On the ground the Orang always goes laboriously and shakily, on all
fours. At starting he will run faster than a man, though he may soon
be overtaken. The very long arms which, when he runs, are but little
bent, raise the body of the Orang remarkably, so that he assumes much
the posture of a very old man bent down by age, and making his way
along by the help of a stick. In walking, the body is usually directed
straight forward, unlike the other apes, which run more or less
obliquely; except the Gibbons, who in these, as in so many other
respects, depart remarkably from their fellows.

The Orang cannot put its feet flat on the ground, but is supported upon
their outer edges, the heel resting more on the ground, while the
curved toes partly rest upon the ground by the upper side of their
first joint, the two outermost toes of each foot completely resting on
this surface. The hands are held in the opposite manner, their inner
edges serving as the chief support. The fingers are then bent out in
such a manner that their foremost joints, especially those of the two
innermost fingers, rest upon the ground by their upper sides, while the
point of the free and straight thumb serves as an additional fulcrum.

The Orang never stands on its hind legs, and all the pictures,
representing it as so doing, are as false as the assertion that it
defends itself with sticks, and the like.

The long arms are of especial use, not only in climbing, but in the
gathering of food from boughs to which the animal could not trust his
weight. Figs, blossoms, and young leaves of various kinds, constitute
the chief nutriment of the Orang; but strips of bamboo two or three
feet long were found in the stomach of a male. They are not known to
eat living animals.