SIMIADJ5, 



399 



Head of male Orang. 



shoulders conveys an idea of great strength ; the abdomen is very pro- 

 tuberant ; the hair, which falls on the back and shoulders, in loose, long 

 masses, forms a covering to the animal crouching in repose ; necessary as 

 a protection, by day, against the burning rays of the sun, by night, 

 against the heavy dews, and also as a shelter to the body during the 

 rainy seasons : the palms of the hands have the same lines and papillae 

 as in the human subject. All the naked parts of the body, with the 

 exception of the orbits and lips, are of a silvery grey. 



As in the case of the Chimpanzee, our knowledge of the habits of 

 the adult Orang, in a state of nature, is very limited. It tenants the 

 secluded recesses of the forests, which cover the hilly districts in the 

 interior of the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, where it is much dreaded 

 by the native tribes of those unpenetrated regions, with whom we are 

 as little acquainted as with the adult Orang itself. From what can be 

 ascertained, it appears that the Orang is not gregarious, like the Chim- 

 panzee ; nor does it build huts ; but, in accordance with its arboreal 

 predilections, it constructs arbours among the top branches of the highest 

 trees, with a covering of leaves and twigs, in which it takes up its abode. 



Each male is said to appropriate to himself a certain extent of forest 

 territory, and jealously to protect his empire from the encroachments of 

 a rival. Here, in solitary seclusion, he will sit, as is said, for hours 

 together, in listless apathy, in his arbour, his habitual dwelling-place. 



