20 THE RISE OF MAN. 



ishing finger, will come up like a rueful child and plead 

 forgiveness in a plaintive voice. He will embrace the 

 keeper as if to pacify him, and his whole demeanor seems 

 to say, " Do not be angry ; I will be good." It is difficult 

 to keep him long in captivity, however, for he usually 

 dies of consumption after a short time. His mouth is 

 almost of a spherical shape, which makes his face repulsive 

 without, however, succeeding in hiding the good-natured 

 character of his psychical disposition. 



The orang-utan appears to us awkward in his move- 

 ments, but he is not, for he walks along with great rapid- 

 ity on the stoutest branches in the dense forests of his 

 marshy home. He does not jump but swings himself 

 from tree to tree with unexpected agility. He rarely 

 descends to walk on the ground but remains true to his 

 name, "a man of the forest-trees." Travelers (among 

 them Wallace who has closely observed the habits of the 

 orang-utan in Borneo) declare that he is fearless and 

 peaceful. There are no animals stronger than he except 

 the crocodile, and if a crocodile dares to attack either him- 

 self or a member of his family, he throws himself upon 

 the enemy's back and, clutching him from behind, lacer- 

 ates his throat. 



The gorilla, who among all the brutes has a skeleton 

 most like man's, must once have lived in herds to attain 

 his present state. He is not without the more tender 

 emotions and intelligence, but living now in isolation, 

 and lacking the influence of intercommunication with 

 large numbers of his fellows, he has grown irritable and 

 savage although the reports in regard to his ferocity are 

 greatly exaggerated. He leaves other animals and man 

 alone and is not aggressive without sufficient provocation ; 

 but when he sees his family imperiled, he is dangerous in 

 fight. He will accompany the fleeing members of his 



