LXIX
Reading edition
A WISE OURANG-OUTANG
A well-known traveller tells a story about the ourang-outang in its wild state, which shows that it has both a good memory and some ingenuity.
When the fruits on the mountains are gone, these animals often go down to the seacoast, where they feed upon various kinds of shell-fish, but in particular on a large sort of oyster, which commonly lies open on the shore. “Fearful,” he says, “of putting in their paws, lest the oyster should close and crush them, they insert a stone as a wedge within the shell. This prevents it from closing, and they then drag out their prey, and devour it at leisure.”
