The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1891-09-22
GIANT APES OF soRNEo.
Interesting Facts About Able. Bodied
AnthroPoids that Live in Trees.
washington Evening Star. !

my acquaintance with apes has been
chiefly made In Borneo," said Prof. Henry
A. Ward, the famous natural science collec
tor OF Rochester, to Star reporter the other
day. THAT great island is the home of the
orang, which Is the most arboreal of all mon
keys The animals live In trees, altogether.
rarely. If ever, visiting the ground. 1t takes
two good marksmen to shoot one, because
they dodge around the trunks. They do all
their fighting aloft, aud 1t is great fun to see
them drop the armfuls of fruit they have
gathered in contests for its possession. They
are plentiful In the low lands near the coast
1t is rarely that anybody ventures into the
interior, because there the head-hunting ma
tiyes prowl. Among them each man is re-
CURED to have secured head before he is
permitted to marry, and on this account the
young gentlemen savages are continually
looking about for somebody 10 kill. This
makes travelling disagreeable.
One OF the most noticeable features of the
landscape of Borne0 Is the nests of oraDgs
which are scattered about thickly among the
greatly exaggerated impression Of the plen-
tifulness Of the the species. unless 1t 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
keep the vicious insects from biting them in
In the rear, and so they gather quantity Of
leaves and banches and make them into
couches to repOse against among the bOughs.
A protection of this sort serves very well for
while but presently its material begins to
decompose and the decaying leaves attract
the flies, which the OraDg Is so anxious to
get rid Of Then he is obliged TO make an
hnE MOI of cfnff uNadc en- hn
quire doZ ms of them In the course Of year.
lnasmuch as he does not take the trouble to
remove the old ones, they remain TO adorn
the tree top in which he swings about
OIangs havea very curious method of tight
ing. 1t 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 ami
mails at the National Museum, mounted by
Mr.. Hornaday, admirably illustrates a typi-
this method of battle that it is almost i'm
possible to procure skin which does not
lack some OF the fingers. Ii defending itself
against man the beast will always attempt
to grab the arms Of his human opponent, so
as to chew off his fingers: For this purpose
its jaw Is .excellently adapted. being en0r-
mously powerful and equipped with huge
incisors.
The favolite food of the oraDg is the durion
fruit, which Is, perhaps, the most delicious
in the world uniting. as It does. the favors of
the peach, the pear, and the strawberry.
Like most things nearly. perfect. however,
this fruit has drawback-namely, that 1t
leaves taste In the mouth the next day after
1t is eaten which Is more abominable than
can either be described or conceived. To
protect itself FROM the rain the oraDg crooks
its arms over its head. The hair on the
OraDg's upper arm points downward, while
on the lower arm IL points upward, the ap-
parent purpose being to shed the rain like a
thatch when the attitude l 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
frail in its bodily makeup. The head is set
squarely upon the shoulders. and 1t looks up
ward. When walking on the ground 1t bal
ances itself along like walker on the tight
rope. Its remarkable power Of grasp and
dexterity In using its hands is equally with
the shape of its Uranium an index of its supe-
rior intelligence, perhaps because 1t Is able
to take hold of great number Of things and
examine them. The gibbon is a natural
acrobat. Its trapeze performances in trees
are simply marvellous.
1.-THE animals 60 In droves, whereas orangs
live by families, and one Of the most interest
ing spectacles Imaginable is to see troop OF
them crossing great gap in the forest by
| throwing 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 as human be-
ings Of inferior types, and it Is for this reason
that for long time 1t was found impossible
| to get mold of an entire gorilla skin, because
| the savages considered it religiously neces-
sary to cut off the hands and feet Of the ami
mails when they killed them, just as they do
with their enemies, possibly for the purpose
of rendering them harmless In case they
should by any chance come to life again..