134 PALMS. 



eagerly sought for by many animals. The small, black, long- 

 clawed cocoa-nut bear {Ursus malayanus), which inhabits 



Sumatra and Borneo, and surpasses all 

 other members of the Ursine family 

 by its surprising agility in climbing, 

 though far from despising other fruit, 

 yet shows by its name to which side 

 "^^^^^ its inclinations chiefly lean. The 



Malay Bear. East Indian Palm-martin (Para- 



doxui'us typus or Pougouni) and the sprightly Palm-squirrel 

 {Sciurus jpalmaTumi) likewise climb the cocoa-palms, and, per- 

 forating the soft and unripe nuts, eagerly sip 

 their juice. The ubiquitous Eat, the most 

 disgusting of the whole mammalian race, bites 

 holes into the cocoa-nuts close to their stalk, 

 taking good care not to gnaw the shelly where 

 Palm sqxoirrei. the juicc would ruu out and defraud it of its 

 meal. Its devastations in the island of Mauritius, where cocoa- 

 planting is likewise conducted on a great scale, are so great, 

 that a price is set upon its head, and the negro who succeeds 

 in bringing the planter a dozen rat-tails is rewarded with a 

 glass of rum ! 



Even the birds diminish the produce of the cocoa-nut 

 grove. • The Noddy (^Sterna stolida) builds his nest between 

 the foot-stalks, and picks so busily at the blossom, when stormy 

 weather prevents him making any long excursions, that on 

 many islands he is considered as a chief cause of the sterility of 

 numerous palms. 



But of all the animals that infest the cocoa-nut tree, and live 

 upon its fruits, there is none more remarkable than the famous 

 East Indian cocoa-nut crab (Birgus latro), a kind of interme- 

 diate link between the short and long-tailed crabs. *' It is 

 said to climb the palm trees for the sake of detaching the 

 heavy nuts; })ut Mr. Darwin, who attentively observed the 

 animal on the Keeling Islands, tells us that it merely lives 

 upon those that spontaneously fall from the tree. To extract 

 its nourishment from the hard case, it shows an ingenuity which 

 is one of the most wonderful instances of animal instinct. It must 

 first of all be remarked that its front pair of logs are terminated 

 by very strong and heavy pincers, the last pair by others no,rro\v 



