522 THE SIMI^ OF THE OLD WORLD 



black, white- bearded Lar of Siam and Malacca, and theWou-Wou 

 (Hylohates leuciscus) who, hanging suspended by his long arms, 

 and swinging to and fro in the air, allows 

 one to approach within fifty yards, and 

 then, suddenly dropping upon a lower 

 branch, climbs again leisurely to the top 

 of the tree. He is a quiet, solitary creature 

 of a melancholy peaceful nature, pursu- 

 ing a harmless life, feeding upon fruits in 

 _,, J ^ ^A A^. the vast untrodden recesses of the forest ; 



Gibbon, or Long- armed Ape, ' 



and his peculiar noise is in harmony 

 with the sombre stillness of these dim regions, commencing 

 like the gurgling of water when a bottle is being filled, and 

 ending with a long loud wailing cry, which resounds throughout 

 the leafy solitude to a great distance, and is sometimes responded 

 to from the depths of the forest by another note as wild and 

 melancholy. 



Mr. Gr. Bennett has given a very interesting account of 

 a siamang, that accompanied him on board during his home- 

 ward voyage. "This ape was two feet four inches high, 

 and walked tolerably erect when on a level surface ; his arms 

 either hanging down or uplifted, with hands pendant. He 

 preferred a vegetable diet — plantains, rice — but was so 

 ravenously fond of carrots that he lost all decorum when they 

 appeared at dinner. A piece of carrot would draw him from 

 one end of the table to the other, over which he would walk 

 without disturbing a single article, preserving his balance in an 

 admirable manner although the ship might be strongly rolling 

 and pitching from side to side. He would drink tea, cofi'ee, and 

 chocolate, but neither wine nor spirits. He was particularly fond 

 of sweetmeats, and would not unfrequently enter the cabin in 

 which some Manilla cakes were kept, and endeavour to lift up 

 the cover of the jar. 



" His attachment to liberty was excessive, and being so docile 

 when free, and so very much irritated at being confined, he was 

 permitted to range about the deck or rigging, which he did with 

 such agility as to excite the astonishment and admiration of the 

 crew. He usually slept on the main-top, coming on deck 

 regularly at daylight. But arriving off the Cape, he expressed 

 an eager desire to pass the night in my cabin, and on re-entering 



