THE MONKEYFOLK OF SOUTH AFRICA i6i 



other parts of their bodies they put together, and say they 

 belong to a genus. Well, we Galagos happen to be a bit 

 different from all other kinds of lemurfolk, so those naturalist 

 fellows class us all together and say we belong to the 

 Galago genus. We Galagos are the only kind of lemurs 

 which inhabit Africa. You can always recognise us by 

 our large leaf-like ears, which are quite bare, and which 

 can be partially folded down. We have learned to fold 

 our ears down in this way to protect them from the dew- 

 laden foliage of the great African forests, and to prevent 

 the water trickling into our ears, which is both unpleasant 

 and annoying. Our ancestors long ages ago were big 

 folk. They were more than four times the size that we 

 are, but they hadn't as good brains. You see, in those 

 far-distant days, the animalfolk of the earth grew huge 

 bodies, but they had very small brains, and of course they, 

 in consequence, hadn't much sense ; so their enemies killed 

 them off, and now they are all extinct. You see, it doesn't 

 matter how big and strong your body may be ; if your 

 brains are small and of poor quality, you are not of much 

 account. 



I think I have now told you all that is interesting about 

 our folk. If you want to find out about the different kinds 

 of lemurs which live in Madagascar and elsewhere, you 

 have only to look up one of the illustrated natural history 

 books, such as the Royal Natural History^ by that clever 

 man, Richard Lydekker. 



