COLOURED FISH 303 



outskirts of the upper belt of forest on the east side of the island ; 

 and of somewhat larger size than the dimensions already given. 

 A specimen I once saw was of a beautiful black colour, but I 

 believe this was only a variety, and not a distinct species from 

 the brown animal. The fosa is much dreaded by the Malagasy, 

 and, from its mode of attack, appears to be like an immense 

 weasel, attacking large animals, such as the wild boar and even 

 oxen. Like the aye-aye among the quadrumana, and many 

 of the native birds, the fosa has no near relative, and therefore 

 a new family had to be formed for it, of which it is the only genus 

 and species. 



The other carnivora of Madagascar are all small animals, and 

 are rarely seen except when trapped. They all belong to the 

 viverridae or civets, two to the civets proper, five (or six) being 

 mungooses, and one, an ichneumon. The mungooses, known 

 to the Malagasy under the name of Vontsira, somewhat resemble 

 the weasels and ferrets of Europe, except that they are not 

 exclusively flesh feeders. They feed upon poultry, rats and 

 mice, and also fruits. The ichneumon, or Fandloka, is about 

 twenty inches long, with a bushy tail of about a third that 

 length, and is covered with thick warm brown fur. Its claws 

 are long and are used to dig up the eggs of the crocodile, on 

 which it is said to feed. 



Although we saw an occasional angler on the banks of the 

 river, we were not fortunate enough to see any of the fish. 

 According to M. Pollen, the rivers of the north-west contain a 

 number of fish, many of which are coloured in a most striking 

 manner ; the plates of his valuable work on the fauna of the 

 island show these as banded and barred with the most vivid 

 colours blue, scarlet, black and yellow in fact, very much 

 like those strikingly coloured and curiously marked fishes which 

 inhabit the sea round coral reefs and feed upon the brightly 

 tinted polyps. 



Wednesday afternoon's voyage was, as regards scenery, the 

 most beautiful of the whole journey. Instead of the country 

 becoming flatter as we approach the sea, it increases in boldness 

 and picturesqueness. Lines of hills covered with wood lie in all 

 directions, and amongst these the river winds, making sudden 

 turns almost at right angles, so that we proceeded towards 

 almost every point of the compass except due south. A few 



