The teeth are twelve in each jaw; four incisors, two canine, and six molares. In the upper jaw, the canine were placed widely apart from the last incisor, giving an appearance as if a tooth was deficient: this circumstance did not occur in the lower jaw. The teeth were in a very bad condition. In colour, the animal was of a beautiful jet black, being covered with coarse hair over the whole body. The face has no hair, except on the sides, as whiskers, and the hair stands forward from the forehead over the eyes: there is very little beard. The skin of the face is black; the arms are very long, the radius and ulna being of greater length than the os humeri: the hair on the arms runs in one direction, viz. downwards; that on the fore-arm, upwards; the hands are long and narrow, fingers long and tapering; thumb short, not reaching farther than the first joint of the fore-finger; the palms of the hands and soles of the feet are bare and black; the legs are short, in proportion to the arms and body; the feet are long, prehensile, and, when the animal is in a sitting posture, are turned inwards, and the toes are usually bent. The first and second toes are united (except at the last joint) by a membrane. From this circumstance, the animal has derived its specific name. He invariably walks in the erect posture, when on a level surface; and then the arms either hang down, enabling him sometimes to assist himself with his knuckles; or, what is more usual, he keeps his arms uplifted, in nearly an erect position, with the hands pendent, ready to seize a rope, and climb up on the approach of danger, or on the obtrusion of strangers. He walks rather quick in the erect posture, but with a waddling gait, and is soon run down if, whilst pursued, he has no opportunity of escaping by climbing.
On the foot are five toes, the great toe being placed like the thumb of the hand: the form of the foot is somewhat similar to that of the hand, having an equal prehensile power; the great toe has a capability of much extension outwards, which enlarges the surface of the foot when the animal walks. The toes are short; the great toe is the longest. The eyes are close together, with the irides of a hazel colour; the upper eyelids have lashes, the lower have none. The nose is confluent with the face, except at the nostrils, which are a little elevated. The mouth large, ears small, resembling the human, except in being deficient in the pendent lobe. He has nails on the fingers and toes, and has hard tubercles on the tuberosities of the ischium, but is destitute of a tail or even the rudiment of one.
His food is various: he preferred vegetable diet, as rice, plantains, &c., and was ravenously fond of carrots, of which we had some quantity preserved on board. Although, when at dinner, he would behave well, not intruding his paw into our plates, having “acquired politeness,” as Jack would say, by being on board, yet, when the carrots appeared, all his decorum was lost, in his eager desire for them; and it required some exertion to keep him from attacking them “with tooth and paw,” unmindful whether we wished it or not, and against all the laws and regulations of the table. A piece of carrot would draw him from one end of the table to the other, over which he would walk, without disturbing a single article, although the ship was rolling at the time; so admirably can these animals balance themselves. This is well seen when they play about the rigging of a ship at sea: often, when springing from rope to rope, have I expected to see him buffeting the waves, and as often did I find that all my fears were groundless.
He would drink tea, coffee, or chocolate, but neither wine nor spirits. Of animal food, he prefers fowl; but a lizard having been caught on board, it was placed before him, when he seized the reptile instantly in his paw, and greedily devoured it. He was also very fond of sweetmeats, such as jams, jellies, dates, &c.; and no child with the “sweetest tooth” ever evinced more delight after “bons bons” than did this little creature. Some manilla sweet cakes that were on board he was always eager to procure, and would not unfrequently enter the cabin in which they were kept, and endeavour to lift up the cover of the jar: he was not less fond of onions, although their acridity caused him to sneeze and loll out his tongue: when he took one, he used to put it into his mouth, and immediately eat it with great rapidity.
The first instance I observed of his attachment to liberty, was soon after he had been presented to me by Mr. Boustead. On entering the yard in which he was tied up, one morning, I was not well pleased at observing him busily engaged in removing his belt, to which the cord or chain was fixed, (which, as I afterwards understood, had been loosened on purpose,) at the same time whining, and uttering a peculiar squeaking noise. As soon as he had succeeded in procuring his liberty, he walked, in his usual erect posture, towards some Malays, who were standing near the place; and, after hugging the legs of several of the party, without, however, permitting them to take him in their arms, he went to a Malay lad, who seemed to be the object of his search; for, on meeting with him, he immediately climbed into his arms; and hugged him closely, having an expression, in both the look and manner, of gratification at being once again in the arms of him, who I now understood was his former master. When this lad sold the animal to Mr. Boustead, he was tied up in the courtyard of that gentleman’s house, and his screams to get loose used to be a great annoyance to residents in the vicinity. Several times he effected his escape, and would then make for the water-side, the Malay lad being usually on board the proa, in which he had arrived from the Sumatra. He was never re-taken until, having reached the water, he could proceed no farther. The day previous to sailing, I sent him on board. As the lad that originally brought him could not be found, a Malay servant to Mr. Boustead was deputed to take charge of him. The animal was a little troublesome at first, but afterwards became quiet in the boat. On arriving on board, he soon managed to make his escape, rewarding his conductor with a bite, as a parting remembrance, and ascended the rigging with such agility as to excite the astonishment and admiration of the crew. As the evening approached, the animal came down on the deck, and was readily secured. We found, however, in a day or two, that he was so docile when at liberty, and so very much irritated at being confined, that he was permitted to range about the deck or rigging. We sailed from Singapore for England with him, on the 18th of November 1830.
