244 MOUSE-LEMURS 



highest trees, and make a globular nest of twigs and leaves ; 

 they all appear to be nocturnal animals, as one might suppose 

 from the structure of their eyes. The smallest, or dwarf, 

 species, is said to be very shy and wild, very quarrelsome and 

 fights very fiercely. Some of these little animals, if not all of 

 them, have a time of summer sleep ; and the tail, which is 

 grossly fat at the beginning of that period, becomes excessively 

 thin at its close, its fat being slowly absorbed to maintain 

 vitality. The two (or three) species of mouse-lemur here noticed 

 inhabit the south-eastern forest region ; others appear to be 

 confined to the north-western woods. 



1 A writer in a defunct newspaper, The Madagascar Times, of 

 10th August 1889, describes in so true and graphic a fashion 

 the old style of Malagasy filanjana bearers, in the following 

 rhymes, that I think they are well worth preserving in these 

 pages : 



Bearing their burdens cheerily, laughing the livelong day, 

 Pacing o'er dale and mountain, wending their toilsome way ; 



Puffing and panting, up hills steeply slanting, 



Skilfully bearing the filanjana canting, 

 Grumbling not at the sun's scorching ray. 



Wading through swamp and brooklet, splashing their 

 course along, 



Bounding through plain and forest, thinking the track not 



long. 



Chattering and pattering, with tongue ever clattering, 

 Joyous if of it the Vazaha has a smattering ; 



Growling not at the rain's stinging thong. 

 Pacing with even footsteps, never losing time, 

 Changing places racing, like the measured beat of rhyme. 



Lifting and shifting, but never desisting, 



Always each other with pleasure assisting ; 

 Happy through all the toiling daytime. 



Tramping with wondrous vigour, moving with easy grace, 



Pausing not in their journey, dashing as in a race ; 

 Smiling and wiling, for a present beguiling, 

 Ever joke-cracking, if the Vazaha is not riling 



Such is the life of our native mpilanja, 



This is the marvellous way that they keep up the pace ! 



Note. " Vazaha " is the native word for Europeans ; 

 mpilanja means a filanjana bearer. 



