LEMURS. 21 



the Ruffed Lemur, the most beautiful of the ten 

 species found in Madagascar. I will try and 

 describe them, though it will not be easy to give 

 a very clear idea of creatures which vary so much 

 in aspect according to the position they adopt 



Sitting on the top of their glass house, side by 

 side, with their long furry tails coiled around 

 them, they looked like two huge Persian cats, but 

 standing or climbing they showed themselves to 

 be true monkeys, although far exceeding the 

 ordinary monkey in gracefulness. 



Round the head was a full ruff of long white 

 hairs, setting off the gentle, fox-like face, which 

 was mostly black, as were the small, well-shaped 

 hands and feet. Lemurs have four fingers and 

 a thumb on the hands, and the great toe and four 

 smaller ones, as well as the fingers, have perfect 

 nails, which makes the creatures look very human. 



The thick woolly fur was white, with large 

 patches of black, and the tail, three-quarters of a 

 yard in length, was precisely like a lady's black fur 

 boa, and was used much in the same way, either 

 laid gracefully across the back or over the feet, or 

 wherever else warmth might be required. 



