ORDER PRIMATES: PRIMATES 



159 



gascar, and that if any native touches one, he is sure to die within 

 the year; hence the difficulty of obtaining a specimen. I overcame 

 this scruple by a reward of 10." (H. Sandwith, in Owen, 1863, 

 p. 38.) 



This animal inhabits by preference the bamboo forests of the 

 interior. According to the natives, it is very rare; it lives solitarily 



JE, . 



FIG. 18. Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) . From photo in Brehm. 



or in pairs; and it is essentially nocturnal. It feeds on the pith of 

 bamboos and sugarcane and also on beetles and their larvae. 

 (Pollen, 1868, p. 22.) 



"The Aye-aye lives in the dense parts of the great forest that 

 runs along the eastern border of the central plateau of the island, 

 but only in that part of it which separates the Sihanaka Province 

 from that of the Betsimisaraka, and which is about twenty-five 

 miles from the east coast, in latitude 17 22' S. or thereabouts. . . . 

 From what I have gathered from the natives, it seems to be pretty 

 common, its nocturnal habits and the superstitious awe with which 

 it is regarded . . . accounting for its apparent rarity .... 



"Occasionally it is brought to Tamatave for sale, where it realizes 

 a good sum. Now and then it is accidentally caught in the traps 

 which the natives set for Lemurs." (Baron, 1883, pp. 639-640.) 



