96 BORNEO— THE ORANG-UTAN. [chap. iv. 



disappear. "When we consider, further, that almost all 

 other animals have in earlier ages been represented by- 

 allied yet distinct forms — that, in the latter part of the 

 tertiary period, Europe was inhabited by bears, deer, 

 wolves, and cats ; Australia by kangaroos and other mar- 

 supials ; South America by gigantic sloths and ant-eaters ; 

 all different from any now existing, though intimately 

 allied to them — we have every reason to believe that the 

 Orang-utan, the Chimpanzee, and the Gorilla have also 

 had their forerunners. With what interest must every 

 naturalist look forward to the time when the caves 

 and tertiary deposits of the tropics may be thoroughly 

 examined, and the past history and earliest appearance 

 of the great man-like apes be at length made known. 



I will now say a few words as to the supposed existence 

 of a Bornean Orang as large as the Gorilla, I have 

 myself exandned the bodies of seventeen freshly-killed 

 Orangs, all of which were carefully measured; and of seven 

 of them I preserved the skeleton. I also obtained two 

 skeletons killed by other persons. Of this extensive series, 

 sixteen were fully adult, nine being males, and seven 

 females. The adult males of the large Orangs only varied 

 from 4 feet 1 inch to 4 feet 2 inches in height, measured 

 fairly to the heel, so as to give the height of the animal 

 if it stood perfectly erect ; the extent of the outstretched 

 arms, from 7 feet 2 inches to 7 feet 8 inches ; and the 



