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Transcript of Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon - Forgotten Books
SKET CH E S
OF T H E
NATURAL HISTORY OF CEYLON
WI T H
NARRAT IVES AND ANECDOTES
I llustrative of the H ab its and Instincts of the
MAMMALIA, BIRDS , REPTILES , FISHES , INSECTS , &c.
INCLUD ING A MONOGRAPH OF
THE ELEPHANT
AND A DESCRIPT ION OF T HE MODES OF CAPTURING AND TRAINING I T
WIT H ENGRAVINGS FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS
SIR J . EMERSON TENNENT, K.C.S. LL.D. 850 .
Author of
Ceylon, an Account of the Island, Physical, Historical, and T opographical &c . &c.
LONDON
LONGMAN, GREEN, LONGMAN, AND ROBERT S
1861
INTRODUCT ION.
A CONSIDERABLE portion of the contents of the present
volum e formed the z oologica l section of a much more
comprehensive work recently published, on the history
and present condition of Ceylon .
l But its inclusion
there was a matter of difficulty ; for to have altogether
omitted the chapters on Natural H istory would have
impaired the completeness of the plan on which I had
attempted to describe the island ; whilst to insert them
a s they here appear, without curtailment, would have
encroa ched unduly on the spa ce required for other
essential topics . In this dil emma, I wa s obliged to
adopt the alternative of so condensing the matter as to
bring the whole within the prescribed proportions .
But this Operation necessa rily diminished the general
interest of the subjects treated, as well by the omission
of incidents which would otherwise have been reta ined,a s by the exclusion of anecdotes ca lculated to illustrate
the habits and instincts of the anima ls described .
1 Ceylon : An Account of the SON TENNENT,
LL .D. ,& c .
Island, Physica l, H is torica l, and I llustrated by Maps , Plans , and
T op ographica l ; with Notices of its Drawings . 2 vols . 8v0 . Longman
Na tura l H istory, Antiquities , and and Co .,1859 .
Productions . By Sir JAMES EMER
vi INTRODUCTION .
A suggestion to re-
publish these sections in an inde
pendent form ha s afforded an Opportunity for repair ing
some of these defects by revis ing the entire, restoring
omitted passages, and introducing fresh materia ls col
lected in Ceylon ; the additional matter occupying a
very la rge portion of the present volume.
I have been enabled, at the same time, to avail myself of the corrections and communications of scientific
friends ; and thus to compensate, in some degree for
what is still incomplete, by increa sed a ccura cy in minute
particulars .
In the Introduction to the First Edition of the
original work I alluded, in the following terms, to that
portion of it which is now reproduced in an extended
form
Rega rding the fa una of Ceylon, little has been
published in any collective form, with the exception of
a volume by Dr. KELAART entitled Prodrornu s F a unoe
Zeilanicaz ; severa l va luable papers by Mr. EDGAR L .
LAYARD in the Anna ls and Maga z ine of Na tura l H is
tory for 1852 and 1853 ; and some very imperfect lists
appended to PRIDHAM’
S compiled account of the island.
1
KNOX, in the charming narra tive of his captivity, pub
lished in the reign of Charles I I . , ha s devoted a chapter
to the anima ls of Ceylon, and Dr . DAVY has described
some of the reptiles : but with these exceptions the
subject is a lmost untouched in works relating to the
colony. Y et a more than ordinary interest atta ches to
1 An H istorica l, Politica l, and its Dep endencies , by C. PRIDHAM,
Sta tistical Account of Ceylon and Esq . 2 vols . 8vo. London,1849 .
INTRODUCTION. vii
the inquiry, since Ceylon, instead of presenting, a s is
genera lly a ssumed, an identity between its fauna and
that of Southern India , exhibits a remarkable diversity,taken in connection with the limited a rea over which
the animals included in it are distributed. T he island,in fa ct, m ay b e rega rded a s the centre of a geographica l
circle, possessing within itself forms, whose a llied species
radiate far into the temperate regions of the north, a s
well as into Africa , Australia , and the isles of the Ea stern
Archipelago .
In the chapters that I have devoted to its eluci
dation, I have endeavoured to interest others in the
subject, by describing my own observations and impres
sions,with fidelity, and with a s much a ccura cy a s m ay
b e expected from a person possessing, a s I do, no greater
knowledge of z oology and the, other physical sciences
than is ordinarily possessed by any educated gentleman .
I t wa s my good fortune, however, in my j ourneys to
have the companionship of friends familia r with many
branches of natura l science : the late Dr. GARDNER,Mr . EDGAR L . LAYARD, an accomplished z oologist,Dr. T EMPLET ON, and others ; and I was thus enabled
to collect on the spot many interesting fa cts relative
to the structure and habits of the numerous tribes .
T hese , cha stened by the corrections of my fellow- tra
vellers, and established by the examination of collee
tions made in the colony, and by subsequent comparison
with specimens contained in museums at home, I have
ventured to submit a s faithful outlines of the fauna o f
Ceylon.
INTRODUCTION.
T he sections descriptive of the several classes are
a ccompanied by lists, prepared with the assistance of
scientific friends, showing the extent to which ea ch par
ticular branch had been investigated by natura lists, upto the period Of my departure from Ceylon a t the close
of 1849 . T hese, besides their inherent interest, will, I
trust, stimulate others to engage in the same pursuit,by exhibiting chasms, which it remains for future in
dustry and research to fi ll up ;— and the study of the
z oology of Ceylon m ay thus serve a s a preparative for
that of Continental India , embra cing,a s the former
does, much that is common to both, a s well a s possess
ing a fauna pecul iar to the island, that in itself will
amply repay more extended scrutiny.
From these lists have been excluded a ll species
regarding the authenticity of which rea sonable doubts
could be entertained ‘, and Of some of them,a very few
have been printed in ita lics,in order to denote the
desirability of more minute comparison with well- de
term ined specimens in the great nationa l depositories
before finally incorporating them with the Singhalese
cata logues .
In the labour of collecting and verifying the fa cts
embodied in these sections, I cannot too wa rmly ex
press my thanks for the a id I have received from
gentlemen interested in similar studies in Ceylon : from
1 An exception occurs in the list lities are doubtful have been ad
of shells , prepared byMI‘
. SY LVANU S mitted for reasons adduced. (SeeH ANLEY , in which some whose loca p .
INTRODUCTION . ix
Dr. KELAART l and Mr. EDGAR L . LAYARD, as well as
from officers of the Ceylon Civil Service ; the H on.
GERALD C. T ALBOT, Mr. C. R. BULLER, Mr. MERCER,Mr. MORRIS, Mr. WRIT ING, Maj or SKINNER, and Mr .
MIT F ORD .
“ Before venturing to commit these chapters of my
work to the press, I have had the advantage of having
portions of them read by Professor H UXLEY , Mr. MOORE,of the Ea st India H ouse Museum ; Mr. R. PATTERSON,
author of the I ntrodu ction to Zoology ; and by
Mr. ADAM WHITE,of the British Museum ; to each of
whom I am exceedingly indebted for the care they have
bestowed. In an especia l degree I have to a cknowledge
the kindness of Dr. J . E . GRAY , for va luable
additions and corrections in the list of the Ceylon Reptilia ; and to Professor FARADAY for some notes on the
nature and qualities of the Serpent Stone,” 2 submitted
T he extent to which my observations on the E le
p hant have been carried, requires some explanation .
T he existing notices of this noble creature are chiefly
devoted to its habits and capabilities in cap tivity ; and
very few works, with which I am a cquainted, contain
illustrations of its instincts and functions when wild
in its native woods . Opportunities for Observing the
latter, and for collecting fa cts in connection with them ,
are abundant in Ceylon ; and from the moment . of my
I t is with deep regret that I accomplished gentleman, which oc
have to record the death of this curred in 1860 .
2 See p . 312 .
X INTRODUCTION .
arrival , I profited by every occa sion afforded to m e for
observing the elephant in a state of nature, and obtain
ing from hunters and natives correct information as to
its oeconomy and di sposition . Anecdote s in connection
with this subj ect, I received from some Of the most
experienced residents in the island ; amongst others,from Maj or SKINNER
, C aptain PHILIP PAYNE GALLWEY ,Mr. F AIRHOLME
,Mr. CRIPPS, and Mr. MORRIS . Nor can
I omit to express my a cknowledgments to Professor
OWEN, of the British Museum,to whom this portion of
my manuscript wa s submitted previous to its committal
to the press .”
T o the foregoing observations I have little to add
beyond my a cknowledgment to Dr. ALBERT GUNTHER, of
the British Museum,for the communication of im
portant fa cts in illustration of the ichthyology of Ceylon,a s well a s of the reptiles of the island.
Mr. BLYTH,of the Calcutta Museum,
has ca refully
revised the Catalogue of Birds,and supplied m e with
much useful information in regard to their geographical
distribution . T o his experienced scrutiny is due the
p erfected state in which the list is now presented. I t
will b e seen, however, from the italicised names still
retained, that inquiry is fa r from being exhausted.
Mr. T HWAITES, the able Director of the Roya l Botanic
Ga rdens at Peradenia , near Kandy, has forwarded to m e
many valuable observa tions,not only in connection with
the botany, but the z oology of the mountain region .
T he latter I have here embodied in their appropriate
INTRODUCTION.
pla ces, and those relating to plants and vegetation wil l
appear in a futur e edition of my large work .
T o M. NIETNER, of Colombo, I am likewise indebted
for many pa rticulars regarding Singha lese Entomology,a department to which his attention ha s been given,th equal ea rnestness and success.
T hrough the H on. RICHARD MORGAN , acting Senior
Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court at Colombo , I
have received from his Interpreter, M . D . DE SILVA
GOONERATNE MODLLAR,a Singhalese gentleman of learn
ing and observation, many important notes, of which
I have largely avail ed myself, in relation to the wild
animals,
and the folk- lore and superstitions of the
natives in connection with them .
Of the latter I have inserted numerous examples ; in
the conviction that, notwithstanding their obvious errors
in many instances, these popular legends and traditions
occa siona lly embody traces of actual observation,and
m ay contain hints and materia ls deserving of minuter
inquiry.
I wish distinctly to disclaim offering the present
volume a s a compendium of the Natura l H istory of
Ceylon . I present it m erely a s a“ mémoire pour
servir,” materia ls to a ssist some future inquirer in the
formation of a more detailed and systematic a ccount of
the fa una of the island . My design ha s been to point
out to others the extreme richness and variety of the
field, the fa cility of exploring it, and the cha rms and
attractions of the undertaking. I am eager to Show
xii INTRODUCTION.
how much remains to do by exhibiting the little that
has a s yet been done.
T he depa rtments of Mamma lia and Birds are the
only two which can b e said to have a s yet under
gon'
e tqlerably Close investigation ; a lthough even in
these it is probable that la rge additions still remain to
b e made to the a scertained species. But,independently
of forms and specific chara cteristics, the more interesting
inquiry into habits and instincts is still open for obser
vation and remark ; and for the investigation of these
no country can possibly afford more inviting oppor
tunities than Ceylon.
Concerning the Rep tilia a considerable amount of
information has been ama ssed . T he Batra chians and
smaller Liz ards have, I apprehend, been imperfectly ih
vestigated ; but the T ortoises are well known, and the
Serpents, from the fearful interest atta ching to the ra ce,and stimulating their destruction
,have been so vigilantly
pursued, that there is rea son to believe that few,if any,
va rieties exist which have not been carefully examined.
In a very la rge collection,made by Mr. CHARLES
REGINALD BULLER during many years’ residence in
Kandy, and recently submitted by him to Dr . Gunther,only one single specimen proved to b e new or previously
unknown to belong to the island.
Of the I chthyology of Ceylon I am obliged to
Speak in very different terms ; for a lthough the mate
rials are abundant almost to profusion, little has yet
been done to bring them under thoroughly scientific
scrutiny. In the following pages I have alluded to the
INTRODUCTION. xiii
large collection of examples of Fishes sent home by
officers of the Medical Staff, and which still remain
unopened, in the Fort Pitt Museum at Chatham ; but
I am not without hope that these may Shortly undergo
comparison with the dI awings which exist of ea c ,h and
that this branch of the island fa una may at la st attract
the attention to which its richness so eminently en
titles it.
In the depa rtment of Entomology much ha s a lready
been a chieved ; but an extended area\
still invites future
explorers ; and one which the Notes of Mr. Wa lker
prefixed to the List of Insects in this volume,Show to
b e of extraordina ry interest, from the unexpected con
vergence in Ceylon of chara cteristics heretofore sup
posed to have been kept distinct by the broad lines
of geographical distribution .
Relative to the inferior cla sses of Invertebra ta very
little has as yet been a scertained . T he Mollusca , espe
cially the la custrine and fiuviatile, have been most
imperfectly investigated ; and of the land- Shells, a
large proportion have yet to b e submitted to scientific
examination .
T he same m ay be said of the Ara chnida and Cr us
ta cea . T he jungle is frequented by spiders, p ha langia1,
and a carids, of which nothing is known with certainty ;and the sea - shore and sands have been equally over
looked, so far as concerns the infinite va riety of lobsters,crayfish, crabs, and a ll their minor congeners . T he
I Commonly called harvest-men.
xiv INTRODUCTION .
p olyp i, echini, a steria s, and other ra dia ta of the coast
a s well as the a ca lep hoe of the deeper waters, have
shared the same neglect ; and litera lly nothing has been
done to collect and cla ssify the infusoriae and minuter
Zoophytes, the labours of Dr. Kelaart amongst the Dia
tomaceae being the solitary exception .
Nothing is so likely to a ct a s a stimulant to future
research a s an a ccurate conception of wha t ha s a lready
been a chieved. With equal terseness and truth Dr.
Johnson has Observed that the traveller who would bring
ba ck knowledge from any country must ca rry know
ledge with him at setting out ; and I am not without
hOpe that the demonstration I now venture to offer, of
the little that has a lready been done for z oology in
Ceylon, m ay serve to inspire others with a desire to
resume and complete the Inquiry.
J . EMERSON T ENNENT .
London : November l st, 1861.
xvi CONTENTS.
Attempt to introduce the camel
(note)Buffaloes
Sporting buffaloesPeculiar struc ture of the foot
I)eer
Meminna
Elk
W -Ild boar
Elephants
Recent discoveryof a newspecies
Geological speculations as to
the island of Ceylon
Ancient tradition
Opinion of Professor Ansted
Peculiarities in Ceylon mam
ma lia
T he same in Ceylon birds andinsects
T emminck’
s discovery of a new
species of elephant in Suma
tra
Points of distinction between itand the elephant of India
Professor Schlegel’s description
Cetacea
WhalesT he DugongOrigin of the fable of the mermaid
Creduhty of the Portuguese
Bel ief of the Dutch
T estimony of Valentyn
List of Ceylon mammalia
CHAP. I I .
T H E ELEPHAN T.
I ts S tructure.
Vast numbers in CeylonDeriva tion of the word
“elephant
(note)Antiquity of the trade in elephantsNumbers now diminishingMischief done by them to crops
Ivory scarce inCeylon
Conjectures as to the absence ofta sks
Elephant a harmless animalAlleged antipathies to other ani
mals
F ights with ea chother
CHAP. I II .
T H E ELEPHANT .
T he foot its chief weapon
Use of the tusks In a wild state
doubtfulAnecdote of sagacity in an ele
phant at KandyDifference between African and
Indian species
Native ideas of perfection in an
elephant
Blotches on the skin
White elephants not unknown in
Ceylon
I ts H abits .
Water,but not heat
,essential to
elephants
Sight limited
Smell acute
Caution
Hearing, good
Cries of the elephant
T rumpeting.
Booming noise
Height, exaggerated .
F ac ility of stealthy motion
Ancient delusion a s to the jointsof the leg
Its exposure by Sir T hos . Browne
Its perpetuation by poets and
others
Position of the elephant In sl .eepAn elephant k Illed on its feet
Mode of lying down
I ts gait a shufl e
Power of climbing mounta ins
Facilita ted by thejoint of the kneeMode of descending decliwties
A “ herd is a familyAtta chment to their youngSuckled indifferently by the fe
males
A rogue elephant .
T heir cunning and vice
Injuries done by themT he leader of a herd a tusker
Bathing and nocturnal gambols,description of a scene by MajorSkinner
CONTENTS .
Method of swimming .
Internal anatomy imperfectlyknown
F aculty of storing water
Peculiarity of the stomach
T he food of the elephant
Sagacity in search of it
Unexplained dread of fences
I ts spiI it of inquisitivenessAnecdotes illus trative of its curi
osityEstimate of sagacitySingular conduct of a herd duringthunder
An elephant feigning death
App endix.—Narratives ofnatives ,
as to encounters with rogue
elephants
CHAP. IV.
T H E ELEPHANT.
E lephant Shooting.
Vast numbers shot in Ceylon
Rey olting deta ils of elephant kill
ing in Africa (note)F atal spots a t which to aim
Structure of thebones of the headWounds which are certain to kill
Attitudes when surprised
Peculiarmovementswhen reposingH abits when a tta cked
Sagacity of na tive tra ckers .
CouI age and agility of the ele
phants In escape
Worthlessness of the carcass
Singular recovery from a wound
(note)
CHAP. V.
T H E ELEPHANT.
An E lep hant Corra l.
Early method of catching ele
phants
Capture in pit falls (note)By means of decoys
Panickeas their courage andaddress
T heir sagacity in followmg the
elephant
CHAP. VI .
T H E ELEPHANT .
xvii
Mode of capture by the nooseMode of tamingMethod of leading the elephantsto the coast .
Process of embarking them a tManaar ih.
Method of capturIng a whole herd 163
T he keddah in Benga l de
scribed .
Process of enclosing a herd
Process of capture in Ceylon
An elephant corral and its con
struction . 166
An elephant hunt InCeylon, 18 47 167T he town and district of Korne
galle
T he rock of Aetagalla
Forced labour of the corral in
former times 170
Now given voluntarily 17 1
Form of the enclosure . l 72Method of securing a wild herd . 173Scenewhen dI iving them into the
corral
A failure .
An elephant drove by nightSingula r scene in the cOI ral
Excitement of the tame elephants
(note)
A night scene
Morning in the corralPrepara tIons for securing the captives
T he cooroowe, or noosers
T he tame decoy s
F irst captive tied upSingular conduct of the wild ele
phants .
Furious a ttempts of the herd to
escape .
Courageous conduct ofthe na tivesVariety of disposition et bited bythe herd
Extraordinary contortions of the
captives
xviii CONTENTS.
Water withdrawn from the sto
ma ch
Instinct of the decoysConduct of the noosers
T he young ones and their a ctions
Noosing a rogue,”and his dea th
Ins tinct of flies in search of car
rion (note)Strange scene.
A second herd captured
T heir trea tment of a solitary ele
phant
A magnificent female elephant
H er extraordinary a ttitudes
VVondeI fuI contortions
T aking the captives out of the
COI Ia l .
T heir subsequent treatment andtraining
Grandeur of the scene
Story of young pet elephant
CHAP. VII .
T H E ELEPHANT.
Alleged superiority of the Indian
to the African elephant— not
true
Ditto of Ceylon elephant to IndianProcess of naming in Ceylon
Allowed to batheDifference of dIsposition
Sudden dea th of broken heartF irs t employment treading clayDrawing a wa ggon
Dragging timber
Sagacity in labour
Mode of ra ising s tones
Strength in throwing down trees
exaggera ted
Pilmg timber
Not uniform in habits of work
L azy if not wa tched
Obedience to keeper from affection
not fear
Change ofkeeper story of childEar for sounds and music
H urra !
Endurance of pain
Docility
Liz ards . Iguana
Kabara-
goya ,barbarous custom
in preparing the kabara telpoison
Blood-suckers
. 272—274
Working elephants, delicate
Deaths in government stud
Diseases
Subject to tooth ache
Ques tion of the value of labour ofan elephant .
F ood In captivity, andcost .
Breed In captivityAge
T heory of M. FleurensNo dead elephants found
SIndbad’
s storyPassage from E lian
T heir numbersSongsters
Hornbills , the bird with two
heads
Pea fowl .
Sea birds , their numberI . Accip itres .
—EaglesF a lcons and hawks
Owls the devil birdII . Passeres . Swallows
Kingfishers sunbirdsT he cotton thief
Bul bul tailor bird andweaver . 251
T he mountain jay 2 53
Crows , anecdotes of ih.
III. Scansores . Parroquets 2 56
IV. Columbidw.— Pigeons 2 57
V. Ga llium.— J ungle
-fowl 2 59
VI . Gra llce .— Ibis
,stork , & c . 2 60
VII . Anseres .—F lamingoes 2 6 1
Pelicans 2 62
Strange scene 2 62 , 2 63
Game Partridges, &c. . 2 65
List of Ceylon birds . ih.
List of birds peculiar to Ceylon . 269
CONTE NTS . XIX
Page
T he green ca lotes 2 76 Sardines, poisonous ?
T he lyre -headed lizard 2 77 Sharks
Chameleon 278 Saw-fish
Ceratophora 2 79 Fish of brilliant coloursGeckoes, their power of re
producing limbsCrocodiles
T heir sensitiveness to tickling 2 8 5 Sa la ria s a lticas 332
Anecdotes of crocodiles 286 Beautifully colouIed fishes ih.
T heir power of burying them Fresh-wa ter fi sh,little known
,
selves in the mud ih. not much ea ten . 335
T ortoises . Curious parasite 2 8 9 F resh-water fish In ColomboLake 3 36T errapins 2 90 Perches
Edible turtle 2 9 1 Eels
Cruel mode of cutting it up Immense profusion offish in thea live ih. rivers and lakes
Huge Indian tortoIses (note) 293 T heir re- appearance after ram
H awk’
s -bill turtle,barbarous Mode of fishing in the ponds
mode of stripping it of the Showers of fish
tortoise- shell ih. ConjectuI e tha t the ova are pre
Serp ents —Venomous specIes rare 2 94 served,not tenable
T ic polonga and carawala 2 96 Fish moving onmy landCobra de capello 2 9 7 Ancient authOI ItIes
,Greek and
T ame snakes (no te) 2 98 Roman
Anecdotes of the cobra de ca Aristotle and T heophras tuspello 2 98
,305 Athenaeus and Polyq s
Legends concerning it 2 99 Livy, Pompomus , Mela,
and
Ins tance of land snakes found J uvenal
at sea Seneca and l y'
Singular tradition regarding Georgius Agnico la , Gesner, &c . 34 7
the cobra de capello Instances in GuIana (note) ih.
Uropeltidae.— New specIes dis Perca Scandens
,ascends tI ees 348
covered in Ce}Ion Doubts as to the story of
Buddhist veneration for the Daldorf
cobra de capello 303 Fishes burying themselves duringT he Python ih. the dry sea son . 351
T ree snakes 30 5 T he p rotop terus of the Gambia 352Wa ter snakes 30 6 Instances in the fish of the
Sea snakes ih. Nile
Snake stones 3 12 Instances in the fish of South
Analysis of one 3 15 America
Caecilia 3 17 Living fi sh dug out of the
F rogs ih. ground in the dry tanks in
T ree frogs 320 Ceylon . 354
List of Ceylon reptiles 32 1 Mollus cs that buIy themselves 3 55
T he anima ls that so bury themCHAP. X.
selves In India
Analogous case ofF ISHES '
T heory of aestivation andIchthyology of Ceylon, little hyberna tion
known
Fish for table,seir fish
T he my .
