MADAGASCAR (III) 261 
not the slightest sign of these rodents in the plains, but I had a 
feeling that the specimens captured in the hills were merely strag- 
glers so I continued the search farther to the north. Here the 
hard laterite soil studded with termite hills gave way to one of a 
more sandy nature and in this I at last found Macrotarsomys 
dwelling in the plains. Their holes dotted about here and there 
between tufts of grass were not uncommon, although not easy 
to find. 
As some of my previous specimens had been slightly damaged 
in traps by ants, I was keen on catching some alive and uninjured, 
but did not find it easy to lure them into a cage-trap; in the plains 
they live almost exclusively on the stems of grasses and their seeds 
and are not particularly attracted to baits such as the roots of 
cassava and sweet potato. 
When I was fortunate enough to capture a few alive, the Bara 
natives were very curious and gathered round to make close in- 
spection. I told them that they could make a lot of money without 
effort by simply catching a few of these “mice.” This caused con- 
siderable amusement as they were unable to see why this mouse 
should be valuable while the ordinary mouse, which was plentiful 
in their huts and easier to catch, should be scoffed at. To them 
all small rodents were the same. However, a couple of days later 
an old native woman, with the pert look of a conjurer about to 
produce a rabbit from a hat, came to me clutching a piece of rag 
from which she produced three Macrotarsomys! Unfortunately 
they were damaged and the hair had started slipping, but in order 
not to discourage the old woman and the many onlookers, I made 
her a present of a few francs and at the same time stressed the 
importance of bringing specimens which were freshly caught and 
uninjured. 
This set things going, and the next evening some natives ar- 
rived with a few live specimens in a gourd. With difficulty I 
emptied them out through the tiny hole in the top and found 
that there were six Macrotarsomys. 
Asked how they managed to get so many at once, they said 
that they had spent all day digging them out of their holes. They 
were so pleased with their reward that from then on Macrotar. 
somys were brought alive to me much faster than I could skin 
