44 
by the four extremities. They do not appear ever to act on 
the offensive, and seldom, if ever really, on the defensive. 
When about to be captured, they resist by throwing their 
arms about their opponent, and attempting to draw him into 
contact with their teeth.” (Savage, l.c. p. 384.) 
With respect to this last point Dr. Savage is very explicit 
in another place: 
“‘ Biting is their principal art of defence. I have seen one 
man who had been thus severely wounded in the feet. 
“The strong development of the canine teeth in the 
adult would seem to indicate a carnivorous propensity ; 
but in no state save that of domestication do they manifest 
it. At first they reject flesh, but easily acquire a fondness 
for it. The canines are early developed, and evidently 
designed to act the important part of weapons of defence. 
When in contact with man almost the first effort of the 
animal is—fo bite. 
«They avoid the abodes of men, and build their habita- 
tions in trees. Their construction is more that of nests 
than huts, as they have been erroneously termed by some 
naturalists. They generally build not far above the ground. 
Branches or twigs are bent, or partly broken, and crossed, 
and the whole supported by the body of a limb or a crotch. 
Sometimes a nest will be found near the end of a strong 
leafy branch twenty or thirty feet from the ground. One I 
have lately seen that could not be less than forty feet, 
and more probably it was fifty. But this is an unusual 
height. 
“Their dwelling-place is not permanent, but changed in 
pursuit of food and solitude, according to the force of 
circumstances. We more often see them in elevated places ; 
but this arises from the fact that the low grounds, being 
more favourable for the natives’ rice-farms, are the oftener 
cleared, and hence are almost always wanting in suitable 
trees for their nests. . .. . It is seldom that more than 
one or two nests are seen upon the same tree, or in the 
