408 . QUADRUMANA. 



was, probably, but a few months old. With the usual quiet, and even 

 melancholy deportment, of his race, he combined a playful spirit, and was 

 affectionate and good-tempered ; but he disliked to be left alone, and was 

 fond of being nursed and caressed. He did not long survive his importa- 

 tion to our island. 



In January, 1838, the menagerie of the Zoological Society of London 

 was enriched by the acquisition of a young female Orang ; but whether 

 from Borneo or Sumatra could not be ascertained. On its first arrival, 

 its height was two feet two inches ; but it afterward grew considerably. 



The following notes respecting its habits were made by the Author, a 

 few weeks after its introduction to its new domicile. All, who have had 

 opportunities of observing the Orang on the ground, record its slow and 

 vacillating mode of progression a motion dependant rather on the arms, 

 which, from their length, act as crutches, supporting the body between 

 them, than upon the hinder limbs, which are ill calculated for such service. 

 Thus, when left entirely to itself on the floor, this little inmate of the 

 Zoological Gardens, if incited to walk, supported its weight on its arms, 

 applying the bent knuckles to the ground ; and so long were the arms 

 that it stooped far less, in this attitude, than did the Chimpanzee : in- 

 deed, it was very nearly erect ; the hinder limbs were, at the same time, 

 bowed outward ; and the outer side, rather than the sole of the foot, was 

 placed upon the floor. Thus supported, it waddled along, the movements 

 of its hinder limbs resembling those of a rickety child, just able to walk 

 alone : it was plain that the arms had the most to do in this exercise : 

 often, indeed, and that the more especially when it wished to move 

 quickly (as when following its keeper), it fairly swung the body forward 

 between the arms, as if impatient of the hobbling gait to which the 

 structure of its lower limbs restricted it. That its lower limbs, however, 

 with slight assistance, were not incapable of supporting the body, and 

 that it could waddle along very fairly, using these alone, was repeatedly 

 witnessed. For instance, it would walk, at a tolerable pace, compara- 

 tively speaking, by the side of a person holding it by the hand ; and in 

 the narrow space between the outside railing and the front bars of the 

 Giraffe's house (the apartment in which it was kept), it walked with 

 great facility, availing itself of the railing on one side, and the edge of 

 the elevated floor on the other, along which it ran its hands by way of 

 steadying itself. In the Giraffe's house it had an inclosure, or large 

 cage of its own, railed off from the rest of the apartment by a 

 fence-work of bamboos. Here were two artificial trees, with numerous 

 branches, among which it might climb at pleasure. Remembering 

 the activity and the merry antics of the Chimpanzee, we expected to see 

 far more liveliness and celerity in the climbing movements of this 

 little Orang than were displayed. It was, it is true, perfectly at its ease, 



