BEHAVIOUR OF BABY ORANG. 273 



eager science, which fell before the rifle of Mr. Wallace, was a 

 female Orang engaged in nursing a young one, which its captor 

 kept alive, and of which he gives the following racy account : 



" The little animal was probably not more than a month old 

 when I obtained it by shooting its mother, with whom it fell to 

 the ground apparently uninjured. 1 found out afterwards that it 

 had then broken a leg and an arm, which, however, mended so 

 rapidly, that I only noticed it a w r eek or two afterwards, by ob- 

 serving the hard swelling on the limbs where the irregular 

 junction of the bone had taken place. When I first obtained it 

 it was toothless, but a few days afterwards it cut its two lower 

 front, teeth. I fed it with rice-water, given out of a bottle with a 

 quill in the cork, which, after one or two trials, it sucked very 

 well. When, however, a finger was placed in its mouth it would 

 suck at it with remarkable vigour, drawing in its little cheeks 

 with all its might, thinking, no doubt, it had hold of the right 

 thing at last, and wondering that all its exertions could get no 

 milk out of it. It would persevere for a long time, till at last it 

 gave up with despair and disgust, indicated generally by a very 

 baby-like scream." It was soon found necessary to give the 

 little fellow a daily washing. " It winced a little, and made 

 ridiculously wry faces when the cold water was poured over its 

 head, but enjoyed the rubbing dry amazingly. For the first day 

 or two it clung desperately, with its four hands, to whatever it 

 could lay hold of, and having once unawares caught hold of rny 

 whiskers and beard, it clutched them with its little hooked 

 fingers cruelly tight, and I had considerable difficulty in getting 

 free. It doubtless felt quite at home, being accustomed to cling 

 from its birth to the long hair of its mother." 



" When restless, it would struggle about with its hands up to 

 catch hold of something, and might often be seen quite contented 

 when it had some bit of rag or stick grasped in two or three of 

 its hands. At other times it would take hold of its own feet, 

 and, latterly, its constant practice was to cross its arms like a 

 little Napoleon, and with each hand seize hold of the long hair 

 just below its opposite shoulder. I soon found that I could feed 

 my infant Mias with a spoon, and make its food rather more 

 solid. I gave it soaked or chewed biscuit, with a little sugar and 

 egg, and sometimes sweet potatoes. These it liked very much, 

 and it was a never-failing source of amusement to observe the 



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