THE ORANG-OUTANG, OR MIAS. 



681 



and Sumatra. To Mr. Wallace we are indebted for by far the most reliable account 

 of tbis great ape, wbicb until Du Cbaillu's discovery of the gorilla was supposed to be 

 the largest of the species. We give, much abridged, portions of his account : 



"I was out collecting insects, not more than a quarter of a mile from the house, 

 when I heard a rustling in a tree near, and looking up saw a large red-haired animal 

 moving slowly along, hanging from the branches by its arms. It passed on from tree 

 to tree till it was lost in the jungle. About a fortnight afterward I heard that one 

 was feeding in a tree in the swamp, and taking my gun I was fortunate enough to find 

 it. As soon as I approached, it tried to conceal itself among the foliage ; but I got 

 a shot at it, and the second barrel caused it to fall down almost dead, the two balls 

 having entered the body. This was a male, about half- grown, being scarcely three 



FEMALE ORANG-OUTANG. 



feet high. Soon after I shot another about the same size. I gave it two shots, one 

 of which lodged in the body, the other broke its arm. Two Dyaks ran up to it, and 

 each seized hold of a hand. But although one arm was broken, and it was only half- 

 grown, it was too strong for them, drawing them up towards its mouth notwithstanding 

 all their efforts so that they were obliged to let go. It now began climbing the tree, 

 and I shot it through the heart. A week after, I fired at one on a high tree. On 

 seeing me it began howling in a strange voice like a cough, and seemed in a great 

 rage, breaking off branches with its hands, and throwing them down, and then made 

 off over the tree-tops. A week after I found another, which behaved in a similar 

 manner. I shot at it five times, and it remained dead on the top of the tree, sup- 

 ported in a fork, whence it was brought down by some Dyaks who climbed up for it. 

 This was the first full-grown specimen I had obtained ; but it was a female, and not 

 nearly so large or remarkable as the full-grown males. It was, however, three feet six 

 inches high, and its arms stretched out to a width of six feet six inches. I preserved 

 the skin of this animal, from which the above picture, from a photograph, was taken. 

 **Ten days after, I succeeded in shooting a full grown male. My assistant told 



