212 Descriptive Notice of 



possession ; but as this, or any other fruit of the kind, could 

 not be had during a voyage of four or five months, I became 

 anxious to know what other sort of fruit he would eat. Touch- 

 ing him rather incautiously soon after getting him, he very 

 dextrously inserted his sharp canine teeth in my fingers, and 

 with all the good will, too, of a creature accustomed to prey 

 upon other animals in his native woods. Improving by such 

 experience, and finding his teeth formed for tearing as well as 

 masticating food, I offered him part of a recently killed fowl, 

 of which he partook most eagerly : the necks of fresh-killed 

 fowls, therefore, formed the major part of his food during the rest 

 of the voyage. Small birds he is particularly fond of; these, 

 when put into his cage, he kills speedily ; and, plucking the fea- 

 thers off with all the skill of a poulterer, soon lodges the carcass 

 in his stomach. He eats the bones as well as theflesh; and though 

 birds, and mice perhaps, are his favourite food, he eats other 

 meat very readily, especially when quite fresh : if boiled, or 

 otherwise cooked, he will not taste it. He prefers veal to all 

 other kinds of butcher's meat ; eggs, also, he is fond of, and 

 sugar is especially grateful to his palate : he likewise eats gum- 

 arabic. As flesh is not always to be had quite fresh (the only 

 state in which it is acceptable to him), he has for some time 

 past been fed upon bread sopped in water, and sprinkled with 

 sugar; this he eats readily, and seems to relish it much. 

 M. Vosmaer mentions that his animal eat dry biscuit, but 

 refused it if moistened with water; neither would it ever 

 taste water. This is completely at variance with the habits of 

 my animal, for he not only eats moistened bread, but laps 

 water like a cat. When food is presented to him, if hungry, 

 he seizes it with both hands, and, letting go with his right, 

 holds it with his left all the time he is eating. Frequently, 

 when feeding, he grasps the bars in the upper part of his cage 

 with his hind paws, and hangs inverted, appearing exceedingly 

 intent upon the food he holds fast in the left hand. He is ex- 

 ceedingly fond of oranges ; but when they are at all hard, he 

 seems very much puzzled how to extract the juice. I have, 

 upon such an occasion, seen him lie all his length upon his 

 back, in the bottom of the cage, and, firmly grasping the piece 

 of orange with both hands, squeeze the juice into his mouth. ; 

 The faeces are very peculiar, though they may, in a great 

 measure, be influenced by his peculiar diet. They are very 

 hard oval pellets, very much tapered at the extremity last 

 discharged, and sometimes tapered off to a long thread, 2 

 or 3 in. in length. As he generally eats the bones of the 

 animals, or necks of tlie fowls, he is supplied with, this may, 

 perhaps, render his faeces harder. They are still, however. 



