"The same chief said that the python found his match in the orang--the latter biting the python's throat, and tearing him with his powerful claws. The natives have a great dread of the orang, unless they have the advantage of fire-arms; they sometimes attack him with their spears and hatchets, but they do so with reluctance, as some of them are apt to be severely wounded, if not killed outright in the encounter."
Fred wanted to know if the animal they were discussing was in the habit of walking erect like a man, as he had seen represented in pictures.
"The best authorities say he does not," was the reply; "and I think that such pictures as you mention are far more imaginary than real. He spends nearly all his time in the trees, and when he goes through the forest he moves from one tree to another by following the limbs that interlace. He feeds in the trees in the daytime, and sleeps there at night; his bed is composed of leaves gathered together in the fork of a tree, and he never remains long in one spot. The natives say he finds a new resting-place and makes a new bed every night; but there is some doubt as to the correctness of this theory. When he has been wounded, and feels faint from loss of blood, he will gather a quantity of leaves and form a bed, where he lies down and dies. In such a case the tree must be cut down to get his body, as no amount of shaking will dislodge it; or the natives must be hired to climb up and remove it. This they will not do readily, as the animal has great vitality, and has been known to spring up suddenly and do a great deal of damage after he was supposed to be dead."
"There are some other curious products of this tropical region," said the narrator, "which I will endeavor to describe briefly. There is a frog that flies through the air, and--"
"How funny!" Fred exclaimed. "A flying-frog! He ought to be a relative of the fish that climbs a tree, and travels on dry land."
"Whether he is a relative or not of that fish, I am unable to say," was the reply, "but that he exists there is no doubt. He comes down from the top of a high tree to the ground in a slanting direction, just as you have seen a flying-squirrel go from one tree to another. His toes are very long, and webbed to their extremities. The body of the frog is about four inches long, and when spread out the webs of his feet have a square surface of at least twelve inches. This is much more than he needs for swimming, and we must, therefore, conclude that Nature has thus equipped him so that he can fly through the air.