Chapter II: Introduction (2)

Even in Cuvier's "Tableau Elementaire," and in the first edition of his great work, the "Regne Animal," the "Pongo" is classed as a species of Baboon. However, so early as 1818, it appears that Cuvier saw reason to alter this opinion, and to adopt the view suggested several years before by Blumenbach,[12] and after him by Tilesius, that the Bornean Pongo is simply an adult Orang. In 1824, Rudolphi demonstrated, by the condition of the dentition, more fully and completely than had been done by his predecessors, that the Orangs described up to that time were all young animals, and that the skull and teeth of the adult would probably be such as those seen in the Pongo of Wurmb. In the second edition of the "Regne Animal" (1829), Cuvier infers, from the "proportions of all the parts" and "the arrangements of the foramina and sutures of the head," that the Pongo is the adult of the Orang-Utan, "at least of a very closely allied species," and this conclusion was eventually placed beyond all doubt by Professor Owen's Memoir published in the "Zoological Transactions" for 1835, and by Temminck in his "Monographies de Mammalogie." Temminck's memoir is remarkable for the completeness of the evidence which it affords as to the modification which the form of the Orang undergoes according to age and sex. Tiedemann first published an account of the brain of the young Orang, while Sandifort, Müller and Schlegel, described the muscles and the viscera of the adult, and gave the earliest detailed and trustworthy history of the habits of the great Indian Ape in a state of nature; and as important additions have been made by later observers, we are at this moment better acquainted with the adult of the Orang-Utan, than with that of any of the other greater man-like Apes.

It is certainly the Pongo of Wurmb;[13] and it is as certainly not the Pongo of Battell, seeing that the Orang-Utan is entirely confined to the great Asiatic islands of Borneo and Sumatra.

And while the progress of discovery thus cleared up the history of the Orang, it also became established that the only other man-like Apes in the eastern world were the various species of Gibbon--Apes of smaller stature, and therefore attracting less attention than the Orangs, though they are spread over a much wider range of country, and are hence more accessible to observation.

* * * * *

Although the geographical area inhabited by the "Pongo" and "Engeco" of Battell is so much nearer to Europe than that in which the Orang and Gibbon are found, our acquaintance with the African Apes has been of slower growth; indeed, it is only within the last few years that the truthful story of the old English adventurer has been rendered fully intelligible. It was not until 1835 that the skeleton of the adult Chimpanzee became known, by the publication of Professor Owen's above-mentioned very excellent memoir "On the osteology of the Chimpanzee and Orang," in the Zoological Transactions--a memoir which, by the accuracy of its descriptions, the carefulness of its comparisons, and the excellence of its figures, made an epoch in the history of our knowledge of the bony framework, not only of the Chimpanzee, but of all the anthropoid Apes.

By the investigations herein detailed, it became evident that the old Chimpanzee acquired a size and aspect as different from those of the young known to Tyson, to Buffon, and to Traill, as those of the old Orang from the young Orang; and the subsequent very important researches of Messrs. Savage and Wyman, the American missionary and anatomist, have not only confirmed this conclusion, but have added many new details.[14]

One of the most interesting among the many valuable discoveries made by Dr. Thomas Savage is the fact, that the natives in the Gaboon country at the present day, apply to the Chimpanzee a name--"Enché-eko"--which is obviously identical with the "Engeko" of Battell; a discovery which has been confirmed by all later inquirers. Battell's "lesser monster," being thus proved to be a veritable existence, of course a strong presumption arose that his "greater monster," the "Pongo," would sooner or later be discovered. And, indeed, a modern traveller, Bowdich, had, in 1819, found strong evidence, among the natives, of the existence of a second great Ape, called the "Ingena," "five feet high, and four across the shoulders," the builder of a rude house, on the outside of which it slept.

In 1847, Dr. Savage had the good fortune to make another and most important addition to our knowledge of the man-like Apes; for, being unexpectedly detained at the Gaboon river, he saw in the house of the Rev. Mr. Wilson, a missionary resident there, "a skull represented by the natives to be a monkey-like animal, remarkable for its size, ferocity, and habits." From the contour of the skull, and the information derived from several intelligent natives, "I was induced," says Dr. Savage (using the term Orang in its old general sense), "to believe that it belonged to a new species of Orang. I expressed this opinion to Mr. Wilson, with a desire for further investigation; and, if possible, to decide the point by the inspection of a specimen alive or dead." The result of the combined exertions of Messrs. Savage and Wilson was not only the obtaining of a very full account of the habits of this new creature, but a still more important service to science, the enabling the excellent American anatomist already mentioned, Professor Wyman, to describe, from ample materials, the distinctive osteological characters of the new form. This animal was called by the natives of the Gaboon "Engé-ena," a name obviously identical with the "Ingena" of Bowdich; and Dr. Savage arrived at the conviction that this last discovered of all the great Apes was the long-sought "Pongo" of Battell.

The justice of this conclusion, indeed, is beyond doubt--for not only does the "Engé-ena" agree with Battell's "greater monster" in its hollow eyes, its great stature and its dun or iron-grey colour, but the only other man-like Ape which inhabits these latitudes--the Chimpanzee--is at once identified, by its smaller size, as the "lesser monster," and is excluded from any possibility of being the "Pongo," by the fact that it is black and not dun, to say nothing of the important circumstance already mentioned that it still retains the name of "Engeko," or "Enché-eko," by which Battell knew it.