2 8 1
2 82
T he sword fish
Curious fish described by E lian 330
. 328
323 Fish In hot wa ter in Ceylon
a 2
324 Lis t of Ceylon fishes
XX
Instances of fishes falling from
the clouds
Note on Ceylon fishes by Professor H uxley
Compara tive note by Dr. GrayBrit Mus
Note on the Bora - chung
CHAP. XI .
MOLLUSCA ,
LEPH E .
I . Conckology.—General cha
racter of Ceylon shells
Confusion rega rding them in
scientific works and col
lections
Ancient export of shells
from Ceylon
Special forms confined to
particular localities
T he pearl fishery of Aripo .
F requent suspensions of
the pea rl oyster
Process of diving for pearls
Danger from sharks
T he transparent pearl oyster
(Placuna p la centa)T he musica l fish a t Bal
licaloa
A similar phenomenon at
other places (note)F aculty of uttering sounds
in fishes
Instance in the
a rbores cens
Difliculty in forming a list
of Ceylon shells
T ritoma
RAD IAT A, AND ACA
370
372
373
374
Experiment to create beds of375
377
3 79
383
. 38 6
List of Ceylon shells 388— 395
I I. Radia ta . Star fish 395
Sea slugs 396
Parasitic worms rib.
Planaria 3 98
III . Aca lepkce, abundant £6.
T he Portuguese man-of-war
Red infusoria
Note on the T ritonz'
a arbo
4 00
CONTENT S .
CHAP. XIII.
ARACH NIDE,MYRIOPOD A
,
CRUST ACEA,ET C .
Spiders
Strange nets of the wood spiders .
T he mygale
Profusion of insects in Ceylon
Imperfect knowledge of
I . Coleop tera . Beetles
Scavenger beetlesCoco-nut beetlesT ortoise beetles .
II. Or thop tera—Mantis and leaf
insects ib.
Stick- insects . 4 10
II I. Neurop tera . Dragon flies 4 11
Ant lion ib.
White ants ib.
Anecdotes of their instinct
and ravages . 4 12—4 16IV. Hymenop tera .
— Masonwasps 4 16Wasps 4 17
Bees 4 18
Ca rpenter Bee ib.
Ants 420
Burrowing ants . 4 24
V. Lep idop tera .— Butterflies
T he spectre
Lycaenidae
MothsSilk worms
Stinging caterpillars
Wood- carrying moths .
Pterophorus
VI . H omop tera
Cicada
VI I. H emip tera
Bugs
VIII . Aphanip tem
IX. Dip tera . MosquitoesMosquitoes the “
plague of
flies ” . (note) ib.
T he coffee bug . . 4 36— 441General chara cter of Ceylon in
sects. 442
List of insects in Ceylon 442— 4 6
CONTENT S .
Page
Birds killed by it 4 67
Olios T aprobanius 4 69
T he ga leodes 4 70
Gregarious spiders 4 71
T icks ib.
Mites . T rombidium tinctorum 4 72
Myriap ods . Centipedes
Cermatia
Scolopendra crassa .
S. pollipes
T he fish insectMillip eds . J ulus
xxi
Ca lling crabsSand crabsPa inted c 1absPaddling crabs
Annelidzr,Leeches . T he land
leech
Medicinal leech
Ca ttle leech
List of ArtIculata , & c.
Nata—On the revivification of
the Rotifera and Pas te-eels 486
LIST OF ILLUSTRAT IONS.
View of an Elephant Corral .
Group ofCey lonMonkeysT he Loris (Loris gra cilis) .
GI oup of F lying Foxes (Pteropus Edwa rdsii)H ead of the H orse shoe Bat (Rhynolop kus)Nycteribia .
Indian Bear (Procbylus labza tus) .
Ceylon Leopard and Indian Cheetah
J ackal’
s Skull and“H orn
”
Mongoos of Neura -ellia (H erpes tes vitticollis)F lying Squirrel (Pteromys ora l) .
Cofi'
ee Ra t (Golanda E lliotti)Bandicoot Rat (Mas bandicota)Pengolin (Mania p entada ctyla s)Skeleton of the Pengolin
Moose-deer (Mosclws meminna)T he Dugong (H a licore dugung)T he Merma id, from Valentyn
Brain of the Elephant
Bones of the Fore- legElephant descending a Hill .
Elephant’s Well .
Elephant’
s Stomach, showing theWater-cells
Elephant’s T rachea
Wa ter- cells In the Stomach of the CamelSection of the Elephant
’
s Skull
F ence and Ground- plan of a Corral
Mode of tying an Elephant
H is Struggles for Freedom
Impotent FuryObs tina te Resistance
Attitude for Defence
Singular Contortions of anElephantFigures of theAfI ican and Indian Elephants on GI eek and
CHAPT ER I .
MAMMAL IA.
WITH the exception of the Mammalia and Birds, the
fauna of Ceylon has, up to the present, failed to receive
that systematic attention to which its richness and va
riety most amply entitle it. T he Singhalese themselves,habitua lly indolent, and singularly unobservant of nature
and her Operations, are a t the same time restrainedfrom the study of natura l history by the tenet of theirreligion which forbids the taking of life under any cir
cum stances . From the nature of their avocations, themaj ority of the European residents, engaged in planting and commerce, are discouraged by want of leisurefrom cultivating the ta ste ; and it is to b e regrettedthat, with few exceptions, the civil servants of the
government, whose position and duties would haveafforded them influence and extended opportunities forsuccessful investigation, have never seen the importanceof encouraging such studies.T he first effective impulse to the cultivation of natura l
science in Ceylon, was communicated by Dr. Davy whenconnected with the medica l sta ff 1 of the army from18 16 to 1820 , and his example stimulated some of the
assistant- surgeons of H er Majesty’s forces to make col
1 DR . DAVY, brother to the i1 tants, which contains the earliest
lustrions Sir H umphry Davy , pub notice of the Natural H istory of
hshed, in 1821,his Account of the the island, and especially of its
Interior of Ceylon and its Inhabi Ophidian reptiles .
4 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. I ,
lections in illustration of the productions of the colony.
Of these the late Dr. Kinnis was one of the most energetic and successful . H e wa s seconded by Dr. T em
pleton of the Roya l Artillery, who engaged a ssiduouslyin the investigation of various orders, and commencedan interchange of specimens with Mr. Blyth
1, the dis
tinguished naturalist and curator of the Calcutta
Museum . T he birds and rarer vertebrata of the islandwere thus compared with their peninsular congeners,and a tolerable knowledge of those belonging to theisland, so far a s regards the higher cla sses of animals,ha s been the result. T he example so set was perseveringly followed by Mr. E . L . Layard and the late Dr.Kelaart, and infinite credit is due to Mr. Blyth for thez ealous and untiring energy with which he ha s devotedhis attention and leisure to the identification of the
specimens forwa rded from Ceylon, and to their description in the Ca lcutta Journal. T o him , and to the gentlemen I have named, we are mainly indebted for whatever a ccurate knowledge we now possess of the z oologyof the colony.
T he mammalia , birds, and reptiles received their firstscientific description in an able work published in 1852
by Dr. Kelaart of the army medical staff 2, which is byfar the most valuable that ha s yet appeared on the
Singhalese fauna . Co—operating with him , Mr. Layardha s supplied a fund of information especia lly in ornitho
logy and conchology. T he z oophytes and crustaceahave I believe been pa rtially investigated by Professor
H arvey, who visited Ceylon in 1852 , and more re
J ourn . Asia t. Soc. Bengal, vol . of Ceylon, by F . KELAART , EsqM. D. ,
& c . & c . 2 vols .
2 Prodromus F auna Zeylanicce , Colombo and London, 1852.
being Contributions to the Zoology
CEYLON MUN l Y S.
l Pi rs bylcs cap /ta lup t z/ s . 3 I ’ . I’u a mus
CHAP. L ] MONKEYS . 5
cently by Professor Schmarda , Of the University Of
Prague. From the united labours Of these gentlemenand others interested in the same pursuits, we may
hOpe at an early day to obtain such a knowledge Of the
z oolo‘
gy Of Ceylon a s will to some extent compensate
for the long indifference Of the government offi cers.I . QUADRUMANA. 1. Monlceys .
— T O a stranger in thetropics, among the most attra ctive creatures in the
forests are the troops Of monkeys that career in cea seless cha se among the loftiest trees. In Ceylon thereare five species, four Of which belong to one group, theWanderoos, and the other is the little graceful grimacing
rilawa 1, which is the universa l pet and favourite Of
both natives andEuropeans . T he T amil conjurors teachit to dance, and in their wanderings carry it from villageto village, clad in a grotesque dress, to exhibit its lively
performances. I t does not Object to smoke toba cco .
T heWanderoo is too grave and melancholy to be trainedto these drolleries.KNOX, in his captivating a ccount of the island, gives
an accurate description Of both ; the Rilawa s, with nobeards, white faces, and long hair on the top Of theirheads, which parteth and hangeth down like a man’s,and which do a dea l of mischief to the corn, and are soimpudent that they will come into their gardens and eatsuch fruit as grows there. And the Wanderoos, some
Macacns p ilea tus , Shaw and radiating from the crown of the
Desmarest. T he bonneted Ma head. A spectacled monk ey is
caque ”
is comm on in the south and sa id to inhabit the low countrywest ; it is replaced on the neigh near to Bintenne ; but I have never
bouring coast Of the Peninsul a Of seen one brought thence. Apaper
India by the T oque, M radia tus, by Dr . T EMPLET ON,
in the May.
which closely resembles it in siz e, Na t. H ist. 11. s xiv. p . 361, contains
habit, and form , and in the pecul iar some interestmg facts relative to
appearance occasioned by the hairs the Rilawa Of Ceylon.
B 3
6 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. I .
a s large a s our English spaniel dogs, of a darkish greycolour, and bla ck faces with great white beards round
from ear to ear, which makes them show just like old
m en. T his sort does but little mischief, keeping in thewoods
,eating only leaves and buds of trees, but when
they are catched they will eat anything.
” 1
KNOX, whose experience during his long captivity wa sconfined almost exclusively to the hill country aroundKandy, spoke in all probability of one large and com
paratively powerful Species, Presbytes u rsinu s, which
inhabits the lofty forests, and which, as well a s another
of the same group, P. Thersites, wa s, till recently, umknown to European naturalists. T he Singha lese word
Ouandura has a generic sense, and being in everyrespect the equivalent for Our own term Of “ monkey
,
it necessarily comprehends the low country species, a swell a s those which inhabit other parts of the island .
In point of fact, there are no less than four anima ls
in the island, each Of which is entitled to the name of
wanderoo . ” 2 Each separate species has appropriated
1 KNOX, H is torica l Rela tion of Europe ; but in the absence of in
Ceylon,an Is land in the Ea s t In formation in this country a s to
dies — P. i. ch . vi. p . 25. F ol.
Lond. 1681. See an account of his
captivity in SI R J . EMER SON TEN
NENT’
S Ceylon, etc. ,Vol . I I . p .
66 n .
2 Down to a very late period, a
large and somewhat repulsive- look
ing monkey, common to the Mala
b ar coast, the Silenus veter, In'
nn . ,
was , from the circumstance Of his
possessing a“
great white beard,”
incorrectly assumed to b e the“ wanderoo
”
of Ceylon,described
by KNOX and under that usurped
hame it has figured in every author
from Buffon to the present time.
Specim ens of the true Singhalese
species were, however, received in
their actual habitat, they were described, first by Zimm erman, on
the continent, under the name Of
Lea coprymna s cep ha lop terus , andsubsequently by Mr. E . Bennett,under that of Semnop ithecus Nes tor
(Proc . Zool . Soc . pt . i. p . 67 :the generic and specific characters
being on this occasion most care
fully pointed out by that eminentnatura list . Eleven years later Dr .
T empleton forwarded to the ZOO
logical Society a description, a c
companied by drawings , Of the
wanderoo Of the western maritim e
districts of Ceylon, and noticedthe fact that the wanderoo of au
thors (S . veter)was not to be found
CH AP. L] MONKEYS . 7
to itself a difierent district of the wooded country,and
seldom encroa ches on the domain Of its neighbours .1. Of the four species found in Ceylon , the most
numerous in the island, and the one best known inEurope, is the Wanderoo of the low country
, the P.
cep ha lop teru s Of Zimmerman .
‘ Although common inthe southern and western provinces, it is never founda t a higher elevation than 1300 feet . I t is an a ctive
’
and intelligent creature,little
‘
larger than the commonbonneted Ma caque, and far from being so mischievousas others of the monkeys in the island . In captivity itis rema rkable for the gravity of its demeanour and foran air Of melancholy in its expression and movementswhich are completely in cha ra cter with its snowy beardand venerable a spect. In disposition it is gentle and
confiding, sensible in the highest degree Of kindness,
and eager for endearing attent ion,uttering a low plain
tive cry when its sympathies are excited . I t is particu
larly cleanly in its habits when domesticated, and spendsmuch of its time in trimming its fur, and carefullydivesting its hair Of pa rticles of dust.T hose which I kept at my house near Colombo were
chiefly fed upon planta ins and banana s,but for no
thing did they evince a greater pa rtia lity than the
rose- coloured flowers Of the red hibiscus (H . rosa
in the island except as an intro was believed to truly represent the
duced species in the custody Of the wanderoo of Knox. T he later dis
Arab horse- dealers,who visit the covery, however, Of the P. nrsina s
port of Colombo at stated periods . by Dr . Kelaart , in the mountains
Mr . Waterhouse, at the meeting am ongst which we are a ssured that
(F ree. Zool. Soc . p . 1 : 1844) at Knox spent so m any years Of capwhich this communication wa s tivity, reopens the question, butread
,recognised the identity of the at the same tim e appears to m e
subject Of Dr. T empleton’
s descrip clearly to demonstrate that in this
tion with that already laid before latter we have in reality the animal
them by Mr . Bennett ; and from to which hi s narrative refers .
this period the species in question1 Leucoprymnus Nestor, Bennett.
B 4
8 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. I .
sinensis). T hese they devoured with unequivocal gusto ;they likewise relished the leaves of many other trees,and even the bark Of a few of the more succulent ones .A hint might possibly be taken from this circumstancefor improving the regimen of monkeys in menageries,by the occasional admixture of a few fresh leaves and
flowers with their solid and substantial dietary.
A white monkey, taken between Ambepusse and Kornegalle, where they are said to be numerous
, was
brought to m e to Colombo . Except in colour, it hadall the chara cteristics of Presbytes cepha lop terus . SO
striking wa s its whiteness that it might have been con
jectured to be an a lbino, but for the circumstance thatits eyes and face were black. I have heard that whitemonkeys have been seen near the Ridi- galle Wihara inSeven Korles and also at T angalle ; but I never sawanother Specimen . T he natives say they are not uncommon
, and KNOX that they are milk-white both inbody and fa ce ; but of this Sort there is not such
plenty.
” l T he Rev. R. SPENCE H ARDY mentions,in his
learned work on Ea stern Mona chism ,that on the oc
casion Of his visit to the great temple Of Dambool, b e
encountered a troop of white monkeys on the rock inwhich it is situated which were, doubtless, a varietyOf the Wanderoo . 2 PLINY was aware Of the fa ct thatwhite monkeys are occasionally found in India .
3
When Observed in their native wilds, a party Of
twenty or thirty Of these creatures is genera lly busilyengaged in the search for berries and buds . T heyare seldom to be seen on the ground, except when
2 Eas tern Monachism, c . xix. p . 204 .
3 PLINY , Nat. Hist l . viii . c . xxxii.
CH AP. L] MONKEYS . 9
they may have descended to recover seeds or fruitwhich have fallen at the foot of their favourite trees .When disturbed, their leaps are prodigious : but, genera lly speaking, their progress is made not so muchby leap ing as by swinging from branch to branch
,
using their powerful arms a lternately ; and whenhamed by distance, flinging themselves obliquely so as
to catch the lower boughs of an opposite tree, the momentum a cquired by their descent being suffi cient tocause a rebound Of the branch
,that carries them up
wards again, till they can gra sp a higher and moredistant one, and thus continue their headlong flight. In
these perilous a chievements, wonder is excited less bythe surpas sing agility Of these little creatures, frequentlyencumbered a s they are by their young, which cling tothem in their career, than by the quickness of their eye
and the unerring a ccuracy with which they seem a lmostto calculate the angle at which a descent will enablethem to cover a given distance, and the recoil to attaina higher a ltitude.
2 . T he low country Wanderoo is repla ced in the hillsby the larger species, P. nrsinns, which inhabits themountain z one. T he natives, who designate the latterthe Maha or Great Wanderoo, to distinguish it fromthe Ka loo, or black one, with which they are familiar,describe it a s much wilder and more powerful than itscongener of the lowland forests . I t is rarely seen byEuropeans, this portion of the country having till veryrecently been but partially opened ; and even now it isdiffi cul t to Observe its habits, as it seldom approa chesthe few roads which wind through these deep solitudes .At early morning
, ere the day begins to dawn, its loudand peculiar howl, which consists Of a quick repetition
10 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . I .
Of the sounds how how ! may b e frequently heard in themountain jungles
, and forms one Of the chara cteristicnoises Of these lofty situations. I t wa s first capturedby Dr. Kelaart in the woods near Nuera e ellia , and fromits peculiar appearance it has been named P. ursin ’
a s
by Mr. Blyth.
l
3 . T he P. Thersites, which is chiefly distinguishedfrom the others by wanting the head tuft, is so rare thatit was for some time doubtful whether the singlespecimen procured by Dr. T empleton from the Nueraka lawa , west of T rincom a lie, and on which Mr. Blythconferred this new name, wa s in rea lity native but theoccurrence Of a second , since identified by Dr. Kelaart,has established its existence a s a separate species. Likethe common wanderoo , the one Obtained by Dr. T empleton wa s partia l to fresh vegetables, plantains, and fruitbut he a te freely boiled rice, beans, and gram . H e wa s
fond of being noticed and petted, stretching out hislimbs in succession to b e scratched, drawing himself upso that his ribs might b e rea ched by the finger, closinghis eyes during the Operation, and evincing his satisfaction by grimaces irresistibly ludicrous.4 . T he P. Priamu s inhabits the northern and eastern
provinces, and the wooded hills which occur in these
portions Of the island . In appearance it differs both insiz e and in colour from the common wanderoo, beinglarger and more inclined to grey ; and in habits it ismuch less reserved . At J affna
,and in other parts Of
the island where the population is comparatively nu
Mr. Blyth quotes as authority A species of very largemonkey,for this trivial name a pa ssage that passed some distance beforefrom MAJOR F ORBES
’
Eleven Y ears me,when resting on all fours , looked
in Ceylon and I can vouch for so like a Ceylon bear, that I nearlythe graphic accuracy Of the remark. took him for one.
”
I 2 MAMMALIA. [CHAP . I .
T he only other quadrumanous animal found in Cey
lon is the little loris 1, which, from its sluggish movements, nocturnal habits, and consequent ina ction during
the day, has acquired the name Of the Ceylon Sloth .
T H E LORI S
T here are two varieties in the island ; one of the ordinary fulvous brown, and another larger, whose fur isentirely black. A specimen of the former was sent tome from Chilaw, on the western coa st, and lived for
some time at Colombo, feeding on rice, fruit, and vege
tables . I t was partia l to ants and other insects, and
was a lways eager for milk or the bone of a fowl. T he
naturally slow motion of its limbs enables the loris to
Loris gracilis, Geofl
CH AP. I . ] BATS . 13
approach its prey so stealthily that it seiz es birds beforethey can ‘ be alarmed by its presence. T he natives a ssertthat it has been known to strangle the pea - fowl at night,to fea st on the brain . During the day the one which Ikept was usua lly a sleep in the strange position reprosented on the la st page ; its perch firmly gra sped withboth hands, its back curved into a ball of soft fur, andits head hidden deep between its
l
legs. T he singularlylarge and intense eyes Of the loris have attracted the at
tention Of the Singhal ese, who capture the creature for
the purpose of extracting them a s charms and love
potions, and this they are said to effect by holding thelittle animal to the fire till its eyeba lls burst. I ts
T amil name is thauanyu , or thin-bodied and hencea deformed child or an ema ciated person ha s a cquiredin the T amil districts the same epithet. T he lightcoloured va riety of the loris in Ceylon has a spot onits forehead, somewhat resembling the namam, ormark worn by the worshippers of Vishnu ; and, fromthis peculiarity, it is distinguished a s the Norma - tha
I I . CHEIROPTERA. Ba ts .— T he multitude Of ba ts is one
Of the features Of the evening landscape ; they aboundin every cave and subte rranean pa ssage, in the tunnelson the highways, in the galleries of the fortifications
,
in the roofs Of the bungalows, and the ruins of everytemple and building. At sunset they are seen issuingfrom their diurna l retreats to roam through the twilightin search of crepuscula r insects, and a s night approachesand the lights in the rooms a ttra ct the night-flyinglepidoptera, the bats sweep round the dinner- table and
1 T here is an interesting not-ice PLET ON,in the Mag . Na t. H is t.
of the Loris Of Ceylon byDr. T EM 1844 , ch. xiv. p. 362 .
14 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. I .
carry off their tiny prey within the glitter Of the lamps .Including the frugivorous section about sixteen specieshave been identified in Ceylon ; and remarkable va
rieties Of two of these are peculiar to the island. T he
colours of some of them are a s brilliant as the plumage
of a bird, bright yellow, deep orange, and a rich ferru
ginous brown inclining to red.
1
But of a ll the bats,
'
the most conspicuous from its
siz e and numbers, and the most interesting from its
habits,is the rousette of Ceylon 2 — the flying fox, a s
it is called by Europeans, from the similarity to thatanima l in its head and ears, its bright eyes, and intelligent little fa ce . In its a spect it ha s nothing of the
disagreeable and repulsive look so common amongst theordinary vespertilionidee ; it likewise differs from themin the want of the nose- leaf, a s well as Of the tail. In
the absence of the latter, its flight is directed by means
of a membrane attached to the inner side of each Of the
hind legs,and kept distended at the lower extremity
by a projecting bone, just as a fore- and- aft sail is distended by a gaff. ”
In siz e the body measures from ten to twelve inches inlength
,but the arms are prolonged, and especia lly the
metacarpal bones and pha langes of the four fingers overwhich the leathery wings are distended
,till the a lar
expanse mea sures between four and five feet. Whilstthe function of these metamorphosed limbs in sustaining flight entitles them to the designation of “ wings
,
”
they are endowed with another fa culty, the existence of
1 Rhinolophus aflinis ? oar. ru H ipposideros speorisma r. aureus .
bidus, Kela art. Kela a rt.
KerIvoula picta , Pa llas .
H ipposideros murinusa”W f'l l '
Scotophilus H eathii, H orsf .
vus , Kelaart. 2 Pteropus Edwards ii, Geofil
FLY ING FOXES .
