IN

N the wildest forests of Eastern India, in Borneo, Cochin China, and Malacca, travelers still sometimes meet the strange animal called in the Malayan tongue the Orang Outang, or "Man of the Woods." But this creature is becoming every year more rare, and soon, perhaps, it will have disappeared from the earth like so many animals whose fossil remains have come down from past ages.

There is no animal that resembles man so much in the form of the head and brain as the Orang Outang. He is from three to four feet high. His body is short and generally covered with reddish hair, his face naked and a little bluish, his thighs and limbs are short, and his arms very long. He is very gentle, learns readily, and becomes attached to persons who take care of him. Notwithstanding all that authors and voyagers have said, his intelligence is quite limited, and only surpasses that of the dog. But as his movements are sedate and considerate, and analogous to those of man, and as he has nearly man's conforma tion and his necessities, his actions might

readily be attributed to an intelligence more nearly perfect than really exists.

'These animals, like monkeys, are naturally climbers, and are obliged to live constantly in the trees through lack of ability to walk easily on the ground. When on all-fours, they only place on the ground the finger ends of the feet, and the fore part of the body rests on the sides of their hands; and in order to see before them they are obliged to raise the head in a very uncomfortable position. It is hardly possible for them to walk erect for any length of time, because they lack the powerful development of the muscles of the calf and thigh which enables man to preserve his equilibrium and walk with firmness.

In a savage state the Orang Outang has been little known. He inhabits the most secluded forests, and feeds principally on fruits. It is also probable that he eats eggs and such little birds as he may be able to catch upon the nest. sition is favored by the length of his canine teeth. Ancient travelers have supposed that in time of dearth he descends

This suppo

to the sea-shore and feeds on crabs and shell-fish. Gemelli Carreri says:

"There is a kind of oysters that weigh several pounds, and which lie open upon the shore; but the monkey, fearing lest, in trying to get them out, his paw might be caught in the closing shell, throws in a stone and then devours the fish at his leisure."

He makes a kind of hammock in the trees, where he sleeps every night and rises with the sun.

The Indians capture them and put them to domestic service. Schouten says:

"They take them in snares, tame them, teach them to walk upon their hind feet, and to use their hands in doing various kinds of labor, such as rinsing the glasses, bringing a drink, turning the spit, etc."

François Leguat tells of a very extraordinary specimen which he saw at Java. He says:

"She was tall, and frequently walked very erect on her hind feet. Her face had no hairs

but the eyebrows, and she very much resembled in general appearance the grotesque forms of the Hottentots seen at the Cape of Good Hope. She made her own bed properly every day, and in lying down she placed her head on the pillow and drew the covering over herself."

The Chimpanzee is another genus of the same order as the Orang Outang, from which it differs by having larger ears, slightly movable at will, by the crested eyebrows, which are lacking in the Orang, and by very short arms which scarcely reach the thigh.

On first observing the Chimpanzee every one is struck by its great resemblance to man, not only in its form, but in its gestures, actions, and some of its habits. The different names which it has received all express the same idea. One of these is Pongo, a word by which the negroes designate a grand fetich; in Angola it is Cojas Morros, or Man of the Woods; in Congo it is Eujoko, which means Be silent. The origin of this name may be accounted for when it is known that the negroes of Congo believed that the only reason why the Chimpanzee does not talk, is because he will not, through fear that he will be reduced to slavery and obliged to labor. But all these names are only epithets that accompany the true name Chimpanzee, by which it is known to all the natives of the coast of Guinea.

A few years since a young female of this species, named Jacqueline, was brought

to the Jardin des Plantes in Paris. She was gentle, good, and affectionate, recognizing and caressing all those who were in the habit of visiting her. When crossed in her wishes she sobbed like a child, and retiring into a corner, she would pout for some minutes. But her childish anger yielded to the slightest advances of friendship; she immediately dried her tears, and returned without rancor to those who had annoyed her.

A friend who accompanied me took off his gloves and laid them on the table. Immediately Jacqueline took them up and tried to put them on, but could not because she was trying the right hand glove upon the left hand. She was shown her mistake, and comprehended it so well that she never made the same mistake again, though the Mr. experiment was repeatedly tried. Werner, an excellent painter in natural history, was engaged to take her portrait. Jacqueline was so astonished to see her image traced by the pencil of this skillful artist that she must needs practice designing also. A paper and pencil were given her, and gravely seated at the master's table, she drew some zig-zag lines with great pleasure. As she bore on with all her might the point of the pencil broke, much to her annoyance. To appease her it was again sharpened, and, corrected by experience, she afterward carried a lighter hand.

