great leaves of Ferns, of Orchids, of 'Pandanus fascicularis', 'Nipa
fruticans', etc., are laid over them. Those which Muller saw, many of
them being very fresh, were situated at a height of ten to twenty-five
feet above the ground, and had a circumference, on the average, of two
or three feet. Some were packed many inches thick with 'Pandanus'
leaves; others were remarkable only for the cracked twigs, which,
united in a common centre, formed a regular platform. "The rude
'hut'," says Sir James Brooke, "which they are stated to build in the
trees, would be more properly called a seat or nest, for it has no roof
or cover of any sort. The facility with which they form this nest is
curious, and I had an opportunity of seeing a wounded female weave the
branches together and seat herself, within a minute."

According to the Dyaks the Orang rarely leaves his bed before the sun is
well above the horizon and has dissipated the mists. He gets up about
nine, and goes to bed again about five; but sometimes not till late in
the twilight. He lies sometimes on his back; or, by way of change,
turns on one side or the other, drawing his limbs up to his body, and
resting his head on his hand. When the night is cold, windy, or rainy,
he usually covers his body with a heap of 'Pandanus', 'Nipa', or Fern
leaves, like those of which his bed is made, and he is especially
careful to wrap up his head in them. It is this habit of covering
himself up which has probably led to the fable that the Orang builds
huts in the trees.

Although the Orang resides mostly amid the boughs of great trees, during
the daytime, he is very rarely seen squatting on a thick branch, as
other apes, and particularly the Gibbons, do. The Orang, on the
contrary, confines himself to the slender leafy branches, so that he is
seen right at the top of the trees, a mode of life which is closely