River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1893-06-01
GIANT APES.
they Are Greatly Annoyed by Files and
Make Nests to Escape Torment.

they Are Greatly Annoyed by Files and
Make Nests to Escape Torment.
The great island of Borneo is the
home of the orang. the most arboreal
IF all monkeys, and one of the most
noticeable features of the landscape is
the nests of the orangs, which are scat
tered about thickly among the tall
trees-
From their number one might get a
greatly exaggerated impression of the
Dlentifulness of the species, unless it
were understood how and for what
purpose these roosting-places were con-
structed.
The apes are greatly annoyed by
dies. from which they are able TO pro-
tect the front part of their bodies with
their hands. but they can not keep the
Vicious insects from biting them in the
rear, and so they gather a quantity of
leaves and branches and make them
into touches to repose against among
the boughs.
protection of this sort serves very
well for awhile, but presently its mate
rial begins To decompose and the decay
ing 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 a year.
lnasmuch as he does not take the
trouble TO remove the old ones, they re
main to adorn the tree top in which he
swings about.
Orangs have a very curious method of
fighting. In their conflicts among
themselves. which are frequent, THEN
effort is always to seize the fingers OF
their adversaries and bite them. 1t is
owing to this method of battle that il
is almost impossible to procure skin
n llich does not lack some of the fingers.
If defending itself against a man, the
orang will always attempt to grab the
arms of his human opponent. so as 70
chew off his fingers. For this purpose
its jaws are excellently adapted, being
enormously powerful and equipped
with huge incisors.
To protect itself from the rain the
orang crooks its arms over its head. The
hair on the orang's upper arm points
downward, while on the lower arm it
points upward, the apparent purpose
being to shed the rain like a thatch
when the attitude thus described is as
sumed.
The other great ape which makes its
home in Borneo is the gibbon. which is
a small animal compared with the
orang, weighing only about forty or
fifty pounds. IL is very frail in its
bodily makeup. The head is set
squarely upon the shoulders and il
looks upward. When walking on the
ground it balances itself along like a
walker ON the tight-rope. Its remark
able power of grasp and dexterity in
using its hands is equally with the
shape of its Uranium and index of its
superior intelligence, perhaps because
il is able 10 take hold of a greater
number of things and examine them.
The gibbon is a 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 specta-
cles imaginable is to see group of glib
bons crossing a great gap in the forest
by throwing themselves in succession
through the air. each one taking a
swing vi tlNO W edNiict uioHlShiuih bt
fore launching himself. So great is their
agility that in executing feats of this
sort they seem like birds.
Natives in the cou. les inhabited by
great apes regard them ALWAYS IS hui
man beings of inferior types, and it is
for this reas n that for long time il
was found impossible to get hold of an
entire gorilla skin. because the savages
considered it religiOusly necessary &c
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 harm
less in ease they should by any chance
I q T.,