| OCR Text |
Show 1883.] REV. G. A. SHAW ON THE AYE-AYE. 45 as though, in the natural state, these had taken a chief part in the food. In some accounts, given by different writers, the Haihay is said to be easily tamed, and to be inoffensive. For instance, Sonnerat, who 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 sufficiently 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 Betsimisaraka 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 tbe 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. |
