SUPERSTITIONS 159 



wood used for flooring ; while ebony is procured from one or 

 two endemic species of Diospyros ; sandalwood is also reported 

 to be found in certain localities. 



It will easily be believed that the mysteriousness of the 

 forest has produced many superstitious notions among the 

 Malagasy, and they have curious stories of marvellous creatures 

 and monsters inhabiting these dense woods. One of these is 

 called Kindly, and is said to be human in origin, for although it 

 has no intestines or stomach, yet in all its other parts it is like 

 a living person. Its eyes are red, and its nails long ; and, with 

 others of its kind, it is said to be constantly thieving, so that 

 when anyone leaves out cooked rice or other food, it takes it. 

 It is difficult, however, to reconcile such accounts with that of 

 their bowelless condition ; it is thought to be a great misfortune 

 to meet a kinoly. Another strange creature is called Tokan- 

 tongotra, or " Single foot," because it is said to have only. .one 

 fore and one hind leg ! It is so exceedingly swift that no other 

 creature has a chance of escaping it ; it eats men and goes about 

 at night. Still another strange beast is called Siona, which has 

 also, like the kinoly, something human about it. It is said to 

 live away from men, and when anyone goes through the woods 

 and leaves his rice, or his axe, these are taken by the siona and 

 conveyed to its abode. When the woodmen go to sleep and 

 leave a fire still burning (for their custom is tc leave a big log on 

 the hearth, so that they may be kept warm), then this creature 

 comes and warms itself. Possibly the habits of some of the 

 larger lemurs have given rise to such stories, aided by a good 

 deal of imagination ; and the tokan-tongotra story probably 

 comes from the herons or flamingoes, which have the habit of 

 standing on one leg when asleep. 



In passing along the forest paths we frequently come across 

 examples of the curious ball insect (Spherotherium sp.), of which 

 there are several species, at least six, in Madagascar. These 

 insects, which are wingless and many-footed, and are called, 

 not very elegantly, by the Malagasy Tainkintana, or "Star- 

 droppings," have the power of instantaneously rolling them- 

 selves into an almost perfect sphere, which form they retain as 

 long as any danger threatens them, and no force short of pulling 

 them to pieces can make them unroll. The animal is formed of 

 nine or ten segments, each with a pair of legs and covered with 



