Were the Moties originally four-armed?

[Elendil_s_Heir]

This may also be of interest:

The opening space-battle scene cut from The Mote in God's Eye

Just found this - cut from Niven and Pournelle’s 1974 first-contact classic, and worth a read now, if you liked the book. Colvin, you may recall, appears in the closing pages of the novel, having later accepted Imperial rule as probably being for the best: http://www.webscription.net/chapters/0671741926/0671741926.htm

The link in the OP, I see, has gone bad. Try this:
https://www.baen.com/Chapters/0671741926/0671741926.htm