30 



air of bnitish irt>ssness. The head lean* forward 

 on the chest, the neck is short ; and loose folded 

 skin hansrs round the throat, except when the larvn- 

 lifaJ sacs are inflated, this loose skin is then swollen 

 out. like a naked ohinini; tumour, extendine up 

 alonf; the sides of the face under the small nnirular 

 ear*, fillim; up the interspace between the chin and 

 chest, and encroachini: upon the latter: the lips are 

 wrinkled, and jxwsess extraonlinary mobility ; the 

 animal can protrude them in the form of a snout or 

 proboscis, contracting the mouth to a cirtuilar ori- 

 nce, or, on the contrarj-, draw them back, and turn 

 them in various directions. The breadth of the 

 chest and shoulders conveys an idea of preat 

 ttreneth ; the abdomen is protuberant ; the hair, 

 which falls on the back and slioulders in lone: ma:»es, 

 forms a coverinir to the animal crouching in repose, 

 necessary as a protection by day ai^inst the bum- 

 inif rays of the sun, by niijht against the heavy 

 dews, and diirinc the rainy seasons as a shelter from 

 the falling showers. The palms of the hands have 

 lines and papillee. as on those of the human subject. 

 All the nnKed parts of the hotly, with the exception 

 of the orbits and lips, which are of sallow, coppery 

 tint, are silvery-grey or plumbeous. The thicKne.ss 

 of the incisor teeth, which in adults are worn 

 down to a flattened suiface, as are also the molar 

 t^eth, shows that they are put to rough work, and, 

 as Professor Owen remarks, it is probable that their 

 common use is to tear and scrape away the toueh 

 fibrous outer coverinsr of the cocoa-nut, and perhaps 

 to gnaw through the denser shell. The husre 

 canines are doubtless defensive weapons, which, 

 in connection with the muscular strength of these 

 animals, enable them to offer a more than suc- 

 cessful resistance against the leopard, and render 

 them formidable opponents even to the tiger. Of 

 the habits of the Orang in a state of nature our 

 knowledge is limited. It tenants the secluded 

 recesses of the forests in the hilly and central 

 districts of Borneo and Sumatra ; livinir, a.s it would 

 appear, a secluded life, and not being, like the Chim- 

 panzee, gregarious ; nor does it, like that animal, 

 miild huts, but, in accordance with its arboreal pre- 

 dilections, it constructs a rude scat or platform of 

 interwoven boughs and twigs among the branches 

 of the tallest trees, on which it takes up its abode. 

 Here the adult male will sit, as is said, for hours 

 together listless and apathetic. His movements 

 are slow and indolent : when attacked, he swings 

 himself from branch to branch, clearing vast inter- 

 vals with ease, but not with the rapidity which has 

 been imagined, and which is displayed by some of 

 the Gibbons. If at last driven to extremity, he 

 defends himself with determined resolution, and his 

 prodigious bodily powers and prowess render it dan- 

 gerous to venture on a close assault. The females are 

 devoted to their young. A few years since, Captain 

 Hall repaired to Sumatra purposely to obtain one of 

 these animals, but at his outset he experienced a 

 serious obstacle in the difficulty of procuring guides 

 to conduct him to their usual haunts : this proceeded 

 from the fears of the natives, who not only believe 

 that the orangs possess a natural dominion over the 

 great forests, but that they are animated by the 

 souls of their own ancestors. Succeeding at length 

 in this preliminary part of the undertaking, the 

 Captain soon met with one of the objects of his 

 search, a female, which he describes as having been 

 five feet in height. When first discovered she was 

 sitting on a branch of one of the highest trees, with 

 a young one in her arms. Upon being wounded 

 she uttered a piercing cry ; and immediately lifting 

 up her little one as high as her long arms could 

 reach, let it go among the topmost branches. 

 While the paHy approached to fire again she made 

 no attempt to escape, but kept a steady watch, 

 glancing her eye occasionally towards her offspring, 

 and at last seemed to wave her hand, to hasten its 

 departure, which it safely effected. 



The following summary is the result of our re- 

 peated observations upon young living specimens : — 

 The progression of the orang on the ground is slow 

 and vacillating, and is rather dependent on the 

 arms, which from their length act as crutches, sup- 

 porting the body between them, than upon the 

 lower liml)s, which are ill calculated for such 

 service. Wlien left entirely to itself on the floor, 

 the young orang, if incited to walk, supports its 

 weight on its arms, applying the bent knuckles to 

 the ground, which, from the length of the arms, is 

 an easy action. The lower limbs are at the same 

 time bowed outward, and the outer side of the fjoot 

 is placed upon the floor. In this attitude it waddles 

 along, the arms being the main support ; when in- 

 deed it wi.shes to hasten its progress, it fairly swings 

 the body foi-ward between the arms, as if impatient 

 of the hobbling gait to which the structure of the 

 lower limbs restricts it. The lower limbs, however, 

 are not incapable of supporting the body alone, and 

 it can waddle along very fairly, especially if it can 

 lay hold of anything by which to steady itself in its 

 progress Id climbing it is at its ease, and confi- 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Apks. 



dent, but deliberate. It will suspend itself with its 

 head downwards, sometimes by the hand and foot 

 of the same side, the disengaged hand being 

 stretched to seize objects within its reach ; some- 

 times by the hook-like hands, or the feet alone, 

 vai-ying its grotesriue attitudes in the most singular 

 manner, and in all displaying the freedom of the 

 hip-joint. Its arboreal progress is not by bounding 

 like a monkey, but by swinging from branch to 

 branch, grasping them by its hands in succession. 

