed, at the same time, an extraordinary and fatal leap
made by one of these monkeys. Alarmed by our approach, he sprang
from the summit of a high tree at the branch of one lower, and at
some distance. He leaped short, and came clattering down some sixty
or seventy feet amid the jungle. We were unable to penetrate to the
spot on account of a deep swamp to ascertain his fate.
"A rivulet flows into the sea not far from where we landed; the water
is sweet, and of that clear brown color so common in Ireland. This
coast is evidently the haunt of native prahus, whether piratical or
other. Prints of men's feet were numerous and fresh, and traces of
huts, fires, and parts of boats, some of them ornamented after their
rude fashion. A long pull of five miles closed the day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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