She saw the designer put his pencil to his mouth, and she did the same, only, instead of being content with moistening the point, she bit it off. It was quite impossible to prevent this, and it caused such serious inconvenience as to put an end to her artistic studies. She tried to sew in imitation of the woman who attended her, but she inevitably pricked her fingers every time; then she threw down the work and jumped upon a rope that was stretched for her, and to console herself under her misfortunes she went through performances that would pale the cheek of the most hardy rope-dancer.

Jacqueline had a dog and a cat, of which she was quite fond. She petted them so far as to make them sleep with her, one on each side; but still she knew how to maintain over them the authority of superior intelligence, and when she judged proper she chastised them severely to reduce them to obedience or to oblige them to live in peace with each other.

Poor Jacqueline was in the habit of

washing her face and hands every morning with cold water, and these ablutions, joined to the rigors of a climate so different from that of Africa, probably brought on the pulmonary consumption, of which she eventually died. Jack, the Orang Outang, whose place she filled in the menagerie, and the Chimpanzees which lived there in the times of Buffon and the Empress Josephine, died of the same complaint.

Although naturalists of the present day only assign to this animal the height of two or two and a half feet, yet it must be because they have only seen young specimens. They certainly must attain the height of four or five feet, and perhaps more, or else none of the wonders that travelers relate of them could be true. When Jacqueline was taken she was quite young, and was still carried in her mother's arms, yet she was two and a half feet high.

Three hundred and thirty-six years before the Christian era the Carthaginians, under Hanno, landed upon an island east of Africa. They found an immense troop of monkeys, and taking them for enemies, they attacked them. These animals made no stand on the open plain, but retreated quickly to the rocks, where they defended themselves valiantly by throwing stones. Three females only were captured, and these fought with so much desperation that they could not be taken alive. Hanno, who thought them wild hairy women, had them skinned and took the pelts to Carthage. They were deposited in the temple of Juno, where the Romans found them, at the conquest of that city, two centuries afterward.

It is more than probable that all the stories that the ancients have handed down to us about the satyrs, fawns, sylvans, and other divinities of the wood, have taken their origin in the imperfectly known history of this animal. The satyr skin which St. Augustine is said to have seen at Rome, certainly belonged to one of these animals.

The Chimpanzee has a flat tawny face destitute of hair, as are also the ears, the hands, and the breast. The rest of the body is covered thinly with rough black or brown hair, excepting the head, where it is thick and long, falling down the back.

JACQUELINE DRAWING.

It walks about with more facility than the Orang Outang, because the muscles of its calves and thighs are much better developed. This animal, which is only found on the shores of Congo and Guinea, has a grave demeanor and measured movements.

From all these considerations, Brooks, in his " System of Natural History," placed man in the class of monkeys. The Prince of Wales having reproached him in very strong terms, the naturalist replied: "My lord, I yield to the force of your objections, and, to oblige you, will change my arrangement: I will place the monkey in the class with man."

In a domesticated state the Chimpanzee shows the same docility as the Orang, but more intelligence. Buffon says:

"I have seen this animal offer his hand to welcome visitors, and gravely promenade with them as one of the company. I have seen him seat himself at the table, unfold his napkin,

wipe his lips with it; use a fork and spoon in feeding himself; pour his own drink into a glass; take a cup and saucer, carry them to the table, put in sugar, pour in the tea, and refresh himself by drinking it; and all this without any other instigation than signs or a word from his master; and he often did it of his own accord. He loved bon bons prodigiously, drank wine in small quantities, and milk, tea, and other sweet liquors."

In slavery, the Chimpanzee, according to the accounts of travelers, can perform as many services as a negro. At Loango there was a female that would bring water in a pitcher from the fountain and wood from the forest; she would sweep, make the beds, turn the spit, etc. She fell sick, and a surgeon bled her, which saved her life. Once afterward, being taken sick, she went to the same surgeon, and, stretch

ing out her arm, made a sign to have him bleed her.

A very reliable French traveler, M. de Grandpie, an officer of the French Marine, having lived in Angalo two years, relates the following:

"The intelligence of this animal is quite extraordinary. It usually goes about armed with the branch of a tree for a club. The negroes are afraid of it, and not without reason, for it treats them very rudely when it meets them. They are so firmly persuaded that the animal can speak, that they invariably speak to it on meeting it.

