CHAPTER XXXiy. 



FACTS ABOUT THE ORANG-UTAN, 



Distribution of the Orang-utan. — Its Affinities. — External Appearance. — Re- 

 markable Facial Ornament (?).— Color of Skin. — Hair. — Eyes. — Mode 

 of Fighting. — Pugnacity. — Food. — Unsocial Habits. — Young at Birth. — 

 Nesting Habits. — Locomotive Powers. — Inability to Walk or Stand Erect. — 

 Height of Adults. — General Measurements. — Two Species Recognized. — 

 Characters of Simla Wtirmbii and Satyrus. — Individual Peculiarities. 



Borneo is truly the land of apes and monkeys. Among its four- 

 teen species, five of which occur nowhere else,* are found the fol- 

 lowing very interesting forms : the orang-utan (two species), the 

 proboscis monkey, the gibbon, the slow lemur, tarsi er, and the fly- 

 ing lemur. 



For an island, Borneo is favored with a gi-eat variety of veiy in- 

 teresting quadrupeds, both large and small, and a far greater num- 

 ber of species peculiar to itself than any of its neighbors of the 

 Archipelago can boast. So far as known at present, it has ninety- 

 six species of mammals, thii-ty-three of which, or more than one- 

 third, are not found elsewhere. The largest species are the 

 elephant, rhinoceros, tapir, wild cattle, sambur, and wild hog, and 

 the most interesting are the apes and monkeys, insectivores, bats, 

 and porcupines. 



The genus Simia occurs in northern Sumatra, but its distribu- 

 tion in Borneo is so much more extensive that we may well say 

 the latter is the home of the orang-utan. It inhabits that wide 

 belt of low, forest-covered swamp forest which lies between the sea- 

 coast and the mountain ranges of the interior, extending entirely 

 around the western half of the island. But even this great alluvial 

 plain is inhabited by the orang in certain districts only ; although 



* The following are the species peculiar to Borneo : Hylobates concolor, 

 Nasalis larvatus, Semnopithecus rubicundus, Semnopithecus chrysomelaa, 

 Semuopithecus frontatus. 



