The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1894-02-17
BORNEO'S A APES.
oaANo OuTANcS RESEMBLE
HUMAN BEINGS.
They live IN the Tall Tree Toes.-Hew
They Fight, Eat and Build Their
Nests.

of Borneo cannot be otherwise than
struck with the wonderful likeness 10
human beings exhibited by the giant
apes OF that country. Whatever
these creatures do is done very
much as man would do it-that is TO
say, primeval man. In all the actions
oftheir daily ,lives-eating, drinking,
building nests, fighting like roughs,
and so ~forth-they resemble our
selves, though in grotesque fashion.
Their motions of affection, satisfac-
ton, pain and rage are shown in
thoroughly human-like ways"
Thus spoke a naturalist in CONVEX
sation with a writer for the Washing
ton Star, and added
OF course, you know that the
orang-outang is n of the three giant
apes. Though found to some extent
elsewhere, it has its chief home in
Borneo, where it dwells among the
painless forests which cover the
greater part Of the island. Its brain
is as well developed and as large as
that of the gorilla or the chimpanzee.
The most striking feature Of the
orang is It's great size and general re-
semblance to man. The chest, arms
and hands are especially human like
in their size and general outline.
Since the animal depends mainly
upon these members for its means of
locomotion they are necessarily of
massive proportions. The natural
position of your hand or mine when
az rest is with the fingers
bent at the tips, but that Of the
orang is with the fingers clenched
In handling q dead ape of this kind it
is often found impossible to straighten
even u single finger without cutting
the tendon in the palm of the hand.
Thus. when an orang il asleep the
most natural position he can assume
il firmly grasping a branch with each
hand.
The eyes Of the orang are very
small, with an iris of dark brown and
no white visible. Its teeth are al
ways very much discolored by yege-
table acids and juices, the base of
each tooth being black. The hair Is
usually brick red or dark red, though
sometimes so light a brown as to be
1lillOSl SAIaN COlOIs IL lliiir
seems to have no neck at all, the
head being set squarely down upon
the shoulders. It's hind legs are short
and weak. Like a cherub, it never
sits down ia the proper sense of the
word. The males are distinguished
by remarkable discs of callous tissue
on the cheeks. These are semi-car-
tilaginous and seem to be purely or
namental. Females do not possess
them.
The males are much given to fight
ing, as is proved by the numerous
scars found on the bodies Of killed
and captive specimens. Being purely
f~ruit-eating animals, their hugh can
inc teeth seem to have been pro-
vided chiefly as weapons Of battle,
and they use them to great advan-
tage. Like some roughS of the human
species they are given to Selling each
others fingers and biting them off.
Their Jaws do not open wide enough
TO seize an arm or shoulder to good
advantage.
In a fight the chief effort Of the
orang is always to seize its adversary
fingers and convey them to his mouth.
This method Of combat is adopted
largely because OF the extreme UNI
wieldiness OF the animal. While en-
gagged in conflict it is obliged to save
itself from falling out OF the tree by
holding on with one hand, and it is
hardly practicable to come to close
quarters in q rough-and-tumble bat
tie. Thus it is more than likely that
such encounters rarely terminate
fatally to the vanquished, the latter
getting away sooner or later with
more or less mutilation. In n fight
with a man this giant ape pursues
the sameytactics, and it is not safe
for a person to approach too near
an orang in a cage lest he lose a fin
ger or two by the venture.
The faces and features Of orangs
vary as much as those OF human be-
ings ordinarily-certainly as much
as those OF Chinese and Japan
csc. These apes inhabit a wide belt
of f~orest-cOvered swamps which lies
between the seacoast and the noun
tain ranges Of the interior of Borneo.
Out OF the swamps isolated hills rise
here and there, like islands out Of the
sea, clothed 70 their SUBMITS with
trees. Many of the trees bear fruit
Of different kinds, and at the season
OF ripening the apes repair to the
hills for their great yearly feast.
Among the fruits are the 'durion, the
'mangosteen' and the 'rambutan,' as
well as others equally unknown to
this part Of the world. The 'durion'
is perhaps the most delicious of all
fruits, uniting the fiavors Of the peach,
the pear and the strawberry. Like
Nost things nearly perfect, however,
it has S drawback, namely, that it
leaves a taste in the mouth the next
day after il is eaten which is
abominable than car either be de-
scribed OF conceived. The animals
devour the shoots of the pandanus