hanging to its mother when she first fell. Luckily it did not appear to
have been wounded, and after we had cleaned the mud out of its mouth it
began to cry out, and seemed quite strong and active. While carrying
it home it got its hands in my beard, and grasped so tightly that I had
great difficulty in getting free, for the fingers are habitually bent
inwards at the last joint so as to form complete hooks. At this time it
had not a single tooth, but a few days afterwards it cut its two lower
front teeth. Unfortunately, I had no milk to give it, as neither Malays,
Chinese nor Dyaks ever use the article, and I in vain inquired for
any female animal that could suckle my little infant. I was therefore
obliged to give it rice-water from a bottle with a quill in the cork,
which after a few trials it learned to suck very well. This was very
meagre diet, and the little creature did not thrive well on it,
although I added sugar and cocoa-nut milk occasionally, to make it
more nourishing. When I put my finger in its mouth it sucked with great
vigour, drawing in its cheeks with all its might in the vain effort to
extract some milk, and only after persevering a long time would it give
up in disgust, and set up a scream very like that of a baby in similar
circumstances.
When handled or nursed, it was very quiet and contented, but when laid
down by itself would invariably cry; and for the first few nights was
very restless and noisy. I fitted up a little box for a cradle, with a
soft mat for it to lie upon, which was changed and washed every day; and
I soon found it necessary to wash the little Mias as well. After I had
done so a few times, it came to like the operation, and as soon as it
was dirty would begin crying and not leave off until I took it out and
carried it to the spout, when it immediately became quiet, although
it would wince a little at the first rush of the cold water and make
ridiculously wry faces while the stream was running over its head. It
enjoyed the wiping and rubbing dry amazingly, and when I brushed its
hair seemed to be perfectly happy, lying quite still with its arms and
legs stretched out while I thoroughly brushed the long hair of its back
and arms. For the first few days it clung desperately with all four
hands to whatever it could lay hold of, and I had to be careful to
keep my beard out of its way, as its fingers clutched hold of hair more
tenaciously than anything else, and it was impossible to free myself
without assistance. When restless, it would struggle about with its
hands up in the air trying to find something to take hold of, and, when
it had got a bit of stick or rag in two or three of its hands, seemed
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