ORDER QUADRUMANA. 24" 1 



li The Orang Outang of Borneo is utterly incapable of 

 walking in a perfectly erect posture. He betrays this in 

 his whole exterior conformation, and never wilfully at- 

 tempts to counteract its tendency. His head leaning for- 

 ward, and forming a considerable angle with the back, 

 throws the centre of gravity so far beyond the perpendicu- 

 lar, that his arms, like the forelegs of other animals, are 

 required to support the body. So difficult, indeed, is it for 

 him to keep the upright position for a few seconds, under 

 the direction of his keeper, that he is obliged, in the per- 

 formance of his task, to raise his arms above his head, and 

 throw them behind him, to keep his balance. His pro- 

 gressive motion on a flat surface is accomplished by placing 

 his bent fists upon the ground, and drawing his body be- 

 tween his arms : moving in this manner, he strongly re- 

 sembles a person decrepit in the legs, supported on stilts. 

 In a state of nature he probably seldom moves along the 

 ground ; his whole external configuration showing his fitness 

 for climbing trees, and clinging to their branches. The 

 length and pliability of his fingers and toes enable him to 

 grasp with facility and steadiness, and the force of his 

 muscles empowers him to support his body for a great 

 length of time by one hand or foot. He can thus pass from 

 one fixed object to another, at the distance of his span from 

 each other, and can obviously pass from one branch of 

 a tree to another, through a much greater interval. In 

 sitting on a flat surface, this animal turns his legs under 

 him. In sitting on the branch of a tree, or on a rope, he 

 rests on his heels, his body leaning forward against his 

 thighs. This animal uses his hands like others of the 

 monkey tribe." 



The individual described by the Doctor, "on his arrival in 

 Java from Batavia, was allowed to be entirely at liberty, till 

 within a day or two of being put on board the Caesar to be 

 conveyed to England ; and whilst at large made no attempt to 



