138 Account of the Simla syndactyla^ 



quent pulling, to reduce it from a curled to a straight form ; 

 but all his efforts were in vain : although piggy did not 

 express any ill-feeling at his kind endeavours. On the din- 

 ner being announced by the steward, he invariably entered 

 the cuddy, took his station near the table, and " scraps were 

 thankfully received." If when once at dinner he was laughed 

 at, he vented his indignation at being made the subject of 

 ridicule, by uttering his peculiar hollow barking noise, at the 

 same time inflating the air sac, and regarding the persons 

 laughing with a most serious look until they had ceased, 

 when he would quietly resume his dinner. He disliked 

 confinement, or being left alone ; when shut up, he would 

 display great ebullitions of temper, but would be perfectly 

 quiet when released. At sunset when desirous of retiring to 

 rest, he would approach his friends, uttering his peculiar 

 chirping note, beseeching to be taken into their arms : his 

 request once acceded to, he was as difficult to remove as 

 Sinbad's Old Man of the Sea, any attempt to remove him 

 being followed by violent screams ; he clung still closer to 

 the person in whose arms he was lodged, and it was difficult 

 to remove him until he fell asleep. His tailless appearance, 

 when the back is turned towards the spectator, and his erect 

 posture, gives an appearance of a little black hairy man ; and 

 such an object might easily have been regarded by the super- 

 stitious as one of the imps of darkness. 



The limbs, from their muscular and strong prehensile power, 

 render the animal a fit inhabitant for the forest {^Jig. 44.) ; en- 

 abling him to spring from tree to tree with an agility that we 

 have frequently witnessed him display about the rigging of 

 the ship ; passing down the backstays, sometimes hanging by 

 his hands, at others by walking down them in the erect posture, 

 like a rope-dancer, balancing himself by his long arms ; or he 

 would spring from one rope at a great distance to another, 

 or would drop from one above to another below. Being 

 aware of his inability to readily escape pursuit when running 

 on a level surface, his first object, when about to make an 

 attack, was to secure a rope, and swing towards the object 

 he was desirous of attacking ; if defeated, he eluded pursuit 

 by climbing out of reach. He was very fond of sweatmeafs, 

 dates, &c. ; some Manilla sweet cakes that were on board he 

 was always eager to procure, and would not unfrequently 

 enter the cabin in which they were kept, and endeavour to 

 hft up the cork of the jar : he was not less fond of onions, 

 although their acridity would cause him to sneeze and loll out 

 his tongue; when he took one he put it in his mouth, and eat 

 it with great rapidity. He could not endure disappointment. 



