36 THE AGILE GIBBON. 
In their native woods, these animals are most interesting to the observer, if he 
is only fortunate enough to get near them without being seen by the vigilant creatures. 
A good telescope affords an excellent mode of watching the customs of animals that 
are too timid to permit a human being to come near their haunts. 
When startled, the Agile Gibbon flits at once to the top of the tree, and then, 
seizing the branch that seems best adapted to its purpose, it swings itself once or 
twice to gain an impetus, and launches itself through the air like a stone from a 
sling, gaining its force very much on the same principle. Seizing another branch, 
towards which it had aimed itself, and which it reaches with unerring certainty, the 
creature repeats the process, and flings itself with ease through distances of thirty or 
forty feet, flying along as if by magic. Those who have seen "it urging its flight over 
the trees, have compared its actions and appearance to those of a bird. Indeed, these 
creatures seem to pass a life that is more aerial than that of many birds, putting 
out of question the heavy earth-walking birds which have not the power to raise 
themselves from the eround, even if they had the will. 
The colour of this species is extremely variable, and as may be seen by reference 
to the figure, the offspring is not necessarily of the same colour as the parent. This 
difference in tint is not solely caused by age, for it frequently happens that a cream- 
coloured mother has a dark infant, and vice verséd. Of the specimens in the British 
Museum, hardly any two are alike in the tint of their soft woolly fur. Some are 
nearly black, some are brown, and some are of a lght cream colour. It is worthy 
of remark that one of the black specimens was brought from the Himalayas; the 
brown and the cream-coloured examples being from 1] Malacca. 
The natives of Sumatra, where the Agile Gibbon is found in the greatest plenty, 
eall 1t the Ungka-puti, or sometimes Ungka-etam. Sometimes the Siamang goes by 
the same name of Ungka, being called the Black Ungka Ape. 
The singularly active manners of this animal were exhibited by the ape aboye- 
mentioned as being a visitor to our shores. A large apartment was prepared for it, 
and branches set up at some distance from each other, so as to give it as much 
room as possible for its wonderful evolutions. Eighteen feet appears to have been 
the farthest distance between the branches, and this space was cleared with consummate 
ease, as would probably be the case with an animal which was accustomed to launch 
itself through a space nearly double the eighteen feet. The animal, however, was 
hindered by many drawbacks. Putting aside the disadvantages of a strange climate 
and the want of the usual food, she had been subjected to the inconvenience of a long 
sea voyage, had suffered from confinement ‘and the deprivation of its natural atmosphere. 
Even with all these drawbacks, the Gibbon exhibited such singular feats of agility, 
that the spectators were lost in astonishment. 
She was accustomed to fling herself, without the least warning or apparent pre- 
paration, from the branch on which she might be sitting, towards another branch, 
which she invariably succeeded in catching with her outstretched hand. From branch 
to branch the Gibbon would continue her flight, for so it might be aptly termed, 
without cessation, until checked. The most curious part of the performance was, 
that she did not seem to require any further impulse after her first swing, but was 
content just to touch the branches as she passed from one to the other. So easy was 
this exercise, and of such quick eye and hand was the animal possessed, that the 
spectators were accustomed to amuse themselves by throwing fruits or other objects 
in the air, which she would adroitly catch as she passed along, without thinking it 
needful to stop for that purpose, 
Swift as was its flight, the equilibrice powers of the animal were so perfect, that 
even in its most rapid course it could arrest itself in a moment, catching a branch with 
the hands, and then suddenly drawing up the hinder feet to the same level. The firm 
grasp of the hinder feet then came ‘into play, and the creature sat on the branch as 
quietly as if it had never stirred, 
Some idea of the proportion of limbs and body of this ape may be gained by 
contrasting them with those of the human form. An ordinary man, when standing 
