134«' Account of the Simia synductyta, 



united to the upper lip : the mouth large : ears small, and re- 

 sembling 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 prefers fowl to any other ; but a lizard having been 

 caught on board, and placed before him, he took it immedi- 

 ately in his paw, and greedily devoured it. 



The first instance I observed of its 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 hug- 

 ged him closely, having an expression, 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 proceed no farther. On sending 

 him aboard the ship (Sophia), 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. We sailed from Singapore for England with 

 him on the 18th of November. 



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

 count of the disproportion of the size of the thumb to the 

 fingers. The metacarpal bone of the thumb Jias 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 impossible to capture an adult animal alive. 



Under the throat is a large black pouch, a continuation 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: 



