THE STORY OF THE LEMUR. 259 



The best known African lemurs are called galagos. With the exception 

 of a kind from the West Coast, the great, or thick-tailed galago, of Mozam- 

 bique and the Lower Zambesi Valley, is the largest of all the species. This 

 animal is about the size of a cat of average dimensions; and, indeed, the 

 peculiar manner in which it carries its thick bushy tail high above its back 

 is highly suggestive of a pampered Persian cat. This bushy tail is about one- 

 fourth longer than the head and body. The ears are unusually long-. 



It is confined to the maritime region, so far as I know never penetrating 

 beyond the band of wood generally known as the mangrove forest. By the 

 Portuguese it is named "rat of the cocoanut palm," that being its favorite 

 haunt by day, nestling among the fronds; but if it be disturbed, performing 

 feats of agility, and darting from one palm to another. It will spring with 

 great rapidity, adhering to any object as if it were a lump of wet clay. It 

 has one failing, otherwise its capture would be no easy task. Should a 

 pot of palm-wine be left on the tree, the creature drinks to excess, comes 

 down, and rushes about intoxicated. In captivity they are mild; during the 

 day remaining either rolled up in a ball, or perched half asleep, with ears 

 stowed away like a beetle's wing under its hard and ornamented case. I 

 had half a dozen squirrels with one in the same cage; these were good 

 friends, the latter creeping under the galago's soft fur and falling asleep. On 

 introducing a few specimens of (elephant) shrew, the galago seized one and 

 bit off its tail, which however, it did not eat. The food it took was biscuit, 

 rice, orange, banana, guava, and a little cooked meat. Stupid during the 

 day, it became active at night, or just after darkness set in. The rapidity 

 and length of its leaps, which were absolutely noiseless, must give great facili- 

 ties to its capturing live prey. I never knew it give a loud call, but it would 

 often make a low, chattering noise. It had been observed at the Luabo 

 mouth of the Zambesi, at Ouillimane, and at Mozambique. When I had my 

 live specimen at Zanzibar, the natives did not seem to recognize it; never- 

 theless, it may be abundant on the mainland. 



In the warmer parts of Asia is found the slow lemur or loris. The name 

 loris, by which all the slow lemurs are commonly known, is derived from 

 the Dutch word Loeris, meaning a clown, and appears to have been applied 

 to these animals by the Dutch colonists of the East Indian Islands. To the 

 natives of India the slow loris is known either by the name Sharmindi billi, 

 "bashful cat," or Lajjar banar, "bashful monkey." It is an animal about the 

 size of a cat; different individuals or races varying considerably in size, so 

 that while some specimens do not measure more than 13 inches in total 