In seeking for a specific name for the "Engé-ena," however, Dr. Savage wisely avoided the much misused "Pongo"; but finding in the ancient Periplus of Hanno the word "Gorilla" applied to certain hairy savage people, discovered by the Carthaginian voyager in an island on the African coast, he attached the specific name "_Gorilla_" to his new ape, whence arises its present well-known appellation. But Dr. Savage, more cautious than some of his successors, by no means identifies his ape with Hanno's "wild men." He merely says that the latter were "probably one of the species of the Orang;" and I quite agree with M. Brullé that there is no ground for identifying the modern "Gorilla" with that of the Carthaginian admiral.

Since the memoir of Savage and Wyman was published, the skeleton of the Gorilla has been investigated by Professor Owen and by the late Professor Duvernoy, of the Jardin des Plantes, the latter having further supplied a valuable account of the muscular system and of many of the other soft parts; while African missionaries and travellers have confirmed and expanded the account originally given of the habits of this great man-like Ape, which has had the singular fortune of being the first to be made known to the general world and the last to be scientifically investigated.

Two centuries and a half have passed away since Battell told his stories about the "greater" and the "lesser monsters" to Purchas, and it has taken nearly that time to arrive at the clear result that there are four distinct kinds of Anthropoids--in Eastern Asia, the Gibbons and the Orangs; in Western Africa, the Chimpanzees and the Gorilla.

* * * * *

The man-like Apes, the history of whose discovery has just been detailed, have certain characters of structure and of distribution in common. Thus they all have the same number of teeth as man--possessing four incisors, two canines, four false molars, and six true molars in each jaw, or 32 teeth in all, in the adult condition; while the milk dentition consists of 20 teeth--or four incisors, two canines, and four molars in each jaw. They are what are called catarrhine Apes--that is, their nostrils have a narrow partition and look downwards; and, furthermore, their arms are always longer than their legs, the difference being sometimes greater and sometimes less; so that if the four were arranged in the order of the length of their arms in proportion to that of their legs, we should have this series--Orang (1-4/9--1), Gibbon (1-1/4--1), Gorilla (1-1/5--1), Chimpanzee (1-1/16--1). In all, the fore-limbs are terminated by hands, provided with longer or shorter thumbs; while the great toe of the foot, always smaller than in Man, is far more moveable than in him and can be opposed, like a thumb, to the rest of the foot. None of these apes have tails, and none of them possess the cheek-pouches common among monkeys. Finally, they are all inhabitants of the old world.

The Gibbons are the smallest, slenderest, and longest-limbed of the man-like Apes: their arms are longer in proportion to their bodies than those of any of the other man-like Apes, so that they can touch the ground when erect; their hands are longer than their feet, and they are the only Anthropoids which possess callosities like the lower monkeys. They are variously coloured. The Orangs have arms which reach to the ankles in the erect position of the animal; their thumbs and great toes are very short, and their feet are longer than their hands. They are covered with reddish-brown hair, and the sides of the face, in adult males, are commonly produced into two crescentic, flexible excrescences, like fatty tumours. The Chimpanzees have arms which reach below the knees; they have large thumbs and great toes, their hands are longer than their feet, and their hair is black, while the skin of the face is pale. The Gorilla, lastly, has arms which reach to the middle of the leg, large thumbs and great toes, feet longer than the hands, a black face, and dark-grey or dun hair.

For the purpose which I have at present in view, it is unnecessary that I should enter into any further minutiæ respecting the distinctive characters of the genera and species into which these man-like Apes are divided by naturalists. Suffice it to say, that the Orangs and the Gibbons constitute the distinct genera, _Simia_ and _Hylobates_; while the Chimpanzees and Gorillas are by some regarded simply as distinct species of one genus, _Troglodytes_; by others as distinct genera--_Troglodytes_ being reserved for the Chimpanzees, and _Gorilla_ for the Engé-ena or Pongo.

* * * * *

Sound knowledge respecting the habits and mode of life of the man-like Apes has been even more difficult of attainment than correct information regarding their structure.

Once in a generation, a Wallace may be found physically, mentally, and morally qualified to wander unscathed through the tropical wilds of America and of Asia; to form magnificent collections as he wanders; and withal to think out sagaciously the conclusions suggested by his collections: but, to the ordinary explorer or collector, the dense forests of equatorial Asia and Africa, which constitute the favourite habitation of the Orang, the Chimpanzee, and the Gorilla, present difficulties of no ordinary magnitude: and the man who risks his life by even a short visit to the malarious shores of those regions may well be excused if he shrinks from facing the dangers of the interior; if he contents himself with stimulating the industry of the better seasoned natives, and collecting and collating the more or less mythical reports and traditions with which they are too ready to supply him.

In such a manner most of the earlier accounts of the habits of the man-like Apes originated; and even now a good deal of what passes current must be admitted to have no very safe foundation. The best information we possess is that, based almost wholly on direct European testimony, respecting the Gibbons; the next best evidence relates to the Orangs; while our knowledge of the habits of the Chimpanzee and the Gorilla stands much in need of support and enlargement by additional testimony from instructed European eye-witnesses.

It will therefore be convenient in endeavouring to form a notion of what we are justified in believing about these animals, to commence with the best known man-like Apes, the Gibbons and Orangs; and to make use of the perfectly reliable information respecting them as a sort of criterion of the probable truth or falsehood of assertions respecting the others.

