The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1893-07-05
GIANT APES.


The great island of Borneo is the
home of the crang, the most arboreal
of all monkeys and one of the most
noticeable features of the landscape is
the nests of the orangs, which are
scattered about thicklv among the tall
trees.
From their number one might get
greatly exaggerated impression of the
plentifulness of the species, says WdVer-
ty, unless it were understood how and
for what purpose these roosting- places
were constructed.
The apes are greatly annoyed by
flies, from which they are able to pro-
tect 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
we'll for awhile, but presently its
material begins to decompose 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 re-
quire dozens of them in the course of
the year. Inasmuch as he does not
take the trouble to remove the old
ones, they remain to adorn the tree
top in 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 adversares and bite them. 1t is
owing to this method of battle that it
is almost impossible to procure skin
which does not lack some of the fingers.
If defending itself against man, the
orang will always attempt to grab the
arms of his human opponent, so as to
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 it's arms over it's 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 de-
scribed 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 OF
fifty pounds. 1t 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 an index of its
superior intelligence. perhaps because
it is able to take hold of a greater
number of things and examine them.
The gibbon is a natural acrobat. Its
trapeze performances in trees are
simply marvellous. The animals go in
droves, whereas orangs live by fami-
| lies, and one of the most interesting
spectacles imaginable is to see a group
of gibbons crossing great gap in the
forest by throwing themselves in sue
cession through the air, each one tax
ing a swing or two to gather momen
tum before launching himself 81
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 a!
human beings of inferior types and i
is for this reason that for long time
it was found impossible to get hold o
an entire gorilla skin, because thu
savages considered it religiously neces
sary 10 cut off the hands and feet o
the animals when they killed them, jus
as they do with their enemies, possibly
for the purpose of rendering then
harmless in case they should by an.
chance come to life again.