go THE SLOW LEMUK. 



desirous of moving fast, he scarcely went above 

 six or eight yards in a minute. His voice was a kind 

 of whistling, by no means unpleasant. When h\i 

 prey was attempted to be taken from him, his coun- 

 tenance changed to an appearance expressive of cha- 

 grin, and he inwarJl}'- uttered a tremulous, acute, 

 and painful note. He was melancholy, silent, and 

 patient. He generally slept daring the day \a ith his 

 head resting upon his hands, and his elbows between 

 his thighs. But in the midst of this sleep, although 

 his eyes were closed, he was exceedingly sensible to 

 all impressions from without, and never neglected 

 to seize whatever prey came inconsiderately within 

 his reach. Though the glare of sun-shine was very 

 unpleasant to him, it was never observed that the 

 pupils of his eyes suffered any contraction. 



During the first month he was kept with a cord 

 tied round his waist, which, without attempting to 

 tmtie, he sometimes lifted up with an air of grief. 

 M. D'Obsonville took charge of him himself, and 

 at the beginning he w'as bitten four or five times for 

 offering to disturb or take him up ; but gentle 

 chastisement soon corrected these little passions, and 

 he afterwards o-ave him the libertv of his bed- 

 chamber. Towards night the little animal would 

 rub his eyes, then looking attentively round, would 

 climb upon the furniture, or more fre(|uently upon 

 ropes placed for the purpose. 



Sometimies M. D'Obsonville would tie a bird in 

 the part of the chamber opposite to him, or hold it 

 in his hand in order to invite him to approach : he 

 would presently come near with a long cnreful step, 



