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| Sunday, 14 August 2005 |
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Orang
Pendek:
The missing link? Part II by Arefa Tehsin In 1917 Dr. Edward Jacobson, a settler interested in natural history, mentioned it in an article in a Dutch scientific journal. He told how two natives he employed to collect specimens had come across a mysterious animal known locally as Orang Pendek. Dr. Jacobson was camping in the forest at the foot of Beokit Kaba, near the Soban Ajam plantation on July 10, 1916 when hunters came to him and told him that they had seen at a distance of 20 yards, an Orang Pendek looking for larvae in a rotten stump. The creature was black and agreed with the traditional description of the legendary beast. When it realised that it had been seen it made off, running along the ground on its hind legs. Dr. Jacobson realised that it would not have been an Orang Utan which would have made its escape from branch to branch of trees. Near Mount Kerintji, a little farther north, he was able to examine a footprint that his guide said was an Orang Pendek's and it was not at all like an Orang Utan's. It was like a little human foot, but broader and shorter. He concluded that there must be an unknown anthropoid ape in Sumatra. This would not have been surprising for several new animals had recently been discovered on that little-explored island, among them the Sumatran hare. A year later, another settler L. C. Westenek, produced some more evidence about this mortal. Like every one else he had enjoyed hearing about it along with other such creatures. Westenek had all along been amused by these delightful tales, but one day in 1910 the following event altered his opinion: "A boy from Padang employed as an overseer by a Dutch settler had to stake the boundaries of a piece of land for which a long lease had been applied. One day he took several coolies into the virgin forest on the Barrissan Mountains near Leoboek Salasik. Suddenly he saw, some 15 yards away, a large creature, low on its feet, which ran like a man and was about to cross his path: It was hairy and it was not an Orang Utan; but its face was not like an ordinary man's. It silently and gravely gave the men a disagreeable stare and ran calmly away. The coolies ran faster in the opposite direction. The overseer remained where he stood, quite dumbfounded, and when he returned to the camp he sat down in writing what he had seen." This little note had been in Westenek's possession. Dr. Jacobson has also written more about his own experiences. In 1915 at Sioelak Deras, several natives told him that they had once or twice seen an Orang Pendek. They all insisted that it did not move through the trees but walked on the ground. They said in the days when there were more rhinoceros in the Kerintji area they saw Orang Pendek more often. The rhinoceros were caught in pits that trapped them with their feet in the air and one sometimes saw an Orang Pendek perched on the rhino's belly eating its flesh. Dr. Jacobson therefore concluded that it could not be an anthropoid ape, for no known species is carnivorous, though some will eat birds and small mammals. But there is no reason why a carnivore species of apes should not exist. By far, the most exact description of the Orang Pendek's appearance is by a Dutch settler called Van Herwaarden. In 1916 he was prospecting for valuable timber in the state of Palembang when he heard tales of a mysterious creature whom the natives called 'man of the woods'. The Malay traders who often went into the forests told him something of the Orang Pendek. By the beginning of the following year, he was exploring the Semangoes district of Moesi Oeloe when he was surprised to see bare feet prints very much like a man's, alongside a small river. There were two trails, one large and one small, which he thought must have been of a mother and her young one. He made a careful sketch of the prints, but it was lost when he accidentally fell into a river. Some days later, he met one Mr. Breikers who had also found similar foot prints and realised that all the fantastic rumours after all must be based on an animal by no means mythical. He therefore began collecting information about it again. None had ever seen an Orang Pendek: Its sense was so keen that no human could come near it. But eventually, he came across three Koebes who had seen the creature. Their description agreed perfectly; they all said it was a creature that walked upright and stood between 2 feet 11 inches and 5 feet 3 inches high. It had a hairy body, long hair on its head and unusually long canine teeth. Van Herwaarden also learnt that near Sebalik, in the same district, a party of Malays in canoes had encircled an Orang Pendek in the water but the creature dived and escaped them. They went ahead with a description of the Orang Pendek, which matched perfectly with what the other Dutch settlers had collected over the years. Surprisingly the world of science remained obstinately silent and shelved it over the years. In 1959, several newspapers published a dispatch that referred to the capture of a mysterious beast, identical in description to the Orang Pendek. Unfortunately a revolution broke out in Sumatra soon after this sensational capture. It could have been a hoax or perhaps even a code message to the rebels to rise, who knows? Through hoaxes, reports and sightings - organisations, individuals and scientists are today trying to determine if this is a figment of imagination or if it really exists. In man's insatiable search to link up his ancestry, the Orang Pendek may prove to be a vital missing link. |
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