FLORA, FAUNA, AND LANGUAGE. 
319 
rivers, such as the elephant, the rhinoceros, and 
the hippopotamus, or river horse, are absent 
from the forests and streams; and there are no 
members of the numerous species or families of 
deer, antelope, or giraffe to scour its ample plains 
or shelter in its woody glades. Even the horse 
has been introduced from Mauritius. This pecu¬ 
liar limitation of the animal inhabitants in a 
tropical country is without a parallel in the 
world. The most developed order of mammalia 
in Madagascar is the four-handed: but this, 
again, is only represented by one class, the 
lemurs, which are the most characteristic ani¬ 
mals of the island. There are no monkeys or 
apes, and the gorilla is not found. The Mada¬ 
gascar lemur is distinct from all these, and is a 
remarkably pretty creature, bearing but small 
resemblance to the half-human and often odious 
appearance of some of these ape and baboon 
tribes. 
The face of the lemur is something like that 
of a dog, but the expression is very mild, and 
almost pathetic. It has very long, soft, silky 
fur, and a bushy tail, which it often carries 
curled round its neck. One variety has a 
peculiar whisker development of hair upon its 
face. They are very affectionate in disposition, 
and are easily tamed. The mammalia of Mada¬ 
gascar consists, as far as is known at present, of 
