SIMIAD.E. 429 



on the lower half of the back ; a narrow white line, almost obsolete over 

 the nose, runs across the brow ; the hands are gradually, and the feet 

 abruptly, black ; the mammae are large ; the size, that of the male. 



In a second female, brought byM. Duvaucel from Sumatra, 1821, the 

 general colour is umber brown, passing into sandy brown on the lower part 

 of the back, where, however, the hairs are dark brown at the roots ; a 

 narrow stripe of white runs across the brow ; the face is surrounded by a 

 full, soft, brown beard. A third female, of an umber-brown colour, has the 

 whiskers of a whitish or flaxen tint, as in one of the males. 



GENERAL HISTORY. According to the observations of M. Duvaucel, 

 the Ungka-puti, or pale variety, of this species, is far rarer than the dark : 

 it usually lives in pairs, and possesses extraordinary activity ; at the same 

 time, it is gentle and timid. The velocity of its movements is wonderful ; 

 it escapes like a bird on the wing : scarcely does it perceive danger, but it 

 is already far away : ascending rapidly to the top of a tree, it there seizes 

 a flexible branch, swings itself two or three times, to gain the requisite 

 impetus, and then launches itself forward, repeatedly clearing, in succes- 

 sion, without effort and without fatigue, spaces of forty feet. The same 

 traveller states that, when domesticated, it does not display much intel- 

 ligence : but Sir T. S. Raffles informs us, " that it is a general belief, 

 among the people of the country where it resides, that it will die of grief, 

 if, when in captivity, it sees the preference given to another : in confirm- 

 ation of which, I may add, that the one in my possession sickened under 

 these circumstances, and did not recover until relieved from the cause of 

 vexation, by his rival, the Siamang, being removed into another apartment." 



An interesting female of this species, now exhibiting (August, 1840) 

 in London, displays such agility, power, and address, as to confirm all 

 that M. Duvaucel has remarked respecting the activity of the animal in its 

 native forests : but its intelligence is of a far higher order than he is 

 willing attribute either to this or any Gibbon. 



Previously to its arrival in England, this animal had lived for four years, 

 at Macao, in captivity, where, as the Author was informed, she had so 

 severely injured a man, by lacerating him with her long canine teeth, as to 

 occasion his death ; and that, subsequently, she has inflicted on persons 

 wounds so serious, that it was found necessary to file off the points of the 

 canines, by way of precaution against further mischief. Her countenance, 

 surrounded by a full brown-black beard, displays cunning and mistrust ; 

 her dark eyes are expressive, and her gaze is often earnest and inquiring. 

 When at rest, her favourite position is that of sitting in a crouched 

 attitude, at the fork of one of the branches of the tree in her spacious 

 apartment, so as almost to shroud herself from view ; and from this post 

 she watches intently everything that passes around, or the motions of any 

 person endeavouring to gain a sight of her. It is not without impatience 



