The Apes.- 



-SIAJIJIALU.- 



-The Orasg-outan. 



23 



on the head and neck, and pulls open its jaws till he 

 rips tip the throat. The rnias always kills the croco- 

 dile, for he is very strong. There is no animal in the 

 jungle so strong as he.'" 



The female orangs, like the other large apes, pro- 

 duce only one young at a birth, and this clings for a 

 considerable time to the long hair of its mother's body, 

 and is thus carried about ; the four limbs of the mother 

 being left at perfect libert)'. In fact, so little does the 

 presence of a young one impede the movements of the 

 mother, that Mr. Wallace mentions his having shot 

 two females, bearing their young in this way, without 

 being aware of the existence of the latter until both 

 fell to the ground. It is by shooting the mothers that 

 the natives obtain nearly all the young orangs which 

 ihey sell to Europeans. 



For some time after their birth, the J'oung orangs 

 appear to bo nearly as helpless as the human infant, 

 although of course the mere fact of their supporting 

 themselves by grasping the hair of their mother, is 

 evidence of a far greater amount of strength than is 

 possessed by a young child. Mr. Wallace has piiblished 

 a most interesting account of the habits of an "infant" 

 orang-outan which he obtained by shooting its mother, 

 from which we shall extract a few passages. He fed 

 it with rice-water out of a bottle with a quill in the 

 cork, which, after one or two trials, it sucked very well. 

 " When a finger was placed in its mouth, it would suck 

 at it with remarkable vigour, drawing in its little cheeks 

 with all its might, thinking, no doubt, it had got hold 

 of the riglit thing at last, and wondering that all its 

 exertions could get no milk out of it. It would perse- 

 vere for a long time, till at last it gave up with despair 

 and disgust, indicated generally by a very baby-like 

 scream." It was quiet when nursed, bi:t cried when 

 laid down alone. When being washed it winced, " and 

 made ridiculously wry faces" when the cold water was 

 poured on its head, but it enjoyed being rubbed dry, 



! and was particularly delighted with being brushed. 

 At first it clung vigorously with its four hands to anj-- 



j thing that was within its reach ; and on one occasion 

 having caught hold of its owner's whiskers and beard, 

 clutched them so tightly that he had considerable difti- 

 eulty in getting free. From the want of its natural 

 grasping exercise, Mr. Wallace found that his baby 

 orang was getting rather weak in its limbs, and 

 he therefore contrived a sort of ladder upon which it 

 might hang. This, however, did not answer ; the sticks 

 not aflbrding it a convenient hold for all its four hands. 

 It would hang for a time by two hands only, and then, 

 getting tired of this posture, would move one hand over 

 to the opposite shoulder to grasp its own hair ; when 

 " thinking, no doubt, that that would support it much 

 better than the stick, it would leave hold with the other 

 hand, and come tumbling down on to the floor." Mr. 

 AVallace then prepared a sort of artificial mother for 

 it, by rolling up a piece of buffalo-skin into a bundle 

 with the hair outside. This suited it much better, but, 

 \mfortnnately, it was only too natural. " The poor 

 little creature thinking it had recovered its mother was 

 continually trying to suck. It would prdl itself up close 

 by the strength of its arms, and try everywhere for a 

 likely place, but only succeeded in getting mouthfuls of 



wool, when of course it would be greatly disgusted, 

 scream violentlj*, and if not rescued would soon let 

 itself fall." 



When fed with a spoon this infant orang indicated 

 its approval or dislike of tb^ food offered to it by the 

 most ludicrous changes of its countenance — licking its 

 lips, drawing in its cheeks, and turning up its eyes, like 

 a true epicure, wdien the food was to its taste — turning 

 the mouthful about with its tongue, and pushing it out 

 between its lips wdien it was not jialatable. If the same 

 food was continued it would scream and kick violently, 

 exactly like a baby in a passion. About a month after 

 it came into Mr. Wallace's possession, it began to .show 

 some signs of learning the use of its legs. When laid 

 on the floor it would push itself along, or roll over, and 

 when left in its cradle would lift itself up into an erect 

 posture, and once or twice succeeded in tumbling out. 

 It did not, however, grow, or gain strength — a circum- 

 stance which Mr. Wallace attributes to his being unable 

 to feed it with milk ; and it died in a miserable state 

 after being in his possession about three months. 



The specimens of the orang-outan which have been 

 brought to Europe have been, for the most part, young 

 individuals. In their general habits, their gentleness 

 and docility, they resemble the chimpanzees ; but 

 appear scarcely to be so lively as those animals. Like 

 them, they exhibit a great affection for men, and espe- 

 cially for those who have the care of them ; the}' also 

 sometimes manifest considerable attachment for other 

 animals, especially cats, but appear to entertain a sort 

 of contempt for other monkeys, although they will 

 occasionally condescend to play with them. Like the 

 chimpanzee they learn to sit at table, eat with a knife 

 and fork, drink from a glass, etc.; they sometimes 

 acquire a taste for intoxicating drinks, and under the 

 influence of this have even been known to steal both 

 wine and spirits. 



Full-grown specimens do not appear to bear captivity, 

 and indeed their great strength and ferocity render 

 them dangerous. Nevertheless, some of the older tra- 

 vellers, such as Leguat, Bontius, D'Obsonville, and 

 Relian, mention their having seen large specimens in 

 confinement in Java ; and some of these, from their 

 size, must have been adult or nearly so. The accounts 

 of these travellers ascribe a wonderful amount of 

 modesty to these apes, especially the females ; the 

 last-mentioned writer says that both the male and 

 female " were very bashful when you looked fixedly at 

 them, and the female would then throw herself into 

 the arms of the male and hide her head in his breast. 

 This touching sight I have witnessed with my own 

 eyes." 



Of the second species of orang found in Borneo, called 

 Mias Kassu by the natives {Simia Morio of Professor 

 Owen), Mr. Wallace says that its habits are precisely 

 similar to those of the larger species, from which it is 

 distinguished by the absence of the fatty excrescences 

 on the cheeks, and by the much greater comparative 

 size of the teeth, and especially of the canines in the 

 males. The females of the two species appear to be 

 scarcely distinguishable, except by the difference of size, 

 and by the smaller ones having the two middle incisor 

 teeth in the upper jaw proportionally larger, a character 



