,ONG-ARMEI) ATI:, 



Fig. 33-1. 



83 



Siamang (Hylobates syndactylus, Raffl., sp.), one eighth nat. size. From a 

 Sumatran specimen belonging to the Museum at Zurich. 



call of the Malay mountaineers, and is an unbearable nuisance 

 to the townspeople who visit the hills. 



" To make up for this, the siamangs maintain a profound 

 silence during the day that is to say, if their repose or sleep is 

 not interrupted. These animals are slow and heavy ; they are 

 not bold when they climb, and not dexterous when they leap, 

 so that they may always be caught when they can be surprised. 

 But nature, while depriving them of the means of promptly 

 escaping from danger, has endowed them with a vigilance which 

 is rarely at fault ; and if they hear at a mile off a sound which 

 is unknown to them, they take fright and immediately fly. 

 When they can be surprised on the ground, they may be seized 

 without making any resistance, either being stupified by fear or 



G2 



