THE AYE-AYE 53

one account says that the first discoverers took it
from one part of the island to another, the inhabi-
tants 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 this 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 aye-aye is the embodiment of their fore-
fathers, and hence will not touch it, much less do it
any 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.
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 aye-aye 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 passed into a proverb among the
Betsimisaraka.’

In connection with this local ancestral theory, it
is a strange coincidence that naturalists are all agreed
in looking upon the aye-aye as the very last animal
that can be classified as man-like. It is the last of
the lemuroids, which some with good reason group
in one order with the anthropoids under the designa-
tion of Primates.