Of the GIBBONS, half a dozen species are found scattered over the Asiatic islands, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and through Malacca, Siam, Arracan, and an uncertain extent of Hindostan, on the main land of Asia. The largest attain a few inches above three feet in height, from the crown to the heel, so that they are shorter than the other man-like Apes; while the slenderness of their bodies renders their mass far smaller in proportion even to this diminished height.

Dr. Salomon Müller, an accomplished Dutch naturalist, who lived for many years in the Eastern Archipelago, and to the results of whose personal experience I shall frequently have occasion to refer, states that the Gibbons are true mountaineers, loving the slopes and edges of the hills, though they rarely ascend beyond the limit of the fig-trees. All day long they haunt the tops of the tall trees; and though, towards evening, they descend in small troops to the open ground, no sooner do they spy a man than they dart up the hill-sides, and disappear in the darker valleys.

All observers testify to the prodigious volume of voice possessed by these animals. According to the writer whom I have just cited, in one of them, the Siamang, "the voice is grave and penetrating, resembling the sounds g[=o]ek, g[=o]ek, g[=o]ek, g[=o]ek, goek ha ha ha ha haa[=a][=a][=a], and may easily be heard at a distance of half a league." While the cry is being uttered, the great membranous bag under the throat which communicates with the organ of voice, the so-called "laryngeal sac," becomes greatly distended, diminishing again when the creature relapses into silence.

M. Duvaucel, likewise, affirms that the cry of the Siamang may be heard for miles--making the woods ring again. So Mr. Martin[15] describes the cry of the agile Gibbon as "overpowering and deafening" in a room, and "from its strength, well calculated for resounding through the vast forests." Mr. Waterhouse, an accomplished musician as well as zoologist, says, "The Gibbon's voice is certainly much more powerful than that of any singer I ever heard." And yet it is to be recollected that this animal is not half the height of, and far less bulky in proportion than, a man.

There is good testimony that various species of Gibbon readily take to the erect posture. Mr. George Bennett,[16] a very excellent observer, in describing the habits of a male _Hylobates syndactylus_ which remained for some time in his possession, says: "He invariably walks in the erect posture when on a level surface; and then the arms either hang down, enabling him to assist himself with his knuckles; or what is more usual, he keeps his arms uplifted in nearly an erect position, with the hands pendent ready to seize a rope, and climb up on the approach of danger or on the obtrusion of strangers. He walks rather quick in the erect posture, but with a waddling gait, and is soon run down if, whilst pursued, he has no opportunity of escaping by climbing.... When he walks in the erect posture he turns the leg and foot outwards, which occasions him to have a waddling gait and to seem bow-legged."

Dr. Burrough states of another Gibbon, the Horlack or Hooluk:

"They walk erect; and when placed on the floor, or in an
open field, balance themselves very prettily, by raising
their hands over their head and slightly bending the arm
at the wrist and elbow, and then run tolerably fast,
rocking from side to side; and, if urged to greater
speed, they let fall their hands to the ground, and
assist themselves forward, rather jumping than running,
still keeping the body, however, nearly erect."

Somewhat different evidence, however, is given by Dr. Winslow Lewis:[17]

"Their only manner of walking was on their posterior or inferior extremities, the others being raised upwards to preserve their equilibrium, as rope-dancers are assisted by long poles at fairs. Their progression was not by placing one foot before the other, but by simultaneously using both, as in jumping." Dr. Salomon Müller also states that the Gibbons progress upon the ground by a short series of tottering jumps, effected only by the hind limbs, the body being held altogether upright.

But Mr. Martin (l. c. p. 418), who also speaks from direct observation, says of the Gibbons generally:

"Pre-eminently qualified for arboreal habits, and
displaying among the branches amazing activity, the
Gibbons are not so awkward or embarrassed on a level
surface as might be imagined. They walk erect, with a
waddling or unsteady gait, but at a quick pace; the
equilibrium of the body requiring to be kept up, either
by touching the ground with the knuckles, first on one
side then on the other, or by uplifting the arms so as to
poise it. As with the Chimpanzee, the whole of the
narrow, long sole of the foot is placed upon the ground
at once and raised at once, without any elasticity of
step."

After this mass of concurrent and independent testimony, it cannot reasonably be doubted that the Gibbons commonly and habitually assume the erect attitude.

But level ground is not the place where these animals can display their very remarkable and peculiar locomotive powers, and that prodigious activity which almost tempts one to rank them among flying rather than among ordinary climbing mammals.

