22 



THE APES AND MONKEYS. 



number of Men armed with spears and hatchets ran 

 to cut off his retreat, and the foremost Man tried to 

 spear the animal, but the Mias seized him and buried 

 its teeth in the muscles over the elbow, tearing the 

 flesh into shreds. If the others had not come to the 

 rescue, he would have fared still worse, but they suc- 

 ceeded in killing the plucky beast. The wounded 

 Man was sick for a long time, and never recovered 

 the complete use of his arm." The truth of this 

 story was proven by Wallace, who on the following 

 day, visited the field of battle, and cut off the head 

 of the Orang-utan, for an addition to his collection. 



The Orang- To complete this picture so excellently 

 Utan in represented by Wallace, we will draw 



Captivity, on several of the older reports. For 

 the first correct observations we are indebted to the 

 Dutchman, Vosmaern, who was in possession of a 

 tame female. She was a good-natured animal and 

 never proved herself false or malicious! One could 

 without fear put his hand into her mouth. Her usual 

 expression was that of sadness and melancholy. She 

 Uked all human beings without distinction of sex, 

 but preferred those who took care of her. Her 

 owner kept her chained, which at times made her 

 desperate ; she would throw herself on the floor, 

 scream pitifully and tear all the blankets that were 

 given to her. Once she was let loose, and imme- 

 diately made her escape to the roof, where she 

 climbed about with such agility that four persons 

 spent an hour in trying to recapture her. On this 

 same excursion she laid her hands on a bottle of 

 Malaga wine, drew the cork and made haste to ap- 

 propriate the contents, afterwards placing the bottle 

 in its former position. She ate everything that was 

 given to her, but preferred fruit and juicy plants to 

 other food. She also liked boiled or fried meat and 

 fish. Insects she did not hunt for, and a Sparrow 

 that was offered her caused her great fright; still she 

 finally killed it with a bite, pulled out a few feathers, 

 tasted the meat and threw it away. Raw eggs she 

 ate with pleasure, but strawberries seemed to de- 

 light her most. Her usual beverage was water, but 

 she liked all kinds of wine, and especially Malaga. 

 After drinking she would wipe hei- mouth with her 

 hand, and she used tooth-picks in the same manner 

 that human beings do. She was an accomplished 

 thief and stole candy out of people's pockets in a 

 masterly way. Before going to sleep she always 

 made great preparations. She shook the hay and 

 spread it fresh, put a bundle under her head and 

 carefully covered herself ; she disliked to sleep 

 alone, for she dreaded solitude. Sometimes she 

 took a nap in the day-time, but never a long one. 

 She had been given some clothing, and this she 

 alternately wrapped around her body and her head, 

 without reference to the temperature of the room. 

 When she saw the lock on her chain opened with a 

 key, she got a little piece of wood and kept turning 

 it in the lock. Once she was given a Kitten. 

 While she was smelling it. Pussy scratched her arm. 

 Then she threw it away and never had anything 

 more to do with Cats. She could untie the most 

 complicated knots with her fingers or her teeth, and 

 this seemed to afford her such pleasure, that she 

 always untied people's shoes when she had a 

 chance. Her hands were exceedingly strong and 

 she could lift the heaviest burdens. She used her 

 feet with the same dexterity as her hands. When 

 she could not reach an article with her hands, she 

 threw herself on her back and got at it with her 

 feet. She never screamed unless left alone. At 



first her screams resembled the howlmg of a Dog; 

 She soon, fell a prey to consumption. 



An Orang. Another description comes to us from 

 Utan on a careful observer, who had an Orang- 



Shipboard. utan on a ship for three months. As 

 long as the ship was cruising in Asiatic waters, the 

 animal lived on deck, selecting a sheltered place for 

 the night. During the day-time he always was in 

 the best of humor, played around with little Monk- 

 eys that were on board, or disported himself in the 

 rigging. Gymnastics and climbing seemed to af- 

 ford hTm especial pleasure, for he would practice on 

 different masts and cables. His agility and mus- 

 cular power were astonishing. Captain Smitt, the 

 observer, had taken a few hundred cocoa-nuts 

 along, the Orang daily receiving two. He was 

 very expert in destroying the tough outer covering 

 of the nuts with his teeth, though it was two inches 

 thick and the sailors had to use a hatchet for the 

 task. He would insert his formidable teeth into the 

 tapering end of the nut, as the shell is very uneven 

 there ; then he would seize it with the right foot and 

 in this way tear the tough covering to pieces. Then 

 he would pierce one of the natural apertures of the 

 nut with his finger, drink the milk, break the shell 

 on some hard object and eat the kernel. 



Besides the cocoa-nuts he liked salt meat, flour, 

 tapioca, etc., and resorted to a great many tricks to 

 get the greatest possible amount of meat at every 

 meal. What he once procured he never released 

 even though he was beaten for his obstinacy. The 

 flour he daily received in the kitchen, and when the 

 cook was 'absent, he never failed to open the flour- 

 bin, take out a good handful and then wipe his hand 

 on his head, so that he often appeared on deck pow- 

 dered. Every Tuesday and Friday he unfailingly 

 made the sailors a visit when the dinner-bell rang, 

 for on these days they had tapioca with sugar and 

 cinnamon. Just as regularly he would make his ap- 

 pearance in the cabin at two o'clock, to get his share 

 of the meal served at that hour. He was very quiet 

 at meals, and, unlike other Apes, clean, though he 

 never could be taught the proper use of the spoon. 

 He put his plate to his mouth and simply drank the 

 soup, without spilling a drop. He was very fond of 

 spirits, and always received a glass of wine at dinner, 

 which he emptied in a peculiar manner. He could 

 project his lower lip in such a way as to form a cup 

 three inches long and nearly as wide, and capable 

 of holding a tumblerful of water. Into this curious 

 cup he poured the wine, and never drank otherwise. 

 After having carefully smelled of the wine, he pro- 

 jected his lip, poured the liquid in, and then pro- 

 ceeded to suck it in between his teeth, deliberately 

 and slowly, as if he intended to make the pleasure 

 as lasting as possible. Then he reached out his 

 glass for more. He never broke a dish, thereby dif- 

 fering from the other Apes, who, as everybody 

 knows, usually break everything. 



He was never heard to make but two different 

 sounds ; a feeble, piping one, designed to express 

 agitation, and a dreadful roar, resembling the lowing 

 of a Cow, and denoting fear. Once he uttered the 

 latter at sight of a Whale swimming near the vessel, 

 and again when he caught sight of several Water- 

 Snakes that his owner brought from Java. The ex- 

 pression of his face never changed. Unfortunately 

 an accident, resulting from his love of liquor, ended 

 his life before he reached Germany, which was his 

 destination. He stole a bottle of rum, nearly emp- 

 tied it, became sick and died on the fourteenth day. 



