264 SLOW-PACED LEMUR. 



mention that he was observed to descend into a boat, 

 purloin a Banana, quietly stow it among the booms, 

 and repeat the process till he had accumulated a pretty 

 large store, when he leisurely commenced consuming the 

 grateful fruit till not one remained. 



On my last visit to Sarawak, my friend Ruppell pre- 

 sented me with two live specimens of the slow-paced 

 Lemur (Stenops tardigradus}. They are stupid, quiet, 

 gentle, little quadrumanes, with beautiful, soft, woolly 

 fur, and enormous black eyes. Their common cry is a 

 peculiar, faint, wailing sound, but when angry, they 

 make a chattering noise. They are quite torpid during 

 the day, but tolerably active after nightfall. The female 

 gave birth to two young ones, very helpless little creatures, 

 which clung tenaciously to their mother's soft fur, in any 

 position, sometimes on the sides, and often under the 

 belly. Both the parents and young ones, however, soon 

 went the way of all pets, and their dried skins are the 

 only evidence of their former existence. 



I have often observed the Wou-wou (Hylobates leu- 

 cisus) in its sylvan haunts, and unlike the Hylobates 

 agilis, which M. Dauvancel says is shy in its habits, it will 

 hang suspended by its long arms, and swinging to and 

 fro in the air, allow you to approach within fifty yards, and 

 then suddenly drop upon a lower branch, and climb 

 again leisurely to the top of the tree. It is a quiet, soli- 

 tary creature, of a melancholy, peaceful nature, pursuing 

 a harmless life, feeding upon fruits in the vast untrodden 

 recesses of the forest, and its peculiar noise is in harmony 

 with the sombre stillness of these dim regions ; it com- 

 mences like the gurgling of water, when a bottle is being 