Mr. Martin (l. c. p. 430) has given so excellent and graphic an account of the movements of a _Hylobates agilis_, living in the Zoological Gardens, in 1840, that I will quote it in full:

"It is almost impossible to convey in words an idea of
the quickness and graceful address of her movements: they
may indeed be termed aerial, as she seems merely to touch
in her progress the branches among which she exhibits her
evolutions. In these feats her hands and arms are the
sole organs of locomotion; her body hanging as if
suspended by a rope, sustained by one hand (the right,
for example), she launches herself, by an energetic
movement, to a distant branch, which she catches with the
left hand; but her hold is less than momentary: the
impulse for the next launch is acquired: the branch then
aimed at is attained by the right hand again, and quitted
instantaneously, and so on, in alternate succession. In
this manner spaces of twelve and eighteen feet are
cleared, with the greatest ease and uninterruptedly, for
hours together, without the slightest appearance of
fatigue being manifested; and it is evident that, if more
space could be allowed, distances very greatly exceeding
eighteen feet would be as easily cleared; so that
Duvaucel's assertion that he has seen these animals
launch themselves from one branch to another, forty feet
asunder, startling as it is, may be well credited.
Sometimes, on seizing a branch in her progress, she will
throw herself, by the power of one arm only, completely
round it, making a revolution with such rapidity as
almost to deceive the eye, and continue her progress with
undiminished velocity. It is singular to observe how
suddenly this Gibbon can stop, when the impetus given by
the rapidity and distance of her swinging leaps would
seem to require a gradual abatement of her movements. In
the very midst of her flight a branch is seized, the body
raised, and she is seen, as if by magic, quietly seated
on it, grasping it with her feet. As suddenly she again
throws herself into action.

"The following facts will convey some notion of her
dexterity and quickness. A live bird was let loose in her
apartment; she marked its flight, made a long swing to a
distant branch, caught the bird with one hand in her
passage, and attained the branch with her other hand; her
aim, both at the bird and at the branch, being as
successful as if one object only had engaged her
attention. It may be added that she instantly bit off the
head of the bird, picked its feathers, and then threw it
down without attempting to eat it.

"On another occasion this animal swung herself from a
perch, across a passage at least twelve feet wide,
against a window which it was thought would be
immediately broken: but not so; to the surprise of all,
she caught the narrow framework between the panes with
her hand, in an instant attained the proper impetus, and
sprang back again to the cage she had left--a feat
requiring not only great strength, but the nicest
precision."

The Gibbons appear to be naturally very gentle, but there is very good evidence that they will bite severely when irritated--a female _Hylobates agilis_ having so severely lacerated one man with her long canines, that he died; while she had injured others so much that, by way of precaution, these formidable teeth had been filed down; but, if threatened, she would still turn on her keeper. The Gibbons eat insects, but appear generally to avoid animal food. A Siamang, however, was seen by Mr. Bennett to seize and devour greedily a live lizard. They commonly drink by dipping their fingers in the liquid and then licking them. It is asserted that they sleep in a sitting posture.

Duvaucel affirms that he has seen the females carry their young to the waterside and there wash their faces, in spite of resistance and cries. They are gentle and affectionate in captivity--full of tricks and pettishness, like spoiled children, and yet not devoid of a certain conscience, as an anecdote, told by Mr. Bennett (l. c. p. 156), will show. It would appear that his Gibbon had a peculiar inclination for disarranging things in the cabin. Among these articles, a piece of soap would especially attract his notice, and for the removal of this he had been once or twice scolded. "One morning," says Mr. Bennett, "I was writing, the ape being present in the cabin, when casting my eyes towards him, I saw the little fellow taking the soap. I watched him without his perceiving that I did so: and he occasionally would cast a furtive glance towards the place where I sat. I pretended to write; he, seeing me busily occupied, took the soap, and moved away with it in his paw. When he had walked half the length of the cabin, I spoke quietly, without frightening him. The instant he found I saw him, he walked back again, and deposited the soap nearly in the same place from whence he had taken it. There was certainly something more than instinct in that action: he evidently betrayed a consciousness of having done wrong both by his first and last actions--and what is reason if that is not an exercise of it?"

* * * * *

The most elaborate account of the natural history of the ORANG-UTAN extant, is that given in the "Verhandelingen over de Natuurlijke Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche overzeesche Bezittingen (1839-45)," by Dr. Salomon Müller and Dr. Schlegel, and I shall base what I have to say upon this subject almost entirely on their statements, adding, here and there, particulars of interest from the writings of Brooke, Wallace, and others.

The Orang-Utan would rarely seem to exceed four feet in height, but the body is very bulky, measuring two-thirds of the height in circumference.[18]

The Orang-Utan is found only in Sumatra and Borneo, and is common in neither of these islands--in both of which it occurs always in low, flat plains, never in the mountains. It loves the densest and most sombre of the forests, which extend from the sea-shore inland, and thus is found only in the eastern half of Sumatra, where alone such forests occur, though, occasionally, it strays over to the western side.

On the other hand, it is generally distributed through Borneo, except in the mountains, or where the population is dense. In favourable places, the hunter may, by good fortune, see three or four in a day.

Except in the pairing time, the old males usually live by themselves. The old females, and the immature males, on the other hand, are often met with in twos and threes; and the former occasionally have young with them, though the pregnant females usually separate themselves, and sometimes remain apart after they have given birth to their offspring. The young Orangs seem to remain unusually long under their mother's protection, probably in consequence of their slow growth. While climbing, the mother always carries her young against her bosom, the young holding on by his mother's hair.[19] At what time of life the Orang-Utan becomes capable of propagation, and how long the females go with young, is unknown, but it is probable that they are not adult until they arrive at ten or fifteen years of age. A female which lived for five years at Batavia, had not attained one-third the height of the wild females. It is probable that, after reaching adult years, they go on growing, though slowly, and that they live to forty or fifty years. The Dyaks tell of old Orangs, which have not only lost all their teeth, but which find it so troublesome to climb, that they maintain themselves on windfalls and juicy herbage.