CH AP. L] BAT S .
which essentially distinguishes them from the featherywings of a bird, and vindicates the appropriateness of
the term Cheiro-
p tera1, or winged hands
,
” by which
the bats are designated . Over the entire surface of the
thin membrane of which they are formed, sentient nervesof the utmost delicacy are distributed, by means ofwhich
the animal is enabled during the darkness to direct itsmotions with security, avoiding Objects against contactwith which at such times its eyes and other senseswould be in sufficient to protect it .
2 Spa llanz ani a scertained the perfection of this faculty by a series of cruelexperiments, by which he demonstrated that bats, evenafter their eyes had been destroyed, and their externalorgans of smell and hearing obliterated, were stil lenabled to direct their flight with unhesitating confidence, avoiding even threads suspended to interceptthem . But after ascertaining the fact, Spallanz ani wasslow to arrive at its origin and a scribed the surprising
power to the existence of some sixth supplementarysense, the enj oyment Of which was withheld from otheranimals . Cuvier, however, dissipated the Obscurity byshowing the seat Of this extraordinary endowment tobe in the wings, the superfi cies Of which retains theexquisite sensitiveness to touch that is inherent inthe pa lms of the human hand and the extremities Of thefingers, as well as in the feet of some of the mammalia .
3
T he face and head Of the Pterop us are covered withbrownish- grey hairs, the neck and chest are dark ferra
ginous grey, and the rest of the body brown,inclining
to bla ck.
xelp, the"‘hand
,and m epbv,
3 See article on Cheirop tera , ina“wmg. T ODD
’
s Cyclop e dia of Ana tomy2 See BELL On theH and
,ch. iii. and Physiology, vol. i. p . 599 .
p . 70.
16 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . I .
T hese active and energetic creatures, though chiefly
frugivorous, are to some extent insectivorous a lso, a s attested by their teeth 1, as well as by their habits . T heyfeed, amongst other things, on the guava , the plantain,the rose- apple, and the fruit of the various fig- trees .Flying foxes are abundant in a ll the maritime districts,especia lly at the sea son when the p u lum-irnbuP, one
of the silk- cotton trees, is putting forth its flower-buds,of which they are singularly fond. By day they sus
pend themselves from the highest branches, hanging by
the claws of the hind legs, with the head turned up
wards, and pressing the chin against the breast. At
sunset taking wing, they hover, with a murmuring soundocca sioned by the beating of their broad membranouswings, around the fruit trees, on which they feed tillmorning, when they resume their pensile attitude as
before.
A favourite resort of these bats is to the loftyindia - rubber trees, which on one side overhang the
Botanic Gardens of Paradem a In the vicinity of Kandy.
T hither for some years pa st, they have congregated,chiefly in the autumn, taking their departure whenthe figs Of the fi cus ela stica are consumed. H erethey hang in such prodigious numbers, that frequently,largebranches give waybeneath their a ccumulatedweight.Every forenoon, genera lly between the hours of. 9 and
11 A. M. , they take to wing, apparently for exercise, and
possibly to sun their wings and fur, and dry them after
the dews Of the early morning. On these occasions,their
numbers are quite surprising, flying in clouds a s thick as
T hose which I have examined the upper jaw and ten in the lower,
have four minute incisors in each longitudinally grooved, and with a
jaw, with two canines and a very cutting edge directed backwards .
minute pointed tooth behind each 2 Eriodendron Orientale, Stead.
canine. T hey have six molars in
18 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. I ;
have the spoil wrested from it by its intrusive com
panions, before it can make good its way to some secureretreat in which to devour it unmolested . In suchconflicts they bite viciously, tear ea ch other with theirhooks
, and scream incessantly, till, taking to flight, the
persecuted one rea ches some place Of safety, where hehangs by one foot, and gra sping the fruit he ha s securedin the claws and opposable thumb of the other, heha stily reduces it to lumps, with which he stufls his
cheek pouches till they become distended like those of
a monkey ; then suspended in safety, he commences tochew and suck the pieces, rejecting the refuse with histongue .
T o drink, which it does by lapping, the Pterop ussuspends itself head downwards from a branch above thewater.Insects , caterpillars, birds
’eggs, and young birds are
devoured by them ; and the Singhalese say that theflying
- fox will even atta ck a tree snake. I t is killedby the natives fOr the sake of its flesh, which, I havebeen told by a gentleman who has eaten of it, resemblesthat of the bare .
1 I t is strongly attracted to the coconut trees during the period when toddy is drawn fordistillation, and exhibits, it is said, at such times, symptoms resembling intoxication.
Neither the flying- fox, nor any other bat that I knowof in Ceylon, ever hyb erna tes .
T here are severa l varieties (one of them peculiar to’
the island) Of the horse- shoe- headed Rhinolop hus , withthe strange leaf- like appendage erected on the extremityof the nose.
In Western India the native pronounce it delicate , and far from
Portuguese eat the flying-fox, and dis agreeable 1D flavour .
CH AP . I . ] BATS. 19
I t has been suggested that the insectivorous bats,
though nocturna l,are deficient in that keen vision cha
racteristic Of animals which take their prey by night.
RH INOLOPH U S .
I doubt whether this conjecture be well founded ; itcerta inly does not apply to the Pterop us and the otherfrugivorous species, in which the fa culty of sight is sin
gularly clear. As regards the others, it is possible thatin their peculiar oeconomy some additiona l power m ay
be required to a ct in concert with tha t of vision, as in insects, touch is superadded, in its most sensitive development, to that of sight. I t is probable that the noseleaf, which forms an extended screen stretched behindthe nostrils in some of the bats, m ay be intended bynature to facilita te the collection and conduction Of
odours,just a s the va st expansion of the shell of the car
in the same family is designed to a ssist in the collectionof sounds— and thus to supplement their vision whenin pursuit of . prey in the dusk by the superior sensi
tiveness of the organs of hearing and smell .
One tiny little bat, not much larger than the humble
c 2
20 MAMMAL IA. fCiIAP. I .
“
bee 1,and of a glossy black colour, is sometimes to
'
be
seen about Colombo . I t is so familiar and gentle that
it will a light on the c loth , during dinner, and manifestsso little alarm that it seldom makes any effort to escapebefore a wine gla ss can be inverted to secure it.Although not strictly in order, this seems not an ia
appropriate pla ce to notice one of the most curl ous peculiarities connected with the bats their singular
para site, the Nycteribia .
2 On cursory observation thiscreature appears to have neither head, ante nnae, eyes, normouth and the earlier Observers of its structure satisfiedthemselves that the place of the latter wa s suppliedby a cylindrical sucker, which, being placed between
the shoulders, the insect had no Option but to turn on
its back to feed. Another anomaly was thought to com
pensate for this apparent inconvenience its three
pairs Of legs, armed with claws, are so a rranged thatthey seem to be equally distributed over its upper andunder sides, the creature being thus enabled to use
them like hands, and to gra sp the strong hairs above itwhile extracting its nourishment.It moves, in fact, by rolling itself rapidly a long, ro
tating like a wheel on the extremities Of its spokes, or
like the clown in a pantomime, hurling himself forwardon hands and feet a lternately. I ts celerity is so greatthat Colonel Montague, who wa s one of the first todescribe it m inutely 3, says its speed exceeds that Of any
1 I t is a very small Singhalese of the same family. Dr. T emp13variety of Scotophilus Coromande ton observed them in Ceylon inlicus , F . Cav. great abundance on the fur of the
2 T his extraordinary creature Scotop hzlus Coromandelicus, and
had formerly been discovered only they will , no doubt, be found on
On a few European bats . J oinville many others.
figured one which he found on the 3 Celeripes vespertilionis , Mont.large roussette (the flying-fox), and Ian. Trans . xi. p. 11.
says he had seen another on a bat
(im p . I . j cNYCTERIBIA. 2 1
known insect,and as its j oints are so flexible a s to yield
in every direction (like what mechanics ca ll a ball and
s ocket its motions are ex
ceedinglygrotesque as it tumbles through the fur of the
T o enable it to atta in its
marvellous velocity, ea ch footis armedwith two sharp hooks,with elastic opposable pads, sothat the hair can not only berapidly seiz ed and firmly held,but as quickly disengaged, a s NY CT E R‘BIA
the creature whirls away in its headlong career.T he insects to which it bears the nearest affinity, are
the H ipp obos cioloe, or spider flies,” that infest birds and
horses ; but, unlike them, theNycteribia is unable to fly.
Its strangest peculiarity, and that which gave rise tothe belief that it wa s headless, is its fa culty when at restof throwmg back its head and pressing it close betweenits shoulders till the under side becomes uppermost, nota vestige of head being discernible where we wouldnatura lly look for it, and the whole seeming but a
ca sual inequality on its back.
On closer examination this apparent tubercle isfound to have a leathery atta chment like a flexible neck,and by a sudden j erk the little creature is enabled to
project it forward into its normal position, when it is
discovered to be furnished with a mouth, antennae, andfour eyes, two on ea ch side .
T he organisation Of such a n insect 1s a marvellous
adaptation of physical form to special circumstances .
As the nycteribia has to make“
its way through fur and
c 3
22 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . I .
hairs, its feet are furnished with prehensile hooks thatalmost convert them into hands ; and being obliged toconform to the sudden flights of its patron, and ao
commodate itself to inverted positions, a ll attitudes arerendered a like to it by the a rrangement of its limbs,which enables it, after every possible gyration, to finditself always on its feet.I I I . CARe onA.
— Bea rs .— Of the ca rnivora , the one
most dreaded by the natives of Ceylon, and the only oneof the larger anima ls tha t makes the depths of the forestits habitua l retreat, is the bear 1, attra cted chiefly bythe honey which is found in the hollow trees and
clefts of the rocks. Occa siona lly sp ots Of fresh earthare Observed which have been turned up by the bearsin search of some favourite root. T hey feed a lso onthe termites and ants . A friend of mine traversing theforest, near J affna , a t ea rly dawn, had his attention at
tra cted by the growling of a bear, that wa s seatedupon a lofty branch, thrusting portions of a red- ants’
nest into his mouth with one paw,whilst with the other
he endeavoured to clea r his eyebrows and lip s of the
angry inmates, which bit and tortured him in their rage .
T he Ceylon bea r is found in the low and dry districtsof the northern and south- eastern coa st
,and is seldom
met with on the mountains or the moist and dampplains of the west. I t is furnished with a bushy tuft Ofhair on the back, between the shoulders, by which theyoung are a ccustomed to cling till sufficiently strong to
provide for their own safety. During a severe droughtthat prevailed in the northern province in 1850
, the
district of Caretchy wa s so infested by bears that the
Prochilus labiatus, Blainville.
CH AP. I BEARS . 23
Oriental custom of the women resorting to the wells was
a ltogether suspended, a s it wa s a common occurrenceto find one Of these animals in the water, unable toclimb up the yielding and slippery soil, down which its
thirst had impelled it to slide during the night.
Although the structure of the bea r shows him to be
natura lly omnivorous, he rarely preys upon flesh in
IND IAN BE AR,
Ceylon , and his solitary habits whilst in search of honeyand fruits render him timid and retiring. H ence heevinces a la rm on the approa ch Of m an or other anima ls ,and
, unable to make a rapid retreat, his panic, ratherthan any vicious disposition, leads him to become an
a ssailant in self- defence. But so furious are his a ssaultsunder such circum stances tha t the Singha lese have a
terror of his attack greater than that created by anyc 4
24 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . I }
other“
bea st Of the forest. If not armed with a gun, a
native, in the places where bears abound, usually carriesa light axe, called kodelly,
” with which to strike themon the head. T he bear, on the other hand, a lways aimsat the face, and, if successful in prostrating his victim ,
usually commences by a ssailing the eyes. I have met
numerous individua ls on our j ourneys who exhibited
frightful scars from such encounters, the white seams oftheir wounds contra sting hideously with the dark colour
of the rest of their bodies .
T he Veddahs in Bintenne , whose principal stores consist Of honey, live in dread Of the bea rs, because, at
tra cted by the perfume, they will not hesitate to atta cktheir rude dwellings, when allured by this irresistibletemptation . T he Post- Otfice runners, who a lways travelby night, are frequently exposed to danger from these
animals, especia lly along the coa st from Putlam to
Aripo, where they are found in considerable numbers ;and, to guard against surprise, they are a ccustomed tocarry flambeaux, to give warning to the bears, and en
able them to shuffle out of the path .
‘
Amongst the Singhalese there ceeding, we saw him suddenly turn
is a belief that certain charms are from an Old tree and run back witheffi cacious in protecting them from all speed, his hair becoming un
the violence Of bears , and those fastened and like his clothes stream
whose avocations expose them to ing in the wind. I t soon became
encounters Of this kind are accus evident that he was flying fromtomed to carry a talisman either some terrific Object, for he had
attached to their neck or enveloped thrown down his gun, and, in his
in the folds of their luxuriant hair. panic , he wa s taking the shortest
A friend of mine, writing of an ad line towards us,which lay across a
venture which occurred at Anara swamp covered with sedge and
japoora , thus describes an occasion rushes that greatly impeded his
on which a Moor, who attended progress, and prevented us aphim ,
was somewhat rudely dis proaching him , or seeing what wa s
abused of his belief in the efficacy the cause of his flight . Missingof charms upon bears z Desiring his steps from one hard spot to
tO'
change the position of a herd of another he repeatedly fell into the
deer, theMoorman (withhis charm) water, but he rose and resumedwa s sent across some swampy land his flight . I advanced as far a s
to disturb them . As he was pro the sods would bear my weight,
26 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. I .
tion of their cattle by these formidable marauders . In
relation to them,the natives have a curious but firm
LE OPARD AND CH EE T AH
c onviction that when a bullock is killed by a leopard,and, in expiring, falls so that its right side is under
m ost,the leopard will not return to devour it . I have
been told by English sportsmen (some of whom sharein the popular belief), that sometimes
,when they have
proposed to watch by the carca se of a bullock recentlykilled by a leopard, in the hope Of shooting the spoileron his return in search of his prey, the native owner of
the slaughtered animal,though earnestly desiring to b e
avenged, has a ssured them that it would be in va in, as,the beast having fa llen on its right side, the leopardwould not return .
CH AP . I . ] LEOPARDS. 27
T he Singha lese hunt them for the sake of their ex
tremely beautiful skins, but prefer taking them in trapsand pitfa lls, and occa siona lly in spring cages formed of
poles driven firmly into the ground,within which a kid
is genera lly fa stened a s a bait ; the door being held openby a sapling bent down by the united force Of severalm en, and so a rranged as to act a s a spring, to which a
noose is ingeniously atta ched, formed of plaited deer’s
hide. T he cries of the kid attra ct the leopard, whichbeing tempted to enter, is enclosed by the liberation Of
the Spring, and grasped firmly round the body by thenoose .
L ike the other carnivora , leopards are timid and
cowardly in the presence Of m an,never intruding on
him voluntarily, and making a ha sty retreat when ap
proa ched. Instances ha ve, however, occurred of individua ls having been slain by them and it is believed,that, having once ta sted human blood, they, like the
tiger, acquire an habitua l relish for it . A peon, on dutyby night at the court- house Of Anarajapoora , was some
years ago carried off by a leopa rd from a table in the
verandah on which he had laid down his head to sleep.
At B'
attica loa a cheetah in two instances in successionwas known to carry Off m en placed on a stage erectedin a tree to drive away elephants from rice- land : butsuch ca ses are rare, and, a s compared with their dreadOf the bear, the natives of Ceylon entertain but slightapprehensions of the “ cheeta I t is, however, thedread of sportsmen, whose dogs when beating in the
jungle are especially exposed to its attacks : and I am
aware of an instance in which a party having tied theirdogs to the tent-pole for security, and fa llen a sleepround them,
a leopard sprang into the tent and carried
as MAMMALIA. TCH AP . f.
off a dog from the midst of its Slumbering ma sters.On one occa sion being in the mountains nea rmessenger despatched to m e through the jungle ex
cused his delay by stating that a cheetah ”had seated
itself in the only practicable path, and remainedquietly licking its fore paws and rubbing them overits face, till he was forced to drive it, with stones, intothe forest.Leopards are strongly attra cted by the peculiar Odour
which accompanies small-pox. T he reluctance of the
natives to submit themselves or their children to va ccination exposes the island to frightful visitations Of
this ' disea se ; and in the villages in the interior it isusual on such occa sions to erect huts in the jungle toserve a s temporary hospitals . T owards these the leo
pards are certain to b e a llured ; and the medical Officersare obliged to resort to increa sed precautions in consequence . T his fa ct is connected with a curious nativesuperstition . Amongst the avenging scourges sent directfrom the gods, the Singha lese regard both the ravagesof the leopa rd, and the visitation Of the small-pox. T he
latter they call p a r excellence maha ledda , the greatsickness they look
'
upon it a s a special m anifes
tation of devidosay, the displea sure of the gods and
the attraction of the cheetahs to the bed of the suffererthey attribute to the same indignant agency. A few
years ago , the capua , or demon-
priest of a dewa le,”
at Ogga lbodda , a village when sufferingunder sma ll-pox, was devoured by a cheetah , and his
fate was regarded by those Of an opposite faith as a
special judgment from heaven .
Such is the awe inspired by this belief in connection
with the sma ll-pox, that a person afflicted with it is
l Ad’ . I . ] LEOPARDS; 29,
always approached a s one in immediate communicationwith the deity ; his attendants address him as mylord,
”and “ your lordship,
”and exhaust on him the
whole series of honorific epithets inwhich their languageabounds for approa ching personages of the most exa ltedrank. At evening and morning, a lamp is lighted beforehim
,and invoked with prayers to protect his family from
the dire calamity which ha s befallen himself. And afterhis recovery, his former a ssociates refrain from commu
nication with him until a ceremony shall have been
performed by the capua , ca lled awa sa ra -
p andema , on
“ the offering of lights for permission,”the Object of
which is to entreat permission of the deity to regard
him as freed from the divine displea sure, with liberty tohis friends to renew their intercourse a s before .
Maj or SKINNER, who for upwards Of forty years hashad occa sionally to live for long periods in the interio r,occupied in the prosecution of surveys and the construction of roads, is strongly of Opinion that the dis
position of the leopard towards m an is essentia lly
pacific, and that, when discovered, its natura l impulse
is to effect its escape . In illustra tion of this I insert an
extract from one of his letters, which describes an ad
venture highly cha ra cteristic Of this instinctive timi~
dityOn the occa sion of one of my visits to Adam’s Peak,
in the prosecution Of my military reconnoissances of themountain z one
,I fixed on a pretty little patena (i. e. ,
m eadow) in the midst of an extensive and dense forestin the southern segment of the Peak Range, a s a
favourable spot for operations . I t would have beendifficult
,after descending from the cone of the peak, to
have found one’s way to this point, in the midst of so
30 MA MMALIA.
‘ [CH AP. I .
va st a wilderness of trees, had not long experience a s
sured m e that good game tra cks would b e found leading to it, and by one of them I reached it. I t was in
the afternoon, just after one of those tropica l sunshowers that decorate every branch and blade with
pendant brilliants, and the little patena wa s coveredwith game, either driven to the open space by the drip
pings from the leaves or tempted by the freshness Of the
pasture : there were severa l pairs of elk, the bea rdedantlered male contra sting finely with his mate ; and
other varieties of game in a profusion not to b e found
in any pla ce frequented by m an. I t wa s some timebefore I would a llow them to be disturbed by the rudefall of the axe, in our necessity to establish our bivoua cfor the night, and they were so unaccustomed to dangerthat it wa s long before they took a larm a t our noises .
T he following morning, anxious to gain a height formy Observations in time to avail myself of the clearatmosphere of sunrise
,I started Off by myself through
the jungle, leaving orders for my m en, with my surveying instruments, to follow my tra ck by the notcheswhich I cut in the bark Of the trees . On leaving the
plain, I availed myself of a fine wide game track whichlay in my direction, and had gone, perhaps, half a milefrom the camp , when I was startled by a slight ru stlingin the
i
nilloo l to my right, and in another instant, by
the spring of a magnificent leopard, which, in a boundof full eight feet in height over the lower brushwood
,
lighted at my feet within eighteen inches of the spotwhereon I stood , and lay in a crouching position, hisfiery gleaming eyes fixed on
A species of one of the suffru which grows abundantly in theticose Acanthacew (Strobilanthes), mountain ranges Of Ceylon.
CH AP. L ] LEOPARDS. 3 1
T he predicament wa s not a pleasant one. I had noweapon Of defence, and with one spring or blow Of his
paw the bea st could have annihilated m e. T o move Iknew would only encourage his atta ck. I t occurred to
me at the moment that I had heard of the power of
man’s eye over wild animals,and a ccordingly I fixed
my ga z e a s intently as the agitation Of such a momentenabled m e on his eyes : we stared at ea ch other forsome seconds
,when
,to my inexpressible j oy, the bea st
turned and bounded down the straight Open path beforeme. T his scene occurred just at that period of the
morning when the gra z ing anima ls retired from the open
patena to the cool shade of the forest : doubtless,the
leopard had taken my approach for that of a deer, orsome such animal. And if his spring had been at a
quadruped instead Of a biped, his distance was so wellmea sured, that it must have landed him on the neck of
a deer,an elk, or a buffa lo ; a s it was, one pace more
would have done for m e. A bear would not have lethis victim Off so ea sily.
”
Notwithstanding the unequa lled agility of the monkey, it fa lls a prey, and not unfrequently, to the leo
pard. T he latter, on approa ching a tree on which a
troop of monkeys have taken shelter, causes an instantand fea rful excitement, which they manifest by loudand continued screams, and incessant restless leaps frombranch to branch . T he leopa rd meanwhile wa lks roundand round the tree, with his eyes firmly fixed upon hisvictims, till a t last exhausted by terror, and prostratedby vain exertions to escape, one or more fa lls a prey tohis vora city. So rivetted is the attention Of both duringthe struggle, that a sportsman, on one occa sion, attractedby the noise, was enabled to approach within an un
se MAMMALIA. [CH AP. LI}
comfortable distance of); the leopard, before he dis
covered the cause of the unusual dismay amongst themonkeys overhead.
I t is said, but I have never been able personally toverify the fact, that the leopard of Ceylon exhibits a:
peculiarity in being unable entirely to retract its claws
within their sheaths .T here is another piece of curious folk lore, in con
nexion with the leopa rd . T he natives a ssert that it
devours the ka olin , clay called by them hiri- ina ttie l
in a very peculiar way. T hey say that the cheetah
pla ces it in lumps beside him ,and then gaz es intently
on the sun, till on turning his eyes on the clay, every
piece appears of a red colour like flesh, when he instantly devours it .T hey likewise a llege that the female cheetah never,
produces more than one litter of whelps.Of the lesser feline sp ecies, the number and va riety
in Ceylon I s inferior to those of India . T he Pa lm- cat 2
lurks by day among the fronds of the coco-nut palms,and by night makes destructive forays on the fowls ofthe villagers ; and
, in order to suck the blood of its
victim, inflicts a wound so sma ll a s to be a lmost imperceptible. T he glossy genette 3, the Civet
”Of Euro
peans, is common in the northern province, where theT amils confine it in cages for the sake of itsmusk, whichthey collect from the wooden bars on which it rubs itself. Edrisi, the Moorish geographer, writing in the
twelfth century, enumerates musk a s one of the pro
ductions then exported from Ceylon.
