FIRST RELIABLE ACCOUNT OF THE ORANG-UTAN. 339 



offend them. The Natives do really believe that these were 

 formerly Men, but Metamorphosed into Beasts for their Blas- 

 phemy. They told me many strange Stories of them, too 

 tedious to be inserted here. I bought one out of curiosity, for 

 six Spanish Dollars ; it lived with me seven Months, but then 

 died of a Flux ; he was too young to show me many Pranks, 

 therefore I shall only tell you that he was a great Thief, and 

 loved strong Liquors : for if our Backs were turned, he would be 

 at the Punch-bowl, and very often would open the Brandy Case, 

 take out a Bottle, drink plentifully, and put it very carefully 

 into its place again. He slept lying along in a humane Posture 

 with one Hand under his Head. He could not swim, but I 

 know not whether he might not be capable of being taught. If 

 at any time I was angry with him, he would sigh, sob, and cry, 

 till he found that I was reconled (sic ? reconciled) to him ; and 

 tho' he was but about twelve Months old when he died, yet he 

 was stronger than any Man in the Ship." 



Accompanying this account is a most unnatural picture of a 

 muscular, naked man with a very large mouth and a well-drawn 

 thumb in place of his big toe. There is no mention of the 

 artist, and one must suppose that it was drawn in England from 

 the author's written or verbal description. Besides this picture, 

 there are one or two passages in the above account which may 

 well make the reader question the correctness of my title, 

 "reliable account." For instance, no Orang-Utan reaches six 

 feet in height ; Wallace gives 4 ft. 2 in. as the most. The 

 Orang-Utan does not walk upright, although of course they can 

 and do stand upright when occasion demands. " Tolerable 

 good Faces " I think must be taken as an indication of the 

 change in our ideas of beauty since the days of our great-grand- 

 fathers, two hundred years ago, for I doubt if any visitor to the 

 Zoo would be inclined to prefer the facial beauty of the Orangs 

 there to that of members of his own species. The statements 

 that they are without hair, " but on those Parts where it grows 

 on humane Bodies," and that "they are very nimble footed," are 

 difficult to account for if we are to believe any of the author's 

 description. The Orang-Utan, as everyone knows, has a coat 

 of coarse reddish hair (though not on his face, and often 

 only thinly on head and abdomen), and his movements are 



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