HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



27 



run down if whilst pursued he has no opportunity of 

 escaping by climbing. On the foot are five toes, the 

 great toe being placed like the thumb of the hand ; 

 the form of the foot is somewhat similar to that of the 

 hand, having an equal prehensile power ; the great 

 toe has a capability of much extension outwards, 

 which enlarges the surface of the foot when the animal 

 walks ; the toes are short, the great toe is the longest. 

 The eyes of the animal are close together, with the 

 irides of a hazel colour : the upper eyelids have 

 lashes, the lower have none : the nose is confluent 

 with the face, except at the nostrils, which are a little 

 elevated ; nostrils on each side, and the nose united 

 to the upper lip : the mouth large : ears small, and 

 resembling the human, but without the pendent lobe. 

 He has nails on the fingers and toes ; he has two hard 

 tubercles on the tuberosities of the ischium, but is 

 destitute of a tail or even the rudiments of one. 



His food is various : he prefers vegetable diet, as 

 rice, plantains, &c, and was ravenously fond of 

 carrots, of which we had some quantity preserved on 

 board. He would drink tea, coffee, and chocolate, 

 but neither wine nor spirits : of animal food he pre- 

 fers fowl to any other ; but a lizard having been 

 caught on board, and placed before him, he took 

 it immediately in his paw, and greedily devoured it. 



The first instance I observed of his attachment was 

 soon after the animal had been presented to me by 

 Mr. Boustead. On entering the yard in which he was 

 tied up, one morning, I was not well pleased at 

 observing him busily engaged in removing his belt 

 and cord, at the same time whining and uttering 

 a peculiar squeaking noise. When loose, he walked 

 in the usual erect posture towards some Malays who 

 were standing near the place ; and after hugging the 

 legs of several of the party, he went to a Malay lad, 

 climbed upon and hugged him closely, having an ex- 

 pression, in both the look and manner, of gratification 

 at being once again in the arms of him who, I now 

 understood, was his former master. When this lad 

 sold him to Mr. Boustead, whenever the animal could 

 get loose he would make for the water-side, the Malay 

 lad being usually on board the prau in which they had 

 arrived from Sumatra ; and the animal was never 

 taken until, having reached the water, he could pro- 

 ceed no farther. On sending him aboard the ship, he 

 on arriving, after rewarding his conductor with a bite, 

 escaped, and ascended the rigging ; but towards the 

 evening he came down on the deck and was readily 

 secured. 



He is not able to take up small objects with facility, 

 on account of the disproportion of the size of the 

 thumb to the fingers. The metacarpal bone of the 

 thumb has the mobility of a first joint ; the form of 

 both the feet and hands gives a great prehensile power, 

 fitted for the woods, where it must be almost impos- 

 sible to capture an adult animal alive. 



Under the throat is a large black pouch, a con- 

 tinuation of the common integument, and very thinly 



covered with hair : this pouch is not very visible when 

 undistended : it is a thick integument, of a blackish 

 colour and corrugated appearance. It extends from 

 the under part of the chin to the throat, and is attached 

 as low down as the upper part of the sternum, and is 

 also attached above to the symphysis of the lower 

 jaw ; its use is not well known, but it is not impro- 

 bable that it is an appendage to the organ of voice. 

 Sometimes, when irritated, I have observed him inflate 

 the pouch, uttering at the same time a hollow barking 

 noise ;* for the production of which, the rushing of the 

 air into the sac was an adjuvant. The inflation of the 

 pouch was not, however, confined to anger ; for, when 

 pleased, he would purse the mouth, drive the air with 

 an audible noise into the sac ; or when yawning, it was 

 also inflated ; and in all instances he would gradually 

 empty the sac, as if he derived a pleasure from it. 

 When the sac has been distended, I have often pressed 

 on it, and forced the air contained within it into the 

 mouth, the animal not evincing at the time any sign of 

 its being an annoyance to him. When uttering the 

 barking noise, the pouch is not inflated to the same 

 extent as when he yawns. It has been stated in an 

 American publication, that the use of the air-sac is 

 for a swimming-bladder. It may be said in refuta- 

 tion (if the assertion is not too absurd to be refuted) 

 that the animal being one day washed in a large tub 

 of water, although much frightened, did not inflate 

 or make the least attempt to inflate the sac. He is 

 destitute of cheek pouches as a reservoir for food. 



When sleeping, he lies along either on the side or 

 back, resting the head on the hands, and seemed 

 always desirous of retiring to rest at sunset ; but 

 would often (I suppose from his approximation to 

 civilisation) indulge in bed some time after sunrise ; 

 and frequently when I awoke I have seen him lying 

 on his back, his long arms stretched out, and, with 

 eyes open, appearing as if buried in deep reflection. 

 The sounds he uttered were various : when pleased 

 at a recognition of his friends, he would utter a pecu- 

 liar squeaking chirping note ; when irritated, a hollow 

 barking noise was produced ; but when angry and 

 frightened, or when chastised, the loud guttural 

 sounds of ra, ra, ra, invariably followed. When I 

 approached him for the first time in the morning, he 

 greeted me with his chirping notes, advancing his 

 face at the same time, as if intended for the purpose 

 of salutation. He had a gravity of look and m'ldness 

 of manner, and was deficient in those mischievous 

 tricks so peculiar to the monkey tribe. In only one 

 instance did I experience any mischief from him, and 

 that was in his meddling with my inkstand : he had a 

 penchant for the black fluid, would drink the ink, and 

 suck the pens, whenever an opportunity offered of his 

 gratifying this morbid propensity. He soon knew 

 the name of Ungka, which had been given to him ; 



* When the barking noise was made, the lips were pursed 

 out, and the air driven into the sac, at the same time that the 

 sound was uttered, the lower jaw was also a little protruded. 



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