The Orang is sluggish, exhibiting none of that marvellous activity characteristic of the Gibbons. Hunger alone seems to stir him to exertion, and when it is stilled he relapses into repose. When the animal sits, it curves its back and bows its head, so as to look straight down on the ground; sometimes it holds on with its hands by a higher branch, sometimes lets them hang phlegmatically down by its side--and in these positions the Orang will remain, for hours together, in the same spot, almost without stirring, and only now and then giving utterance to its deep, growling voice. By day, he usually climbs from one tree-top to another, and only at night descends to the ground, and if then threatened with danger, he seeks refuge among the underwood. When not hunted, he remains a long time in the same locality, and sometimes stops for many days on the same tree--a firm place among its branches serving him for a bed. It is rare for the Orang to pass the night in the summit of a large tree, probably because it is too windy and cold there for him; but, as soon as night draws on, he descends from the height and seeks out a fit bed in the lower and darker part, or in the leafy top of a small tree, among which he prefers Nibong Palms, Pandani, or one of those parasitic Orchids which give the primæval forests of Borneo so characteristic and striking an appearance. But wherever he determines to sleep, there he prepares himself a sort of nest: little boughs and leaves are drawn together round the selected spot, and bent crosswise over one another; while to make the bed soft, great leaves of Ferns, of Orchids, of _Pandanus fascicularis_, _Nipa fruticans_, &c., are laid over them. Those which Müller saw, many of them being very fresh, were situated at a height of ten to twenty-five feet above the ground, and had a circumference, on the average, of two or three feet. Some were packed many inches thick with _Pandanus_ leaves; others were remarkable only for the cracked twigs, which, united in a common centre, formed a regular platform. "The rude _hut_," says Sir James Brooke, "which they are stated to build in the trees, would be more properly called a seat or nest, for it has no roof or cover of any sort. The facility with which they form this nest is curious, and I had an opportunity of seeing a wounded female weave the branches together and seat herself, within a minute."

According to the Dyaks, the Orang rarely leaves his bed before the sun is well above the horizon and has dissipated the mists. He gets up about nine, and goes to bed again about five; but sometimes not till late in the twilight. He lies sometimes on his back; or, by way of change, turns on one side or the other, drawing his limbs up to his body, and resting his head on his hand. When the night is cold, windy, or rainy, he usually covers his body with a heap of _Pandanus_, _Nipa_, or Fern leaves, like those of which his bed is made, and he is especially careful to wrap up his head in them. It is this habit of covering himself up which has probably led to the fable that the Orang builds huts in the trees.

Although the Orang resides mostly amid the boughs of great trees, during the daytime, he is very rarely seen squatting on a thick branch, as other apes, and particularly the Gibbons, do. The Orang, on the contrary, confines himself to the slender leafy branches, so that he is seen right at the top of the trees, a mode of life which is closely related to the constitution of his hinder limbs, and especially to that of his seat. For this is provided with no callosities, such as are possessed by many of the lower apes, and even by the Gibbons; and those bones of the pelvis, which are termed the ischia, and which form the solid framework of the surface on which the body rests in the sitting posture, are not expanded like those of the apes which possess callosities, but are more like those of man.

An Orang climbs so slowly and cautiously,[20] as, in this act, to resemble a man more than an ape, taking great care of his feet, so that injury of them seems to affect him far more than it does other apes. Unlike the Gibbons, whose forearms do the greater part of the work, as they swing from branch to branch, the Orang never makes even the smallest jump. In climbing, he moves alternately one hand and one foot, or, after having laid fast hold with the hands, he draws up both feet together. In passing from one tree to another, he always seeks out a place where the twigs of both come close together, or interlace. Even when closely pursued, his circumspection is amazing: he shakes the branches to see if they will bear him, and then bending an overhanging bough down by throwing his weight gradually along it, he makes a bridge from the tree he wishes to quit to the next.[21]

On the ground the Orang always goes laboriously and shakily, on all fours. At starting he will run faster than a man, though he may soon be overtaken. The very long arms which, when he runs, are but little bent, raise the body of the Orang remarkably, so that he assumes much the posture of a very old man bent down by age, and making his way along by the help of a stick. In walking, the body is usually directed straight forward, unlike the other apes, which run more or less obliquely; except the Gibbons, who in these, as in so many other respects, depart remarkably from their fellows.

The Orang cannot put its feet flat on the ground, but is supported upon their outer edges, the heel resting more on the ground, while the curved toes partly rest upon the ground by the upper side of their first joint, the two outermost toes of each foot completely resting on this surface. The hands are held in the opposite manner, their inner edges serving as the chief support. The fingers are then bent out in such a manner that their foremost joints, especially those of the two innermost fingers, rest upon the ground by their upper sides, while the point of the free and straight thumb serves as an additional fulcrum.

The Orang never stands on its hind legs, and all the pictures, representing it as so doing, are as false as the assertion that it defends itself with sticks, and the like.

The long arms are of especial use, not only in climbing, but in the gathering of food from boughs to which the animal could not trust his weight. Figs, blossoms, and young leaves of various kinds, constitute the chief nutriment of the Orang; but strips of bamboo two or three feet long were found in the stomach of a male. They are not known to eat living animals.

