The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1896-05-07

Ct equator III vest Central Africa. Its
habitat does not extend to the coast,
hut stops at the edge of the delta lines.
1T is uncertain how far it extends to
the interior. found very few of the
natives of the low country that knew
tle native name of the animal, and
tn,oSt of them assured me that it lived
far away in the hill country; but near
Iy every one Of the negroes from the
interior knew the creature and it's
name, and some Of them related very
strange stories regarding it's habits.
The drawings used in illustrating
this article were taken from life. In
his general appearance the Ikanda is
like Il miniature bear. 1t is from this
fact that the name, "arcOtebuS' has
been conferred upon him. Every move
nlcnt is exactly like that of bear; the
ears, nose and tail are also like those
of q bear. The eyes are large, ex-t
'trcmely convex and prOtruding; they
are round, like the eyes of lemur,
and are we'll adapted to the owners
nocturnal habits; but they are not
clear or pronounced in color, but have
Il haZy OF smoky look. The teeth are
small and white, and the creature is
mot averse to using them in u very
spiteful way. The CANNES are conical;
the incisors like. those of human be-
ing except in size. .... S. s'.s.4
The most singular physical features
are the hands and feet, which are
s.shOWn in the drawings. The hand is
perfect human hand in every respect,
T. except the want of an index finger
AT the end of the metacarpal bone,
where the first finger joins the hand, it
looks eXactly as it the finger had been
:,snpsltated in a most skillful man1ler,
leaving no scar or mark The thumb
is quite perfect and normal in size.
y tn,he great toe projects from the side
of the foot; but the angle between il
and the other is very much wider than
III lis in the foot of monkey. In fact,
: the thumb is almost at right angle
: to the sides of the foot. The other
1Tfoalr toes are in line like those of
human foot but the first of them.
which corresponds to the second toe in
Il man, is armed with a long, sharp,
BLACK claw, as may be seen in the pict-
urc. The other toes have perfect nails,
like those Of the human foot. The in
step is higher than that of the monkey
!, or apes in general. ..s
r. Y remarkable trait Of the animal is
ftlrc immense grasping power OF the
foot The hand possesses great pre-
lensile power, but it is not TO be COM
!. pared with that of the foot. Ikanda,
The native name, is also applied to a
sniser. and means ''the grasper."
The body is covered with dense
agrowth of soft hair, almost like fur
1t is dark in color, but somewhat light
.er on the under side Of the body. The
nose is quite bare and very black
[ have never seen two of these ami
1S n NIL q q "
/ they grow to be fourteen or fifteen
inches in length. The specimen l had
was only eight or nine inches long.
The body is relatively heavy and the
limbs are short.
The Ikanda is nocturnal in habit.
During the day he rarely stirs unless
disturbed; but the natives say that he
sleeps with his eyes open," by which
/ they mean to convey the idea that he
is watahful and, alert. am inclined
TO doubt this. for he will not flee at the
approach of harm. If he has OCCASION
TO move about during the day, his mo-
ton is very slow and deliberate. at
night however, he moves with little
more speed. r.
While sleeping. they crouch in the
fork of Il tree, selecting a bow which
they can grasp with the feet. They
always lie upon the upper side Of the
limb with the head toward the top OF
the tree; but they sometimes rest the
body upon the base Of the spinal col
ulnn, stretching out the arms at full
length, and resting the chin on the
breast. In this, position they will SIT
d for hours.
AS o rule, they walk on all fours, but
hey have habit of standing erect on
heir hind legs. They rarely do this
alosyover, without holding by theil
itasfndr to some object.
In eating they always take their food
ii one hand, just as a child would
rad If it happens to be anything thai
sticks to the hand, when they have
il,ished they lick the hands perfectly
clean.
Tie specimen that had was fond
1T several kinds of fruit, but the food
that he appeared to like best was q
,sarfain Kind or green grasshopper very
~ II in that part Of Africa.
sA.,i-,ie he Il .feriad this. particular