The Orang-Utan would rarely seem to exceed four feet in height, but
the body is very bulky, measuring two-thirds of the height in
circumference.* ([Footnote] *The largest Orang-Utan, cited by Temminck,
measured, when standing upright, 4 ft.; but he mentions having just
received news of the capture of an Orang 5 ft. 3 in. high. Schlegel
and Muller say that their largest old male measured, upright, 1.25
Netherlands "el"; and from the crown to the end of the toes, 1.5 el; the
circumference of the body being about 1 el. The largest old female
was 1.09 el high, when standing. The adult skeleton in the College of
Surgeons' Museum, if set upright, would stand 3 ft. 6-8 in. from crown
to sole. Dr. Humphry gives 3 ft. 8 in. as the mean height of two Orangs.
Of seventeen Orangs examined by Mr. Wallace, the largest was 4 ft. 2
in. high, from the heel to the crown of the head. Mr. Spencer St. John,
however, in his 'Life in the Forests of the Far East', tells us of an
Orang of "5 ft. 2 in., measuring fairly from the head to the heel," 15
in. across the face, and 12 in. round the wrist. It does not appear,
however, that Mr. St. John measured this Orang himself.)
The Orang-Utan is found only in Sumatra and Borneo, and is common in
neither of these islands--in both of which it occurs always in low, flat
plains, never in the mountains. It loves the densest and most sombre of
the forests, which extend from the sea-shore inland, and thus is found
only in the eastern half of Sumatra, where alone such forests occur,
though, occasionally, it strays over to the western side.
On the other hand, it is generally distributed through Borneo, except in
the mountains, or where the population is dense. In favourable places,
the hunter may, by good fortune, see three or four in a day.
(FIGURE 9.--An adult male Orang-utan, after Muller and Schlegel.)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account