1 90 Journal of Travel and Natural History 



Creoles of Bourbon Island eagerly hunt after them for the sake of 

 their flesh, which they esteem highly. During that season, and 

 more particularly on feast-days, the market of St Denis is well 

 furnished with these animals, either fresh or smoked. The Creoles 

 who inhabit the mountains usually come down to the town on 

 Sundays, to supply the market with these animals. They sell them 

 according to their size and weight, often even at the price of two 

 francs and a-half each. According to some amateurs, the flesh 

 of this animal is preferable to that of sucking pig ; although others 

 think it has a slight flavour of musk. The hunting of these Mada- 

 gascar hedgehogs is performed by dogs trained for the purpose, 

 but, more generally, they employ ugly little curs which seek out 

 their retreat with ardour. As soon as they have found the retreat 

 of one of these animals, they dig a hole and drag it out dead 

 asleep. The hunter then puts it in his bag, and kills it afterwards. 



The Tangue {as this animal is called in its native country) is very 

 prolific, often producing twelve to sixteen little ones at a birth. 

 This fecundity saves it from disappearing from the face of the earth, 

 as is happening to so many animals which undergo continual 

 persecution. Their food consists of earth-worms which they get 

 out of the ground by means of their pointed muzzle and their feet, 

 in the same way that pigs do. They also devour certain roots, 

 fruits, and insects. In captivity they eat raw meat as well as the 

 fruit of the banana, of which they are very fond. Their manner 

 of life is more nocturnal than diurnal. They sleep all day, almost 

 Avithout interruption, but they are very active during the night. Mr 

 Pollen has often kept them in captivity, and in the night they often 

 broke with their strong teeth the iron trellis of their cage and escaped. 

 They are subject to considerable variation. In some individuals 

 the head and space between the shoulders and the fore-part of the 

 sides are covered with very stiff" and hard spines, while the other 

 upper parts of the body are furnished with long hair. In young 

 individuals the hair of the whole of the upper part of the body is 

 mixed with spines of a whitish or brown and white colour. In 

 other individuals the hairs are replaced on all the upper parts of 

 the body, and even on the sides and posterior part.s, by very stiff 

 spines : hence Messrs Schlegel and Pollen regard the species C. 

 armatus, Geoff., the distinguishing character of which is being wholly 

 covered above with stiff spines, as merely an individual variety of 

 the common C. ecaudatus. 



Of Sciurus Madagascariensis, an animal whose existence has been 



