THE GAMES OF ORANG-OUTANGS 211 



by trying to play tricks on the monkey, with a view to 

 discovering how much sense and cleverness he had. To 

 test this his captor would put some fruit in his pocket, and 

 climb up to the mast-head as if to take observations. But 

 anyone who attempts to match himself with a monkey is 

 sure to get the worst of it. As if by instinct, up came the 

 orang-outang, and grasping the ropes with the long toes 

 of one of his feet, he would hold fast his master's legs 

 with the other, and with one of his hands, while the other 

 hand was searching in every pocket. On other occasions 

 he would drop on his master from a height, which must 

 have been very dangerous, or meet him at the bottom, 

 from which there was no escape. Once the man really 

 seemed too clever for the animal, and that was when he 

 tied an orange to the end of a rope, and jerked it up and 

 down, out of the creature's reach. After clutching at it 

 repeatedly without success, the orang-outang pretended 

 complete indifference, and, turning his back, climbed 

 slowly up the rigging. Then he suddenly turned, and 

 springing forward, seized the rope. When this failed, he 

 lost his temper and shrieked with rage, and at length 

 dashing at the man who held the rope, he held his arms 

 tightly, till the coveted treasure was hauled up. 



The boatswajn was his chief friend on board, and they 

 used to ' mess ' together, although neither gratitude nor 

 good manners hindered the guest from sometimes stealing 

 his host's grog and biscuit. After dinner he left the 

 table and sat at the door of his cabin, like a Frenchman 

 on the boulevards enjoying the coffee. 



Towards some little monkeys that came on board at 

 Java the orang-outang gave himself great airs — at least 

 as long as any of the sailors were by. Indeed, it was 

 generally thought that he felt a great hatred towards 

 them, especially after he had been one day caught (just 

 in time) in the act of throwing a cage, with three of them 

 in it, overboard. But that was most likely because he 

 could not get hold of some food that had been given 



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