OF THE MAN-LIKE APES 235 



When in contact with man almost the first effort of the 

 animal is to bite. 



" They avoid the abodes of men, and build their habita- 

 tions in trees. Their construction is more that of nests 

 than huts, as they have been erroneously termed by some 

 naturalists. They generally build not far above the 

 ground. Branches or twigs are bent, or partly broken, 

 and crossed, and the whole supported by the body of a 

 limb or a crotch. Sometimes a nest will be found near 

 the end of a strong leafy branch twenty or thirty feet from 

 the ground. One I have lately seen that could not be 

 less than forty feet, and more probably it was fifty. But 

 this is an unusual height. 



" Their dwelling-place is not permanent, but changed 

 in pursuit of food and solitude, according to the force 

 of circumstances. We more often see them in elevated 

 places ; but this arises from the fact that the low grounds, 

 being more favourable for the natives' rice-farms, are the 

 oftener cleared, and hence are almost always wanting in 

 suitable trees for their nests. ... It is seldom that more 

 than one or two nests are seen upon the same tree, or in 

 the same neighbourhood : five have been found, but it 

 was an unusual circumstance." . . . 



" They are very filthy in then- habits. ... It is a 

 tradition with the natives generally here, that they were 

 once members of their own tribe : that for their depraved 

 habits they were expelled from all human society, and, 

 that through an obstinate indulgence of their vile pro- 

 pensities, they have degenerated into their present state 

 and organization. They are, however, eaten by them, 

 and when cooked with the oil and pulp of the palm-nut 

 considered a highly palatable morsel. 



" They exhibit a remarkable degree of intelligence in 

 their habits, and, on the part of the mother, much affection 

 for their young. The second female described was upon 

 a tree when first discovered, with her mate and two young 

 ones (a male and a female). Her first impulse was to 

 descend with great rapidity, and make off into the thicket, 

 with her mate and female offspring. The young male 

 remaining behind, she soon returned to the rescue. She 

 ascended and took him in her arms, at which moment 

 she was shot, the ball passing through the forearm of the 

 young one, on its way to the heart of the mother. . . . 



" In a recent case, the mother, when discovered, 



