ANIMALS AND INSECTS OF ZANZIBAR 



about the floor. People very much object to the 

 noise the lemurs make at night, but I like it ; there 

 are few natural night noises I mind — it is only my 

 neighbour's howling baby or tipsy songsters who 

 worry me. 



One of the officers of the King's African Rifles 

 had a dear little tame mangoust tied up in his house. 

 Its great amusement was to have a round stone 

 which it took to be an egg, and which it held in its 

 little hands with its back to the wall ; then suddenly 

 the little thing gave a jump, and hit the stone on the 

 wall quickly, and immediately turned round and 

 hunted about for the broken egg he thought to find. 

 Not finding it, he gave the stone a sniff and hit 

 again, this time harder, and repeated the same pro- 

 cess for some time. He made quite a long hole in 

 the wall. Of course sometimes he was given an 

 egg to encourage him, which he much enjoyed, but 

 three halfpence for an egg the size of a pigeon's is 

 expensive diet for him. There are monkeys inland 

 and paroquets, and I have seen several snakes, in- 

 cluding a python. The natives complain of the 

 wild pig ; these were imported by the Portuguese. 

 In the beginning of August I saw some swallows, 

 but they only stop at the Island on their way to 

 other lands. It felt quite homelike to see them 

 flying low on a green as one was putting on the 

 links. 



There are plenty of little amedavats, but in the 



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