142 THE NATUBAL HISTOEY OP 



he ate, but seemed best pleased with bananas. He 

 was fond of insects ; would search in the crevices of 

 my house for spiders, and if a fly chanced to come in 

 his reach, he would dexterously catch him in one hand, 

 generally using his right hand. Like many of the 

 different religious castes of this country, he seemed to 

 entertain an antipathy to an indiscriminate use of 

 animal food, and would not eat of either the flesh of 

 the cow or hog ; would sometimes taste a little piece 

 of beef, but never eat of it. I have seen him take 

 fried fish, which he seemed to relish better than almost 

 any other description of animal food, with the excep- 

 tion of chicken, and even this he would eat but very 

 sparingly of, preferring his common diet, bread and 

 milk, with sugar, fruit, &c. In temper he was re- 

 markably pacific, and seemed, as I thought, often glad 

 to have an opportunity of testifying his affection and 

 attachment for me. When I visited him in the 

 morning, he would commence a loud and shrill whoo 

 whoo whoo whoo, which he would keep up often 

 from five to ten minutes, with an occasional intermis- 

 sion for the purpose of taking a full respiration ; until 

 finally, apparently quite exhausted, he would lie 

 down and allow me to comb his head, and brush the 

 k>ng hair on his arms, and seem delighted with the 

 tickling sensation produced by the brush on his belly 

 and legs. He would turn from side to side, first hold 

 out one arm and then the other, and when I attempted 

 to go away, he would catch hold of my arm or coat- 