4
1 See Sir J . E . TENNENr’
s Cey4 EDRISI , Géogr . sec. vii. J au
lon,'
vol. i. p . 31. berts ’s translation,t. ii. p . 72 . In
2 Paradoxurus typus , F . Ca v. connexion with cats, a Singhalese
3 Viverra Indica , gentleman has described to me a
34 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. I .
are at present bred by the horse-keepers to be killed
for sake of the reward .
T he Pariahs Of Colombo exhibit something Of the
same instinct, by which the dogs in other ea stern cities
pa rtition the towns into districts, each apportioned to aseparate pa ck, by whom it is j ea lously guarded from
the encroa chments of a ll intruders . T ravellers at Ca iro
and Constantinople are often startled at night by thera cket occasioned by the demonstrations made by therightful possessors of a locality in repelling its inva sionby some straggling wanderer. At Alexandria , in 1844 ,the dogs had multiplied to such an inconvenient extent,that Mehem et Ali, to abate the nuisance, caused them '
to b e shipped in boats and conveyed to one of the is
lands at the mouth of the Nile . But the streets,thus
deprived of their habitual patroles, were speedily infested by dogs from the suburbs
,in such numbers
that the evil became greater than before, and in the
following year, the legitimate deniz ens were reca lledfrom their exile in the Delta , and speedily drove back
the intruders within their original boundary. May
not this disposition Of the dog be referable to theimpulse by which, in a state of nature
, each pack ap
propriates its own hunting- fields Within a particula rarea ? and m ay not the impulse which, even in a
state Of domestication, they still manifest to atta cka pas sing dog upon the road, be a remnant of thislocalised instinct, and a concomitant dislike of in
trusion ?J a cka l — T he Jackal 1 in the low country of Ceylon
hunts thus in packs, headed by a leader, and theseaudacious prowlers have been seen to assault and pull
Canis Aureus, In'
nu.
CH AP . I . ] JACKALS . 35
down a deer . T he small number of hares in the dis
tricts they infest is a scribed to their depredations . In
the legends of the natives, and in the literature of the
Buddhists, the j a ckal in Ceylon is a s essentially the type
of cunning as the fox is the emblem of craft and ad
roitness in the traditions Of Europe . In fa ct, it is morethan doubtful whether the ja ckal of the Eas t be not
the creature alluded to, in the various passages of theSacred Writings which make allusion to the artfulnessand subtlety of the fox.
”
T hese fa culties they display in a high degree in theirhunting expeditions, especially in the northern portions
of the island, where they are found in the greatest numbers . In these districts, where the wide sandy plains arethinly covered with brushwood, the fa ce of the country
is diversified by patches Of thick jungle and deta chedgroups of trees, that form insulated groves and topes .At dusk, or after nightfa ll, a pa ck of ja ckals
,having
watched a ha re or a small deer take refuge in one of
these retreats, immediately surround it on all sides ; andhaving sta tioned a few to watch the path by which thegame entered, the leader commences the atta ck by
ra I SIng the unea rthly cry peculia r to their race, and
which resembles the sound olckay! loudly and rapidly
repeated. T he whole party then rush into the jungle,and drive out the victim, which generally falls into theambush previously laid to entrap it .A native gentleman ‘, who had favourable opportunities
of Observing the movements of these animals, informedm e
, that when a ja ckal has brought down his game and
killed it, his first impulse is to hide it in the nearestjungle, whence he I ssues with an air of easy indifference
Mr. D. de Silva Gooneratné.
D 2
36 MAMMALIA. [CHAP . I'
.
to Observe whether anything more powerful than himself m ay be at hand, from which he might encounterthe risk Of being despoiled of his capture. I f the
coa st be clea r, he returns to the concealed carcase, andcarries it away, followed by his companions . But ifa m an be in sight, or any other animal to b e avoided,my informant has seen the ja ckal seiz e a coco-nut huskin his mouth, or any similar substance, and fly at fullspeed, as if eager to carry Off his pretended priz e,returning for the real booty at some more convenient
seas on .
T hey are subject to hydrophobia , and instances are
frequent in Ceylon of cattle being bitten by them and
dying in consequence .
An excrescence is sometimes found on the head Of
the j ackal, consisting of a sma ll horny cone about halfan inch in length, and concealed by a tuft of hair.T his the natives call na rric- cornboo ; and they aver thatthis “ Jackal’s H orn only grows on the head of the
JACKAL’
S SKULL AND H ORN .
leader Of the pack.
1 Both the Singhalese and the
T amils regard it a s a talisman, and believe that its for
In theMuseum of the Coll ege pital ; and I have placed alongof Surgeons , London (NO. 4362 A), with it a specimen of the hornythere is a cranium Of a ja ckal sheath
, which wa s presented to
which exhibits this strange os me by Mr . Lavalliere, the late dis
seous process on the super-occi triet judge of Kandy.
CH AP . I . ] JACKALS . 37
tunate possessor can command by its instrumenta litythe realisation of every wish, and that if stolen or lostby him
,it will inva riably return of its own accord.
T hose who have jewels to conceal rest in perfect se
curity if along with them they can deposit a narricombOO, fully convinced that its presence is an effectualsafeguard against robbers .One fabulous virtue a scribed to the na rric- comboo
by the Singhalese is absurdly chara cteristic Of their
passion for litigation, as well a s Of their perceptions of
the “ glorious uncertainty of the law.
”I t is the po
pula r belief that the fortunate discoverer Of a ja ckal’shorn becomes thereby invincible in every lawsuit, and
must irresistibly triumph over every opponent. A
gentleman connected with the Supreme Court Of
Colombo has repeated to m e a circumstance, within hisown knowledge
,of a plaintiff who, after numerous de
feats, eventually succeeded against his opponent by thetimely acquisition Of this inva luable charm . Beforethe final hearing of the cause, the mysterious horn wasduly exhibited to his friends and the consequence was,that the adverse witnesses, appalled by the belief thatno one could possibly give judgment against a personso endowed, sudde nly modified their previous evidence,and secured an unforeseen victory for the happy ownerof the na rric- cornboo !
TheMongoos . Of the Mongoos or I chneumon fourspecies have been described ; and one, that frequents thehills near Neuera - ellia 1, is so remarkable from its bushy
H erp estes vitticollis . Mr. W. the Ghat forests in 1829, and is now
ELL IOT T , in his Ca ta logue of Mam deposited in the British Museum ;
ma lia found in the Southern Mah it is very rare, inhabiting only the
a ra ta Country,Madra s, 1840 , says , thickest woods , and its habits arethat One specimen Of this H er very little known,
”
p . 9 . In Ceylon
pestes was procured by accident in it is comparatively common.
D 3
38 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . I .
fur, that the invalid soldiers in the sanatarium there, towhom it is familiar, have given it the name Of the
Ceylon Badger. ”
I have found universally that the natives Of Ceylonatta ch no credit to the European story of the Mongoos
(H . griseus) resorting to some plant, which no one has
yet succeeded in identifying, a s an antidote against the
H ERPE ST E S V I T'
I'
ICOLL I S .
bite of the venomous serpents on which it preys . T hereis no doubt that, in its conflicts with the cobra de capelloand other poisonous snakes, which it atta cks with a s
little hesitation a s the harmless ones, it m ay be seenoccasiona lly to retreat, and even to retire into the jun
gle, and, it is added, to eat some vegetable ; but a gen
tleman, who has been a frequent Observer of its exploits,assures me that most usually the herb it resorted to was
CH AP. I . ] MONGOOS . 39
gra ss ; and if this were not at hand, a lmost any other
plant that grew near seemed equa lly a cceptable . H encehas probably arisen the long list of plants, such as the
Op hioccylon serp entinurn and Ophiorhiea mungos, the
Aristolochia Indica , theMim osa octandria , and others,each Of which has been as serted to be the ichneumon’sspecific ; whilst their multiplicity is demonstrative Of
the non- existence Of any one in particular on which theanima l relies as an antidote. Were there any truthin the ta le as regards the m ongoos, it would be diflicultto understand why creatures, such as the secretary birdand the fa lcon
,and others
,which equa llydestroy serpents,
should be left defenceless,and the ichneumon a lone
provided with a prophyla ctic. Besides,were the ich
neum on inspired by that cour age which would resultfrom the consciousness of security, it would be so ihdifferent to the bite Of the serpent that we might conclude that
,both in its approaches and its a ssault, it
would b e utterly careless as to the precise mode of its
attack . Such, however, is far from being the case ; and
next to its audacity,nothing can be more surprising
than the adroitness with which it escapes the spring of
the snake under a due sense of danger, and the cunningwith which it makes its arrangements to leap upon theba ck and fasten its teeth in the head of the cobra . I t
is thi s display Of instinctive ingenuity that Lucan l
celebrates where he paints the ichneumon diverting theattention of the asp, by the motion of his bushy tail,and then seiz ing it in the midst Of its confusion
Aspidas ut Pharias cauda solertior hostis
Ludit, et iratas incerta provocat umbra
1 T he passage in Lucan is a ver lated by Pliny, lib . viii. ch. 53 ;sifi cation Of the same narrative re and ZElian, lib . iii . ch. 22 .
D 4
40 MA MMALIA. [CH AP . I .
Obliquusque caput vanas serpentis in auras
Effuses toto comprendit guttura morsu
Letiferam citra saniem ; tunc irrita pestis
Exprimitur, faucesque fluunt. pereunte veneno .
Pharsa lia , lib . iv. v. 729 .
T he mystery of the mongoos and its antidote hasbeen referred to the supposition that there m ay be some
peculiarity in its organisation which renders it p roofaga inst the poison of the serpent . I t remains for future investigation to determine how far this conjectureis founded in truth and whether in the blood of the
mongoos there exists any element or qua lity which a ctsa s a prophyla ctic. Such exceptional provisions are notwithout precedent in the anim al oeconomy : the hornbillfeeds with impunity on the deadly fruit of the strychnos ; the milky juice Of some species of euphorbia ,which is harmless to oxen, is inva riably fatal to thez ebra ; and the tsetse fly, the pest of South Africa ,whose bite is mortal to the ox, the dog, and the horse,is harmless to m an and the untamed creatures of the
forest. 1
T he Singhalese distinguish one species of mongoos,
which they designate H ota rnbeya ,”
and which theya ssert never preys upon serpents . A writer in the
Ceylon Mis cellany mentions, that they are often to beseen crossing rivers and frequently mud-brooks nearChilaw ; the adja cent thickets affording them shelter,and their food consisting of aquatic reptiles, crabs, andmollusca .
” 2
1 Dr. L IVINGST ONE , Tour in S . or mouse-cat of Behar, which preysAfrica , p . 80 . I s it a fact that , in upon birds and fi sh. Can it be theAmerica , pigs extirpate the rattle Urva of the Nepalese Urva can
snakes with impunity ? crivora,H odgson), whichMr. H odg
2 This is possiblythe “musbilai son describes as dwelling in bur
42 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. I .
a t early morning in the woods ; and when sounding theirnote Of warning on the approa ch Of a civet or a treesnake, the ears tingle with the loud trill of defiance,which rings as clear and rapid as the running down of ana larum
,and is instantly caught up and re - echoed from
every side by their terrified playmates .One of the largest, belonging to a closely a llied sub
genus,is known as the “ Flying Squirrel,
” 1 from its
being a ssisted, in its prodigious leaps from tree to tree,by a para chute formed by the skin of the flanks
,which
,
on the extension of the limbs front and rear, is laterally
expanded from foot to foot. T hus buoyed up in its
descent, the spring which it is enabled to make from
one lofty tree to another resembles the flight Of a birdrather than the bound Of a quadruped.
Of these pretty creatures there are two species, onecommon to Ceylon and India , the other (Sciurop terusLaya rdii, Kelaart) is peculiar to the island, and byfar the most beautiful of the family.
Raw— Among the multifarious inhabitants to whichthe forest affords at once a home and provender is thetree rat 2, which forms its nest on the branches, and byturns makes its visits to the dwellings Of the natives,frequenting the ceilings in preference to the lower partsOf houses . H ere it is incessantly followed by the rat
snake 3, whose domestication is encouraged by the ser
by Mr. Edgar L . Layard, who has a t the base of the ears .
done me the honour to call it the 1 Pteromys oral . , T ic/rel. P. peSciurus T ennentii. I ts dimensions taurista , Pa llas .
are large, measuring upwards of 2 T here are two species Of thetwo feet from head to tail. I t is tree rat in Ceylon : M. rufescens
,
distinguished from the S . 772e Gray (M. flavescens , Elliot andby the predominant black colour of Mus nemoralis
,Blyth.
the upper surface of the body, 2 Coryphodon Blumenbachii,
with the exception of a rusty spot Merr .
CH AP. L ] RATS . 43
vants, in consideration of its services in destroyingvermin . I had one day an opportunity of surprising a
snake that had just seiz ed on a rat of this description,and of covering it suddenly with a gla ss shade, before ithad time to swa llow its prey. T he serpent, appearedstunned by its own capture, and a llowed the rat toescape from its j aws, which cowered at one side of the
gla ss in the most pitiable state of trembling terror. T he
two were left alone for some moments, and on my re
turn to them the snake was as before in the same attitude of sullen stupor . On setting them at liberty, therat bounded towa rds the nearest fence ; but quick as
lightning it was followed by its pur suer, which seiz ed itbefore it could gain the hedge, through which I saw the
snake glide with its victim in its jaws . In parts of thecentral province, at Oovah and Bintenne, the house- rat
is eaten as a common a rticle of food . T he Singhalesebelieve it and the mouse to be liable to hydrophobia .
Another indigenous variety of the rat is that whichmade its appearance for the first time in the coffee plantations on the Kandyan hil ls in the year 1847 and in
such swarms does it continue to infest them, at intervals,that a s many as a thousand have been killed in a singleday on one estate . In order to rea ch the buds andblossoms of the coffee, it cuts such of the slenderbranches as would not sustain its weight, and feeds onthem when fa llen to the ground ; and so delicate and
sharp are its incisors,that the twigs thus destroyed are
deta ched by as clean a cut as if severed with a knife.
T he coffee- rat l is an insula r va riety of the Mu s hi?
sums of W. Elliot, found in Southern India. T hey in~
1 Golunda Ellioti, Gray.
44 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . I .
habit the forests, making their nests am ong the roots ofthe trees, and feeding, in the season, on the ripe seeds ofthe nilloo . Like the lemmings of Norway and Lapland,
COFFEE RAT .
the coolies is the pig- rat or Bandicoot 1, which attains on
those hills the weight of two or three pounds, and growsto nearly the length of two feet. As it feeds on grainand roots, its flesh is said to be delicate, and much re
sembling young pork.
Mus bandicota, Beckst. T he ruption of the T elinga name p anEnglish term bandicoot is a cor dz/coku
, literally p ig-ra t.
ca n ». I . ] T HE PORCUPINE . 45
Its nests, when rifled, are frequently found to containconsiderable quantities of rice, stored up against thedry season .
BAND ICOO’
I‘
Porcup ine — T he Porcupine‘ is another of the T O
dentia which ha s drawn down upon itself the hostilityof the planters, from its destruction of the young coconut palms, to which it is a pernicious and persevering,but withal so crafty, a visitor, that it is with diffi cultyany trap can be so disguised
,or any bait made so a llur
ing, as to lead to its capture. T he usual expedient inCeylon is to pla ce some of its favourite food at the ex
trem ity of a trench, so narrow a s to prevent the porcu
pine turning, whilst the direction of his quills effectuallybars his retreat backwa rds . On a newly planted coconut tope, at H ang-welle, within a few miles of Colombo,
1 Hystrix leucurus , Sykes .
46 MAMMALIA. [CHAP . I .
I have heard of as many as twenty- seven being thuscaptured in a single night ; but such success is ra re .
T he more ordinary expedient is to smoke them out byburning straw a t the apertures of their burrows . At
Ootacamund, on the continent of the Dekkan, springguns have been used with great success by the Super
intendent of the H orticultura l Gardens ; placing themso as to sweep the runs of the porcupines . T he fleshis esteemed a delica cy in Ceylon, and in consistency,colour, and flavour it very much resembles young pork .
V. EDENTATA. Pengolin— Of the Edenta ta the only
example in Ceylon is the scaly ant- eater, called by the
Singhalese, Caballaya , but usually known by its Malayname of Pengolin
1,a word indicative of its fa culty,
when alarmed, of “ rolling itself up into a compa ctball
,by bending its head towards its stoma ch, arching
its back into a circle, and securing all by a powerfulfold of its mail- covered tail . T he feet of the pengolinare a rmed with powerful claws, which in walking theydouble in, like the ant- eater of Bra z il . T hese they usein extra cting their favourite food from ant- hills and decaying wood. When at liberty, they burrow in the dryground to a depth of seven or eight feet, where they re
side in pairs, and produce annually one or two young.
2
Of two specimens which I kept alive at differenttimes, one, about two feet in length, from the vicinityof Kandy, was a gentle and affectionate creature, which,
1 Manis pentadactyla , I/Znn. me, in connexion with the state2 I am a ssured that there is a ment, that its favourite dwelling is
hedge-hog in Ceylon ; but as I in the same burrow with the pen
have never seen it , I cannot tell golin . T he popular belief in this
whether it belongs to either of the is attested by a Singhalese proverb,two species known in India (Eri in relation to an intrusive person
naeeus menta lis andE .eollarz°
s) —nor age ; the import of which is that
can I vouch for its existence there he is like a hedge-hog in the den
at all. But the fact was told to of a p engolin.
CH AP. I . ] THE PENGOLIN. 47
a fter wandering over the house in search of ants, wouldattra ct attention to its wants by climbing up my knee,laying hold of my leg with its prehensile tail. T he
other, more than double that length, was caught in thejungle near Chilaw, and brought to m e in Colombo . I
had always understood that the pengolin was unable toclimb trees ; but the one la st mentioned frequently
T H E PE NGOL IN ,
cended a tree in my garden, in sea rch of ants ; and thisit effected by means of its hooked feet, aided by an
oblique grasp of the tail. T he ants it seiz ed by ex
tending its round and glutinous tongue along theirtra cks ; and in the stomach of one which was openedafter death, I found a quantity of small stones and
gravel, which had been taken to fa cilitate digestion . In
both specimens in my possession the scales of the ba ck
‘4 8 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . I .
were a cream- coloured white, with a
l
tinge of red in
that which came from Chilaw, probably a cquired by theinsinuation of the Cabook dust which abounds alongthe western coast of the island .
Of the habits of the pengolin I found that very little
SKELE T ON OF PENGOL IN .
wa s known by the natives,who rega rd it with aversion,one name given to it beingthe “Negombo Devil. ” T hosekept by m e were, genera llyspeaking, quiet during the
day, and grew restless and
a ctive as evening and nightapproached. Both had beentaken near rocks, in the hol
lows of which they had theirdwelling, but owing to theirslow power of motion, theywere unable to reach theirhiding pla ce when overtaken .
When frightened, they rolledthemselves instantly into a
rounded ba ll ; and such was
the powerful force of muscle,that the strength of a man
was insuflicient to uncoil it .In reconnoitring they madeimportant use of the tail, resting upon it and their hindlegs, and holding themselvesnearly erect, to command a
view of their object. T he
strength of this powerful limb
will be perceived from the a ccompanying drawing of
50 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. I .
dark brown in colour, and very scantily provided with
hair.Oxen . Oxen are used by the peasantry both in
ploughing and in tempering the mud in the wet paddifields before sowing the rice ; and when the harvest isreaped they tread out the corn,
”after the imme
morial custom of the Ea st. T he wealth of the nativechiefs and landed proprietors frequently consists in theirherds of bullocks, which they hire out to their depend
ents during the seasons for agricultura l labour ; and a s
they already supply them with land to be tilled, and
lend the seed which is to crop it, the further contribution of this portion of the labour serves to render thedependence of the peasantry on the chiefs and headm en complete.
T he cows are often worked as well as the oxen ; and
as the calves are always permitted to suck them,milk
is an article which the traveller can ra rely hope to procure in a Kandyan village . From their constant ex
posure at all sea sons, the cattle in Ceylon,both those
employed in agriculture and those on the roads, are
subject to deva stating murrains, that sweep them awayby thousands. So frequent is the recurrence of thesecalamities, and so extended their ravages, that theyexercise a serious influence upon the commercial interests of the colony, by reducing the fa cilities of agriculture, and augmenting the cost of ca rriage during themost critica l periods of the coffee harvest.A similar disorder, probably peripneumonia , frei
quently carries off the cattle in As sam and other hillcountries on the continent of India ; and there, a s inCeylon, the inflammatory symptoms in the lungs and
throat, and the interna l derangement and externa l
CH AP. I . ] OXEN. 5 1
eruptive appearances, seem to indicate that the diseas eis a feverish influenz a , attributable to neglect and ex
posure in a moist and variable clima te ; and that its
prevention might be hoped for, and the cattle preserved, by the simple expedient of more humane and
considerate treatment, especially by affording themcover at night.During my residence in Ceylon an incident occurred
at Nenera—ellia , which invested one of these pretty
animals with an heroic interest. A little cow, belonging to an English gentleman, was housed, together withher calf, near the dwelling of her owner, and beingaroused during the night by her furious bellowing, theservants, on hastening to the stall, found her goring a
leopard, which had stolen in to atta ck the calf. She
had got it into a corner, and whilst low mg incessantlyto call for help, she continued to pound it with herhorns . T he wild anima l
,apparently stupified by her
unexpected violence, was deta ined by her till despatchedby a bul let.T he number of bullock- carts encountered between
Colombo and Kandy, laden with coffee from the interior,or carrying up rice and stores for the supply of the
plantations in the hill- country, is quite surprising. T he
oxen thus employed on this single road, about seventymiles long, are estimated at upwards of twenty thousand . T he bandy to which they are yoked is a barbarous two -wheeled waggon, with a covering of plaitedcoco- nut leaves, in which a pair of strong bullocks willdraw from five to ten hundred weight
,according to the
nature of the country ; and with this load on a
t
level
they will perform a j ourney of twenty miles a day.
A few of the large humped cattle of India are an
2
52 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. I .
nually imported for draught ; but the va st maj ority of
those in use are sma ll and dark- coloured, with a gra ceful head and neck, and elevated hump, a deep silkydewlap, and limbs a s slender as a deer. T hey appearto have neither the strength nor weight requisite forthis service ; and yet the entire coflee crop of Ceylon,
amounting annua lly to upwards of half a million hundred weight, is year after yea r brought down from the
m ountains to the coa st by these indefatigable littlecreatures, which, on returning, ca rry up proportionallyheavy loads of rice and implements for the estates . 1
T here are two varieties of the native bullock ; one a
somewhat coa rser animal, of a deep red colour ; theother
,the high-bred bla ck one I have just described. So
ra re was a white one of this species, under the nativekings
,that the Kandyans were compelled to set them
apart for the royal herd.
