1883.] REV. G. A. SIIAW ON THE AYE-AYE. 45 



as though, in the natural state, these had taken a chief part in pro- 

 curing the food. 



In some accounts, given by different writers, the Haihay is said to 

 be easily tamed, and to be inoffensive. For instance, Sonnerat, w^ho 

 kept two in captivity, described it as "timid, inoffensive, aud slow in 

 its movements, in these respects resembling the Lories." In each 

 of these qualities, except the "timidity," I have found, both from 

 native accounts and from the specimen I have kept, that exactly the 

 reverse is the case. It is very savage, and, when attacking, strikes 

 with its hands with anything but a slow movement. As might be 

 imagined in a nocturnal animal, its movements in the daytime are 

 slow and uncertain ; and it may be said to be inoffensive then. 



When it bit at the wire netting in the front of its cage, I noticed 

 that each of the pair of incisors in either jaw could separate suffi- 

 ciently to admit the thick wire even down to the gum, the tips of 

 the teeth then standing a considerable distance apart, leading to the 

 supposition that, by some arrangement of the sockets of the teeth, 

 they could be moved so far without breaking off. The Haihay 

 brings forth one at a birth, in which the long claw is fully developed. 



It is no wonder that in connection with so curious an animal 

 a number of superstitious beliefs should be current among the 

 Betsimisaraka, in whose country the Haihay is principally found. 

 In reference to its name, one account says that the first discoverers 

 took it from one part of the island to another, the inhabitants of 

 which had never seen it, and in their surprise they exclaimed Hay ! 

 Hay ! Another tale is that many years ago some Be'tsimisaraka 

 had occasion to open an old tomb in which had been buried one of 

 their ancestors. No sooner was the tomb opened than an animal 

 into which the said ancestor had developed sprang out, and hence the 

 exclamation of surprise that has attached itself as a name to this 

 creature. Many of the Betsimisaraka still believe that the Haihay 

 is the embodiment of their forefathers, and hence will not touch it, 

 much less do it an injury. It is said that when one is discovered 

 dead in the forest, these people make a tomb for it and bury it with 

 all the formality of a funeral. They think that if they attempt to 

 catch it they will surely die in consequence ; and when I have said to 

 them, " But there is so-and-so who has brought several into Tama- 

 tave, and nothing has happened to him," the answer has been, 

 " Yes ! but he has its charm " (that is, the charm which counteracts 

 the evil consequences of the act). The superstition extends even to 

 the nest which the animal makes for itself. If a man receives from 

 another, or picks up accidentally the portion on which the head of 

 the Haihay has rested, it is sure to bring good fortune ; while the 

 receiving of that part on which its feet rested is followed by bad 

 luck or death. This has even passed into a proverb among the 

 Betsimisaraka. 



