590 
MAMMALIA. 
But little is known as to tkeir habits in a wild state. It is certain, 
however, that they climb trees with extreme agility, passing from 
one to another with an astonishing degree of alacrity, and that 
they feed on fruits. It also appears to be proved by the contests 
that have taken place with some isolated individuals, that they are 
endowed with prodigious strength, so as to be able to twist a spear 
or a gun from its possessor ; and that their vital power is so great 
that there is danger in approaching them, even when they appear 
to be in the last stage of exhaustion from loss of blood. 
It is this which renders it so difficult a task to capture a living 
adult Orang. With the young ones, however, it is different. 
These creatures have proved a mine of interesting observation 
to naturalists, who have been surprised to find so much gentle- 
ness, intelligence, and affection in animals torn from their native 
woods and transported into the society of Man. 
We will first borrow from a description, by Dr. Abel Clark, 
of the habits of a young Orang which he had brought from 
Java to England. 
At Java, this Monkey lived under a tamarind tree, near the 
Doctor’s dwelling. There it had made a bed, composed of 
small interlaced branches covered with leaves ; on this it passed 
the greater portion of its time, looking out for the people who 
carried fruit, and, when they approached, descending to obtain a 
share. At sunset it definitively settled itself for the night, and 
got up at dawn to visit its friends, who always welcomed it. 
When taken on board, the vessel, it was secured by an iron 
chain to a ring-bolt ; but it unfastened itself and ran away, when, 
finding the chain trailing behind an encumbrance, it threw it 
over its shoulder. As it released itself in this manner several 
times, fit was decided to allow it to go at large. It became 
very familiar with the sailors ; it played with them, and knew 
how to escape when pursued, for it darted into inaccessible parts 
of the rigging. 
“At first,” writes Doctor Abel Clark, “it usually slept on one of 
the upper yards, after enveloping itself in a sail. In making its bed 
it took the greatest care to remove everything that might disturb 
the smooth surface of the place on which it intended to lie. After 
satisfying its tastes in this part of its domestic arrangements, 
it lay down on its back, bringing the sail over the surface of its 