 Habitually dull and inanimate, it has still its times 

 of sportiveness, and will engage in play with those 

 to whom it has attached itself, following them to 

 court their notice, or pursuing them in mimic 

 combat. It has little curiosity, and is fond of sitting 

 covered iiji by blankets or other articles of defence 

 against the cold, and will wrap itself up with con- 

 siderable dexterity. To those who attend it it 

 becomes very affectionate, and readily obeys their 

 voice, recognising its name, and the words and 

 tones of command. Cotifinement is annoying to it 

 in the extreme, and disappointment irritating. 

 From these causes paroxysms of passion are often 

 exhibited, in which it will dash itself about, uttering 

 a whining ciy, and manifest eveiT token of anger. 

 We have seen a young orang make the most stre- 

 nuous efforts to escape from his inclosure, striving 

 to force the door or the frame-work ; and then, 

 screaming with disappointment, swing from branch 

 to branch, and again repeat its endeavours, excited 

 to the extreme, and all because its keeper had left 

 it for a short time. Nothing but his return and 

 attentions would pacify it. 



Dr. Abel states that his young orang displayed 

 great alarm at the sight of some live turtles, and 

 also of a tortoise ; looking at them with horror from 

 a distant place, to which he had retreated for secu- 

 rity, and projecting his long lips in the form of a 

 hog's snout, while at the same time he uttered a 

 sound between the croaking of a frog and the giunt- 

 ingofapig. The young chimpanzee which lived 

 in the year 1836 in the menagerie of the Zoological 

 Society recoiled with horror from a large snake in- 

 troduced into the room by way of experiment, and 

 also regarded tortoises with aversion ; and a young 

 orang in the same managerie, before which a tor- 

 toise was placed, stood aghast in an attitude of 

 amazement ludicrously theatrical, gazing uiion the 

 crawling animal with fixed attention and evident 

 abhorrence. On the other hand we have seen a 

 young orang play with a full-grown cat, drag it 

 about, put the animal on its own head, and cany it 

 from branch to branch, regardless of its scratching 

 and straggles to get free. Fred. Cuvier notices the 

 same fact, which we have ourselves verified. The 

 young orang may he taught to use a spoon, a cup, 

 or glass with tolerable propriety, and will carefully 

 put them down on the table, or hand them to some 

 pei-son accustomed to receive them. To this point 

 F. Cuvier also allude.s, as well as to the care it 

 takes in adjusting its bed, and covering itself warmly 

 with blankets and other materials when retiring to 

 rest. 



The young chimpanzee, in comparison with the 

 orang, IS far more lively, animated, and liolicksome ; 

 and displays much more curiosity, being alive to 

 everything which takes place about it, and examin- 

 ing every object within its reach with an air so con- 

 siderate, as to create a smile in the face of the 

 gravest spectator. In alertness it exceeds the 

 orang, and is to the full as gentle and affectionate, 

 and more intelligent. The expression of intelli- 

 gence is indeed well denoted by the vivacity of its 

 eyes, which, though small and deeply set, are quick 

 and piercing. 



Figure 129 is a portrait of the young orang-outan 

 in the menagerie of the Zoological Society in the 

 ■warm dress which it habitually wore ; but in which 

 it was completely disguised. 



THE GIBBONS 



(Genus Hy I abates). The gibbons differ from the 

 thickset orang in the slendemess of tlitjr form ; the 

 chest is indeed broad and the shouldei-s muscular, 

 but the waist and hips are contracted ; there are 

 small ischiatic tuberosities hidden by the fur, on 

 which the animals often rest, the commencement, 

 so to speak, of a structural peculiaiity carried out 

 to its maximum in the lower groups. The hands 

 and feet are admirably formed for clinging with te- 

 nacity to the branches. The arms are of excessive 

 length, reaching in the erect attitude to the ankle- 

 joint ; the hands are remarkably long and slender, 

 the naked palm is linear, expanding at the base of 

 the fingers, which are covered down the backs with 

 fur ; the thumb of the fore-hands, though very shoit, 

 resembles the fingers in form and direction, and is 

 scarcely or not at all opposable to them ; it seems 

 to rise from the wrist, owing to the almost complete 

 separation of the metacarpal bone from that of the 

 first finger ; and the ball formed by its adductor 

 muscles is trifling. The feet arc long and slender. 



