208 THE GAMES OF ORANG-OUTANGS 



again ! The first place that this particular ship put into 

 on its way home was Java, where the orang-outang took 

 up its quarters in a huge tamarind tree. There he at 

 once proceeded to make a comfortable nest for himself by 

 plaiting twigs together, and then twisted in leaves to 

 make it soft. Here he would sit all day long, with his 

 head just peeping out, and if any one passed by with 

 fruit in his hands our friend always went down at once 

 to beg for a bit. At sunset, which comes at six o'clock 

 on the Equator, he punctually went to his own quarters, 

 and at six next morning, when the sun rose, he knocked 

 at the door of his master's hut to ask for breakfast. 



Being accustomed to sleep on top of a tree, the 

 moment he was left to himself on board ship he looked 

 about for a place high enough to please him, and of 

 course nothing short of the mast-head would do. Having 

 decided on his bedroom, the next thing was a bedstead 

 and coverings, and for this purpose he got hold of a sail, 

 which he was very careful to spread perfectly smooth, 

 and in this sort of hammock he lay down, drawing the 

 upper part of the sail over his body. Sometimes it hap- 

 pened that all the sails were in use, and then the clever 

 creature would either take the blankets from one of 

 the sailor's hammocks or steal one of their jackets. 

 When the ship got as far south as the Cape of Good 

 Hope the poor thing began to feel very cold, and when he 

 woke in the morning would fling himself shivering into 

 the arms of the sailors, and stay there till he got warm 

 again. 



It seems odd to find a monkey drinking tea and coffee, 

 and indeed preferring them to any kind of liquid ; but 

 during the voyage, if he could get hold of them, he would 

 take nothing else. This taste, however, died away as 

 soon as he came on shore, for in London he showed a 

 decided liking for beer and milk, though, at a pinch, he 

 would accept wine, or even brandy. 



All the long months at sea his master amused himself 



