3 6 THE AGILE GIBBON. 



In their native woods, these animals are most interesting to the observer, if he is 

 only fortunate enough to get near them without being seen by the vigilant creatures, 

 ood telescope affords an excellent mode of watching the customs of animals that 

 are too timid to permit a human being to come near their haunts. 



When startled, the Agile Gibbon flits at once to the top of the tree, and then, 

 seizing the branch that seems best adapted to its purpose, it swings itself once or 

 twice to gain an impetus, and launches itself through the air like a stone from a sling, 

 paining its force very much on the same principle. Seizing another branch, towards 

 which "it had aimed itself, and which it reaches with unerring certainty, the creature 

 repeats the process, and flings itself with ease through distances of thirty or forty feet, 

 Hying along as if by magic. Those who have seen it urging- its flight over the 

 trees, have compared its actions and appearance to those of a bird. Indeed, these 

 creatures seem to pass a life that is more aerial than that of many birds, putting out of 

 question the heavy earth-walking birds which have not the power to raise themselves 

 from the ground, even if they had the will. 



The color of this species is extremely variable, and as may be seen by reference to 

 the figure, the offspring is not necessarily of the same color as the parent. This differ- 

 ence in tint is not solely caused by age, for it frequently happens that a cream-colored 

 mother has a dark infant, and vice versa. Of the specimens in the British Museum, 

 hardly any two are alike in the tint of their soft woolly fur. Some are nearly black, 

 some are brown, and some are of a light cream-color. It is worthy of remark that one 

 of the black specimens was brought from the Himalayas ; the brown and the cream- 

 colored examples being from Malacca. 



The natives of Sumatra, where the Agile Gibbon is found in the greatest plenty, 

 call it the Ungka-puti, or sometimes Ungka-etam. Sometimes the Siamang goes by 

 the same name of Ungka, being called the Black Ungka Ape. 



The singularly active manners of this animal were exhibited by the ape above 

 mentioned as being a visitor to our shores. A large apartment was prepared for it, 

 and branches set up at some distance from each other, so as to give it as much room 

 as possible for its wonderful evolutions. Eighteen feet appears to have been the 

 farthest distance between the branches, and this space was cleared with consummate 

 ease, as would probably be the case with an animal which was accustomed to launch 

 itself through a space nearly double the eighteen feet. The animal, however, was 

 hindered by many drawbacks. Putting aside the disadvantages of a strange climate 

 and the want of the usual food, she had been subjected to the inconvenience of a long 

 sea voyage, had suffered from confinement and the deprivation of its natural atmosphere. 

 Even with all these drawbacks, the Gibbon exhibited such singular feats of agility, 

 that the spectators were lost in astonishment. 



She was accustomed to fling herself, without the least warning or apparent prep- 

 aration, from the branch on which she might be sitting, towards another branch, 

 which she invariably succeeded in catching with her outstretched hand. From branch 

 to branch the Gibbon would continue her flight, for so it might be aptly termed, 

 without cessation, until checked. The most curious part of the performance was, 

 that she did not seem to require any further impulse after her first swing, but was 

 content just to touch the branches as she passed from one to the other. So easy was 

 this exercise, and of such quick eye and hand was the animal possessed, that the 

 spectators were accustomed to amuse themselves by throwing fruits or other objects 

 in the air, which she would adroitly catch as she passed along, without thinking it 

 needful to stop for that purpose. 



Swift as was its flight, the equilibric powers of the animal were so perfect, that even 

 in its most rapid course, it could arrest itself in a moment, catching a branch with the 

 hands, and then suddenly drawing up the hinder feet to the same level. The firm 

 grasp of the hinder feet then came into play, and the creature sat on the branch as 

 quietly as if it had never stirred. 



Some idea of the proportion of limbs and body of this ape may be gained by 

 contrasting them with those of the human form. An ordinary man, when standing 



