The National tribune., 1890-12-04

mountainous regions. It rarely comes to the
ground, lao remarks; and Book reports that in
Borneo gibbons live principally upon the leaf
OF Duan simantung, and that they are yegeta-
rians.
Such discrepancies must, Of course, be due to
the propensity, often noticed in these papers,
TO genoralize from insufficient data. So long az
travellers and field naturalist5 continue in the
conviction that the things they themselves saw
are the only ones that can be seen, coutradic-
tory statements are certain to occur.
HylObates may associate in pairs AZ pTevi-
Ously observed, but it seems certain that fro
qrently a number of couples arc found to-
gether. They assemble in troops, Diard states,
and, led bya
POWERFUL OLD MALE,
travel through the forests, rarely, IL ever, max
ing any protraeted stay in one spot; and, 50 far
rs the writer il aware. not building nests, even
for Temporary occupation.
If one should, in fancy, look upon such an
essemblage, gathered in a remote recess Of
l}ornese wood this, judging from all accounts,
i what "Ou!d be seen OF gibbOn habits and
every day life: Amid the Boughs Of lofty trees
fit lean, gray, spectral forms, with rounded
heads and more human profile than apes in
general possess. They gather the leaves, search
Tor birds nests or anything edible. come and 90
in swinging leaps Of 20 feet, are extremely
occupied with each Others concerns, nurse
their babies in the same way The pigmy moth
ers Of stanley's forest tribes tend and care for
their children.
Occasionally descending 10 the earth they
press, says Hartman, the Aat soles Of their
feet upon tho ground, turn out their knees and
toes hold their bodies fairly erect draw the
shoulders together and placing their half-bent
arms By their sides with the slender banda
| hanging down." walk OF 10 some ncighbCring
stream to slal,e their thirst The gait cannot
I ha safFf Il
little dark, beard-cueircled yisa2e, with its
bright brown eyes, IS continually turned from
/ side to side ia n
SEARCH OF DANGER.
Reaching water, the gibbon sucks il ont Of its
I followed hand with the lips, and speedily goes
/ aloft again. BHt /! the creature should be hurt
/ IN any way-TUn . thorn into its foot, or get
/ stuuE By bee for instauce-it at once sets up
/ a loud and iLce,sant outcFy, and all its COM
\ raui0ns, seeing that nothing is there 10 destroy
/ them, at once 20 20 its assistluce. Manifesto
\ tons Of aTish 5olicitude are lagished upon the
sufferer, while the elders cuff their juniors for
/ cbtrusiVe curiosity and impairment inteTfeF-
\ eucs.
/ in Gaze Of a real tragedy, however. the best
/ side Of gibbons character sometimes shows
| itself Then, as has been recorded in the case
OF balloons, sympathy may rise into real heroists
/ OF action. H0rnaday relates an incident OF this
among Dyaks on the Sibuyan River az the time,
and hunting or'tnp -oulans and long armed apes.
As he was preparing TO set out for the usual
mornings hunt,
TROOP OF GIBBONS
/ began wh;stliug-ther cry sounds like whis-
f. tliug, and is easily initated-in the jungle
close b." His attendant and himself we're
ut once upon the spot and saw one or two Of
them swinging OF in the distance"
! HOrnalay, however, caught sight Of a fine
large one, feeding quietly On leaves, within
I guushOt." His gun was . dOu5ic-Larreied
sngO.lb0re loaded with no. ! shot. q
fred be says, both barrels, 70 make sure of 4
/ kill, and II a inmate or 81, 81 4 was walking
! under the tree 70 see where my wah-wah wss,
down II came with heavy thud within two
I feet Of me. To my surprise il was Immediately
/ followed By another, Is young one this time,
I very much alive having Only wound in the
! meek. The little one sst up a terrible CRY and
! kept il up steadily, which created great com
1 motion among The other wah-wahs They were
4 all running away, but OF hearing the cries Of
/ the little one. two came back and came as near
IS they dared, but kept 50 we'll concealed that
! could nor get sIOt.
! 'Ihcn We carried the little one about and let
\ 10 cry while 10 ourselves kept very still. lie
\ was. perhaps mean thing 10 do, but in col
/ lecting, necessity knows no law. and gibbons
were too valuable and hard to get for ms 10 let
! one 90 through sympathy. AT last when got
! a fair shot at largo Wah-wah of the Teseuiug
/ party, disabled him so that nc could not get
away. lie climbed 10 the tOpmo5t branches OF
| the tree he was in, which was about so feet
| high, aud fred at him from below. Twas sur
/ pFised at the shooting 1t took to collect him.
| the specimen was a large male and met its
death solely on account of its paternal afec-
tion, sympathy and genuine courage in the face
| Of danger"