138 MARVELS OF THE ANIMAL WORLD 



Few of my readers would appreciate a tiger 

 steak for his dinner, but, nevertheless, the natives 

 of the Malay Peninsula are said to be very fond 

 of the flesh of that animal, and believe that by 

 eating it they thereby receive the qualities of 

 courage and sagacity, as w^ as immunity against 

 disease. We are told also that the natives of 

 Guatemala are (or were) in the habit of eating live 

 lizards as a cure for cancer. Many kinds of monkeys 

 are greatly esteemed as an item of diet by the 

 natives of Africa, Ceylon, and South America 

 the species mostly in favour in the latter country 

 being the spider, saki, woolly, and howler monkeys 

 and although few Europeans are sufficiently 

 courageous to sup upon such a fare because of the 

 resemblance of the creatures to human beings, yet 

 those who have tasted their flesh speak f ovourably of 

 it, and Mr. Wallace writes : ' Having often heard 

 how good monkey was, I had it cut up and fried for 

 breakfast ; the meat somewhat resembled rabbit, 

 without any peculiar or unpleasant flavour. 1 



Amongst other curious animals that are eaten by 

 mankind, mention must be made of a species of 

 large bat or flying-fox which, although notorious 

 for its unpleasant odour, is stated to taste like hare 

 or partridge ; while certain of the Arab tribes do 

 not disdain to feed upon the flesh of the hyaena. 

 The North American Indians eat the flesh of the 

 coyote or prairie-wolf, and in the Southern States 

 the list of animals used as food includes the sloth, 

 the puma, the agouti, the paca or spotted-cavy, 

 the viscacha, the capybara or carpincho (the 



