DOHONG, THE ORANG UTAN 113 



haps, in some way, the fur suggested an 

 enemy, although of course he had left the 

 woods when quite a tiny baby. But it meant 

 that, if I wanted him to be friendly with me 

 and shake hands, I must leave my furs in 

 the keepers' room. His hand-shake too, was 

 quite a study. His tremendously long fingers 

 would close right round my hand in a casual, 

 loose, indifferent manner, with no particular 

 warmth or friendly greeting. I could not 

 help wishing one day that he would show a 

 little more animation and warmth in his greet- 

 ing, for I much dislike a limp shake of the 

 hand. 



And one day I had my wish, for suddenly 

 I felt those long thin fingers tighten and 

 tighten, and the grip was so unexpected and 

 hard that I realized what a truly terrible 

 grip it would be if he really wished to do me 

 harm. For his strength at times astonished me. 



"When he was only about two and a half 

 years old, I went into the keepers' room one 

 day to see Dohong perform his many table 

 accomplishments. He did every thing very 



