70 



VERTEBRATA. 



THK PONGO OF WURMB 



Sumatra onlv. Its height is about four and a half feet, though it sometimes exceeds six feet. It 

 is covered with dark brown hair, the skin seen through it having a bluish tint. The face is 

 Dearly bare, The body is large and strong, the belly full, and the movement oscillating. The 

 arc fringed with lashes; the nose is on a line with the face; the mouth is projecting; the 

 lips thin, capable of great elongation, and endowed with a peculiar mobility; the ears small, 

 and resembling those of man. The muzzle grows more acute with age, and the disposition of 

 the animal often becomes fierce and savage at maturity. It is incapable of walking erect, but 

 moves in a hobbling manner by putting the knuckles of its hands to the ground, and drawing its 

 body forward between them. In a state of nature it probably seldom moves along on the 

 ground— its whole configuration showing its fitness for climbing trees and clinging to the 

 brandies. In sitting on a flat surface it turns its legs under it; in sitting on a branch of a 

 tree, it rests on its heels, its body pressed against its thighs. 



The orange generally occupy the marshy districts, covered with dense forests and rank vegeta- 

 tion. They are solitary in their habits, living inactive in the wilds, away from the resorts of man. 

 During the day they move about in the upper branches of the forest; toward evening they de- 

 scend and find shelter from the cold and wind in the thick foliage of the palms and other similar 

 etimes they make a sort of platform of sticks, and cover it with leaves, which become - 

 their resting-place. The old males are especially dreaded by the inhabitants, as each one appro- 

 priates a district to himself, and attacks with fury any one who invades it. Their food consists 

 chiefly of vegetables, though they devour eggs and young birds. 



The earliest detailed account of the orang-outang that we possess is given by Vosmaer, describ- 

 ing one bronghl to Holland in 1776, and presented to the menagerie of the Prince of Orange: 



"Thi> animal was in height about two Rhenish feet and a half, of a chestnut color. It showed 

 no Bymptoms of fierceness or malignity, and was even of a melancholy appearance. It was fond 

 of being in company, and showed a preference for those who took daily care of it, of which it • 

 » emed to be \ ery sensible. < >ften when they retired it would throw itself on the ground as if in 

 despair, uttering lamentable cries. Its keeper having been accustomed sometimes to sit near it <>n 

 the ground, it would take the hay of its bed, and spreading it in the form of a cushion or seat, in- 

 vite, by every demonstration, its keeper to sit with it. Its usual manner of walking was on all- • 

 fours, but it could also walk on its two hind-feet. One morning it got unchained, and we beheld 



