Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-01-09
Men Killing Their Relations.

[Irom Prof. Homadays Address TO the Saratoga
Science Conventional
In Borneo the orang-outang inEabits
that wide belt OF low, forest-covered
swamp which lies between the seacoast
and the mountain ranges of the interior,
extending entirely round the western
half of the island. Last year, while on
collection expedition for Prof. H. A.
Ward, | had ample opportunity to study
the habits Of the orang-outang IN its ma
tive forests. visited Borneo in August,
1878. for the sole purpose Of obtaining
specimens Of the Bonean simia and to
study the different species l visited the
territory of Sarawak, and for two and
half months devoted my entire time to
hunting the orang along the river Sadong
and its tributary, the Simujan. The
whole region is one vast swamp, covered
everywhere with a dense growth of lofty
virgin forests During the fruit season,
from the middle Of January TO May I, the
food of the orang is the durion, mongas-
teen and the rambuton. During the hot
months of May, June and July they re-
tire far into the depths of the forests and
are exceedingly difficult TO find. But
during the season of the heaviest rains,
from August to November, when the
forests are flooded, the orangs are found
in the vicinity of the rivers. | soon found
that the only way to reach them would be
TO paddle up and down the rivers and
watch for them in the tree tops Near
the source of the Simujan river, and far
beyond the last Dyack village, We found
great numbers of old orang nests and
some which were quite new. The nest
.t .l..a.s
broken of and piled loosely into the fork
of a tree. The orang usually selects
sapling and builds his nest III its top,
even though his weight causes 1t to sway
alarmingly He often builds his nest
within - feet of the ground, and seldom
higher than 40 feet Sometimes it is
fully ihree feet in diameter, but usually
not more than two, and quite fiat at the
top. There Is no weaving together of
branches. In short, the oranG builds IL
nest precisely as a man would build one
for himself were he obliged to pass the
night up in tree top, and had nothing to
cut branches with. | have seen one or
two such nests of men N the forest,
where the builder had only his bare
hands to work with. and they were Just
as rudely constructed. of Just such ma
terials. and IN about the same position as
the average orang nest. Upon this leaiy
platform the orang lies prone upon his
back. with his long arms and short thick
legs thrust outward and upward, firmly
grasping. while he sleeps, the nearest
large branches within his reach On sev-
eral occasions 7 surprised these animals
upon their nests, and once ! had an op-
portunitv TO watch an orang while 1t CON
struc!ed itsresting place. He never uses
a nest after the leaves become withered
and dry. no doubt because the bare
branches are n": comfortable Ia lie upon
! never saw or heard Of any house-huili-
ing by rang-outangs.
We found the animals most numerous
along the Sinuian river near its source
Our manner Of hunting them was Ia
make trips mp and down the river in onr
boat, padding slowly and silently along
keeping a careful lookout Sometimes
in rounding bend in the river We would
come full upon a huge, blackfaced aud
red-haired animal reposing quietly or
feeding. aimed 10 shoot them through
the chest, and thus either kill them at
once or disable them SO that they would
be unable to get away. On several occa-
sions succeeded in killing large speci-
men with a single bullet. 1t would at all
times have been an easy matter TO have
shot them through the head, but this
would have ruined the skulls. As soon
as an orang was fired at, if not killed at
once, he would begin climbing away
with all haste.
| think We may fairly consider the
orangs the most helpless Of all quad-
rumans Owing to the great weight Of
their bodies and the peculiar structure
of their hands. they cannot run nimbly
along even the largest branches, and
never dare to spring from one tree TO the
next The weight of the adult male
ranges from l2O to 100 pounds. Owing
to the disproportionate shortness Of his
legs, his progress depends mainly upon
his long sinewy arms, and very often he
goes swinging through tree top by then
aid alone. Upon the ground orangs are
the picture of the most abject helpless
ness, and in their native forests they arc
very seldom known to odescend to the earth.
They are utterly incapable of standing
fully erect without touching the ground
with their hands, and for them TO be rep
resented in drawings and museums as
standing erect is contrary tn uufIlrp