2
Although bullocks m ay be said to be the only anima ls
of draught and burden in Ceylon (horses being rarelyused except in spring carriages), no attempt ha s beenmade to improve the breed, or even to better the condition and treatment of those in use . T heir food is indifferent, pa sture in a ll parts of the island being ra re,and cattle are seldom housed under any vicissitudes ofweather.T he labour for which they are best adapted, and in
which, before the Opening of roads,these cattle were
formerly employed, is in traversing the jungle paths of
1 A pair of these little bullocks 1763, he saw in Ceylon two whitecarry up about twenty bushels of oxen, each of which measured uprice to the hills, and bring down wards of eight feet high. T heyfrom fifty to sixty bushels of coffee were sent as a present from the
to Colombo. King of Atchin.—Infe and Ad
WOLF says that, in the year ventures, p. 172.
CH AP. I . ] OXEN. 53
the interior, carrying light loads as pa ck- oxen in whatis called a tava lam ,
” — a term which,substituting bul
locks for camels, is equivalent to a caravan.
” l T he
cla ss of persons engaged in this traffic in Ceylon resemble in their occupations the Banjarees of H industan,who bring down to the coa st corn
,cotton
, and oil, and
take ba ck to the interior cloths and iron and copperutensils. In the unopened parts of the island, and
especially in the ea stern provinces, this primitive pra ctice still continues . When travelling in these districtsI have Often encountered long files of pa ck-bullockstoiling a long the mountain paths, their bells tinklingmusica lly a s they moved ; or ha lting during the noondayheat beside some stream in the forests, their burdens
piled in heaps near the drivers, who had lighted theircooking fires, whilst the bullocks were permitted tobathe and browse .
T he persons engaged in this wandering trade are
chiefly Moors, and the business carried on by themconsists in bringing up salt from the government depOtson the coa st to b e bartered with the Kandyans in the
hills for native coffee,” which is grown in small quan
tities round every house, but without systematic cultiva tion . T his they carry down to the maritime towns,and the proceeds are invested in cotton cloths and bra ssutensils, dried fish, and other commodities, with which
the tava lams supply the secluded villages of the in
terior.
1 Attempts have been made to nection with the fact of the camel
domesticate the camel in Ceylon living in perfect health in climates
but,I am told, they died of ulcers equally, if not more
,exposed to
in the feet , attributed to the too rain. I apprehend that suffi cient
great moisture of the roads at justice has not been done to thecerta in seasons . T his explanation experiment .
seem s insufficient if taken in con
54 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . I .
The Bufia lo.— Buffaloes abound in all pa rts of Cey
lon,‘
but they are only to be seen in their native wildness in the va st solitudes of the northern and ea stern
provinces, where rivers, lagoons, and dilapidated tanks
abound . In‘ these they delight to 1mmerse themselves,
till only their heads appear above the surface or, en
veloped in mud to protect themselves from the a ssaults
of insects, they luxuriate in the long sedges by thewater ma rgins . When the buffa lo is browsing, a crow
will frequently be seen stationed on its ; back, engaged
in'
freeing it from the ticks and other pests which atta chthemselves to its leathery hide, the smooth brown sur
face of which, unprotected by hair, shines with an um
plea sant polish in the sunlight. When in m otion a
buffa lo throws back its clumsy head till the huge hornsrest on its shoulders, and the nose is presented in a linewith the eyes .T he temper of the wild buffalo is morose and uncer
tain, and such is its strength and courage that in theH indu epic of the Ramayana its onslaught is comparedto that of the tiger. 1 I t is never quite safe to approa chthem, if disturbed in their pa sture or alarmed fromtheir repose in the shallow lakes. On such occa sionsthey hurry into line, draw up in defensive array, with a
few of the oldest bulls in advance ; and, wheeling’in
circles, their horns clashing with a loud sound a s theyclank them together in their rapid evolutions, they
prepare for atta ck ; but genera lly, after a mena cing dis
play the herd betake themselves to flight ; then formingagain at a safer distance, they halt as before, elevatingtheir nostrils, and throwing back their heads to take a
defiant survey of the intruders . T he true sportsman
1 CAREY andMARSHMAN’S T ransl. vol . i. p. 430,447.
CH AP. L ] THE BUFFALO. 55
rarely molests them, so huge a creature affording noworthy mark for his skill, and their wanton slaughteradds nothing to the supply of food for their a ssailant .In the H amb angtotte country, where the Singha lese
domesticate buffa loes, and use them to a ssist in the
labour of the rice lands, the villagers are much annoyedby the wild ones, that minglewith the tame when sentout to the woods to pasture and it constantly happensthat a s avage stranger, pla cing himself at the head of
the tame herd, resists the a ttempts of the owners todrive them homewa rds a t sunset . In the districts of
Putlam and the Seven Corles, buffaloes are genera llyused for draught ; and in carrying heavy loads of sa ltfrom the coa st towards the interior, they drag a cartover roads which would defy the weaker strength of
bullocks .In one place between Battica loa and T rincoma lie I
found the natives making an ingenious use of them
when engaged in shooting water- fowl in the va st saltmarshes and muddy lakes . Being an object to whichthe birds are a ccustomed
,the Singha lese train the
buffalo to the sport, and, concea led behind, the anima lbrowsing listlessly along, they guide it by ropes atta chedto its horns, and thus creep undiscovered within shot of
the flock. T he same practice prevails, I believe, insome of the northern parts of India , where they are
similarly trained to a ssist the sportsman in approa chingdeer. One of these “ sporting buffaloes
” sells for a
considerable sum .
’
In the thick forests which cover the Passdun Corle,to the ea st and south of Ca ltura , the natives use the
sporting buffa lo in another way, to a ssist in huntingdeer and wild hogs. A bell is atta ched to its neck, and
E 4
56 MAMMALIA. [CHAP . I .
a box or basket with one side open is securely strappedon its back. T his at nightfa ll is lighted by flambeauxof wax, and the buffa lo bea ring it, is driven slowly intothe jungle . T he huntsmen, with their fowling pieces,keep close under the darkened side, and a s it movesslowly onwa rds
, the wild animals, startled by the sound,and bewildered by the light, stea l cautiously towa rdsit in stupified fascination . Even the snakes, I am as
sured, will be attracted by this extra ordinary object ; andthe leopard too fa lls a victim to curiosity.
T here is a peculiarity in the formation of the buffa lo’s
foot, which, though it must have attracted a ttention,I have never seen mentioned by natura lists . I t is
equivalent to the a rrangement which distinguishes the
foot of the reindeer from that of the stag and the ante
lope. In the latter, the hoofs, being constructed forlightness and flight, are compa ct and vertica l ; but, inthe reindeer, the j oints of the tarsal bones admit of
lateral expansion, and the front hoofs curve upwards,while the two secondary ones behind (which are butslightly developed in the fa llow deer and others of thesame family) are prolonged vertica lly till, in certa in
positions, they a re capable of being applied to the
ground, thus adding to the circumference and sustaining power of the foot. I t has been usually suggesteda s the probable design of this structure, that it is toenable the reindeer to shovel away the snow in orderto reach the lichens beneath it ; but I apprehend thatanother use of it has been overlooked, that of fa cilitatingits m ovements in search of food by increa sing the difliculty of its sinking in the snow.
A formation precisely analogous in the buflalo seemsto point to a corresponding design. T he ox, whose life,
5s MAMMALIA. [CH AP . I .
ria ls of his long captivity, is the small“ musk deer
so called in India , a lthough neither sex is provided witha musk-bag. T he Europeans in Ceylon know it by thename of the moose deer and in all probability the
terms mu sk and m oose are both corruptions of the
Dutch word “ muis,” or “ mouse ” deer, a name par
ticularly applicable to the timid and crouching attitudes
MOOSE “ DEER MOSCH US MEM INNA )
and aspect of this beautiful little creature . I ts extremelength never rea ches two feet ; and of those which weredomesticated about my hous e, few exceeded ten inchesin height, their gra ceful limbs being of proportionatedel ica cy. It possesses long and extremely large tusks,with which it can inflict a severe bite . T he interpreter
moodliar of Negombo had a mills white meminna in1847, which he designed to send home as an a cceptable
1 Moschus meminna .
1 CE YLON E LK . 59
present to H er Majesty,but it wa s unfortunately killed
by an a ccident. 1
Ceylon E lle. —In the mountains, the Ceylon elk 2,
which reminds one of the red deer of Scotland, attainsthe height of four or five feet ; it abounds in a ll shady
pla ces that are intersected by rivers ; where, though itscha se affords an endless resource to the sportsman, itsvenison scarcely equals in quality the inferior beef of thelowland ox. In the glades and park-e Openings thatdiversify the great forests of the interior, the spottedAxis troops in herds a s numerous a s the fa llow deer inEngland ; but, in j ourneys through the jungle, .whenOften dependent on the guns of our party for the precarious supply of the table, we found the flesh of the
Axis"and the Muntja c 4 a sorry substitute for that of the
pea- fowl
,the jungle- cock, and flamingo . T he occurrence
of a lbinos is very frequent in troops of the axis . Deer’shorns are an a rticle of export from Cey lon, and consider
able quantities are annually sent to the United Kingdom .
VI I . PACHYDERMATA. TheE lephant— T he elephant
and the wild boar, the Singha lese waloora ,” 5
are the
only representa tives of the p a chyderma tous order. T he
latter, which differs somewhat from the wild boar of
1When the English took posses s
sion of Kandy, in 1803, they found
fi ve beautiful milk -white deer in
the palace, which was noted as a
very extraordinary thing.— L et
ter in Appendix to PERCIVAL’
S
Ceylon, p . 428 . T he writer does
not s ay of what species they were.
2 Bus a Aristotelis . Dr . GRAYhas lately shown that this is the
great axis of Cuvier. 0 33 . F oss .
502, t . 39 , f. 10 . T he Singhalese,
on following the elk, frequentlyeffect their approaches by so im i
tating the call of the anim al as to
induce them to respond. An in
stance occurred during my resi
dence in Ceylon, in whi ch two
natives, whose mimicry had mu
tua lly deceived them , crept so close
together in the jungle that one shotthe other, supposing the cry to
proceed from the game.
3 Axis ma cul ata, H . Smith.
4 Stylocerus muntjac, H orsf .
5 Mr. BLYT H of Ca lcutta has
distinguished, from the hog, com
mon in India,a specimen sent to
him from Ceylon, the skull of which
approa ches in form ,that of a spe
cies from Borneo,the sus barba tus of
S . Muller.
60 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . I .
India, is found in droves in a ll pa rts of the island where
vegetation and water are abundant.
T he elephant, the lord paramount of the Ceylon
forests, is to be m et with in every district, on the
confines of the woods, in the depths of which he findsconcea lment and shade during the hours when the
sun is high, and from which he emerges only a t twi
light to wend his way towards the rivers and tanks,where he luxuriates till dawn, when he again seeks theretirement of the deep forests. T his noble animal fillsso dignified a pla ce both in the z oology and oeconomy of
Ceylon, and his habits in a state of nature have been somuch misunderstood, that I shall devote a separatesection to his defence from misrepresenta tion, and to an
exposition of what, from observation and experience,I believe to be his genuine chara cter when free in
his native domains. But this seems the proper placeto allude to a recent discovery in connexion withthe elephant, which strikingly confirms a conjecturewhich I ventured to make elsewhere 1
, relative to theisolation of Ceylon, and its distinctness, in many re
markable pa rticulars, from the great continent of India .
Every writer who previously treated of the island, including the a ccomplished Dr. Davy and the erudite La ssen,was contented, by a glance at its outline and a referenceto its position on the m ap, to a ssume that Ceylon was afragment, which in a very remote age had been torn fromthe adja cent mainland, by some convulsion of nature.
H ence it wa s taken for granted that the vegetationwhich covers and the ra ces of animals which inhabit it,must be identical with those of H industan ; to which
1 Ceylon, 5571 , by Sir J . EMERSON T ENNENT, vol . i. pp . 7, 13, 85, 160 ,
183,n. ,
205, 270, &c.
CH AP. I .] ZOOLOGY OF CEYLON AND INDIA. 61
Ceylon was a lleged to bear the same relation a s Sicily
presents to the peninsula of I ta ly. MALTE BRUN 1and
the geographers generally, declared the larger animalsof either to be common to both . I was led to questionthe soundness of this dictum — and from a closer ex
amination of its geologica l conformation and of its bo
tanical and z oologica l chara cteristics I came to the conelusion that not only is there an absence of samenessbetween the formations of the two localities ; but that
plants and animals, mammals, birds, reptiles, and insectsexist in Ceylon, which are not to b e found in the floraand fauna of the Dekkan ; but which present a strikingaflinity, and occa sionally an a ctual identity, with thoseof the Malayan countries and some of the islands of theEa stern Archipelago . Startling as this conclusion ap
peared to be, it was strangely in unison with the legendsof the Singhalese themselves, tha t at an infinitely remote
period Ceylon formed an integra l portion of a va st continent, known in the mythical epics of the Brahmans bythe designation of “Lanha ;
” so immense that its south
ern extremity fell below the equator, whilst in breadthit was prolonged till its western and ea stern boundariestouch a t once upon the shores of Africa and China .
Dim as is this ancient tradition, it is in consistency withthe conclusions of modern geology, that at the comm encement of the tertiary period northern Asia and a
considerable part of India were in all probability coveredby the sea — but that south of India land extendedea stward andwestward connecting Malacca with Arabia .
PROFESSOR ANSTED has propounded this view. H is
62 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . I .
come elevated into mountain ranges, — a change whichtook place during the same revolution tha t raised thegreat plains of Siberia and T artary and many parts of
north-western Europe . At the same time the grea tcontinent whose position between the tropics has been
a lluded to, and whose previous existence is still in
dicated by the Cora l islands, the Laccadives, theMa l
dives, and the Chagos group, underwent simultaneousdepression by a counteracting movement. 1
But divested of orienta l mystery and geologic con
jecture, and brought to the test of “ geographica l distribution,
” this once prodigious continent would appearto have connected the distant I slands of Ceylon and
Sumatra and possibly to have united both to the Ma lay
peninsula , from which the latter is now severed by theStraits of Mala cca . T he proofs of physica l affinity b etween these scattered loca lities are exceedingly curious .A striking dissimilarity presents itself between some
of the Mamma lia of Ceylon and those of the continentof India . In its general outline and feature
,this branch
of the island fauna , no doubt, exhibits a genera l resemblance to that of the mainland, a lthough many of the
larger anima ls of the latter are unknown in Ceylonbut
,on the other hand, some species discovered there
are peculiar to the island. A deer? as large a s the
Axis, but differing from it in the number and arrangement of its spots, has been described by Dr. Kela
art , to whose vigilance the natura l history of Ceylon isindebted, amongst others, for the identification of two
new species of monkeys3, a number of curious shrews4,
1 The Ancient World,by D. T .
3 Presbytes ursinus,Blyth, and
AN ST ED, M.A.,& c . , pp . 322— 324 , P. T hersites, Elliot.
2 Cervus oriz us, KELAART , Prod.
4 Sorex montanus,S . ferrugineus ,
F . Zeyl. , p, 83 . and F eroculus macropus.
CH AP. L ] ZOOLOGY OF OEYL'
ON AND INDIA. 63
and an orange- col oured ichneumon 1, befor’
e’
unknown.
T here are also two squirrels 2 that have not as yet
been dis covered elsewhere, (one of them belonging tothose equipped with a para chute
3,) a s well as some local
varieties of the palm squirrel“
(Sciurus penicillatus;Lea ch).
4
But the Ceylon Mammal ia , besides wanting a numberof minor anima ls found in the Indian peninsula , canno tboa st such a ruminant as the m ajestic Gaur5, whichinhabits the great forests from Cape Comorin to theH imalaya ; and, providentia lly, the island is equally freeof the formidable tiger and the ferocious wolf of H in
dustan . T he H yena and Cheetah“, common in SouthernIndia , are unknown in Ceylon ; and though abundantin deer, the island possesses no example of the Antelopeor the Gaz elle .
Amongst the Birds of Ceylon, the same abnormity isapparent. About thirty- eight species will be presently
particularised7, which, a lthough some of them m ay b ere a
after be discovered to have a wider geographica l range,are at present believed to b e unkn own in continentalIndia . I might further extend this enumeration
,by in
cluding the Cheela eagle of Ceylon, which, although Ihave pla ced it in my list as identical with the H ema tornis
cheeta of the Dekkan, is, I have since been as sured, adifferent bird, and is most probably the Fa lco bido of
1 H erpestes fulvescens , KELA Ceylon. Dr. T EMPLET ON has no
ART ,Prod. F aun. Zeylan . , App . p . 42. ticed a little shrew (Corsira pur
2 Sciurus T ennentii, Layard. purascens , May . .Na t. H ist. 1855,3 Sciuropterus Layardi, Kela art. p . 238) at Neuera -ellia , not a s yet4 T here is a rat found only in the observed elsewhere .
Cinnamon Gardens at Colombo, 5 Bos cavifrons, H odgs ; B. fron
Mus Ceylonus , Kela art ; and a talis,L amb.
mouse which Dr . Kelaart disco 6 F eliS jubata, Schreb.
vered at T rincomalie, M. fulvidi 7 See Chapter on the Birds of
ventris , Blyth, both peculiar to Ceylon.
64 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. I .
H orsfield, known to us by specimens obtained from Javaand Sumatra .
As to the Fishes of Ceylon, they are of course less distinct ; and besides they have hitherto been very imper
fectly compared. But the Insects afford a remarkable confirmation of the view I have ventured to propound ; somuch so that Mr. Wa lker, by whom the elaborate listsappended to this work have been prepared, a ssertsthat some of the families have a less aflinity to the en
tom ology of India than to that of Austra lia .
1
But more conclusive than a ll, is the discovery towhich I have a lluded, in relation to the elephant of
Ceylon. Down to a very recent period it was universally believed that only two species of the elephant arenow in existence, the African and the Asiatic ; distin
guished by certain peculiarities in the shape of the cra
nium, the siz e of the ears, the ridges of the teeth, the
number of vertebrae, and, a ccording to Cuvier, in the
number of na ils on the hind feet. T he elephant of
Ceylon wa s believed to be identica l with the elephantof India . But some few yea rs back, T EMMINOK, inhis survey of the Dutch possessions in the Indian Archipelago
2, announced the fa ct that the elephant which
abounds in Sumatra (a lthough unknown in the adjacentisland of Java), andwhich had theretofore been regardedas the same species with the Indian one, ha s been recentlyfound to possess peculiarities, in which it differs a s muchfrom the elephant of India , a s the latter from its Africancongener. On this new species of elephant, to which thenatives give the name ofga dja h, T EMMINCK has conferredthe scientific designation of the E lepha s Suma tyanns .
1 See Chapter on the Insects of Possessions Ne’
erlandaises dans
Ceylon . l’
Inde Archip e'
lagigue.
2 0 0 142 d’
G il Ge’
ne'
ral sur les
MAMMALIA.66 [CH AP . I .
PROFESSOR SCHLEGEL of Leyden, in a paper lately subm itted by him to the Royal Academy of Sciences of
H olland, (the substance of which he has obliginglycommunicated to m e, through Baron Bentinck the Netherlands Minister at this Court), has confirmed the
identity of the Ceylon elephant with that found in theLampongs of Sumatra . T he osteological comparison of
which T EMMINOK has given the results was, he says, conducted by himself with a ccess to four skeletons of thelatter. And the more recent opportunity of comparinga living Sumatran elephant with one from Bengal, ha sserved to establish other though minor points of divergence. T he Indian species is more robust and powerful ;the proboscis longer and more slender ; and the extre
mity, (a point, in which the elephant of Sumatra resem
bles that of Africa ,)is more flattened and provided withcoarser and longer hair than that of India .
PROFESSOR SCHLEGEL, adverting to the large exportof elephants from Ceylon to the Indian continent, whichhas been carried on from time immemorial
,suggests the
caution with which naturalists, in investigating thisquestion, should first satisfy themselves whether the ele
phants they examine are really natives of the mainland,
d’
Afrique, est d’
environ 12 cen et 15 fausses . L’
elepha s Indianstimetres , tandis que cette longueur a 7 vertebres da cou
,19 dorsales ,
n’
est que de 8 a 10 centimetres
dans l’
espece du continent de l’
Asie.
Les autres formes ostéologiques
sont a peu pres les memes dans les
trois especes ; mais 11y a difference
dans le nombre des 0 8 dont le
squelette se compose, ainsi que
le tableau comparatif ci-joint l’éprouve.
“ L’
elephas Af i ieanus a 7 verte
bres du cou ,21 vert. dorsales, 3
lombaires,4 sacrées, et 26 caudales ;
21 paires de cotes, dont 6 vraies,
3 lombaires , 5 sacrées , et 34 cau
dales, 19 paires de cOtes, dont 6
vraies, et 3 fausses . L’
elep has Sama ti ana s a 7 vertebres du cou
, 20dorsales
, 3 lombaires , 4 sacrées, et34 caudales ; 20 paires du cOtes,dont 6 vraies
, et 14 fausses .
Ces caracteres ont été constatéssur trois squelettes de l ’espece nouvelle, unmale et une femelle adul teset un jeune male . Nous n
’
avons
pas encore été a meme de nous
procurer la dépouille de cette
espece.
CH AP . L ] ZOOLOGY OF CEYLON AND INDIA. 67
or whether they have been brought to it from the islands . 1
T he extraordinary fact, he observes in his letter to
me,
of the identity thus established between the ele
phants of Ceylon and Sumatra ; and the points in whichthey are found to differ from that of Bengal, leads to thequestion whether all the elephants of the Asiatic con
tinent belong to one single species ; or whether these va stregions m ay not produce in some quarter a s yet unex
plored the one hitherto found only in the two islandsreferred to I t is highly desirable that naturalists whohave the means and opportunity, should exert themselves to discover, whether any tra ces are to b e found
of the Ceylon elephant in the Dekkan ; or of that of
Sumatra in Cochin China or Siam .
”
T o m e the establishment of a fa ct so conclusivelyconfirmatory of the theory I had ventured to broac h, is
productive of great satisfaction . But it is not a little remarkable that the distinction should not long before havebeen discovered between the elephant of India and thatof Ceylon. Nor can it be regarded otherwise than as a
singular il lustration of geographical distribution thattwo remote islands should be thus shown to possess incommon a species unknown in any other quarter of theglobe . As bearing on the ancient myth which representsboth countries a s forming parts of a submerged continent,the discovery is curious— and it is equally interesting inconnection with the circumstance alluded to by Gibbon,that amongst the early geographers and even down to acomparatively modern date, Sumatra and Ceylon wereconfounded ; and grave doubts were entertained as to
1 A further inquiry suggests it case of elephants bred on the con
self,how far the intermixture of tinent of India
,from stock partially
the breed may have served to con imported from Ceylon ?found specifi c differences, in the
F 2
68 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. I .
which of the two wa s the T aprobane of antiquity .