and their thumb is greatly developed, so as to form 

 an antagonist to the other toes conjointly. In some 

 species the first and second finger of the foot are 

 more or less united together : this union in the Sia- 

 mang is carried to the last joint. Tlie lower limbs 

 are short, and bowed in, and the ankle-joint has that 

 inward toiimure so advantageous to an arboreal ani- 

 mal ; but the hip-joint is secured by the ligamen- 

 tum teres. In one species, the Slamang, there is a 

 large laryngal sacculus. The skull is well formed, 

 though the forehead retreats. The rami of the 

 lower jaw are narrow. Tlie incisor teeth are mode- 

 rate, the canines slender ; the molam moderate. 



with the crown broaa, and bluntly 



130.) Incisors, 



Dental formula 



1-1 

 nines, 



5- 



tuberculate. 

 4 



4 



ca- 



= 32. The gibbons 



j_j, molars, j._j. 



are clothed with deep thick fur, softer in some 

 species than others : on the fore-arms it is in most 

 species reverted to the elbows; in one or two it 

 is erect. The prevailing colours of these animals 

 are from black to brown, brown-grey, and straw- 

 yellow. 



The gibbons are distributed through Java, Borneo, 

 Sumatra, Malacca, and Siam, where they tenant the 

 forest branches, among which they display the most 

 astonishing activity. They sweep from branch to 

 branch with arrow-like velocity: their mode is to 

 suspend themselves by their long arms, and by an 

 energetic muscular movement to launch themselves 

 onwards, aiming at a distant branch, which they 

 seize with admirable precision. Most live in troo|)S 

 or families ; some species frequenting the mountain- 

 ranges covered by forests of fig-trees, others keeping 

 to the forests of the plains. 



The head of the gibbon is small and of an oval 

 figure, and the face is depressed ; the expression of 

 the countenance being grave, gentle, and rather 

 melancholy. All utter loud cries, whence, in imi- 

 tation of the sound, has arisen the name of Wou- 

 wou, which appears to be common to two or three 

 species; Fred. Cuvier has applied it to the Agile 

 Gibbon, but Camper had previously appropriated it 

 to the Silvery Gibbon, said by Dr. S. Miillor to be 

 called Oa-oa by the natives of Java, a word differ- 

 ing little in the sound from wou-wou, or woo-woo. 

 None of the gibbons attain to the stature of the 

 orang, about three feet being the height of the 

 largest species standing erect, an attitude which 

 they are capable of assuming on the ground or any 

 level surface, along which they waddle, at a quick 

 pace, in the manner of the chimpanzee, using the 

 arms as balancers, or occasionally touching the 

 ground with the fingers. 



131, 132, 133.— The Agilk Gibhon ; 



also known under the native titles Ungka-puti and 

 tJngka-etam {Hylobates agilis, F. Cuv. ; Hylubatei 

 Lur : H. Rafflesii). 



This interesting gibbon is a native of Sumatra, 

 'and owing to certain variations in colour, to which 

 it is subject, has been formed into two distinct 

 species, an error now corrected. M. Miiller, in 

 reference to this gibbon, states that it is curious to 

 observe its numerous variations. "Two individuals 

 are never precisely the same ; and we were therefore 

 disposed to conclude, during the early part of nur 

 stay in Sumatra, that there were really different 

 species of what, as it proved, is but one Hylobates: 

 for it was only after the examination of individuals 

 of different coloui-s, and after we had killed many of 

 both sexes and various ages, that we came to 1lie 

 conclusion that the oengko-itam, or black oengKo, 

 fcnd the oengko- poetih, or white oengko, of the 

 Malayans, were the same species." 



The general colour of this species varies from 

 black to brownish-yellow, and yellowish white ; a 

 white or pale stripe traverses the brow; and the 

 sides of the face and throat are often grey or flaxen : 

 in black or dark individuals the lumbar region and 

 crupper are usually of a pale rusty-brown or yellow- 

 ish; the pale individuals have the throat, chest, and 

 abdomen of a darker brown. The pale-colourec 

 females often produce black young, and the black 

 as often young of a palecolour. (See fig. 132.^ We 

 have seen straw-white young. The fur is solt and 

 woolly: the two first fingers of the feet are united 

 together at the base. 



The Agile Gibbon usually lives in pairs, and is 

 timid and gentle : its activity and the velocity of its 

 movements are wondertul ; it escapes pursuit almost 

 like a bird on the wing. On the sligntest alarm it 

 ascends rapidly to the top of a tree ; it there seizes 

 a flexible branch, swings itself two or three times 

 to gain the requisite impetus, and then launches 

 itself forward, repeatedly clearing, without effoit 

 and without fatigue, as Mr. Duvaucel witnessed, 

 spaces of forty feet. 



Some few years since a female of this species was 

 exhibited in London. The activity of this animal 

 in the large compartment .a which it exercised 



