516 THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



and never failed from that time to close its eyes while eating 

 of the fruit. In a drawing they recognised not only their own 

 likeness, but that of other animals. Thus the sight of a cat, 

 and what is still more remarkable, that of a wasp, frightened 

 them very much, while at the aspect of any other insect, such 

 as a cricket or a cockchafer, they at once rushed upon the 

 engraving, as if anxious to m^ke a meal of the object that 

 deluded them with the semblance of life. 



In the forests of tropical Africa and Asia we find a remark- 

 able group of animals, which, though quadrumanous like the 

 monkeys, essentially differs from them by possessing long 

 curved claws on the index, and also on the middle finger of the 

 hinder extremities ; by a sharp, projecting muzzle, and by a 

 different dentition. The Loris, remarkable for the slowness of 

 their gait and their large glaring eyes, are exclusively natives 

 of the East Indies ; the Gralagos, which unite the organisation of 

 the monkeys with the graceful sprightliness of the squirrels, 

 are confined solely to Africa, where they are chiefly found in 

 the gum-forests of Senegal ; the Tarsii, with hinder limbs of a 

 disproportionate length, are restricted to a part of the Indian 

 Archipelago ; but the large island of Madagascar, where, strange 

 to say, not a single monkey is found, is the chief seat of the 

 family, being the exclusive dwelling-place of the short-tailed 

 Indri (whom, from his black thick fur and anthropomorphous 

 shape, one would be inclined to reckon among the gibbons), 

 and of the long-tailed Lemurs or Makis. All these gentle and 

 harmless animals are arboreal in their habits, avoid the glaring 

 light of day under the dense covert of the forest, and awaken 

 to a more active existence as soon as night descends upon the 

 earth. Then the loris, who during the day have slept clinging 

 to a branch, prowl among the forest-boughs in quest of food. 

 Nothing can escape the scrutiny of their large glaring eyes ; and 

 when they have marked their victim, 

 they cautiously and noiselessly approach 

 till it is within their grasp. The Grala- 

 : — gos have at night all the activity of 

 birds, hopping from bough to bough on 

 their hind limbs only. They watch 

 the insects flitting among the leaves, listen to the fluttering of 



HANDED LEMUR. 