GEMMA PEISIUS, SEBAST IAN MUNSTER, JULIUS SCALIGER,ORTELIUS and MEROATOR contended for the former ;SALMASIUS, BOCHART , CLUVERIUS, andVossius for Ceylonand the controversy did not cea se till it wa s terminatedby DELISLE about the beginning of the la st century.
VI II . CETACEA.—Whales are so frequently seen that
they have been captured within sight of Colombo, and
more than once their carca ses, a fter having been flinchedby the whalers, have floated on shore near the lighthouse, ta inting the atmosphere within the fort by theirrapid decomposition.
Of this family, one of the most remarkable animalson the coast is the dugong 1, a phytophagous cetacean,numbers of which are attra cted to the inlets, from the
b ay of Calpentyn to Adam’s Bridge, by the still waterand the abundance of marine algae in these parts of thegulf. One which was killed atManaa r and sent to m e toColombo 2 in 1847, mea sured upwards of seven feet inlength ; but specimens considerably la rger have beentaken at Ca lpentyn, and their flesh is represented a s
closely resembling veal .T he rude approa ch to the human outline, Observed in
the shape of the head of this creature,and the attitude
of the mother when suckling her young,cla sping it to
her brea st with one flipper, while swimming with the
other, holding the heads of both above water and whendisturbed, suddenly diving and displaying her fi sh- liketail, — these, together with her habitual demonstrationsof strong maternal affection, probably gave rise to thefable of the mermaid and thus that earliest invention
1 H a licore duyuny, F . Cuv. Museum of the Natural H istory2 T he skeleton is now in the Society of Belfast .
70 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. I .
and the annalist of the exploits of the Jesuits in India ,gravely records that seven of these monsters, ma le
and female, were captured at Manaar in 1560 , and
carried to Goa , where they were dissected by Dema sBosquez , physician to the Viceroy, and their interna l
structure found to be in all respects conformable to thehuman .
” 1
T he Dutch were no less inclined to the marvellous ,and they propagated the belief in the mermaid with
earnestness and particularity. VALENTYN, one of theirchaplains, in his a ccount of the Natura l H istory of Am
boina , embodied in his great work on the Netherlands’
Possessions in India, published so late as 1727
2,has de
voted the first section of his chapter on the Fishes of
that island to a minute description of the Zee-Men
schen,”Zee-Wyven,
”and mermaids. As to the dugong
he admits its resemblance to the mermaid, but repudiatesthe idea of its having given ri se to the fable, by beingmistaken for one. T his error he imagines must havearisen at a time when observations on such matters weremade with culpable laxity ; but now more recent and
minute attention has established the truth beyondcavil .For instance, he sta tes that in 1653, when a lieutenant
in the Dutch service was leading a pa rty of soldiersalong the sea - shore in Amboina
,he and a ll his company
saw the mermen swimming a t a short distance fromthe beach with long and flowing hair, of a colour b etween gray and green and six weeks afterwards, the
1 H is t. de la Comp agnie de Jesus, c an 0 nd en Nieuw Oost Indien,
quoted in the Asia t. J ourn. vol . 850 . 5 vol. fol . Dordrecht and Amxiv. p . 461 ; and in F ORBES
’
Orient. sterdam,MDCCXXVII . vol . iii. p .
Memoirs, vol . i. p . 421. 330 .
‘1 FRAN . VALENTYN ,
Beschryviny
CH AP. L ] THE DUGONG . 7 1
creatures were again seen by him and more than fiftywitnesses, at the same place, by clear daylight.
1
“ If any narrative in the world,”
adds VALENTYN,
deserves credit, it is this ; since not on ly one but two
mermen together were seen by so many eye-witnesses .
Should the stubborn world, however, hesitate to believeit, it matters nothing ; as there are people who wouldeven deny that such cities as Rome, Constantinopleor Cairo, exist, merely because they themselves havenot happened to see them .
”
But what are such incredulous persons, he continues,to make of the circumstance recorded by Albert H erport
in his a ccount of India 2, that a sea -man was seen in thewater near the Church of T aquan, on the morning of
the 29th of April 1661, and a m erm aid at the same spotthe same afternoon ? or what do they say to the factthat in 1714 , a mermaid was not only seen but capturednear the island of Booro five feetRhineland measurein height, which lived four days and seven hours, butrefusing all food, died without leaving any intelligiblea ccount of herself. ”
V alentyn, in support of his own faith in the mer
maid, cites numerous other instances in which bothsea -m en andwomen ” were seen and taken at Amboina ;
especially one by an office- bearer in the Church of
H olland3, by whom it was surrendered to the GovernorVanderstel.
Of this well- authenticated specimen he gives an
elaborate engraving amongst those of the authentic fis hesof the island— together with a minute ichthyologica l
1 VALENT YN,Besehryviny, do” Berne
,1669 .
vol . iii. p . 331 .
3 A “ krank-bez oeker or visit
Probably the I tinerarimn In ant of the sick .
dicwn of ALBRECH T H ERPORT
72 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . 1.
description of each satisfaction of men of
science.
T E E MERMA ID (From VAL EN T YN )
T he fame of this creature having reached Europe, theBritish Minister in H olland wrote to Valentyn on the28th December 1716, whilst the Emperor, Peter the
Great of Russia , wa s his guest at Amsterdam to commu
nicate the desire of the Cz ar, that the mermaid should bebrought home from Amboina for his Imperial inspection .
T o complete his proofs of the existence of mermen andwomen, Valentyn points triumphantly to the historica lfact, that in H olland in the yea r 1404 , a mermaid wasdriven during a tempest, through a breach in the dykeof Edam, and was taken a live in the lake of Purm er.T hence she was carried to H arlem, where the Dutchwomen taught her to spin ; and where, severa l years
after,’
she died in theRoman Catholic faith — “but this,”
74 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . I .
references to the'
most a ccurate descriptions, in the
admirable catalogue of the collection at the IndiaH ouse, published under the care of the late Dr . H orsfield. T his work cannot b e too highly extolled, notalone for the scrupulous fidelity with which the description of each species is referred to its first discoverer, butalso for the pains which have been taken to elaboratesynonymes and to collate from local periodica ls and
other sources, (little a ccessible to ordinary inquirers,)such incidents and traits as are calculated to illustratechara cteristics and habits .
QUADRUMANA .
Presbytescephalopterus s m .
ursmus , Bly thPriamus , E l liot 6} Blyth.
T hen-Sites , Blyth.
Macacus pileatus, Shaw <3Desm .
L ori s gracilis , Geof .
‘
CHE IR OPT ERA.
Pteropus Edwardsii, Geofi iEDENT ATA.
L eschenaultn,D am . Manis pentada ctyla , L inn .
Cynop terusmarginatus, H am .
Megaderrna spasma , L inn .PACH YDERMATA.
lyra Geofi ?Rh inolophus afi nis , H orsf . giipffilfgé
n
gfinus
’L 171”
H lppOSIdel‘
OS a 3!
murmus , E lliot .Zeylonzcus , Blyth.
speoris , E lliot .arm iger. H on RODENT IA. RUMINANT IA.
vulgaris, H or sf .
Kerivoula picta , Pall. Sciurus macrurus , Forst . Mo schus mem inna , Erxl .
T aphoz ous T ennenti i , L aya rd . Stylocerus m untj ac , H OT -Sf .longimanus , H a r . penic i llatus, L ea ch. Axi s ma culata
,H . Sm ith .
ScotOphilus Coromandel i tr111neatus , Wa ter/z . Rusa An sto teh s, Cuv.
cus , F . Cuv .
I
S)
cmropterus L ayardi, Kel.a dversus , H ors teromys petaurista , Pa ll .T emm ink ii, H o
frsf . Mus b andi cota , Bechst.
CETACEA '
T ickelli, Blyth. Kok , Gray . H alicore dugung, F . Cuv.
H eathii.
CARNI VORA.
Sorex coerulescens , Shaw.
ferrugineus, Kela a rt .serpentarius , I s .
montanus , Kela a rt .
F eroculus macropus , Kel .Ursus Iab iatus , Bla znv.
Lutra nair, F. Cuv .
Cam s aureus, L inn .
Viverra Indica , Geofi i, H od.
H erpestes v1tticoll ls , Benn .
griseus , Gm .
Sm ithn, Gray .
fulvescens, Kela a rt.
Paradoxurus typus , F .
Cuv.
Ceylonicus, Pa ll .
F ell s pardus , L inn .
chaus, Guldens .
v1verr1nus , Benn.
Mus rufescens , Gray .
nemoral is,Blyth.
Indi cus, G eofl?
fu lvndlventn s , Blyth.
Nesok i H a rdw icki i , Gray .
G o lunda Nenera , Kela a r t.E llio ti, Gray .
G erb il lus Indl cus , H a rdw.
Lepus nigricoll is, F . Cuv.
Hystrix leucurus, Sykes .
CHAP . I I .
THE ELEPHANT .
S tructure and F unctions .
DURING my residence at Kandy, I had twice the oppor
tunity of witnessing the operation on a grand sca le, ofcapturing wild elephants, intended to be trained for the
public service in the establishment of the Civil Engineer ;- and in the course of my frequent j ourneys through
the interior of the island, I succeeded in collecting somany fa cts relative to the habits of these interesting
animals in a sta te of nature, a s enable m e not onlyto add to the information previously possessed, butto correct many fallacies popularly received rega rdingtheir instincts and disposition . T hese particulars I am
anxious to place on record before proceeding to describethe scenes of which I wa s a spectator, during the progress of the elephant hunts in the district of the SevenKorles, at which I was present in 1846, and again in1847 .
With the exception of the narrow but densely inhabited belt of cultivated land, that extends along theseaborde of the island from Chilaw on the western coa stto T angalle on the south- east
,there is no part of Ceylon
76 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . II .
in which elephants may not be said to abound ; evenclose to the environs of the most populous loca lities ofthe interior. T hey frequent both the open plains andthe deep forests ; and their footsteps are to be seenwherever food and shade, vegetation and water 1, a llure
1 M. AD . PICT ET has availed
himself of the love of the elephant
for water, to found on it a solution
of the long- contested question as
to the etymology of the word
elephant ,— a term which, whils t
it has pa ssed into almost every dia
lect of the West , is scarcely to b e
traced in any language of Asia .
T he Greek éAe’
cpa s, to which we are
immedi ately indebted for it, did notoriginally mean the anim al, but, a s
early as the time of H omer, wa s
applied only to its tusks , and signifi ed ivory . BocEART has sought
for a Semitic origin, and seiz ing on
the Ar abic fi l, and prefixing the
article a l,suggests a lfil, akin to
e’
Aecp ; but rejecting this , BOCHAR Thim self resorts to the H ebrew elep h,
an“ox
” — and this conjecture derives a certain degree of counte
nance from the fa ct that the R0
mans,when they obtained their fir stsight of the elephant in the armyof Pyrrhus , in Lucania
,call ed it
the Inwa 60 8 . But the a ur as is
still unaccounted for ; and POT T
has sought to remove the diflicultyby introducing the Arabic hindi
,
Indian,thus making elep h
-hindi,hos Indicus . T he conversion of
hindi into a r ms is an obstacle, buthere the example of “ tam arind
”
comes to aid tamar hindi,the
“ Indian date, which in mediaeval
Greek forms r audpexm . A theoryof BRNABY, that e
’
Ae’
cpas might b e
compounded of the Arabic a l, and
ibha , a Sanskri t nam e for the ele
phant, is exposed to still greater
etymological exception . PIOT ET’
s
solution is , that in the Sanskrit
epics“ theKing of Elephants, who
ha s the dis tinction of carrying the
god Indra , is called airava ta or
a ira vana, a modification of a ira
y anta,
“son of the ocean
,
”
which
again comes from irava t,
“abound
ing in water.
”
Nous aurions
donc ainsi, comme corrélatif du
grec une ancienne forme.
dirdvanta ou dildyanta,affaiblie
plus tard en dirdva ta ou diravana .
On connait 1a predil ection
de l’
éléphant pour le voisinage des
fleuves , et son amour pour l’
eau,
dont l’
ab ondance est nécessaire ason bien-etre.
”T his Sanskrit
name,PIOTE T supposes , may have
been carried to the West by the
Phoenicians,who were the pur
veyors of ivory from India ; and.
from the Greek,the L atins derived
elephas , which passed into the
modern languages of I taly, Ger
many, and F rance. But it is
ous that the Spaniards a cquiredfrom the Moors their Arabic termfor ivory, marfi l, and the Portu
guese ma rfim ; and that the Scan
dinavians, probably from their
early expeditions to the Mediterra
nean, adoptedfi ll a s their name for
the elephant itself, and fi (mm for
ivory ; in Danish, fi ls hen. (See
J ourn . Asia t. 1843,t . xliii. p
T he Spaniards of South Am erica
call the palm whi ch produces the
vegetable ivory (Phytelep has nia
crocarp a)Pa lma de ena rfi l, and thenut itself
,ma rfi l c eyeta l.
Since the above wa s written
GooneratnéModliar, the Singhalese
Interpreter to the Suprem e Court
at Colombo, has supplied me with
78 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . I I .
have forced the anima ls to retire to the low country ,
where again they have been followed by large parties ofEuropean sportsmen ; and the Singha lese themselves, being more freely provided with arms than in former times,have a ssisted in swelling the annual slaughter . l
H ad the motive that incites to the destruction of the
elephant in Africa and India prevailed in Ceylon, that is,had the elephants there been provided with tusks, theywould long since have been annihilated for the sake of
their ivory.
2 But it is a curious fa ct that, whilst inAfrica and India both sexes have tusks3, with someslight disproportion in the siz e of those of the females ;not one elephant in a hundred is found with tusks inCeylon, and the few that possess them are exclusivelymales . Nearly a ll
, however, have those stunted processes called tushes, about ten or twelve inches inlength and one or two in diameter. T hese I have ob
served them to use in loosening earth, stripping off bark,
and snapping a sunder small branches and climbing
1 T he number of elephants has
been similarly reduced throughout
the south of India .
2 T he annual importation of
ivory into Great Britain alone, for
the la st few years , has been aboutone million pounds ; which,
takingthe average weight of a tusk at
sixty pounds , woul d require the
slaughter of m ale elephants .
But of this quantity the importation from Ceylon ha s generallyaveraged only five or six hundred
weight ; which, making allowance
for the lightness of the tusks , would
not involve the destruction of more
than seven or eight in each year.
At the same time, this does not
fairly represent the annual numberof tuskers shot in Ceylon,
not onlybecause a portion of the ivory finds
its way to China and to other
places , but because the chiefs and
Buddhist priests have a passion for
collecting tusks , and the finest andlargest are to b e found ornament
ing their temples and private
dwellings . T he Chinese profess
that for their exquisite carvings the
ivory of Ceylon excels all other,both in density of texture a nd in
delicacy of tint ; but in the Eu
rOpean market, the ivory of Africa ,
from its more di stinct grainingand other causes
, obtains a higher
price.
3 A writer in the India Sp ortingReview for October 1857 says , In
Malabar a tuskless male elephant
is rare ; I have seen but two.
” —p .
157.
CH AP . IL] THE ELEPHANT . 79
plants ; and hence tushes are seldom seen without a
groove worn into them near their extremities. 1
Amongst other surmises more ingenious than sound ,the general absence of tusks in the elephant of Ceylonhas been a ssociated with the profusion of rivers and
streams in the island ; whilst it has been thrown out a sa possibility that in Africa , where water is comparativelyscarce, the animal is equipped with these implements inorder to a ssist it in digging wells in the sand and in
raising the juicy roots of the mimosa s and succulent
plants for the sake of their moisture. In support of thishyp othesis, it has been observed, that whilst the tusksof the Ceylon species, which are never required for suchuses, are slender, gra ceful and curved
,seldom ex
ceeding fifty or sixty pounds’ weight, those of the
African elephant are straight and thick, weighing occasiona lly one hundred and fifty
, and even three hundred
pounds.2
1 T he old fallacy is still renewed,that the elephant sheds his tusks . which are never shed.
JEL I AN says he drops them once in 2 Notwithstandingthe inferiorityten years (lib . xiv. c. andPL INY in weight of the Ceylon tusks
,a s
repeats the story, adding that , compared with those of the ele
and become the “
permanent tusks ,
when dropped, the elephants hide
them under ground (lib . viii .)whence SHAW says , in his Zoology,“ they are frequently found in the
woods ,”
and exported from Africa
(vol . 1. p . and SirW. JAR
DINE in the Na turalis t’
s Inbra ry
(vol. ix. p. says,“the tusks
are shed about the twelfth or thirteenth year .
”
T his is erroneous
after losing the first pair, or, a s
they are call ed, the milk tusks ,”
which drop in consequence of theabsorption of their roots, when the
animal is extremely young, the
second pair acquireztheir full siz e,
phant of India , it would, I think ,b e precipitate to draw the inference
that the siz e of the former wa s
uniformly and naturally less than
that of the latter . T he truth,I
believe to b e, that if permitted togrow to maturity, the tusks of the
one woul d, in all probability, equalthose of the other ; but, so eager
is the search for ivory in Ceylon,
that a tusker, when once observedin a herd
,is followed up with such
vigil ant impatience, that he is al
most invariably shot before attain
ing his full growth. General DE
LIMA, when returning from the
ao MAMMALIA. [CH AP . 11.
But it is m anifestlyinconsistent with the idea that tuskswere given to the elephant to a ssist him in digging for
his food, to find that the females are less bountifullysupplied with them than themales, whilst the necessityfor their use extends equally to both sexes. T he same
a rgument serves to demonstrate the fa lla cy of the con
jecture, that the tusks of the elephant were given to
him a s weapons of offence, for if such were the ca se theva st maj ority in Ceylon, ma les a s well a s fema les, would
b e left helpless in presence of an a ssailant. But a lthough
in their conflicts with one another, those which are pro
vided with tusks may occa sionally push with themclumsily at their opponents ; it is a misapprehension toimagine that tusks are designed specia lly to serve
“ in
warding off the atta cks of the wily tiger and the furiousrhinoceros, often securing the victory by one blow which
transfixes the a ssailant to the earth .
” 1
governorship of the Portuguese set
tlements at Moz ambique, told me,
in 1848 , that he had been requestedto procure two tusks of the largest
siz e,and straightest possible shape,
whi ch were to b e formed into a
cross to surmount the high al tar of
the cathedral at Goa : he succeeded
in his commission,and sent two ,
one of which was 180 pounds , and
the other 170 pounds’
weight , with
the slightest possible curve . In a
periodical , entitled The F ri end,
published in Ceylon,it is stated in
the volume for 1837 that the officers
belonging to the ships Quorrah and
Al burhak, engaged in the Niger
Expedition, were shown by a na
tive king two tusks, each two feet
and a half in circumference at the
base, eight feet long, and weighingupwards of 200 pounds . (Vol . i.
p . BRODERIP, in his Zoo
logica l Recrea tions , p . 255, says a
tusk of 350 pounds’
weight was
sold at Am sterdam, but he dOes
not quote his authority.
1 Menageries , ya , published bythe Society for the Diffusion of
Useful Knowledge, vol . 1. p . 68“ T he Elephant,
”
ch. iii. I t will
b e seen that I have quoted re
peatedly from this volume,because
it is the most compendious and
careful compilation with which I
am a cquainted of the information
previous ly existing regarding the
elephant . T he author incorporates
no Specul ations of his own, but ha s
most diligently and agreeably ar
ranged all the facts collected byhis predecessors . T he story of
antipathy between the elephant
and rhinoceros is probablyborrowedfrom JEL IAN de Na t , lib . xvii. c .
44.
82 MAMMALIA, [CH AP. I I .
are recorded as having been caused by elephants, 15 bybuffaloes, 6 by crocodiles, 2 by boars, 1 by a bear, and
68 by serpents (the great maj ority of the la st cla ss ofsufferers being women and children, who had beenbitten during the night). Little more than three fatal
accidents occurring annually on the average of five years,is certainly a very small proportion in a population
estimated at a mil lion and a half, in an island aboundingwith elephants, with which, independently of ca sual
encounters, voluntary conflicts are daily stimulated by
the love of sport or the hope of gain . Were the ele
phants instinctively vicious or even highly irr itable intheir temperament, the destruction of human life under
the circumstances must have been infinitely greater. I t
must a lso be taken into a ccount, that some of the
accidents recorded m ay have occurred in the ruttingsea son, when elephants are subject to fits of temporaryfury, known in India by the term must, in Ceylonmudda , - a paroxysm which speedily pa sses away, butduring the fury of which it is dangerous even for themahout to approach those ordinarily the gentlest and
most familiar.But
,then, the elephant is said to
“entertain an
extraordinary dislike to all quadrupeds ; that dogsrunning near him produce annoyance ; that he is alarmed
if a hare start from her form ;”
and from Pliny toBuffon every naturalist has recorded its supposed aversionto swine .
1 T hese a lleged antipathies are in a greatdegree, if not entirely, imaginary. T he habits of theelephant are essentia lly harmless, its wants lead to norivalry with other animals, and the food to which it is
1 Menageries, ya ,
‘1The Elephant, ch. iii.
Cm . THE ELEPHANT . 83
most atta ched flourishes in such abundance that it is
obtained without an effort . In the quiet solitudes of
Ceylon, elephants m ay constantly be seen browsing
peacefully in the immediate vicinity of other animals ,and in close conta ct with them. I have seen groups ofdeer and wild buffaloes reclining in the sandy bed of a
river in the dry season, and elephants plucking thebranches close beside them. T hey show no impatiencein the company of the elk, the bear, and the wild hog ;and on the other hand, I have never discovered an
instance in which these animals have evin ced any
apprehension of elephants . T he elephant’s natura l
timidity, however, is such that it becomes a larmed on
the appearance in the jungle of any animal with which
it is not familiar. I t is said to be afraid of the horse ;but from my own experience, I should say it is the horsethat is alarmed at the a spect of the elephant. In the
same way, from some una ccountable impulse, the horse
has an antipathy to the camel, and evinces extreme
impatience,both of the sight and the smell of that animal. 1
When enraged, an elephant will not hesitate to chargea rider on horseback ; but it is against the m an, notagainst the horse, that his fury is directed ; and noinstance has been ever known of his wantonly assailing ‘
a horse. A horse, belonging to the late Maj or
1 This pecul iaritywas noticed by it is necessary to train and accustom
the ancients , and is recorded by to their presence in order to avoid
H erodotus : Kaunkou‘
lmros <poێ accidents . Mr. BRODERIPmentions ,e'ra t
,m l of»: dfléXGT a l 057 6 T ip: 286ml that
,
“when the precaution of such
a z’
rriis 6pe’
wu mir e r im68513711 (imppa u training has not been adopted, the
véuevos”
(H erod. ch. Cam els sudden and dangerous terror with
have long been bred by the Grand which a horse is seiz ed in comingDuk e of Tuscany, at his establish unexpectedly upon one of them is
ment near Pisa , and even there excessive.