"In spite of all my efforts to procure an individual of this species I did not succeed, but I saw one on board the vessel on my return. It

was a female, four feet three inches in height, its arms extending below the knee. It would take too long to recount all the proofs of intelligence given by this animal. I will only mention the most striking. She had learned to heat the oven, and watched carefully lest any coal falling from it should set fire to the vessel. She judged correctly when the oven was hot enough, and never failed to apprise the cook at the right time; and he, in turn, had so much confidence in the judgment of the creature that he brought his pies and put them in at once. When they were preparing to set sail she mounted the yards with the sailors, without being told to do so, and undertook one of the most difficult and perilous parts, and performed her duty as well as the best of them. Finding her hand caught between the foot rope and the yard, she

detached it without any outcry or grimace, and when the work was finished and the sailors retiring, she displayed her superior agility by passin the twinkling of an eye. ing the whole of them at once and descending

"This animal died on the passage, a victim of the barbarous treatment of the mate. The interesting creature yielded to the violence with a touching gentleness and resignation, stretching out her hands, with a supplicating air, to obtain a cessation of the blows that fell upon her. From that time she refused food, and died of grief on the fifth day, regretted by the sailors as a comrade would have been."

In a savage state the male and female always go together, whence they are supposed to be monogamous. When on the ground they hold themselves erect, and carry sticks as weapons of offense and defense. They also use stones, which they throw with great precision, to defend themselves against the negroes, or even to attack them if they venture to penetrate their solitary retreats.

These animals live in troops in the depths of the. forests. They seem to understand how to construct tents to keep off the sun and rain, and form little villages, where they afford mutual assistance in case of attacks from men, elephants, and ferocious animals. On these occasions, if one of their comrades is wounded by an

arrow or gun, they extract the arrow head or ball from the wound with much skill, they dress the wound with bruised herbs, and bind it up with strips of bark.

But the most singular thing about these animals, and that which denotes the greatest intelligence, is, that they bury their dead. They stretch out the body in a crevice, and carefully cover it with leaves and branches of trees.

They inhabit their cabins during stormy nights and when they are sick. The female shows much care and tenderness for her little one, carrying it a long time after it is weaned. If it is for a short distance, she carries it in her arms; otherwise she places it on her back, where it holds on with all fours, exactly as the little negroes do. The male drives it away when it knows enough to provide its own food and is strong enough to defend itself.

The male seems to love the female tenderly. If surprised by an enemy he arms himself with a stick or with stones, and maintains his ground until the female is out of danger, and then he turns to flee on his own account.

The scientific history of the Pongo is quite singular. Buffon, Cuvier, and other savans have differed greatly as to the place that it should hold, and it is even now strongly suspected to be only an old Orang Outang. The principal characteristics in these two animals are quite similar, though the Orang lacks the pouches, and his liver is like that of the human being, while the Pongo has pouches, and his liver is divided into several lobes. The former fact would place him among the last of the apes, the latter at the head of the monkeys.

If the Pongo is an old Orang Outang, his case affords a singular anomaly in natural history. In all animals endowed with both instinct and intelligence the latter is comparatively feeble during its early life, and develops progressively until it attains its greatest energy, at about the close of the first third of its term of life. This remains until decreptitude, and, in savage animals, until death. In this case it would be otherwise, if the Pongo is the old Orang Outang, for the latter is gentle, thoughtful, considerate, and quite incapa

THE DYING PONGO.

ble of the petulance and ferocity of the greater part of the monkeys; while the former is fierce, savage, gross, and somewhat nocturnal in its habits.

However this matter may stand, it is quite certain that we have two species of the Pongo variety, P. Wurmbii and P. Abelii. An individual of the latter species was killed at Sumatra. Like the preceding species, he walked upright with ease, ran swiftly, and climbed the trees with great agility. He still fought after having received five balls in his body and several lance strokes. At last, enfeebled by the loss of blood, he fell like Cæsar, and, yielding to his evil fortune, he placed his hands upon the deep wounds whence the blood was escaping in floods, and while expiring he cast upon his assailants a look so full of supplication and sorrow that they were moved even to tears, and repented having unnecessarily killed a creature so much like themselves.

It appeared that this animal did not ordinarily inhabit the coast of Sumatra where it was found, for the inhabitants had never seen one like it before, and at the same time remarked that they had heard strange cries in the night-time. Besides, this Pongo had his feet covered with mud up to the knees, just as a man might have who had been taking a long journey. His strength was prodigious, so that when mortally wounded and having lost much blood, he readily snapped in two the wood of the lances with which he was pierced. He measured after death six feet and five inches in height.