Although, when taken young, the Orang-Utan soon becomes domesticated, and indeed seems to court human society, it is naturally a very wild and shy animal, though apparently sluggish and melancholy. The Dyaks affirm, that when the old males are wounded with arrows only, they will occasionally leave the trees and rush raging upon their enemies, whose sole safety lies in instant flight, as they are sure to be killed if caught.[22]

But, though possessed of immense strength, it is rare for the Orang to attempt to defend itself, especially when attacked with fire-arms. On such occasions he endeavours to hide himself, or to escape along the topmost branches of the trees, breaking off and throwing down the boughs as he goes. When wounded he betakes himself to the highest attainable point of the tree, and emits a singular cry, consisting at first of high notes, which at length deepen into a low roar, not unlike that of a panther. While giving out the high notes the Orang thrusts out his lips into a funnel shape; but in uttering the low notes he holds his mouth wide open, and at the same time the great throat bag, or laryngeal sac, becomes distended.

According to the Dyaks, the only animal the Orang measures his strength with is the crocodile, who occasionally seizes him on his visits to the water side. But they say that the Orang is more than a match for his enemy, and beats him to death, or rips up his throat by pulling the jaws asunder!

Much of what has been here stated was probably derived by Dr. Müller from the reports of his Dyak hunters; but a large male, four feet high, lived in captivity, under his observation, for a month, and receives a very bad character.

"He was a very wild beast," says Müller, "of prodigious strength, and false and wicked to the last degree. If any one approached he rose up slowly with a low growl, fixed his eyes in the direction in which he meant to make his attack, slowly passed his hand between the bars of his cage, and then extending his long arm, gave a sudden grip--usually at the face." He never tried to bite (though Orangs will bite one another), his great weapons of offence and defence being his hands.

His intelligence was very great; and Müller remarks, that though the faculties of the Orang have been estimated too highly, yet Cuvier, had he seen this specimen, would not have considered its intelligence to be only a little higher than that of the dog.

His hearing was very acute, but the sense of vision seemed to be less perfect. The under lip was the great organ of touch, and played a very important part in drinking, being thrust out like a trough, so as either to catch the falling rain, or to receive the contents of the half cocoa-nut shell full of water with which the Orang was supplied, and which, in drinking, he poured into the trough thus formed.

In Borneo the Orang-Utan of the Malays goes by the name of "_Mias_" among the Dyaks, who distinguish several kinds as _Mias Pappan_, or _Zimo_, _Mias Kassu_, and _Mias Rambi_. Whether these are distinct species, however, or whether they are mere races, and how far any of them are identical with the Sumatran Orang, as Mr. Wallace thinks the Mias Pappan to be, are problems which are at present undecided; and the variability of these great apes is so extensive, that the settlement of the question is a matter of great difficulty. Of the form called "Mias Pappan," Mr. Wallace[23] observes, "It is known by its large size, and by the lateral expansion of the face into fatty protuberances, or ridges, over the temporal muscles, which have been mis-termed _callosities_, as they are perfectly soft, smooth, and flexible. Five of this form, measured by me, varied only from 4 feet 1 inch to 4 feet 2 inches in height, from the heel to the crown of the head, the girth of the body from 3 feet to 3 feet 7-1/2 inches, and the extent of the outstretched arms from 7 feet 2 inches to 7 feet 6 inches; the width of the face from 10 to 13-1/4 inches. The colour and length of the hair varied in different individuals, and in different parts of the same individual; some possessed a rudimentary nail on the great toe, others none at all; but they otherwise present no external differences on which to establish even varieties of a species.

"Yet, when we examine the crania of these individuals, we find remarkable differences of form, proportion, and dimension, no two being exactly alike. The slope of the profile, and the projection of the muzzle, together with the size of the cranium, offer differences as decided as those existing between the most strongly marked forms of the Caucasian and African crania in the human species. The orbits vary in width and height, the cranial ridge is either single or double, either much or little developed, and the zygomatic aperture varies considerably in size. This variation in the proportions of the crania enables us satisfactorily to explain the marked difference presented by the single-crested and double-crested skulls, which have been thought to prove the existence of two large species of Orang. The external surface of the skull varies considerably in size, as do also the zygomatic aperture and the temporal muscle; but they bear no necessary relation to each other, a small muscle often existing with a large cranial surface, and _vice versâ_. Now, those skulls which have the largest and strongest jaws and the widest zygomatic aperture, have the muscles so large that they meet on the crown of the skull, and deposit the bony ridge which separates them, and which is the highest in that which has the smallest cranial surface. In those which combine a large surface with comparatively weak jaws, and small zygomatic aperture, the muscles, on each side, do not extend to the crown, a space of from 1 to 2 inches remaining between them, and along their margins small ridges are formed. Intermediate forms are found, in which the ridges meet only in the hinder part of the skull. The form and size of the ridges are therefore independent of age, being sometimes more strongly developed in the less aged animal. Professor Temminck states that the series of skulls in the Leyden Museum shows the same result."

Mr. Wallace observed two male adult Orangs (Mias Kassu of the Dyaks), however, so very different from any of these that he concludes them to be specifically distinct; they were respectively 3 feet 8-1/2 inches and 3 feet 9-1/2 inches high, and possessed no sign of the cheek excrescences, but otherwise resembled the larger kinds. The skull has no crest, but two bony ridges, 1-3/4 inches to 2 inches apart, as in the _Simia morio_ of Professor Owen. The teeth, however, are immense, equalling or surpassing those of the other species. The females of both these kinds, according to Mr. Wallace, are devoid of excrescences, and resemble the smaller males, but are shorter by 1-1/2 to 3 inches, and their canine teeth are comparatively small, subtruncated and dilated at the base, as in the so-called _Simia morio_, which is, in all probability, the skull of a female of the same species as the smaller males. Both males and females of this smaller species are distinguishable, according to Mr. Wallace, by the comparatively large size of the middle incisors of the upper jaw.

