THE GIBBONS 51 



subsided; but so deep an impression did the maternal 

 tenderness and unexpected devotion of the poor Orang 

 make on the leader of the party, that he expressed the 

 utmost remorse and pity, declaring that he would not go 

 through the same scene again for all the world. 



THE GIBBONS. 



The generic name ' Hylobates ' is of Greek derivation ; 

 it signifies ' Tree-traveller/ and thus prepares us to expect 

 that we are to deal with very active members of the 

 monkey race. They are apes, or tailless monkeys, various 

 species of which are found in India, Burma, Siam, Malay 

 Peninsula, and the islands of Java, Borneo, and Sumatra. 

 They are very slender animals, rarely exceeding three feet in 

 length, and with arms that almost reach the ground when 

 the animals stand erect. 



Three well-known species are the White-handed Gibbon 

 (Hylobates lar), Coloured Plate I. Fig. i, the Agile Gibbon 

 (Hylobates agilis), and the Siamang or Ungka Ape (Hylobates 

 syndactylus), Coloured Plate II. Fig. 4. 



The Gibbons vary in colour black, brown, grey, and 

 cream colour and some of them have a white band above 

 or around the face. A mother does not necessarily have an 

 infant the same colour as herself. The feet and hands of 

 the White-handed Gibbon are always pale in colour. The 

 soles of the feet of all the species are applied more flatly 

 to the ground, but they cannot walk with ease or rapidity. 

 All of them are shy and entirely arboreal, appearing to pass 

 a life quite as aerial as many birds, omitting those feathered 

 creatures which are too heavy or otherwise restricted from 

 flying. 



Owing to the construction of the feet and the length 

 of the arms, these apes are able to spring from branch 

 to branch in apparently the most reckless manner with a 

 rapidity that enables them to capture birds on the wing. 

 The Agile Gibbon flings itself from tree to tree a distance 

 of no less than forty feet. During its gymnastic exercises 

 it gives vent to loud cries, not altogether unmusical, but 

 nevertheless dismal and melancholy in tone. Very few 



