1 THE OHANG 51 



of the apes which possess callosities, but are more 

 like those of man. 



An Orang climbs so slowly and cautiously, 1 as, 

 in this act, to resemble a man more than an ape, 

 taking great care of his feet, so that injury of 

 them seems to affect him far more than it does 

 other apes. Unlike the Gibbons, whose forearms 

 do the greater part of the work, as they swing 

 from branch to branch, the Orang never makes 

 even the smallest jump. In climbing, he moves 

 alternately one hand and one foot, or, after having 

 laid fast hold with the hands, he draws up both 

 feet together. In passing from one tree to another, 

 he always seeks out a place where the twigs of 

 both come close together, or interlace. Even 

 when closely pursued, his circumspection is 

 amazing : he shakes the branches to see if they 

 will bear him, and then bending an overhanging 

 bough down by throwing his weight gradually 

 along it, he makes a bridge from the tree he 

 wishes to quit to the next. 1 



On the ground the Orang always goes labori- 

 ously and shakily, on all fours. At starting he 

 will run faster than a man, though he may soon 

 be overtaken. The very long arms which, when 



1 "They are the slowest and least active of all the monkey 

 tribe, and their motions are surprisingly awkward and un- 

 couth." Sir James Brooke, in the Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society, 1841. 



2 Mr. Wallace's account of the progression of the Orang 

 almost exactly corresponds with this. 



