There must be still a large number of these Arachnidæ yet unknown to science, for they are very numerous in species in some localities. I remember spending an afternoon, many years ago, on a hill a few miles south of the capital, together with two or three friends, hunting spiders. We caught at least thirty different species among the bushes on the hill-top and slopes. Doubtless some of these are described and figured in one of the volumes of M. Grandidier’s great work on Madagascar, still in progress. But there are probably a much larger number of these creatures still awaiting the careful observations of anyone who will note their interesting habits and homes, and their very varied appearance and structure. [Illustration: ON THE COAST LAGOONS Pandanus (hòfa) trees] I fancy my readers will now say, you have told us a good deal about the insects, and something about the reptiles and birds of the forest, but are there no four-footed animals in the Madagascar woods except the wild boar? Yes, there certainly are many such, for there are at least fifty species of quadrupeds already known in addition to the lemurs; but as they are, most of them, small—sixteen are species of rats and mice, and twenty-three are a kind of hedgehog, and therefore are burrowing animals—they are not at all conspicuous and must be sought for if we want to observe their habits; and the ten species of carnivora are also mostly small in size. Leaving for the present the carnivora and the rodentia, let me say here what can be said of interest about a group of small animals which are in habit and appearance much like the European hedgehogs, being of the same order (the insect-eaters), but belonging to a distinct family, the Centetidæ, which, except for one genus, are peculiar to Madagascar. Some of these animals have a covering of strong spines, while in other species this consists rather of firm prickly hairs, which, however, do not cover the whole of the body. The larger kinds, called _Tràndraka_ by the Malagasy, are used by them for food, and have very much the taste of pork. (I have eaten them once or twice, but they are rather rich and greasy.) They are found in the woods, but especially in the scattered brushwood in the vicinity of the forests; and we occasionally met with two or three varieties of these harmless creatures while rambling in the outskirts of the woods. Our dog often chased and attempted to worry them, but she usually came back with her mouth and nose stuck full of prickles and looking like a pincushion, and apparently very uncomfortable. [Sidenote: THE TAIL-LESS TENREC]