DISTRIBUTION-, HABITS, AND NATIVE NAMES. 245 



powerful arms are of the greatest use, enabling' him 

 to climb the highest trees with ease, to seize the 

 fruits and young leaves from branches which would 

 not bear his weight, and to collect the young leaves 

 and boughs with which he forms his nest. This 

 structure, which serves for his nocturnal refuge, is 

 generally placed on some low, small tree, which 

 stands onl^ from twenty to fifty feet from the 

 ground, probably because such a situation is warmer 

 and less exposed to the wind. It is said that the 

 orang makes a fresh layer for himself every night, 

 but Wallace thinks this improbable, since, in this 

 case, the deserted nest would be more frequently 

 found ; this author saw some such nests in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the coal mines of Simunjon, but since 

 many orangs must have been tbere every day, in 

 the course of a year their forsaken layers would be 

 very numerous. The Dyaks say that when the 

 orang is wet he covers himself with pandanus-leaves 

 or large ferns, and this has perhaps led to the 

 belief that he builds himself a hut in the trees. 

 The orang only leaves his layer when the sun is 

 tolerably high, and the dew has dried off the leaves. 

 He feeds throughout the middle of the day, but 

 seldom returns two days running to the same tree. 



These animals seem to be much afraid of man. 

 Wallace never saw two full-grown specimens together, 

 but both male and female are often accompanied by 

 their half-grown young, and three or four young 

 animals may be seen going about together without 

 their parents. The orang generally lives on fruit, 

 but occasionally also on leaves, buds, and young 



