The Apes. JIAMJIALIA. The Orang-outan. 23 
on the head and neck, and pulls open its jaws till he 
rips up the throat. The rnias always kills the croco- 
dile, for he is very strong. There is no animal in the 
jungle so strong as he.’” 
The female orangs, like the other large apes, pro- 
duce only one young at a birth, and this clings for a 
considerable time to the long hair of its mother’s body, 
and is thus carried about ; the four limbs of the mother 
being left at perfect liberty. In fact, so little does the 
presence of a young one impede the movements of the 
mother, that Mr. Wallace mentions his having shot 
two females, bearing their young in this way, without 
being aware of the existence of the latter until both 
fell to the ground. It is by shooting the mothers that 
the natives obtain nearly all the young orangs which 
they sell to Europeans. 
For some time after their birth, the young orangs 
appear to be nearly as helpless as the human infant, 
although of course the mere fact of their supporting 
themselves by grasping the hair of their mother, is 
evidence of a far greater amount of strength than is 
possessed by a young child. Mr. Wallace has published 
a most interesting account of the habits of an “ infant” 
orang-outan which he obtained by shooting its mother, 
from which we shall extract a few passages. He fed 
it with rice-water out of a bottle with a quill in the 
cork, which, after one or two trials, it sucked very well. 
“ When a finger was placed in its mouth, it would suck 
at it with remarkable vigour, drawing in its little cheeks 
with all its might, thinking, no doubt, it had got hold 
of the right thing at last, and wondering that all its 
exertions could get no milk out of it. It would perse- 
vere for a long time, till at last it gave up with despair 
and disgust, indicated generally by a very baby-like 
scream.” It was quiet when nursed, but cried when 
laid down alone. When being washed it winced, “ and 
made ridiculously wry faces” when the cold water was 
poured on its head, but it enjoyed being rubbed dry, 
and was particularly delighted with being brushed. 
At first it clung vigorously with its four hands to any- 
thing that was within its reach ; and on one occasion 
having caught hold of its owner’s whiskers and beard, 
clutched them so tightly that he had considerable diffi- 
culty in getting free. From the want of its natural 
grasping exercise, Mr. Wallace found that his baby 
orang was getting rather weak in its limbs, and 
he therefore contrived a sort of ladder upon which it 
might hang. This, however, did not answer ; the sticks 
not affording it a convenient hold for all its four hands. 
It would hang for a time by two hands only, and then, 
getting tired of this posture, would move one hand over 
. to the opposite shoulder to grasp its own hair ; when 
“ thinking, no doubt, that that would support it much 
better than the stick, it would leave hold with the other 
hand, and come tumbling down on to the floor.” Mr. 
Wallace then prepared a sort of artificial mother for 
it, by rolling up a piece of buffalo-skin into a bundle 
with the hair outside. This suited it much better, but, 
unfortunately, it was only too natural. “ The poor 
little creature thinking it had recovered its mother was 
continually trying to suck. It would pull itself up close 
by the strength of its arms, and try everywhere for a 
likely place, but only succeeded in getting mouthfuls of 
wool, when of course it would be greatly disgusted, 
scream violently, and if not rescued would soon let 
itself fall.” 
When fed with a spoon this infant orang indicated 
its approval or dislike of the food offered to it by the 
most ludicrous changes of its countenance — licking its 
lips, drawing in its cheeks, and turning up its eyes, like 
a true epicure, when the food was to its taste — turning 
the mouthful about with its tongue, and pushing it out 
between its lips when it was not palatable. If the same 
food was continued it would scream and kick violently, 
exactly like a baby in a passion. About a month after 
it came into Mr. Wallace’s possession, it began to show 
some signs of learning the use of its legs. When laid 
on the floor it would push itself along, or roll over, and 
when left in its cradle would lift itself up into an erect 
posture, and once or twice succeeded in tumbling out. 
It did not, however, grow, or gain strength — a circum- 
stance which Mr. Wallace attributes to his being unable 
to feed it with milk ; and it died in a miserable state 
after being in his possession about three months. 
The specimens of the orang-outan which have been 
brought to Europe have been, for the most part, young 
individuals. In their general- habits, their gentleness 
and docility, they resemble the chimpanzees ; but 
appear scarcely to be so lively as those animals. Like 
them, they exhibit a great affection formen, and espe- 
ciallj' for those who have the care of them ; they also 
sometimes manifest considerable attachment for other 
animals, especially cats, but appear to entertain a sort 
of contempt for other monkeys, although they will 
occasionally condescend to play with them. Like the 
chimpanzee they learn to sit at table, eat with a knife 
and fork, drink from a glass, etc.; they sometimes 
acquire a taste for intoxicating drinks, and under the 
influence of this have even been known to steal both 
wine and spirits. 
Full-grown specimens do not appear to bear captivity, 
and indeed their great strength and ferocity render 
them dangerous. Nevertheless, some of the older tra- 
vellers, such as Leguat, Bontius, D'Obsonville, and 
Relian, mention their having seen large specimens in 
confinement in Java ; and some of these, from their 
size, must have been adult or nearly so. The accounts 
of these travellers ascribe a wonderful amount of 
modesty to these apes, especially the females ; the 
last-mentioned writer saj's that both the male and 
female “ were very bashful when you looked fixedly at 
them, and the female would then throw herself into 
the arms of the male and hide her head in his breast. 
This touching sight I have witnessed with my own 
eyes.” 
Of the second species of orang found in Borneo, called 
Mias Kassu by the natives {Simia Morio of Professor 
Owen), Mr. Wallace says that its habits are precisely 
similar to those of tlie larger species, from which it is 
distinguished by the absence of the fatty excrescences 
on the cheeks, and by the much greater comparative 
size of the teeth, and especially of the canines in the 
males. The females of the two species appear to be 
scarcely distinguishable, except by the difference of size, 
and by the smaller ones having the two middle incisor 
teeth in the upper jaw proportionally larger, a character 
