Several tribes of Borneo manifest a strange partiality for the flesh of the Orangs, and eat it as a great dainty, either roasting it over a fire, or cutting it into steaks and drying it in the sun. The Indians make use of his skin for helmets and caps of fantastic device, which they don upon festival days, or to give themselves, when necessary, a formidable air.
The habitat of the Gibbons (Hylobates) is more extensive in range than that of the Orangs. They are found not only in Sumatra, in Borneo, in the Celebes and Philippine Islands, but in considerable portions of the two peninsulas within and beyond the Ganges. In size they are inferior to the Anthropomorphes, their stature not exceeding three feet. Their head is small and rounded, their muzzle does but slightly project, and their face wears a pleasanter expression than that of the great apes of the same group. A sort of thick black or very dark fur, with occasionally patches of white, enwraps their entire body. They have arms and hands of extraordinary length, but a slightly developed belly. They live upon the forest-trees, which they traverse without ever descending to the ground, exhibiting a marvellous agility and suppleness. They are completely frugivorous; their manners are gentle; their intelligence they retain, and even develop, after they have attained maturity. Although they should be captured after they have passed their youth, they easily become domesticated, and display a loyal affection towards their masters. Unfortunately the climate of Europe, and perhaps, in particular, the atmosphere of menageries, proves fatal to them, and those individuals placed in the Zoological Gardens of London and Paris succumb, after a brief residence, to dysentery or pulmonary disease.
The genus Gibbon comprises several species: the Gibbon-Siamang (Hylobates syndactylus) is the greatest of which we have any knowledge. Black is he as ebony, both in face and hair. His thyroïdian pouch is very large, and of great expansive powers. By means of this ungainly organ he utters the most horrible, deafening, and prolonged cries, which, it is said, can be heard for several leagues around. He is common enough in Sumatra, inhabiting the dense wild woods which lie to the north of Bencoolen. He owes his characteristic epithet of syndactylus to the fact that the index and middle finger of his hind-feet (or shall I say, hands?) are united (συν) by a narrow membrane, which extends even to the base of the ungueal phalange.
The Gibbon-Lar (Hylobates or Pythecus Lar) is smaller than the preceding. His skin is of a blackish-brown, with the four extremities and the framing of the face white. He ranges over the peninsula of Malacca, and, according to some travellers, the kingdom of Siam.
The Wou-Wou, or Silvery Gibbon (Hylobates leuciscus), another Malayan species, commends himself to our notice by the silvery gray of his skin on the upper parts of the body and the outer sides of the anus and legs. His name of “Wou-Wou” is intended to describe his peculiar utterance—a kind of clucking totally unlike the howlings of the other gibbons.
Ashen-gray is the colour of the skin of the Mourning Gibbon (Hylobates funereus) on the external sides of his limbs, while the belly and contour of the face, and the inner parts, are of a blackish hue.
The Hylobates cinereus is of an uniform cindery-gray. He inhabits the Sunda Islands, and principally Java, and numerous individuals of his species have been imported into Europe. His disposition is gentle and affectionate; he quickly familiarizes himself with the persons who approach him.