154 THE AYE-AYE. 



Europeans having had freer access to the island, 

 several specimens have been procured. At the 

 present time, a fine female is living in the collection 

 of the Zoological Society, and through the kind- 

 ness of the superintendent, Mr. Bartlett, I have 

 been enabled to obtain several interesting par- 

 ticulars concerning its habits in confinement. 

 When first brought to the Gardens, several 

 varieties of insects, such as mealworms, &c., for 

 which it was expected to show a partiality, were 

 offered it, and were rejected by the animal ; it fed 

 freely, however, on honey, rice, or milk and eggs 

 mixed together, and has thriven for some consider- 

 able time on this kind of diet. It sleeps during 

 the whole of the day, never leaving its sleeping-box 

 unless turned out. Towards dusk, the aye-aye 

 wakes from its torpor, and traverses with some 

 agility the branches placed in its cage, gnawing 

 both them and the woodwork from time to time 

 with its powerful teeth. It has never been known 

 to utter any sound, and on that account the deri- 

 vation of its native name, aye-aye, is doubtful. 

 Some suppose the word originated from the excla- 

 mations of surprise uttered by those natives to 

 whom Sonnerat showed his first specimen. When 

 feeding on rice, it takes it grain by grain with the 

 long attenuated middle finger, eating very slowly, 

 and pausing from time to time, the tongue and lips 