He usually, (on first coming on board,) after taking exercise about the rigging, retired to rest at sunset, on the maintop, coming on deck regularly at daylight. This continued until our arrival off the Cape, when experiencing a lower temperature, he expressed an eager desire to be taken to my arms, and to be permitted to pass the night in my cabin, for which he evinced such a decided partiality, that, on the return of warm weather, he would not retire to the maintop, but seemed to have a determination to stay where he thought himself the most comfortable, and which I, at last, after much crying and solicitation from him, permitted.
He was not able to take up small objects with facility, on account of the disproportion of the size of the thumb to the fingers. The metacarpal bone of the thumb has the mobility of a first joint. The form of both the feet and hands gives a great prehensile power, fitted for the woods or forests, the natural habitat of these animals, where it must be almost an impossibility to capture an adult of the species alive.
Under the throat is a large black pouch, a continuation of the common integument, very thinly covered with hair, and not very visible when undistended. It has a corrugated appearance, extending from the under part of the chin to the throat, is attached as low down as the upper part of the sternum, and it is also attached above to the symphysis of the lower jaw. The use of this pouch has been a subject of much speculation: having the animal for some time with me, sleeping in the same apartment, I might be able to form some opinion on the subject. Its use is certainly not well known, though it is not improbable that it may be an appendage to the organ of voice. For often when irritated, I have observed him inflate the pouch, uttering at the same time a hollow barking noise,[53] for the production of which the rushing of the air into the sac was evidently an adjunct. The inflation of the pouch was not, however, confined to anger; for when pleased he would purse the mouth, drive the air with an audible noise into the sac; when yawning, it was also inflated; and in all instances, (except when excited by anger,) he would gradually empty the sac, as if he derived a pleasure from it. When the sac has been distended, I have often pressed on it, and forced the air contained within it into the mouth, the animal not evincing at the time any sign of its being an annoyance to him. When uttering the barking noise, the pouch is not inflated to the same extent as when he yawns. It has been stated in an American publication, that the use of the air sac is for a swimming bladder. It may be said in refutation, (if the assertion is not too absurd to refute,) that Ungka never evinced any partiality for swimming, although provided with such an apparatus; but one day, thinking that a washing would be beneficial to the beast’s coat, I placed him in a large tub of water: he was much frightened at his situation, and soon began to display a marked hydrophobic symptom, but not the least attempt was made to inflate the pouch, although he was frequently submersed. This animal is destitute of cheek pouches as a reservoir for food.
When sleeping, he lies along, either on the side or back, resting the head on the hands, and is always desirous of retiring to rest at sunset; it was at this time he would approach me uncalled for, making a peculiar begging, chirping noise; an indication that he wished to be taken into the cabin to be put to bed. Before I admitted him into my cabin, after having firmly stood against his piteous beseeching tones and cries, he would go up the rigging and take up his reposing place for the night in the maintop. He would often (I suppose from his approximation to civilization) indulge in bed some time after sunrise, and frequently when I awoke I have seen him lying on his back, his long arms stretched out, and, with eyes open, appearing as if buried in deep reflection. At sunset, when he was desirous of retiring to rest, he would approach his friends, uttering his peculiar chirping note, a beseeching sound, begging to be taken into their arms; his request once acceded to, he was as adhesive as Sinbad’s old man of the sea; any attempt to remove him being followed by violent screams. He could not endure disappointment, and, like the human species, was always better pleased when he had his own way; when refused or disappointed at anything, he would display the freaks of temper of a spoiled child; lie on the deck, roll about, throw his arms and legs in various attitudes and directions, dash every thing aside that might be within his reach, walk hurriedly, repeat the same scene over and over again, and utter the guttural notes of ra, ra; the employment of coercive measures during the paroxysms reduced him in a short period to a system of obedience, and the violence of his temper by such means became in some degree checked. Often has he reminded me of that pest to society, a spoiled child, who may justly be defined as papa’s pride, mamma’s darling, the visitor’s terror, and an annoyance to all the living animals, men and maid-servants, dogs, cats, &c. in the house that it might be inhabiting.
When he came, at sunset, to be taken into my arms, and was refused, he would fall into a paroxysm of rage; but finding that unsuccessful, and unattended to, he would mount the rigging, and hanging over that part of the deck on which I was walking, would suddenly drop himself into my arms.[54]