IN FEATHERS AND FUR. 49 
Like those helpless little creatures, it had great fondness for 
being held and petted, and would cry and fret when put down. 
But the gentleman had other business besides tending baby Orang- 
utans, so he fixed up a box with a soft mat for the little creature, 
and there it had to lie, whether or no. 
The greatest trouble was about food. Milk is an unknown 
article among the natives of that Island, and rice water and cocoa- 
nut milk and such things as the foster parent could procure, did 
not satisfy the unhappy baby. It cried and screamed and made a 
great fuss generally, till it got sweet potatoes, and soaked biscuit 
with plenty of sugar. It had to have a daily bath too, as well as 
human babies, and after the first few times bathing it grew so fond 
of it, that it would cry and scream to have the cold water thrown 
on. There's an example for some of you. 
But the great need of the poor orphan was a mamma. It was 
cold, and it wanted something to get hold of. The anxious nurse, 
in the kindness of his heart, thought he would get up a sham 
mamma. So he took a buffalo skin with the hair on, made it into 
a roll, and hung it over the restless baby. This seemed to suit 
very well ; the little creature would sprawl around and grab the 
furry humbug. But after a while it got the hair into its throat, and 
nearly choked to death, and the buffalo skin mamma had to be 
taken away. 
But a new comfort appeared, for the same gentleman caught a 
young monkey, and introduced it to the Mias baby as a play-fellow. 
This pleased it very much, it made no fuss when the lively little 
monkey sat on it, and even laid down on its stomach to sleep. In 
fact, the baby seemed to like it, and took its revenge by hugging 
the droll little monkey. 
Though it cut four teeth and lived some months, began to learn 
to walk, and otherwise make itself more interesting, it never grew a 
bit, and at last it became sick and died. Mr. Wallace felt very 
badly, and took its skeleton home to England. 
The Orang-Utan lives in the trees of Borneo, and eats fruit. 
They have long shaggy red hair, and one of large size has a body 
as large as a man's, though it is never more than four feet high. 
They never come to the ground if they can help it. They 
make their beds in the trees by breaking off branches and laying 
them across the limbs. The natives say that when it rains they 
cover themselves with other branches and leaves, and make what 
4 
