52 THE NATUEAL HISTOEY OF 



say that the Orang is more than a match for his enemy, 

 and beats him to death, or rips up his throat by jDuUing 

 the jaws asunder ! 



Much of what has been here stated was probably de- 

 rived by Dr. Miiller from the reports of his Dyak hunters ; 

 but a large male, four feet high, lived in captivity under 

 his observation, for a month, and receives a very bad char- 

 acter. 



'' He was a very wild beast," says Miiller, " of prodi- 

 gious strength, and false and wicked to the last degree. 

 If any one approached he rose up slowly with a low growl, 

 fixed his eyes in the direction in which he meant to make 

 his attack, slowly passed his hand betw^een the bars of his 

 cage, and then extending his long arm, gave a sudden grip 

 — usually at the face." He never tried to bite (though 

 Orangs will bite one another), his great weapons of offence 

 and defence being his hands. 



His intelligence was very great ; and Muller remarks, 

 that, though the faculties of the Orang have been esti- 

 mated too highly, yet Cuvier, had he seen this specimen, 

 would not have considered its intelligence to be only a lit- 

 tle higher than that of a dog. 



His hearing was very acute, but the sense of vision 

 seemed to be less perfect. The under lip was the great 

 organ of touch, and played a very important part in drink- 

 ing, being thrust out like a trough, so as either to catch 

 the falling rain, or to receive the contents of the half 

 cocoa-nut shell full of water with which the Orang was 

 supplied, and which, in drinking, he poured into the 

 trough thus formed. 



In Borneo the Orang-TJtan of the Malays goes by the 

 name of ''Mias " among the Dyaks, who distinguish sev- 

 eral kinds as Mias Pajpjpom^ or Zimo^ Mias Kassu^ l^nd 

 Mias JRairibi. Whether these are distinct species, how- 



