The most interesting to us are, of course, the man-like apes. Diard
was told by the Malays, and he found it afterwards to be true, that
the young Siamangs, when in their helpless state, are carried about by
their parents, the males by the father, the females by the mother.[41]
Lieutenant C. de Crespigny, who was wandering in the northern part of
Borneo in 1870, gives the following description of the Orang-utan:
“They live in families—the male, female, and a young one. On one
occasion I found a family in which were two young ones, one of them
much larger than the other, and I took this as a proof that the family
tie had existed for at least two seasons. They build commodious
nests in the trees which form their feeding-ground, and, so far as I
could observe, the nests, which are well lined with dry leaves, are
only occupied by the female and young, the male passing the night in
the fork of the same or another tree in the vicinity. The nests are
very numerous all over the forests, for they are not occupied above
a few nights, the mias (or Orang-utan) leading a roving life.”[42]
According to Dr. Mohnike, however, the old males generally live with
the females during the rutting season only;[43] and Mr. Wallace never
saw two full-grown animals together. But as he sometimes found not only
females, but also males, accompanied by half-grown young ones,[44]
we may take for granted that the offspring of the Orang-utan are not
devoid of all paternal care.
More unanimous are the statements which we have regarding the Gorilla.
According to Dr. Savage, they live in bands, and all his informants
agree in the assertion that but one adult male is seen in every band.
“It is said that when the male is first seen he gives a terrific yell
that resounds far and wide through the forest.... The females and young
at the first cry quickly disappear; he then approaches the enemy in
great fury, pouring out his horrid cries in quick succession.”[45]
Again, Mr. Du Chaillu found “almost always one male with one female,
though sometimes the old male wanders companionless;”[46] and Mr.
Winwood Reade states likewise that the Gorilla goes “sometimes alone,
sometimes accompanied by his female and young one.”[47] The same
traveller was told that, when a family of Gorillas ascend a tree and
eat a certain fruit, the old father remains seated at the foot of the
tree. And when the female is pregnant, he builds a rude nest, usually
about fifteen or twenty feet from the ground; here she is delivered,
and the nest is then abandoned.[48]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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