Samar Animals

In Sámar, the flying monkey or lemur (the káguang of the Bisayans—galeopithecus) is not rare.

These animals are as big as a domestic cat. They belong to the quadrumana.

But, like the flying squirrels, they are provided with a volucral membrane. It starts at the neck and passes over the fore and hinder limbs then reaches to the tail.

This lets them glide from one tree to another at a very obtuse angle.*

Body and membrane are clothed with a very short fur, which nearly equals the chinchilla in firmness and softness, and is on that account in great request.

While I was there, 6 live káguangs arrived as a present for the pastor (3 light grey, one dark brown, and two greyish brown; all with irregularly distributed spots).

From these I secured a little female with her young.

It appeared to be a very harmless, awkward animal.

When liberated from its fetters, it remained lying on the ground with all its four limbs stretched out, and its belly in contact with the earth.

It then hopped in short awkward leaps, without thereby raising itself from the ground, to the nearest wall, which was of planed boards.

Arrived there, it felt about it for a long time with the sharp claw, which is bent inwards, of its fore-hand, until at length it realised the impossibility of climbing it at any part.

It succeeded by means of a corner or an accidental crevice in climbing a foot upwards, and fell down again immediately, because it had abandoned the comparatively secure footing of its hinder limbs before its fore-claws had obtained a firm hold.

It received no hurt, as the violence of the fall was broken by the flying membrane which was rapidly extended.

These attempts, which were continued with steady perseverance, showed an astonishing deficiency of judgment, the animal endeavouring to do much more than was in its power to accomplish.

All its endeavours, therefore, were unsuccessful, though made without doing itself any hurt—thanks to the parachute with which Nature had provided it.

• In Sumatra Wallace saw, in the twilight, a lemur run up the trunk of a tree, and then glide obliquely through the air to another trunk, by which he nearly reached the ground. The distance between the two trees amounted to 210 feet, and the difference of height was not above 35 or 40 feet; consequently, less than 1:5, -( Malay Archipelago," i. 211).

Had the káguang not been in the habit of relying so entirely on this convenient contrivance, it probably would have exercised its judgment to a greater extent, and formed a more correct estimate of its ability.

The animal repeated its fruitless efforts so often that I no longer took any notice of it, and after some time it disappeared.

But I found it again in a dark corner, under the roof, where it would probably have waited for the night in order to continue its flight.

Evidently it had succeeded in reaching the upper edge of the boarded wall by squeezing its body between this and the elastic covering of bamboo hurdlework which lay firmly imposed upon it.

So that the poor creature, which I had rashly concluded was stupid and awkward, had manifested the greatest possible skill, prudence, and perseverance.

A padre who was present on a visit from Calbigan promised me so many wonders in his district-abundance of the rarest animals, and Cimarronese uncivilised in the highest degree—that I accompanied him, on the following day, in his journey home.

In an hour after our departure we reached the little island of Majáva, which consists of perpendicular strata of a hard, fine-grained, volcanic tuff, with small, bright crystals of hornblende.

The island of Buat (on Coello’s map) is called by our mariners Tubigan. In 3 hours we reached Umáuas, a dependency of Calbígan.

It is situated, 50 feet above the sea, in a bay, before which (as is so often the case on this coast) a row of small picturesque islands succeed one another, and is exactly four leagues from Catbalogan.

But Calbigan, which we reached towards evening, is situated two leagues N.N.E. from Umáuas, surrounded by rice-fields, forty feet above the river of the same name, and almost a league and a half from its mouth.

A tree with beautiful violet-blue panicles of blossoms is especially abundant on the banks of the Calbigan, and supplies a most valuable wood for building purposes in the Philippines. It is considered equal to teak, like which it belongs to the class verbenaceæ ; and its inland name is molave (Vitex geniculata, Blanco).*

SERPENT-CHARMERS

Serpent tamers pipe the serpents out of their holes, directing their movements, and stopping and handling them at will, without being injured by them.

The most famous individual amongst them, however, had been carried off by the sea-pirates a short time before.

Another had run away to the Cimarronese in the mountains; and the third, whose reputation did not appear to be rightly established, accompanied me on my excursion, but did not justify the representations of his friends.

He caught 2 poisonous serpents, which we encountered on the road, by dexterously seizing them immediately behind the head, so that they were incapable of doing harm;

When he commanded them to lie still, he took the precaution of placing his foot on their necks.

In the chase I hurt my foot so severely against a sharp-pointed branch which was concealed by the mud that I was obliged to return to Catbalogan without effecting my object.

The inhabitants of Calbigan are considered more active and circumspect than those on the west coast, and they are praised for their honesty.

I found them very skilful.

They took pleasure in making collections and preparing plants and animals, so that I would gladly have taken with me a servant from the place.

But they are so reluctant to leave their village that all the efforts of the pastor to induce one to ride with us were fruitless.

At a short distance north-west from Catbalogan a most luxuriant garden of corals is to be observed in less than two fathoms, at the ebb.

On a yellow carpet of calcareous polyps and sponges, groups of leather-like stalks, finger-thick, lift themselves up like stems of vegetable growth ; their upper ends thickly covered with polyps (Sarcophyton pulmo Esp.), which display their roses of tentacula wide open, and resplendent with the most beautiful varying colours, looking, in fact, like flowers in full bloom.

• The specimens which were sent to the Herbarium at Berlin are not to be found.

† According to W. Peters, Tropidolænus Philippinensis, Gray.

Very large serpulites extend from their calcareous tubes, elegant red, blue, and yellow crowns of feelers, and, while little fishes of marvellously gorgeous colour dart about in this fairy garden, in their midst luxuriantly grow delicate, feathered plumulariæ.