THE UEAN 521 



length, it amounts to one half in the uran. Even in his native 

 wilds this ape is rare, and as he is but little able to withstand the 

 change of climate and the fatigues of a long sea-journey, he 

 generally falls a speedy prey to consumption when brought to 

 Europe. But little of the restlessness of the monkey race is to 

 be seen in him. He loves an indolent repose, even while still 

 enjoying his native freedom, and the necessity for procuring food 

 seems alone capable of rousing him from his laziness. When 

 satiated, he immediately resumes his favourite position, sitting 

 for hours together upon a branch, with bent back, with eyes 

 immovably staring upon the ground, and uttering from time to 

 time a melancholy growl. When pursued by the Dayaks or 

 Malays, who highly esteem his flesh, and kill him with poisoned 

 arrows, he conceals himself among the dense foliage of the 

 highest trees, and remains quiet until the danger is past. He 

 is very difficult to catch, as his ear is sharp, and his suspicious 

 temper keeps him perpetually on the alert ; the most stealthy 

 footstep, the least rustling of the leaves, suffices to warn him of 

 his danger, and to make him seek his safety by a speedy retreat. 

 He generally spends the night on the crown of a nibong-palm or 

 of a screw pine ; he often also seeks a refuge against the wind 

 and cold among the orchids and ferns which cover the branches 

 of the giant trees. There he spreads his couch of small twigs 

 and leaves, for he distinguishes himself from all other apes by 

 his not sleeping in a sitting position, but on the back or on 

 one side, and in inclement weather he is even said to cover his 

 body with a layer of foliage. 



The series of the large anthropomorphous apes closes with the 

 Gibbons. Their arms, which reach to the ankle joints when the 

 animal is standing erect, are longer than those of the uran; their 

 brain, and consequently their intelligence, is less developed; and 

 moreover, like all the following simise of the Old World, they 

 possess callosities on each side of the tail. Their size is inferior 

 to that of the uran, and their body is covered with thicker hair, 

 grey, brown, black, or white — according to the species — but 

 never party-coloured, as is the case with many of the long-tailed 

 monkeys. 



To the gibbons belong the black Siamang of Sumatra — who, 

 assembled in large troops, hails the first blush of early morn, 

 and bids farewell to the setting sun with dreadful clamours— the 



