174 THE ODYSSEY OF AN ANIMAL COLLECTOR 
trap consisting of a string noose attached to a bent sapling which, 
when the trigger is touched, flies up, causing the noose to be 
pulled tightly round the lemur’s neck and dangling him in the 
air. This would hang an ordinary mammal, but the lemur, being 
four-handed, clings to the pole and waits till the trapper releases 
him. His usual end is the pot. 
If by accident an indris or aye-aye is caught, it is smeared with 
some special concoction which is supposed to counteract evil influ- 
ences and the animal is then given its freedom. Can one wonder 
that one rarely sees such creatures outside their native haunts? I 
believe to this day no indris has ever been brought alive to 
England. 
My trip to the forest was my first introduction to traveling by 
palanquin, known in Malagasy as ftlanjana, which is the usual 
method of transport for all Europeans in districts where there is 
no motor transport. The filanjana is a chair, with an arm- and 
foot-rest, supported by two parallel poles, and is carried by four 
natives—two in front and two behind—each with one end of a 
pole on his shoulder. Four more are in attendance and every few 
hundred yards the teams change over while still on the march. 
Two or more porters carry one’s camping outfit, food, etc., in the 
Chinese fashion by fixing more or less equal loads on the two 
ends of a bamboo pole, which is carried on the shoulder. The 
method of procedure to obtain Jourjanes, as the porters are called, 
is to approach the local Chef de Canton, informing him of one’s 
requirements and the date. He will then instruct one of his hench- 
men to go to some small village or villages and collect the re- 
quired number of men. These have no alternative but to turn up 
when required unless too ill to move. The traveler must pay them 
the rate fixed by the government plus a fixed rice ration. It is an 
interesting reflection on civilization that the individuals that com- 
prise a town important enough to support a Chef de Canton are 
apparently considered beyond the stage of engaging in the menial 
tasks of a bourjane, and of course once a native speaks French he 
is exempt, by some unwritten law, from ever again performing 
any sort of manual labor. The villager, by contrast, is regarded as 
belonging to a lower order. 
For those interested in diet and the importance of having this 
