MAMMALS 5 



if it was left out^in the rain would yell until it was 

 brought under shelter ; but as a rule the Maias is a 

 very silent animal, only grunting a little in a fretful 

 manner occasionally. They are very sedate and de- 

 liberate in their movements, even when feeding. If 

 presented with a fruit or some other article of food 

 that is new to its experience, the Maias will carefully 

 scrutinize and smell the morsel, a small bite will be 

 taken, and the fragment of food will be rolled round 

 and round inside the mouth ; then the lower lip will be 

 shot out to its utmost extent with the piece of food on 

 it, and the ape will squint down his nose in the most 

 ludicrous manner, as if to see how the food is getting 

 on during the process of mastication. 



The simian characteristics of the human baby have 

 been remarked frequently enough ; one little point has, 

 however, escaped notice. The young Maias when it 

 picks up a very small object, such as a pea or pellet 

 of bread, does so, not with the tips of the thumb and 

 first finger, but pushes the object with the ball of the 

 thumb against the side of the proximal phalanx of the 

 first finger, all the fingers being flexed, and, so holding 

 it, lifts it up. A young baby nearly always acts in 

 the same way when trying to pick up a small 

 object. 



The young Maias is quite unable to swim, and if 

 thrown into deep water, flounders about in the most 

 helpless manner and soon sinks below the surface ; I 

 doubt if the adults are any more adept at swimming 

 than their young. 



The other anthropoid ape of Borneo is the 

 Gibbon. There seems to be some doubt as to whether 

 the different varieties in the island are to be regarded 



