FOREST DWELLERS 147 



leaping across the country on its hind legs, after the fashion of a 

 kangaroo. 



Someone may perhaps ask : Where are the people of these 

 woods ? In the upper belt of forest there are few inhabitants 

 except woodcutters, and in small hamlets on the side of the 

 main tracks passing through it ; but farther south, where the 

 two lines unite, we shall find, as we travel past the Betsileo 

 province and east of it, a considerable number of people, who 

 are loosely called " Tanala," which simply means " forest- 

 dwellers," and of these there are many subdivisions. There 

 are vague and uncertain accounts given by the Malagasy of a 

 tribe of people whom they call Behosy, and who are said to live 

 in a wooded country in the west of the island. Their food is 

 honey, eels and lemurs, which latter are caught in traps and 

 fattened. They are very dark in colour and are much like the 

 Sakalava in appearance, and are said to jump from tree to tree 

 like monkeys, and cannot easily be followed, as the country is 

 rocky. They make network of cords, hence their name (hbsy, 

 string, twine). They are extremely timid, and, if captured, die 

 of fright. These Behosy seem to resemble in some of their 

 habits the " monkey-men " of Dourga Strait, New Guinea ; but 

 it is much to be wished that more definite information could 

 be obtained about them, for, if what we hear of them is correct, 

 they are probably of a different stock to the rest of the 

 inhabitants of Madagascar. 



An apparently well-authenticated account was given by a 

 Mauritius trader of a wild man of the woods having been 

 caught by some Malagasy in the year 1879. He was asleep on 

 the branch of a tree, and when taken resisted violently, biting 

 his captors severely ; after a few days' confinement, however, he 

 ceased to be aggressive. He was described as a powerfully 

 built man, his face and body being thickly covered with long 

 black hair. His mode of walking was very peculiar, as he 

 travelled very fast, occasionally going on all-fours, his eyes 

 being invariably fixed on the ground. When caught he was 

 perfectly nude, but wore clothes when provided with them. He 

 could never be induced to eat flesh, but lived entirely on manioc 

 and other roots ; nor would he sleep in a recumbent position. 

 After some months he learned a few words, and by means of 

 these and signs it was understood that he had a father and two 