* * * * *

So far as I am aware, no one has attempted to dispute the accuracy of the statements which I have just quoted regarding the habits of the two Asiatic man-like Apes; and if true, they must be admitted as evidence, that such an Ape--

1stly, May readily move along the ground in the erect, or semi-erect, position, and without direct support from its arms.

2ndly, That it may possess an extremely loud voice, so loud as to be readily heard one or two miles.

3rdly, That it may be capable of great viciousness and violence when irritated: and this is especially true of adult males.

4thly, That it may build a nest to sleep in.

Such being well-established facts respecting the Asiatic Anthropoids, analogy alone might justify us in expecting the African species to offer similar peculiarities, separately or combined; or, at any rate, would destroy the force of any attempted _à priori_ argument against such direct testimony as might be adduced in favour of their existence. And, if the organization of any of the African Apes could be demonstrated to fit it better than either of its Asiatic allies for the erect position and for efficient attack, there would be still less reason for doubting its occasional adoption of the upright attitude or of aggressive proceedings.

From the time of Tyson and Tulpius downwards, the habits of the young CHIMPANZEE in a state of captivity have been abundantly reported and commented upon. But trustworthy evidence as to the manners and customs of adult anthropoids of this species, in their native woods, was almost wanting up to the time of the publication of the paper by Dr. Savage, to which I have already referred; containing notes of the observations which he made, and of the information which he collected from sources which he considered trustworthy, while resident at Cape Palmas, at the north-western limit of the Bight of Benin.

The adult Chimpanzees, measured by Dr. Savage, never exceeded, though the males may almost attain, five feet in height.

"When at rest, the sitting posture is that generally
assumed. They are sometimes seen standing and walking,
but when thus detected, they immediately take to all
fours, and flee from the presence of the observer. Such
is their organization that they cannot stand erect, but
lean forward. Hence they are seen, when standing, with
the hands clasped over the occiput, or the lumbar region,
which would seem necessary to balance or ease of posture.

"The toes of the adult are strongly flexed and turned
inwards, and cannot be perfectly straightened. In the
attempt the skin gathers into thick folds on the back,
shewing that the full expansion of the foot, as is
necessary in walking, is unnatural. The natural position
is on all fours, the body anteriorly resting upon the
knuckles. These are greatly enlarged, with the skin
protuberant and thickened like the sole of the foot.

"They are expert climbers, as one would suppose from
their organization. In their gambols they swing from limb
to limb to a great distance, and leap with astonishing
agility. It is not unusual to see the 'old folks' (in the
language of an observer) sitting under a tree regaling
themselves with fruit and friendly chat, while their
'children' are leaping around them, and swinging from
tree to tree with boisterous merriment.

"As seen here, they cannot be called _gregarious_, seldom
more than five, or ten at most, being found together. It
has been said, on good authority, that they occasionally
assemble in large numbers, in gambols. My informant
asserts that he saw once not less than fifty so engaged;
hooting, screaming, and drumming with sticks upon old
logs, which is done in the latter case with equal
facility by the four extremities. They do not appear ever
to act on the offensive, and seldom, if ever really, on
the defensive. When about to be captured, they resist by
throwing their arms about their opponent, and attempting
to draw him into contact with their teeth." (Savage, l.
c. p. 384.)

With respect to this last point Dr. Savage is very explicit in another place:

"_Biting_ is their principal art of defence. I have seen
one man who had been thus severely wounded in the feet.

"The strong development of the canine teeth in the adult
would seem to indicate a carnivorous propensity; but in
no state save that of domestication do they manifest it.
At first they reject flesh, but easily acquire a fondness
for it. The canines are early developed, and evidently
designed to act the important part of weapons of defence.
When in contact with man almost the first effort of the
animal is--_to bite_.

"They avoid the abodes of men, and build their
habitations in trees. Their construction is more that of
_nests_ than _hut_, as they have been erroneously termed
by some naturalists. They generally build not far above
the ground. Branches or twigs are bent, or partly broken,
and crossed, and the whole supported by the body of a
limb or a crotch. Sometimes a nest will be found near the
_end_ of a _strong leafy branch_ twenty or thirty feet
from the ground. One I have lately seen that could not be
less than forty feet, and more probably it was fifty. But
this is an unusual height.

"Their dwelling-place is not permanent, but changed in
pursuit of food and solitude, according to the force of
circumstances. We more often see them in elevated places;
but this arises from the fact that the low grounds, being
more favourable for the natives' rice-farms, are the
oftener cleared, and hence are almost always wanting in
suitable trees for their nests.... It is seldom that more
than one or two nests are seen upon the same tree, or in
the same neighbourhood: five have been found, but it was
an unusual circumstance....

"They are very filthy in their habits.... It is a
tradition with the natives generally here, that they were
once members of their own tribe: that for their depraved
habits they were expelled from all human society, and,
that through an obstinate indulgence of their vile
propensities, they have degenerated into their present
state and organization. They are, however, eaten by them,
and when cooked with the oil and pulp of the palm-nut
considered a highly palatable morsel.

