148 
ORANG OUTANG. 
fond of being in company, and seemed sensible of 
the attentions showed it by those to whose care it 
was committed. Often when they retired it would 
throw itself on the ground, as if in despair, uttering 
lamentable cries, and tearing in pieces the linen 
within its reach. Its keeper having sometimes been 
accustomed to sit near it on the ground, it took the 
hay of its bed and laid it by its side, and seemed 
by every demonstration to invite him to be seated 
near. Its usual manner of walking was on all fours, 
like other apes ; but it could also walk on its hind 
feet only. One morning it got unchained, and 
was seen, with wonderful agility, ascending the 
beams and rafters of the building : it was not with- 
out some pains that it was retaken, and it then 
showed an extraordinary degree of muscular power; 
the assistance of four men being necessary, in 
order to hold it in such a manner as to be pro- 
perly secured. During its state of liberty it had, 
amongst other things, taken the cork from a bottle 
containing some Malaga wine, which it drank to 
the last drop, and had set the bottle in its place 
again. The chief food of this animal was bread, 
roots, and particularly carrots : it was fond of all 
sorts of fruit, but gave the preference to straw- 
berries, and appeared extremely fond of aromatic 
plants. Meat both boiled and roasted, as well as 
fish, was eaten. It was not observed to hunt for 
insects like other monkeys ; it was fond of eggs, 
which it broke with its teeth and sucked com- 
pletely ; but fish and roast meat seemed its fa- 
