684 



THE TROPICAL WOKLD. 



over with large leaves or ferns, which has perhaps led to the story of his making a 

 hut in the trees. He does not leave his bed till the sun has well risen, and has dried 

 the dew upon the leaves. He feeds all through the middle of the day, but seldom 

 returns to the same tree two days in succession. They do not seem much alarmed at 

 man, as they often stared down upon me for several minutes, and then only moved 

 away slowly to an adjoining tree. I never saw two full-grown animals together ; but 

 both males and females are sometimes accompanied by half-grown young ones, while 

 at other times three or four young ones were seen in company. Their food consists 

 almost wholly of fruit, with occasionally leaves, buds, and young shoots. They seem 

 to prefer unripe fruits, some of which are very sour, others intensely bitter. In other 

 cases they eat only the small seeds of a large fruit, and they almost always waste and 

 destroy more than they eat. The durion* is an especial favorite, and quantities 

 of this delicious fruit are destroyed whenever it grows surrounded by forest, but they 

 will not cross clearings to get at them. It seems wonderful how the animal can tear 

 open this fruit, the outer covering of which is so thick and tough, and closely covered 

 with strong conical spines. They probably bite oflf a few of these at first, and then, 

 making a small hole, tear open the fruit with their powerful fingers. The orang 

 rarely descends to the ground except when, pressed by hunger, it seeks for succulent 

 shoots by the river-side, or in very dry weather, has to search for water, which it 

 generally finds in the hollows of leaves. Once only I saw two half-grown orangs on 

 the ground in a dry hollow. They were playing together, standing erect, and grasping 

 each other by the arms. It may be safely stated, however, that the orang never walks 

 erect, unless when using its hands to support itself by branches overhead, or when 

 attacked. Representations of its walking with a stick are entirely imaginary." 



Mr. Wallace once caught a very young orang, not more than a foot long, which 

 proved a very amusing pet, quite unlike a young gorilla which Du Chaillu attempted 

 to tame. "While carrying it home," he says, *'it got his fingers in my beard, and 

 grasped so tightly that I had great difficulty in getting free, for the fingers are habit- 

 ually bent inward at the last joint, so as to form complete hooks. I had no milk to 

 give it, and was obliged to feed it with rice-water from a bottle with a quill in the 

 cork, which after a few trials it learned to suck very well. When I put my finger in 

 its mouth, it sucked with great vigor, drawing in its cheeks with all its might, and 

 only after persevering a long time would it give up in disgust, and set up a scream, 

 very like that of a baby in similar circumstances. When handled or nursed, it was 

 very quiet and contented, but when laid down by itself would invariably cry. I found 

 it necessary to wash it every day, and it soon began to like the operation, and when it 

 was dirty would begin crying, and not leave off" until I carried it to the spout, when 

 it immediately became quiet, though it would wince a little at the first rush of the 

 cold water, and make ridiculously wry faces while the stream was running over its 

 head. It enjoyed the wiping and rubbing dry amazingly, and when I brushed its 

 hair seemed to be perfectly happy. After the first week I found I could feed it better 

 with a spoon, and gave it a little more varied and more solid food. Well-soaked bis- 

 cuit, mixed with a little egg and sugar, and sometimes sweet potatoes were readily 

 eaten. It would lick its lips, draw in its cheeks, and turn up its eyes with an expres- 

 sion of the most supreme satisfaction when it had a mouthful particularly to its taste ; 

 * Concerning this fruit see ante, bbl. 