"They exhibit a remarkable degree of intelligence in
their habits, and, on the part of the mother, much
affection for their young. The second female described
was upon a tree when first discovered, with her mate and
two young ones (a male and a female). Her first impulse
was to descend with great rapidity, and make off into the
thicket, with her mate and female offspring. The young
male remaining behind, she soon returned to the rescue.
She ascended and took him in her arms, at which moment
she was shot, the ball passing through the forearm of the
young one, on its way to the heart of the mother....

"In a recent case, the mother, when discovered, remained
upon the tree with her offspring, watching intently the
movements of the hunter. As he took aim, she motioned
with her hand, precisely in the manner of a human being,
to have him desist and go away. When the wound has not
proved instantly fatal, they have been known to stop the
flow of blood by pressing with the hand upon the part,
and when this did not succeed, to apply leaves and
grass.... When shot, they give a sudden screech, not
unlike that of a human being in sudden and acute
distress."

The ordinary voice of the Chimpanzee, however, is affirmed to be hoarse, guttural, and not very loud, somewhat like "whoo-whoo" (l. c. p. 365).

The analogy of the Chimpanzee to the Orang, in its nest-building habit and in the mode of forming its nest, is exceedingly interesting; while, on the other hand, the activity of this ape, and its tendency to bite, are particulars in which it rather resembles the Gibbons. In extent of geographical range, again, the Chimpanzees--which are found from Sierra Leone to Congo--remind one of the Gibbons, rather than of either of the other man-like Apes; and it seems not unlikely that, as is the case with the Gibbons, there may be several species spread over the geographical area of the genus.

The same excellent observer, from whom I have borrowed the preceding account of the habits of the adult Chimpanzee, published, fifteen years ago,[24] an account of the GORILLA, which has, in its most essential points, been confirmed by subsequent observers, and to which so very little has really been added, that in justice to Dr. Savage I give it almost in full.

"It should be borne in mind that my account is based upon
the statements of the aborigines of that region (the
Gaboon). In this connection, it may also be proper for me
to remark, that having been a missionary resident for
several years, studying, from habitual intercourse, the
African mind and character, I felt myself prepared to
discriminate and decide upon the probability of their
statements. Besides, being familiar with the history and
habits of its interesting congener (_Trog. niger_,
Geoff.), I was able to separate their accounts of the two
animals, which, having the same locality and a similarity
of habit, are confounded in the minds of the mass,
especially as but few--such as traders to the interior
and huntsmen--have ever seen the animal in question.

"The tribe from which our knowledge of the animal is
derived, and whose territory forms its habitat, is the
_Mpongwe_, occupying both banks of the River Gaboon, from
its mouth to some fifty or sixty miles upward....

"If the word 'Pongo' be of African origin, it is probably
a corruption of the word _Mpongwe_, the name of the tribe
on the banks of the Gaboon, and hence applied to the
region they inhabit. Their local name for the Chimpanzee
is _Enché-eko_, as near as it can be Anglicized, from
which the common term 'Jocko' probably comes. The Mpongwe
appellation for its new congener is _Engé-ena_,
prolonging the sound of the first vowel, and slightly
sounding the second.

"The habitat of the _Engé-ena_ is the interior of lower
Guinea, whilst that of the _Enché-eko_ is nearer the
sea-board.

"Its height is about five feet; it is disproportionately
broad across the shoulders, thickly covered with coarse
black hair, which is said to be similar in its
arrangement to that of the _Enché-eko_; with age it
becomes grey, which fact has given rise to the report
that both animals are seen of different colours.

"_Head._--The prominent features of the head are, the
great width and elongation of the face, the depth of the
molar region, the branches of the lower jaw being very
deep and extending far backward, and the comparative
smallness of the cranial portion; the eyes are very
large, and said to be like those of the Enché-eko, a
bright hazel; nose broad and flat, slightly elevated
towards the root; the muzzle broad, and prominent lips
and chin, with scattered grey hairs; the under lip highly
mobile, and capable of great elongation when the animal
is enraged, then hanging over the chin; skin of the face
and ears naked, and of a dark brown, approaching to
black.

"The most remarkable feature of the head is a high ridge,
or crest of hair, in the course of the sagittal suture,
which meets posteriorly with a transverse ridge of the
same, but less prominent, running round from the back of
one ear to the other. The animal has the power of moving
the scalp freely forward and back, and when enraged is
said to contract it strongly over the brow, thus bringing
down the hairy ridge and pointing the hair forward, so as
to present an indescribably ferocious aspect.

"Neck short, thick, and hairy; chest and shoulders very
broad, said to be fully double the size of the
Enché-ekos; arms very long, reaching some way below the
knee--the forearm much the shortest; hands very large,
the thumbs much larger than the fingers....

"The gait is shuffling; the motion of the body, which is
never upright as in man, but bent forward, is somewhat
rolling, or from side to side. The arms being longer than
the Chimpanzee, it does not stoop as much in walking;
like that animal, it makes progression by thrusting its
arms forward, resting the hands on the ground, and then
giving the body a half jumping half swinging motion
between them. In this act it is said not to flex the
fingers, as does the Chimpanzee, resting on its
knuckles, but to extend them, making a fulcrum of the
hand. When it assumes the walking posture, to which it is
said to be much inclined, it balances its huge body by
flexing its arms upward.