Curious Encounters Of The Human Kind Borneo

Has White-Brown colonialism been replaced by Brown-Brown arrogance? How close are we to orangutans? This is Borneo as you've probably never imagined, full of curious people, startling happenings, and unexpected moments of humanity and introspection, giddiness and solemnity, avarice and ambition.

What do jumping cats have to do with Buddhism's Middle Path? How did Myanmar's ruling junta use white elephants to consolidate their power? This is Myanmar as you've probably never imagined, full of curious people, startling happenings, and unexpected moments of humanity and introspection, giddiness and solemnity, avarice and ambition.

What is the allure of Waltzing Banana Island? Why does it make good business sense to make friends with the dragon princess? This is Indonesia as you've probably never imagined, full of curious people, startling happenings, and unexpected moments of humanity and introspection, giddiness and solemnity, avarice and ambition.

In the middle of a Borneo rainforest, a band of near-naked Penan tribesmen, encouraged by a renegade Swiss shepherd, hesitantly blockade a logging truck, testing their commitment to protect their forest home. Meanwhile, loggers are busy at work, devastating the rainforest, and rehabilitant orangutans are not playing nice.

Wild Man from Borneo offers the first comprehensive history of the human-orangutan encounter. Arguably the most humanlike of all the great apes, particularly in intelligence and behavior, the orangutan has been cherished, used, and abused ever since it was first brought to the attention of Europeans in the seventeenth century. The red ape has engaged the interest of scientists, philosophers, artists, and the public at large in a bewildering array of guises that have by no means been exclusively zoological or ecological. One reason for such a long-term engagement with a being found only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra is that, like its fellow great apes, the orangutan stands on that most uncomfortable dividing line between human and animal, existing, for us, on what has been called “the dangerous edge of the garden of nature.” Beginning with the scientific discovery of the red ape more than three hundred years ago, this work goes on to examine the ways in which its human attributes have been both recognized and denied in science, philosophy, travel literature, popular science, literature, theatre, museums, and film. The authors offer a provocative analysis of the origin of the name “orangutan,” trace how the ape has been recruited to arguments on topics as diverse as slavery and rape, and outline the history of attempts to save the animal from extinction. Today, while human populations increase exponentially, that of the orangutan is in dangerous decline. The remaining “wild men of Borneo” are under increasing threat from mining interests, logging, human population expansion, and the widespread destruction of forests. The authors hope that this history will, by adding to our knowledge of this fascinating being, assist in some small way in their preservation.

‘We’ve left a lot of men in Borneo – know what I mean?’ With their SAS trainer’s warnings ringing in their ears, the naturalist, Redmond O’Hanlon, and the poet, James Fenton, set out to rediscover the lost rhinoceros of Borneo. They were loaded with enough back-breaking kit to survive two months in a steaming 95° (in the shade) jungle of creeping, crawling, biting things. O’Hanlon could also rely on his encyclopaedic knowledge of the region’s flora and fauna, and had read-up on how to avoid being eaten by anything (stick your thumbs in a crocodile’s eyes, if you have time). And yet they proceeded to have an adventure that neither O’Hanlon, nor his friend, nor even his guides were remotely prepared for... ‘Consistently exciting, often funny, and erudite without ever being overwhelming’ Punch.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1896.

The Sultan and the Mermaid Queen is a collection of essays and articles which describe rarely written-about Asian people, places and events.