48 
HISTORY OF MADAGASCAR. 
natives, who consider it an animal of ill omen. The native 
dogs are small, and the attempts to introduce the New¬ 
foundland and mastiff species have not succeeded. 
Among the wild animals may be mentioned the baboon, 
called by the natives tratratratra. Of this animal there 
are two varieties, as well as of the amboanala, wild dog of 
the forest. A species of monkey, found also in the woods, 
is occasionally killed and eaten by the natives: there are 
also two other kinds of monkey, both having long rough 
hair; one kind is as large as a spaniel dog, the other is 
exceedingly small. 
The following interesting particulars, related by the late 
James Hastie, esq., British resident at the capital, appear 
to refer to the larger of the two kinds last mentioned. In 
the journal of one of his expeditions to the north of the 
islands, he remarks: — “The solicitude of the monkey 
tribe for their young has often been noticed. Wishing to 
have a few, I shot several, and, among them, unintention¬ 
ally, some females carrying their young ones. When 
alarmed, they carefully conceal these under their arms, 
and often place themselves in the fork, or behind the 
branch, of a tree, so that it is not easy to see the young. 
I shot a female on a very high branch, and when she had 
tumbled within twenty feet of the ground, she let fall a 
young one, which happened to alight on a bush very near 
me. In this position it was seen by a male, possibly its 
father, who immediately descended the tree, and, grasp¬ 
ing the little one hastily, regained his elevated post, and 
actually cried as he looked down at the mother, with whom 
a second young one was discovered clinging closely under 
her arm: this latter was taken from her with some diffi¬ 
culty. 1 shot another mother, the young one of which fell 
to the ground, and immediately leaped upon one of my 
