It Would Allow My Malay Boys To Play With It, And For Hours
Together Would Swing By Its Arms From Pole To Pole And On To The
Rafters Of The Verandah, With So Much Ease And Rapidity, That It
Was A Constant Source Of Amusement To Us.
When I returned to
Singapore it attracted great attention, as no one had seen a
Siamang alive before, although it is not uncommon in some parts
of the Malay peninsula.
As the Orangutan is known to inhabit Sumatra, and was in fact
first discovered there, I made many inquiries about it; but none
of the natives had ever heard of such an animal, nor could I find
any of the Dutch officials who knew anything about it. We may
conclude, therefore, that it does not inhabit the great forest
plains in the east of Sumatra where one would naturally expect to
find it, but is probably confined to a limited region in the
northwest part of the island entirely in the hands of native
rulers. The other great Mammalia of Sumatra, the elephant and the
rhinoceros, are more widely distributed; but the former is much
more scarce than it was a few years ago, and seems to retire
rapidly before the spread of cultivation. Lobo Kaman tusks
and bones are occasionally found about in the forest, but the living
animal is now never seen. The rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sumatranus)
still abounds, and I continually saw its tracks and its dung, and
once disturbed one feeding, which went crashing away through the
jungle, only permitting me a momentary glimpse of it through the
dense underwood.
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