The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1891-11-12
nlalllIomof l1llot.
THURSDAY. NOVEMBER IL, 1s91
GIANT APES OF eoRNso.
Interesting Facts About Abie-bodied An
thropo.ds that Ly. in Trees


MY acquaintance with apes i.s
been chiefly made i'll Borncn. said
Prof Henry \. Ward. the famous nat
ural science collector OF Rochester, 10
Il Star reporter the other day. hat
great island is the home of the ofang,
which is the most arboreal of all
monkevs The animals live in trees
altogether, rarely. if ever. visiting the
ground. II takes Two good marksnen
10 shoot one. because they dodge
around the trunks. They do all their
fighting aloft, and it is great fun 10 see
them drop the armfuis of fruit they
have gathered in contests for its pos
session. They are plentiful i'll the low
lands near the coast. Ii Is rarely that
ANYBODY ventures into The interior. be-
cause there the head-bunting natives
prowl. Among them each man IS re-
quired to have secured Il head before
he is permitted to marry, and on this
account the young gentlemen savages
are continually looking about for some
body 10 kill. This makes travelling
disagreeab' e.
.'One of the most noticeable features
of the landscape of Borneo is the nests
of orangs which are scattered about
thickly among the tall trees. From
their number one might get a greatly
exaggerated impression Of the plenti
fulneSs of the species. unless it were
understood how and for what purpose
these roosting places are constructed.
The beasts are greatly annoyed by flies.
from which they are able to protect the
front part of their bodies with their
hands, but they cannot keep the
vicious insects from biting them in the
rear and so they gather quantity of
leaves and branches and make them
into couches TO repose against among
the boughs. A protection of this sort
serves very well for Il while, but pres
emily this material begins to decom-
pose and the decaying leaves attract
The flies, which the orang is so
anxious to get rid of. Then he is
obliged to make another nest of fresh
stuff, and so he may require dozens of
them in The course of Il year. lnas-
much as he does not take the trouble
to remove the old ones. they remain to
adorn the tree top i'll which he swings
about.
''Orangs have very curious method
of fighting. In their conflicts among
themselves. which are frequent. their
effort is always to seize the fingers of
their adversaries and bite them. A
very beautiful group of these animals
at the National Museum. mounted by
Mr.. Iornaday, admirably illustrates Il
typical encounter of the sort. 1t is
owing to this method of battle that it
is almost impossible to procure skin
which does not lack some of the lin
gers If defending itself against a
man the beast will always attempt to
grab the arm of his human opponent,
so rs to chew off his fingers. For this
purpose its jaw is eXcelIently adapted,
being enormously powerful and equip
ped with huge incisors.
The favorite food of the orang is
the 'durion' fruit which is. perhaps.
the most delicious in the world
peach. the pear, and the strawberry.
Like most things nearly perfect. how
ever this fruit has Il drawback-name-
", that it leaves Il taste in the mouth
the next day after it is eaten which is
more abominable than can either bo
described or conceived. TO protect il
self from the rain the orang crooks lis
arms over its head. The hair on the
orangs upper arm points downward
while on the lower arm it points up
ward, the apparent purpose being TO
shed the rain like Il thatch when the
altitude | have described is assumed.
The other great ape which makes
its home in Borneo is the gibbon, which
is small animal compared with the
orang, weighing only about forty or
fifty pounds. 1t is very frail in its
bodily makeup. The head is set
looks upward. When walking on the
ground it balances itself along like a
walker on the tiglf rope. lis rrmal K
able power of grasp and dcxlcrilv in
using its hands is equally with tn Q
shape of its Uranium an index of its
superior intelligence perhaps because
it is able to take hold of greater num-
Der of things and examine them. The
gibbon is Il natural acrobat. Its
trapeze performances in trees are SIM
ply marvellous.
The animals go in droves. whereas
orangs live by families, and one of
the most interesting spectacles mag
Unable Is to see a troop OF them cross
ing great gap in the forest by throw
ing themselves in succession through
the air. each one taking swing or
two TO gather momentum before
launching himself. SO great is their
agility that in executing feats of this
sort they seem like birds.
Natives in the countries inhabited
by great apes regard them always rs
human beings of inferior types. and it
Is for this reason that for long time
it was found impossible to get hold of
an entire gorilla sLin. because the
savages considered il reiigiously neces-
sary 10 cut off the hands and feet of the
animals when they killed them, just
rs they do with their enemies, posi-
bly, for the purpose of rendering them
harmless in case they should 10y any
chance come 10 life again. - ITdShing-
ton star.