”—Note-boolc of a Na tuthe same instinctive dislike to them ralis t
, ch. iv. p. 113.
is manifested by the horse, which
G 2
MAMMALIA. [CHAP. 11.84
Rogers1, had run away from his groom, and wa s foundsome considerable time afterwards gra z ing quietly with
a herd of elephants. In DE BRY’S splendid collection
of travels, however, there is included The voyage of a
Certa in Englishma n to Cambay in which the author
a sserts that at Agra , in the year 1607, b e'
wa s present at
a specta cle given by the Viceregent of the great Mogul,in the course of which he saw an elephant destroy twohorses, by seiz ing them in its trunk, and crushing themunder foot. 2 But the display wa s avowedly an artificia l
one, and the creature must have been cruelly tutored for
the occa sion.
Pigs are constantly to be seen feeding about thestables of the tame elephants, which manifest no re
pugnance to them . As to the smaller animals, the
elephant undoubtedly evinces uneasiness at the presenceof a dog, but this is referable to the same cause a s its
impatience of a horse, namely, that neither is habituallyseen by it in the forest ; but it would be idle to supposethat this feeling could amount to hostility against a
creature incapable of inflicting on it the slightest injury.
3
T he truth I apprehend to be that, when they meet, theimpudence and impertinences of the dog are offensive to
1 Major ROGERS was many yearsthe chief civil officer of Government
in the district of Oovah, where he
was killed by lightning, 1845.
Naviga tio DE BRY , Coll. , 92a , vol .
iii. ch. xv1. p . 31.
2 T o account for the impatience
manifested by the elephant at the2 Quidam etiam cum equis sil
vestribus pugnant . Saepe unus ele
phas cum sex equis comm ittitur ;atque ipse adeo interfui cum unus
elephas duos equos cum prim 0impetu protinus prosternerit ;injecta enim jugulis ipsorum longaproboscide, ad se protractos, denti
bus porro comminuit ac protrivit .”
presence of a dog, it has been sug
gested that he is alarmed lest the
latter should attack his feet, a portion of his body of which the ele
phant is peculiarly careful . A
tame elephant has been observedto regard with indifference a spear
directed towards his head, but to
shrink timidly from the same wea
Angli Cuj usdam in Cambayam pon when pointed at his foot.
86 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. 11.
which such comparatively puny creatures entertain of
one so powerful and yet so gentle.
Amongst elephants themselves, jealousy and othercauses of irritation frequently occasion contentionsbetween individuals of the same herd ; but on such oc
ca sions it is their habit to strike with their trunks, andto bear down their opponents with their heads. I t is
doubtless correct that an elephant, when prostrated by
the force and fury of an antagonist of its own Species, isoften wounded by the downward pressure of the tusks,which in any other position it would be almost impossible to use offensively.
1
Mr. Mercer, who in 1846 was the principal civilofficer of Government at Badulla, sent me a jaggedfragment of an elephant
’s tusk, about five inches indiameter, and weighing between twenty and thirty
pounds, which had been brought to him by some natives,who
,being attracted by a noise in the jungle, witnessed
a combat between a tusker and one without tusks,and
saw the latter with his trunk seiz e one of the tusks ofhis antagonist and wrench from it the portion in question
,which mea sured two feet in length .
H ere the trunk was shown to be the more powerfuloffensive weapon of the two ; but I apprehend that thechief reliance of the elephant for defence is on its ponderous weight, the pressure of its foot being suflicient
to crush any minor a ssailant after being prostrated bymeans of its trunk. Besides, in using its feet for this
purpose, it derives a wonderful fa cility from the peculiar
formation of the knee-j oint in the hind leg, which, en
1 A writer in the India Sp orting there was a large hole in the side,Review for October 1857 says a and the abdomen was ripped Open.
male elephant was killed by two T he latter wound was given pro
others close to his camp :“ the bably after it had fallen.
” —P.
head was completely smashed in ; 175.
CHAP. IL ] THE ELEPHANT . 37
abling it to swing the hind feet forward close to the
ground, a ssists it to toss the body alternately from footto foot, till deprived of life.
1
A sportsman who had partially undergone this operation, having been seiz ed by a wounded elephant butrescued from its fury, described to me his sufferings as
he was thus flung back and forward between the hind
and fore feet of the animal, which ineffectually at
tempted to trample him a t each concussion, and aban
doned him without inflicting serious inj ury.
KNOX, in describing the execution of criminals by thestate elephants of the former kings of Kandy, says,
“theywill run their teeth (tusks)through the body, andthen tea rit in pieces and throw it limb from limb but a Kandyanchief, who was witness to such scenes, ha s a ssured
me that the elephant never once applied its tusks,
but, placing its foot on the prostrate victim, plucked
ofl'
his limbs in succession by a sudden movement of
the trunk. I f the tusks were designed to be employedoffensively, some a lertness would natura lly be exhibited
in using them ; but in numerous instances where sports
men have fa llen into the power of a wounded elephant,they have escaped through the failure of the enraged
animal to strike themwith its tusks, even when stretchedupon the ground.
2
1 In the T hird Book Of Macca (r ind/cw sis 658711! 311 7 5mm Ita l woo l
bees, which is not printed in our Snpiwy y‘
moue’
uovs . 3 Mac . v.
Apocrypha , but appears in the se JEL IAN makes the remark, that
ries in the Greek Septuagint, the elephants on such occasions use
author, in describing the persecu their knees as well as their feet to
tion of the J ews by Ptolemy Phi crush their victims — H is t Anim.
lopater, B . c . 210 , states that the viii . 10 .
king swore vehemently that he 2 T he H a stisilp e, a Singhalese
woul d send them into the other work which treats of the “ Science
world,“ foully trampled to death of Elephants,
”
enum erates amongst
by the knees and feet of elephants those which it is not desirable to
G 4
8 8 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. IL '
Placed as the elephant is in Ceylon, in the midst of
the most luxuriant profusion of its favourite food, in
close proximity at all times to abundant supplies ofwater,and with no enemies against whom to protect itself, it
is difficult to conjecture any probable utility which itcould derive from such appendages. T heir absence isunaccompanied by any inconvenience to the individuals
in whom they are wanting ; and as regards the few who
possess them,the only operations in which I am aware
of their tusks being employed in relation to the oeconomyof the anima l, is to a ssist in ripping open the stem of
the jaggery palms and young palmyra s to extra ct thefarinaceous core ; and in splitting the juicy shaft of the
plantain. Whilst the tuskless elephant crushes the lat
ter under foot, thereby soiling it and wa sting its moisture the other, by Opening it with the point of his tusk,
performs the Operation with delica cy and apparent ease.
T hese, however, are trivial and almost accidental ad
vantages : on the other hand, owing to irregularities in.
their growth, the tusks are sometimes an impediment in.
feeding1 and in more than one instance in the Government studs, tusks which had so grown as to approachand
.
cross one another at the extremities, have had to beremoved by the saw ; the contraction of space betweenthem so impeding the free a ction of the trunk as to prevent the animal from conveying branches to its mouth.
2
possess ,“ the elephant which will as before. In the Museum of the
fight with a stone or a stick in his College of Surgeons , London, theretrunk .
”is a specimen, No . 2757, of a sp ira
1 Amongothereccentric forms , an tusk .
elephant was seen in 1844 , in the 2 Since the foregoing remarks
district of Bintenne, near F riar’
s were written relative to the unde
H oodMountain, one ofwhose tusks fined use of tusks to the elephant,was so bent that it took what I have seen a speculation on thesailors term a
“round turn,
”and same subject in Dr. H OLLAND
’
S
then resumed its curved direction “ Cons titution of the Anima l Crea
90 MAMMALIA. [CHAP . II .
ourselves. My horse hesita ted : the elephant observed
it, and impatiently thrust himself deeper into the jungle,repeating his cry of um ph! but in a voice evidentlymeant to encourage us to advance. Still the horse trembled ; and anxious to observe the instinct of the twosagacious anima ls, I forbore any interference : again the
elephant of his own accord wedged himself further in
amongst the trees, and manifested some impatience that
we did not pa ss him . At length the horsemoved forwardand when we were fairly pa st, I saw the wise creaturestoop and take up its heavy burthen, trim and balanceit on its tusks, and resume its route a s before
,hoarsely
snorting its discontented remonstrance .
Between the African elephant and that of Ceylon,with the exception of the striking peculiarity of the
infrequency of tusks in the latter, the distinctions areless apparent to a ca sual observer than to a scientificnaturalist. In the Ceylon species the forehead is higherand more hollow,
the ears are smaller, and, in a sectionof the teeth, the grinding ridges, instead of beingloz enge- shaped, are transverse bars of uniform breadth .
T he Indian elephant is stated by Cuvier to have fournails on the hind foot, the African variety havingonly three : but amongst the perfections of a high- bredelephant of Ceylon, is a lways enumerated the possessionof twenty nails, whilst those of a secondary cla ss havebut eighteen in all. 1
So conversant are the natives with the structure and
points of the elephant, that they divide them readilyinto ca stes, and describe with particularity their distinctive excellences and defects. In the H a stisilp e, a
See Chapter onMammalia, p. 60 .
CHAP. I I .] THE ELEPHANT . 91
Singha lese work which treats of their management, themarks of inferior breeding are said to be eyes restless
like those of a crow, the hair of the head of mixed
shades ; the fac e wrinkled ; the tongue curved and
b lack ; the nails short and green ; the ears sma ll ; theneck thin, the skin freckled ; the tail without a tuft,and the fore- quarter lean and low whil st the perfection of form and beauty is supposed to consist in the
softness of the skin, the red colour of the mouth and
tongue, the forehead expanded and hollow, the ears broadand rectangul ar, the trunk broad at the root and
blotched with pink in front ; the eyes bright and kindly,the cheeks large, the neck full, the back level, the chestsquare, the fore legs short and convex in front, the hindqua rter plump, and five nails on ea ch foot
, a ll smooth,
polished, and round.
1 An elephant with these perfections
,
” says the author of the H a stisilp c, will impartglory and magnificence to the king ; but he cannot bediscovered amongst thousands, yea, there shall never b efound an elephant clothed at once with a ll the excellences herein described .
”T he points
”of an elephant
are to be studied with the greatest advantage in thoseatta ched to the temples, which are always of the
highest ca ste, and exhibit the most perfect breeding.
T he colour of the animal’s skin in a state of nature isgenera lly of a lighter brown than that of those in cap
tivity a distinction which a rises, in a ll probability, notso much from the wild animal’s propensity to cover itselfwith mud and dust
,a s from the superior care which is
taken in repeatedly bathing the tame ones, and in rub
1 A native of rank informed me, phant will sometimes touch the
that the tail of a high-caste ele ground, but such are very rare.
92 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. II .
bing their skins with a soft stone, a lump of burnt clay,or the coarse husk of a coco-nut. T his kind of a t
tention,together with the occa sional application of oil,
gives rise to the deeper bla ck which the hides of the
latter present.Amongst the native Singhalese, however, a singular
preference is evinced for elephants that exhibit thoseflesh- coloured blotches which occa sionally mottle the skinof an elephant, chiefly about the head and extremities:T he front of the trunk, the tips of the ears, the forehead,and occa sionally the legs, are thus diversified with sta lns
of a yellowish tint, inclining to pink . T hese are notnatural ; nor are they hereditary, for they are seldomexhibited by the younger individuals in a herd
,but ap
pear to be the result of some eruptive affection, the irritation of which has induced the animal in its unea sinessto rub itself against the rough bark of trees, and thus todestroy the outer cuticle.
l
T o a European these spots appear blemishes, and theta ste that leads the natives to admire them is probably
akin to the feeling that has at all times rendered a whiteelephant an object of wonder to Asiatics . T he rarityof the latter is a ccounted for by regarding this peculiar
appearance as the result of albinism ; and notwithstanding the exaggeration of Orienta l historians, who comparethe fairness of such creatures to the whiteness of snow
,
even in its utmost perfection, I apprehend that the tintof a white elephant is little else than a flesh- colour
,
rendered somewhat more conspicuous by the blanchingof the skin, and the lightness of the colourless hairs by
1 T his is confirmed by the fact of those which have been captured
that the scar of the ancle wound, by noosing, presents precisely the
occasioned by the rope on the legs same tint in the healed parts.
94 MAMMALIA. [CH AP.
CHAP. I II .
THE ELEPHANT .
H a bits when W'
a
'
lcl .
ALTHOUGH found generally in warm and sunny climates,it is a mistake to suppose that the elephant is partialeither to heat or to light. In Ceylon, the mountain tops,and not the sultry valleys, are its favourite resort. In
Oovah, where the elevated pla ins are often crisp withthe morning frost, and on Pedura - talla -galla
,at the
height of upwards of eight thousand feet, they are
found in herds, whilst the hunter m ay sea rch for themwithout success in the hot jungles of the low country.
No altitude, in fact, seems too lofty or too chill for theelephant, provided it affords the luxury of water inabundance ; and, contrary to the general op1nion that
the elephant delights in sunshine, it seems at all timesimpatient of glare, and spends the day in the thickestdepth of the forests, devoting the night to excursions
,
and to the luxury of the bath, in which it a lso indulges
occas10nally by day. T his partia lity for shade is doubt
less a scribable to the animal’s love of coolness and solitude ; but it is not a ltogether unconnected with the
position of the eye, and the circumscribed use which its
peculiar mode of life permits it to make of the faculty
of sight.
THE ELEPHANT . 95CHAP. II I ]
All the elephant hunters and natives to whom I havespoken on the subject, concur in Opinion that its range
of vision is circumscribed, and that it relies more on its
ear and sense of smell than on its sight, which is liableto b e obstructed by dense foliage ; besides which, from
the formation of its short neck, the elephant is incapable
of directing the range of the eye much above the level
of the head.
1
T he elephant’s small range of vision is sufficient to
a ccount for its excessive caution, its a larm at unusualnoises, and the timidity and panic exhibited at trivial
After writing the above, I was found a remarkable verification of
permitted by the late Dr. HARRI the information which I collected
SON,of Dublin, to see some accurate
drawings of the brain of an ele
phant, which he had the opportu
nity of dissecting in 1847 and on
looking to that of the base, I have
The olfactory lobes,from which
the olfa ctory nerves proceed, are
large, whil st the op tic andmuscula r
nerves of the orbit are singularlysma ll for so vast an animal ; and
in Ceylon.
T he small figure A is the gan
glion of the fifth nerve, showingthe small motor and large sensitive
portion.
Olfac tory lobes large.
Optic nerve smalL
T hird pair smal l .Fourth pair sm allT he two porti ons of the fifth pair , the sensiti ve porti on very large, for the proboscis .
ixth pair sm al l .eventh pair portio dura, or moto r, verylarge for prob oscis .
which supplies the proboscis withits exquisite sensibility, as well as
by the great siz e of the motor por
tion of the seventh, which supplies
the same organ with its power ofone is immediately struck by the movement and action.
prodigious siz e of the fifth nerve,
96 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. II I .
objects and incidents which, imperfectly discerned, excitesuspicions for its safety.
1 In 184 1 an ofiicer 2 wa s chasedby an elephant that he had slightly wounded . Seiz inghim near the dry bed of a river, the animal had its forefoot already raised t-o crush him ; but its forehead beingcaught at the instant by the tendrils of a climbing plantwhich had suspended itself from the branches above, itsuddenly turned and fled ; leaving him badly hurt, butwith no limb broken. I have heard similar instances,equa lly well attested, of this peculiarity in the ele
phantOn the other hand, the power of smell is so remark
able as almost to compensate for the deficiency of sight.A herd is not only apprised of the approach of dan
ger by this means, but when scattered in the forest, anddispersed out of range of sight, they are enabled by itto reassemble with rapidity and adopt precautions fortheir common safety. T he same necessity is m et by a
delicate sense of hearing, and the use of a variety ofnoises or calls
,by mean s 0 1 which elephants succeed in
communicating with each other upon a ll emergencies.“ T he sounds which they utter have been described bythe African hunters a s of three kinds : the first
,which is
very shrill, produced by blowing through the trunk, isindicative of plea sure ; the second, produced by the
mouth, is expressive of want ; and the third, proceedingfrom the throat, is a terrific roar of anger or revenge.
”
T hese words convey but an imperfect idea of the va rietyof noises made by the elephant in Ceylon ; and the
shrill cry produced by blowing through his trunk, so far
Menageries, gm,“ The Ele found in the Ceylon Miscellany for
phant ,”
p . 27. 1842, vol. i. p. 221.2 MajorROGERS . An account of Menageries , g
row
“ The Elethis singular adventure will be phant,
”
ch. iii. p. 68.
9s MAMMALIA. [CH AP. III .
cooper hammering a cask ; and Major SKINNER is of
opinion that it must be produced by the elephant striking his sides rapidly and forcibly with his trunk. Mr.
CRIPPs informs m e that he has more than once seen an
elephant, when surprised or a larmed, produce this soundby striking the ground forcibly with the flat side of
the trunk ; and this movement wa s instantly succeededby raising it aga in, and pointing it in the directionwhence the a larm proceeded, a s if to a scertain by thesense of smell the nature of the threatened danger.As this strange sound is genera lly mingled with the bel
lowing and ordinary trumpeting of the herd, it is in a ll
probability a device resorted to, not a lone for wa rningtheir companions of some approaching peril, but a lsofor the additional purpose of terrifying unseen in
truders .
l
Elephants are subject to deafness ; and the Singhaleseregard a s the most formidable of all wild animals
,a
rogue ” 2afflicted with this infirmity.
Extravagant estimates are recorded of the height of
the elephant. In an age when popula r fa lla cies in re
lation to him were a s yet uncorrected in Europe by thea ctual inspection of the living animal, he wa s supposedto grow to the height of twelve or fifteen feet. Even
within the la st century in popular works on natural history, the elephant, when full grown, wa s said to mea surefrom seventeen to twenty feet from the
.
ground to theshoulder. 3 At a still la ter period, so imperfectly had
PALLEGOIX,in his Descrip tion 51. celui du cor.
— T om . i. p . 151.
da Royaume Tha i ou Siam,adverts 2 F or an explanation of the term
to a sound produced by the ele rogue”
a s applied to an elephant ,
phant when weary :“ quand il est see p . 115.
fatigue, il frapp e la terre avec sa3 Na tura l H is tory of Anima ls .
trompe, et en tire un son semblable By Sir JOHN H IL L,M.D. London,
CH AP. II I . ] T HE ELEPHANT . 99
the fa cts been collated, that the elephant of Ceylon wa sbelieved to excel that of Africa in siz e and strength .
” 1
But so far from equa lling the siz e of the African species,that ofCeylon seldom exceeds the height of nine feet ; even
in the H ambangtotte country, where the hunters agree
that the la rgest specimens are to be found, the tallest of
ordinary herds do not average more than eight feet .
WOLF , in his a ccount of the Ceylon elephant2, says he
saw one taken near J afi h a , which mea sured twelve feetand one inch high . But the truth is
,that the genera l
bulk of the elephant so far exceeds that of the ani
mals which we are a ccustomed to see daily, that the ima
gination magnifies its unusua l dimensions ; and I have
seldom or ever m et with an inexperienced spectator whodid not unconsciously over- estimate the siz e of an ele
phant shown to him ,whether in captivity or in a state
of nature . Maj or DENHAM would have guessed somewhich he saw in Africa to b e sixteen feet in height, but
1748 - 52, p . 565. A probable source
of these false estimates is men
tioned by a writer in the Indian
Sp orting Review for Oct . 1857.
“ Elephants were m easured for
merly, and even now,by natives ,
as to their height, by throwing a
rope over them ,the ends brought
to the ground on each side, and
half the length taken a s the true
height . H ence the origin of ele
phants fifteen and sixteen feet
high. A rod held at right angles
to the mea suring rod, and para llel
to the ground, will rarely give
more than ten feet, the majoritybeing under nine.
” —P. 159 .
SHAW’S Zoology. Lond. 1806 .
vol . i. p . 216 ; ARMANDI,H ist.
Mi lit. oles Ele'
phans , liv. i. ch. i.
p . 2 .
2 WoLF’
s L ife and Adventures,
4m, p. 164 . Wolf wa s a native of
Mecklenburg, who arrived inCeylonabout 1750 , a s chaplain in one of
the DutchEa st Indiamen,and hav
ing been taken into the government
employment , he served for twenty
years at J affna, fir st a s Secretary
to the Governor, and afterwards in
an office the duties of which he
describes to be the examination
and signature of the “ writings
which served to commence a suit
in any of the Courts of justice .
”
H is book embodl es a truthful and
generally a ccurate account of the
northern portion of the island,with which a lone he was conver
sant, and his narrative gives a
curious insight into the policy of
the Dutch Government , and of the
condition of the natives under their
dominion.
H 2
mo MAMMALIA. [CH AP. III .
the largest when killed was found to measure nine feet
six, from the foot to the hip- bone .
l
For a creature of such extraordinary weight it is a stonishing how noiselessly and stea lthily the elephant can
escape from a pursuer . When suddenly disturbed
in the jungle, it will burst away with a rush that seemsto bea r down all before it ; but the noise sinks into
absolute stillness so suddenly, that a novice might well
b e led to suppose that the fugitive had only halted within
a few ya rds of him , when further search will disclosethat it has
”
stolen silently away, making scarcely a
sound in its escape and, stranger still, leaving the
foliage almost undisturbed by its passage .
T he most venerable delusion respecting the elephant,and that which held its ground with unequalled tena city,is the ancient fallacy which is explained by SIR T H OMASBROWNE in his Pseudodoxia Ep idemica , that
“ it hath no
joynts and this absurdity is seconded by another, thatbeing unable to lye downe it sleepeth against a tree,which the hunters observing doe saw a lmost a sunder,whereon the bea st relying, by the fa ll of the tree fallsa lso downe it- selfe and is able to rise no more .
” 2 Sir
T H OMAS is disposed to think that the hint andg roundof this opinion might be the grosse and somewhatcylindricall composure of the legs of the elephant, andthe equality and lesse perceptible disposure of the
joynts , especially in the forelegs of this animal,they
1 DENH AM’
S T ravels, fia , 4to F alconer “ that out of eleven hun
p . 220 . T he fossil remains of the dred elephants from which the tall
Indian elephant have been dis est were selected and mea sured
covered at J abalpur , showing a with care, on one occasion in India ,
height of fifteen feet . — J ourn. there was not one whose height
Asia t. Soc . Beng . vi. Professor equalled eleven feet .
”
ANST ED in his Ancient World, p .
2 Vulgar Errors , book iii. chap . l .
197, says he was informed by Dr.
102 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. III .
appears to have been embodied in his lost work on India .
But a lthough ARISTOT LE genera lly receives the credit ofhaving exposed and demolished the fa lla cy of CTESIAS, it
will be seen by a reference to his treatise On the Pro
gressive Motions of Anima ls , that in reality he ap
proa ched the question with some hesitation, and has notonly left it doubtful in one passage whether the ele
phant has j oints in his knee, a lthough he demonstratesthat it has j oints in the shoulders ‘ ; but in anotherhe distinctly a ffirms that on a ccount of his weight theelephant cannot bend his forelegs together, but only oneat a time, and reclines to sleep on that pa rticula r side .
