50 APES, MONKEYS, AND LEMURS 



the trees in the half upright position rendered necessary by the great length of their 

 arms and the shortness of their legs. Almost invariably they select such trees as 

 have their branches interlaced with the adjacent ones ; and, when such boughs are 

 within reach, they catch hold of them with their arms as if to try their strength, 

 after which they deliberately venture upon them. Although the orang never leaps 

 or jumps, and never seems to be in a hurry, yet he will make his way overhead in 

 the forest as fast as a man can run on the ground below. In this progression the 

 long powerful arms are of the greatest service ; and it is by their aid that the orang 

 plucks the choicest fruit from boughs too light to support his weight, and likewise 

 gathers the leaves and young shoots to form his nest. 



The orangs, like gorillas, go in small family parties, consisting of the parents, 

 accompanied frequently by from two to four young ones. Although they will de- 

 vour leaves, buds, and young shoots, more especially those of the bamboo, the 

 chief food of the orang consists of fruit of various kinds, the prime favorite being 

 the luscious but ill-smelling durian or jack-fruit. Of this fruit they waste a vast 

 quantity, throwing the rejected rinds on the ground below. 



Mr. Wallace describes the nest, or sleeping place, of the orang as being 

 generally constructed in a comparatively small tree, at a height of from some 

 20 to 50 feet from the ground ; a situation at this elevation being protected 

 from wind by the taller surrounding trees. The Dyaks believe that the orang 

 constructs a fresh nest every night ; but, as Mr. Wallace remarks, if this were the 

 case, the deserted nests would be much more common than they really are. These 

 animals remain in their nests till the sun has risen sufficiently high to have dried 

 the dew from the forest leaves. Their feeding-time is during the middle of the 

 day ; but it appears that they seldom return for more than two consecutive days to 

 the same tree for this purpose. Mr. Wallace observes that the orang must have a 

 task of considerable difficulty in getting at the interior of the durian, since this 

 fruit is protected by a thick and tough skin, covered with strong conical prickles. 

 Probably, however, the animal first bites off a few of these prickles or spines, and 

 then makes a small hole into which it inserts its fingers, and thus manages to pull 

 the fruit in pieces. 



Many accounts have been given of the habits of orangs in 

 captivity. Of these the earliest is the one by Vosmaer relating to the 

 young female, which, as we have already mentioned, was living in the menagerie 

 of the Prince of Orange in 1776. A later account of an orang brought to Java was 

 given about the year 1830 by Dr. Clark Abel. On board ship this animal was 

 allowed to roam freely' about, and soon became on good terms with the sailors, 

 whom it surpassed in the agility with which it ascended the rigging. It was, 

 indeed, often pursued by the sailors from one part of the rigging to the other, 

 when, finding itself unable to escape from them by direct speed, it would swing 

 itself out of their reach by grasping a loose end of rope, and thus bring the chase to 

 an end. On other occasions this animal would wait among the rigging, or at the 

 masthead, till the sailors were almost within touching distance, when it would 

 suddenly lower itself to the deck by the nearest rope, or pass from one mast to 

 another by means of the mainstay. Any attempts to dislodge the animal when 



