THE KINKAJOU. 



19 



every emotion ; his eyes were enormously large 

 for his size, very full and prominent, black and 

 gentle in expression, and over the inner corner 

 of each was a little tuft of hair like a cat's 

 whiskers, about an inch and a half long. 



He had also whiskers on the sides of his nose 

 like a cat's and another tuft of similar length 

 under the chin. His nose was bare, and the 

 nostrils were the peculiar shape of the lemur's. 

 His tongue was of great length, and very thin, 

 for what purpose I could not discover. Some 

 writers say that it is to collect insects from 

 crevices in bark, while others affirm that it is to 

 gather honey stored away by bees. I could not 

 induce my pet to touch any insect I could find, 

 and he did not show fondness for sweets. 



Stealthy movement and almost entire silence 

 were characteristic of the kinkaiou. In all the 

 time he lived with us, we seldom heard a sound 

 from him. Once, when accidentally hurt, he 

 uttered a chattering sound like nothing so much 

 as that made by a stick drawn across a picket 

 fence, at the same time showing his teeth like a 

 snarling dog; also, he repelled strangers with a 

 rough breathing, a sort of " huff." When asleep, 

 we sometimes heard from under the blanket 

 where he lay, a low " yap " like a dreaming 

 puppy's, or a whine like a dog's. Save these 

 few times, he never uttered a sound. 