2
So great was the authority of ARISTOT LE, that fEL IAN,who wrote two centuries later and borrowed many of his
statements from the works of his predecessor, perpetuates.this error and, after describing the exploits of the
trained elephants exhibited at Rome, adds the expression of his surprise, that an anima l without joints
(dva pflpov) should yet b e able to dance .
3 T he fiction
was too agreeable to be readily abandoned by the poets
1 “When an animal moves pro
gressively an hypothenuse is pro
duced, which is equal in power to
the magnitude that is quiescent,
and to that which is interm ediate.
But since the m embers are equal,it is necessary that the memberwhich is quiescent should b e in
flected either in the knee or in the
incurvation,if the anima l tha t
wa lks is without knees . I t is pos
sible, however, for the leg to b e
moved, when not inflected,in the
same m anner as infants creep ; and
there is an ancient report of this
kind about elephants , which is nottrue, for such anim als a s these,
a re moved in consequence of an in
De Ingressu Anim. , ch. 1x. T aylor’
s
T ransl .2 AR I s '
ro'rLE , De Anima l , lib . 11.
ch. i. I t is curious that T aylor, in
his translation of this passage, was
so strongly imbuedwith the “
greyheaded errour
,
”
that in order to
elucidate the somewhat obscur emeaningOfAristotle, he has actuallyinterpolated the text with the ex
ploded falla cy of Cte sias , and after
the word reclining to sleep, has in
serted the words “ leaning aga ins t
some wa ll or tree,
”
which are not to
b e found in the original.3 “ Zq
’
iov bé drapepov ovme’va u Kai
five/1. 0 8 na l néo s,
It a l ct ci'r'rew
oxima (pba ews 6&3pa va fi'ra Elna xa l
flectwn taking p la ce either in their 35167 773 xa e’
Elma -ray énwAnxruciy.”
shoulders or hips .
” —Am s'
rorLE , ZELLAN,DeNa t.Anim. , lib . ii. cap . xi.
CHAP. UL ] THE ELEPHANT . 103
of the Lower Empire and the Romancers of the middle
ages ; and PH ILE, a contemporary of PETRARCH and
DANTE, who in the early part of the fourteenth century,addressed his dida ctic poem on the elephant to the Em
peror Andronicus I I .,untaught by the exposition of
ARISTOTLE , still clung to the old delusion,“ 116563 as r ob'rcp Oa fiua m l c apes r e
’
pa s,
Oils. or} Ka 9d1rep T EAM; féwu ye'
u‘
n,
Efwfle mveiv 35dvdpflpwv nAaopde'
Ka i yap or teapois o vw efléw es da r e’
ms‘,
Ka i rfiwk a bapéj 7 63V O'
cpvpéiv Kar a a rdo ez,
Ka l f f} 7rpb$ fipflpa fi lly oxeAEJv fmoxpia ez,NSV eis fl it/ous b
’
ryovm ,vim sis bcpe
’
crets,
T as naw obawas éfcbpopas 7 0 3 a fou.
~x x -x -x
Bpaxw e’
povs b'
w a s se 611-10 9i
olba r oil s e’
y‘
trpoa fliovr
T oirrors e’
Aétpa s e’
w aOels do r ep o r bAozsI l I I
Opeoo'
raanv dicapxu'
ros v1r1/w'r
‘
rwv p etl et .
v. 106, &c .
SOLINUS introduced the same fable into his Polyhistorand DIOUIL, the I rish commentator of the ninth century,who had an Opportunity of seeing the elephant sentby H aroun Alraschid a s a present to Charlemagne
l in
the year 802 , corrects the error, and attributes its per
petuation to the circumstance that the j oints in the
elephant’s leg are not very apparent, except when he
lies down .
2
It , is a strong illustration of the vitality of error,that the delusion thus exposed by Dicuil in the ninthcentury, was revived by MAT T H EW PARIS in the thirteenth ; and stranger still, that Matthew not only Saw
EGINH ARD, Vita Ka roli, c . xvi. Imperatoris Karoli viderunt . Sed,
and Anna les F rancorum, A. .D . 8 10 . fors itan,ideo hoc de elephante fi cte
2 “ Sed idem Julius , unum de aestimando scriptum est, eo quodelephantibus mentiens , falso loqui genua et suffragines sui nisi quandotur ; dicens elephantem nunquam jacet , non palam apparent .
” —Dr
jacere ; dum ille sieut bos certissime om us , De Mensura Orbis Terra ,
j acet,ut populi communiter regni
F rancorum elephantem,in tempore
H 4
104'
MAMMALIA. [CH AP. III .
but made a drawing of the elephant presented to KingH enry I I I . by the King of France in 1255, in which henevertheless represents the legs as without joints.
l
In the numerous mediaeval treatises on natura l history
,known under the title of Bestia ries , this delusion
regarding the elephant is often repeated ; and it is givenat length in a metrica l version of the Physiologu s of
T H EORALDUS, amongst the Arundel Manuscripts in the
British Museum.
2
With the Provengal song writers, the helplessness of
the fa llen elephant was a favourite simile,and amongst
others RICHARD DE BARBEZIEUX, in the latter half of thetwelfth century, sung 3,
1 Cotton MSS . NERO. D. 1. fol .
168 , b.
2 Arundel MSS. No 292, fol .4, & c . I t has been printed in theReliguiwAntiguce, vol. i. p . 208 , byMr. WR IGH T
,to whom I am in
debted for the following renderingof the passage referred to
in water ge sal stonden
in water to mid side
b at wanne hire harde tide{Sat ge ne falle nit er nogtOat it most in hire nogtfor he ne haven no his
hat he mugen risen wits, etc .
T hey will stand in the water,in wa ter up to the m idd le of the side,that when it c om es to them hard,they ma y no t fa ll downtha t is mo st in their thought,for they have no Jointto enab le them to rise aga in .
H ow he resteth him thi s animal,when he wa lketh ab road .
hea l-li en how It 18 here to ld.
F or he is a l l unwneldy ,forsoo th he seek s out a tree
,
that is Strong and stedfa st ,and leans c onfidently aga inst it,when he is weary of wa lking . 3T he hunter has o bserved this
,
One Of the most venerable a ll “
who seeks to ensnare him, thorities by whom the fallacy wa s
where 1118 dwellmg 18 : transmitted to modern times wa sto do his “ 111;saws this tree and props it PH IL IP de T HAUN
,whowrote, about
in the manner tha t he b est m ay,covers it well tha t he ( the elephant)may
not be on his guard .
T hen he m akes thereby a seat,h im self sits a lone and wa tcheswhether his trap takes effect .
T hen cometh this unwieldy e lephant,and leans him on his S lde ,rests aga inst the tree in the shadow,
and so both fa ll to gether.
if nob ody b e by when he falls ,he roars ruefully and ca lls for help,roars ruefully in hl S manner,
hopes he sha ll through he lp rise .
T hen cometh there one (elephant) in haste,hopes he shall cause him to stand up ;labours and tries all his m ight ,b ut he c anno t succeed a b it .
H e knows then no o ther remedy,b ut roars W ith his b rother,many and la rge (elephants) come there in
search,think ing to make him get up ,b ut fo r the help o f them a llhe may no t get up .
T hen they a ll roa r one ro ar,l ike the b la st of a horn or the sound of bell ;for their great roa ringa young one cometh running,s to op s imm ediately to him ,
puts h l S snout under him ,
and a sks the help o f them a ll ;this elephant they raise on his legsand thus fa ils thl S hunter
’
s trick ,
in the manner that l have to ld you.
106 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. III .
Peaceful , beneath primeval trees , that cast
T heir ample shade on Niger’
s yellow stream,
Or where the Ganges rolls his sacred waves,
Leans the huge Elephant .” l
It is not difficult to see whence this antiquated delusion took its origin ; nor is it, as Sir T HOMAS BROWNEimagined, to be tra ced exclusively to the grosse and
cylindricall structure of the animal’s legs . T he factis, that the elephant, returning in the early morningfrom his nocturnal revels in the reservoirs and watercourses, is a ccustomed to rub his muddy sides againsta tree
,and sometimes against a rock if more convenient .
In my rides through the northern forests, the natives ofCeylon have often pointed out that the elephants whichhad preceded m e must have been of considerable siz e,from the height at which their marks had been left on
the trees against which they had been rubbing. Not
unfrequently the anim a ls themselves, overcome withdrowsiness from the night’s gambolling, are founddosing and resting against the trees they had so visited,and in the same manner they have been discovered bysportsmen a sleep, and leaning against a rock.
I t is scarcely necessa ry to explain that the position isa ccidental, and that it is taken by the elephant not fromany difficulty in lying at length on the ground, butrather from the coincidence that the structure Of his
legs affords such support in a standing position, thatreclining scarcely adds to his enj oyment of repose ; and
elephants in a state of captivity have been known for
in A.D . 1610 ; wherein he explains he), and when he is once down hethat the elephant is so proud of cannot rise up again.
” — Sec. 111 . ch.
his strength that he never bows xii. p . 147.
himself to any (neither indeed can T H OMSON’
S Seasons, A.D. 1728.
CHAP . II I . ] THE ELEPHANT . 107
months together to sleep without lying down .
1 So
distinctive is this formation, and so self- sustaining theconfiguration of the limbs, that an elephant shot in thebrain, by Maj or Rogers in 1836, was killed so instantaneously that it died litera lly on its knees , and remainedresting on them . About the year 1826, Captain Dawson, the engineer Of the great road to Kandy, over theKaduganava pa ss, shot an elephant at H angwelle onthe banks Of the Ka lany Granga ; it rema ined on its feet,but so motionless, that after discharging a few more ba lls,he wa s induced to go close to it, and found it dead.
T he rea l peculiarity in the elephant in lying down is ,that he extends his hind legs backwards as a m an doeswhen he kneels, instead of bringing them under him
like the horse or any other quadruped. T he wis e pur
pose Of this arrangement must be Obvious to any one
who Observes the struggle with which the horse gets upfrom the ground, and the violent efforts which he
makes to raise himself erect. Such an exertion in the
case Of the elephant, and the force requisite to applya similar movement to raise his weight (equal to fouror five tons) would be attended with a dangerousstrain upon the muscles, and hence the simple arrangement
,which by enabling him to draw the hind feet
gradua lly under him ,a ssists him to rise without a per
ceptib le effort.T he same construction renders his gait not a “ gallop,
So little is the elephant inclined phant to sleep on his legs , to the
to lie down in captivity, and even diffi culty he experiences in risingafter hard labour, that the keepers to his feet :
are generally disposed to suspect
illness when he betakes him self to’Op60 0
'
r ai6nv 66
‘
m l a eéSa wavx/ ii
s
this posture. PHI LE,in his poem
"O'r
’
ofixdua a rfio a ruévebxepéis 1re'
Aet .
De Anz’
ma lz’
nm Prop rieta te, attri
butes the propensity of the ele But this is a misapprehension.
108 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. III .
as it has been somewhat loosely described‘, which wouldbe too violent a motion for so vast a body ; but a shuffle,that he can increase at plea sure to a pa ce as rapid as
that of a m an at full speed, but which he cannot maintain for any considera ble distance.
I t is to the structure of the knee-j oint that the ele
phant is indebted for his singula r fa cility in a scendingand descending steep a clivities, climbing rocks and traversing precipitous ledges, where even a mule dare not
Menageries , é’re.
“ T he elephant,ch. i.
Sir CHARLES BELL , in his essayon The H and and its Mechanism
,
which forms one of the “Bridge
water T reatises ,”
has exhibited therea sons deducible from organisation,
which Show the incapacity of the
elephant to sp ring or leap like the
horse and other anim als whose
structure is designed to facilitate
agility and speed. In them the
various bones of the shoul der and
fore limbs , especially the clavicle
and hum erus, are set at such an
angle, that the shock in descendingis modified
,and the joints and
sockets protected from the injuryoccasioned by concussion. But in
the elephant, where the weight Of
the body is immense , the bones of
the leg, in order to present solidityand strength to sustain it , are builtin one firm and perpendicul ar
column ; instead of being placedsomewhat obliquely at their points
of contact . T hus whilst the force
of the weight in descending is
broken and distributed by this
arrangement in the ca se of the
horse ; it would b e so concentrated
in the elephant a s to endanger
every joint from the toe to the
shoulder.
l 10 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. III .
the valleys from ridge to ridge, through forests so densea s altogether to obstruct a distant view, the elephantsinvariably select the line Of march which communicatesmost judiciously with the opposite point, by means Of
the safest ford.
l SO sure- footed are they, that there
are few pla ces where m an c an go that an elephant cannot fdllow, provided there b e spa ce to admit his bulk,and solidity to sustain his weight.T his fa culty is a lmost entirely derived from the
unusua l position, as compared with other quadrupeds,Of the knee j oint of the hind leg ; a rising from the
superior length of the thigh- bone, and the shortness Of
the metatarsus : the heel being a lmost where it pro
jects in m an, instead of being lifted up a s a“ hock .
”
It is this which enables him , in descending declivities,to depress and adjust the weight Of ’ his hinder portions
,which would otherwise overba lance and force him
headlong.
2
1 Dr. H OOKE R,in describing the
a scent of the H imalaya s , says , the
natives in making their paths de
spise all z igz ags, and run in straight
lines up the steepest hill fa ces ;whilst the elephant
’
s path is anex
cell ent specimen of engineeringthe opposite of the native track,for it winds judiciously.
” — H ima
lagan J ourna l, vol . i. ch . iv.
2 Since the above passage was
written, I have seen in the J ourna l
of the Asia tic Society of Benga l,vol . xiii. pt . ii. p . 9 16, a paper
upon this subject, illustra ted bythe subjoined diagram .
T he writer says , an elephant
descending a bank of too acute an
angle to admit of his walking down
it direct , (which, were he to at
tempt , hi s huge body, soon disar
ranging the centre of gravity, would
I t is by the same a rrangement that he is
certainly topple over,) proceeds
thus . H is first manoeuvre is to
kneel down close to the edge of the
declivity, placing his chest to the
ground : one fore- leg is then cau
tiously passed a short way down
the slope ; and if there is no natu
ral protection to afford a firm foot
ing, he speedily forms one bystamping into the soil if moist
,or
kicking out a footing if dry. T his
point gained, the other fore- leg is
brought down in the sam e way ;and performs the same work, a
little in advance of the first ; whichis thus at liberty to move lower
still . T hen,first one and then the
second Of the hind legs is carefullydrawn over the side, and the hind
feet in turn occupy the resting
places previously used and left bythe fore ones . T he course
,how
CHAP. III .] THE ELEPHANT . l l l
enabled, on uneven ground, to lift his feet, which are
tender and sensitive, with delica cy, and plant themwith such precision a s to ensure his own safety a s
well a s that Of objects which it is expedient to avoidtouching .
A herd of elephants is a family, not a group whoma ccident or a tta chment m ay have induced to a ssociatetogether. Similarity Of features and caste a ttest that
,
among the va rious individua ls which compose it, thereis a common lineage and relationship . In a herd of
ever, in such precipitous ground is but slopes along the face of the
not straight from top to bottom ,bank, descending till the animal
gains the level below. T his an operation. I have observed thatelephant has done, at an angle of an elephant in descending a de45 degrees , carrying a howdah, its clivity uses his knees
, on the side
occupant , his attendant , and sport next the bank ; and his feet on theing apparatus and in a much less lower side only.
time than it takes to describe the
112 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. III .
twenty-one elephants, captured in 1844 , the trunks of
ea ch individual presented the same peculia r formation,
- long,and a lmost Of one uniform breadth throughout
,
instead Of tapering gradually from the root to the nostril .In another instance, the eyes of thirty- five taken in one
corral were of the same colour in each . T he same slopeof the ba ck, the same form of the forehead, is to be detected in the maj ority of the same group .
In the forest severa l herds will browse in close con
tiguity, and in their expeditions in search of water theym ay form a body of possibly one or two hundred ; buton the slightest disturbance ea ch distinct herd ha stensto re- form within its own particula r circle, and to takemea sures on its own behalf for retreat or defence .
T he natives of any pla ce which m ay chance to b e fre
quented by elephants, Observe tha t the numbers Of the
same herd fluctuate very slightly ; and hunters in pursuit Of them,
who m ay chance to have shot one or more,a lways reckon with certainty the precise number of
those remaining, a lthough a considerable interva l m ay
intervene before they again encounter them. T he pro
portion of males is genera lly small, and some herds havebeen seen composed exclusively of females ; possibly inconsequence Of the males having been shot . A herdusua lly consists Of from ten to twenty individuals, thoughocca sionally they exceed the latter number ; and in
their frequent migrations and nightly resort to tanksand water- courses, alliances are formed between m em
bers of a ssociated herds, which serve to introduce new
blood into the family.
In illustration of the atta chment of the elephant to
its young , the authority Of KNOX ha s been quoted, that
the shees are alike tender of any one’s young ones as
114 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. Hr.
instances are not wanting in Ceylon, in which, when
pursued by the hunters, the herd has abandoned theyoung ones in their flight, notwithstanding the cries Of
the latter for help .
In an interesting paper on the habits of the Indianelephant, published in the Philosozohica l T ransa c
tions for 1793, Mr. CORSE says : “ If a wild elephanthappens to be separated from its young for only twodays
,though giving suck, she never after recognises or
a cknowledges it,”
although the young one evidentlyknows its dam , and by its plaintive cries and submissiveapproaches solicits her as sistance.
If by any ac cident an elephant becomes hopelesslyseparated from his own herd, he is not permitted toa ttach himself to any other. H e m ay browse in the
vicinity, or frequent the same plac e to drink and tobathe ; but the intercourse is only on a distant and conventional footing, and no familiarity or intimate a ssoc iation is under any circumstances permitted. T O sucha height is this exclusiveness ca rried, that even amidstthe terror and stupefa ction Of an elephant corral, whenan individual, deta ched from his own party in theméle
’
e
and confusion,ha s been driven into the enclosure with
an unbroken herd, I have seen him repulsed in everyattempt to take refuge among them, and driven Off byheavy blows with their trunks as Often as he attemptedto insinuate himself within the circle which they hadformed for common security. T here can be no rea
sonable doubt that this jealous and exclusive policy notonly contributes to produce, but mainly serves to
perpetuate, the cla ss of solitary elephants which are
known by the term goondahs, in India , and which from
CHAP. II I .) THE ELEPHANT . 115
their vicious propensities and predatory habits are called
H ora , or Rogues, in Ceylon .
1
I t is believed by the Singhalese that these are eitherindividuals, who by accident have lost their formera ssociates and become morose and savage from rage and
solitude ; or else that being natura lly vicious they havebecome daring from the yielding habits of their mildercompanions, and eventually separated themselves fromthe rest of the herd which had refused to associate withthem . Another conjecture is, that being almost universally males, the death or capture of particula r femalesmay have deta ched them from their former companions
in search of fresh alliances ? I t is also believed that atame elephant escaping from captivity, unable to rej oin
its former herd, and excluded from any other, becomesa
“rogue
”from necessity. In Ceylon it is generally
believed that the rogues are all males (but of this I am
not certain), and so sullen is their disposition tha t
1 T he term “rogue is scarcely
sufficiently a ccounted for by sup
posing it to b e the English equiva
lent for the Singhalese word H or a .
In that very curious book , the
In'
fe and Adventures of J OHN
CH R I ST OPH ER WOL F,la te p rinci
pa l Secretary a t J afinap a tam in
Ceylon, the author says , when a
mal e elephant in a quarrel aboutthe females “ is beat out of the
field and obliged to go without a
consort , he becomes furious and
mad, killing every living creature,b e it man or beast : and in this
state is called ronkedor, an object
of greater terror to a traveller than
a hundred wild ones .
” —P. 142 .
In another passage, p . 164 , he is
called runhedor, and I have seen it
Spelt elsewhere ronguedue. WOLFdoes not give .
“ronhedor as a
term peculiar to that section of the
island ; but both there and else
where, it is obsolete at the present
day, unl ess it b e Open to conj ecturethat the modern term rogue
”is a
modification of ronguedue.
2 BUCH ANAN,in his Survey of
Bhagulp ore, p . 503, says that soli
tary males of the wild buffalo,“ when driven from the herd bystronger competitors for female
society, arereckonedvery dangerous
to meet with ; for they are apt to
wreak their vengeance on what
ever they meet , and are said to
kill annually three or four people .
”
LIvINGST ONE relates the sam e of
the solitary hippopotamus , which
becomes soured in temper, and
wantonly attacks the passing ca
noes — T ravels in South Africa ,p . 231.
1 2
116 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . III .
although two may be in the same vicinity, there is noknown instance Of their associating, or of a rogue beingseen in company with another elephant.T hey spend their nights in marauding, Often about
the dwellings Of m en, destroying their plantations,trampling down their gardens, and committing seriousravages in rice grounds and young coco- nut plantations .
H ence from their closer conta ct with m an and his dwell
ings, these outca sts become disabused Of many of the
terrors which render the ordinary elephant timid and
needlessly cautious they break through fences withoutfear ; and even in the daylight a rogue has been knownnea r Ambogammoa to watch a field Of labourers at workin reaping rice, and boldly to wa lk in amongst them,
seiz ea sheaf from the heap , and retire leisurely to the jungle.
By day they genera lly seek concealment, but are fre
quently to be m et with prowling about the by- roads andjungle paths , where travellers are exposed to the utmostrisk from their savage a ssaults . I t is probable that thishostility to m an is the result of the enmity engenderedby those mea sures which the natives, who have a constant dread of their vis its, adopt for the protection of
their growing crops . In some districts, especially in thelow country of Badulla , the villagers occasionally enclosetheir cottages with rude walls of earth and branches to
protect them from nightly a ssaults . In pla ces infestedby them,
the visits of European sportsmen to the vicinityof their haunts are eagerly encouraged by the natives,who think themselves happy in lending their services totra ck the ordinary herds in consideration of the benefit
conferred on the village communities by the destructionOf a rogue . In 1847 one of these formidable creatures
frequented for some months the Rangbodde Pass on the
118 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. II I .
the latter to communicate with distinctness, orderswhich are Observed with the most implicit Obedience bytheir followers . T he follow mg narrative of an adven
ture in the great central forest toward the north of
the island, communicated to me by Maj or SKINNER,Who was engaged for some time in surveying and
opening roads through the thickly-wooded districts there,will serve better than any abstract description to convey
an idea of the conduct of a herd on such occa sionsT he case you refer to struck m e a s exhibiting
something more than ordinary brute instinct, and ap
proached nearer to rea soning powers than any otherinstance I can now remember. I cannot do justice tothe scene, although it appeared to m e at the time to beso remarkable that it left a deep impression in mymind .
In the height of the dry sea son in Nenera -Kalawa ,you know the streams are all dried up, and the ~tanks
nearly so . All animals are then sorely pressed forwater, and they congregate in the vicinity of those tanksin which there m ay remain ever so little Of
'
the preciouselement.During one of those seasons I was encamped on the
bund or embankment of a very small tank, the water inwhich was so dried that its surfa ce could not haveexceeded an area of 500 square yards . I t was the only
pond within many miles, and I knew that of necessity avery large herd of elephants, which had been in the
neighbourhood all day, must resort to it at night.On the lower side Of the tank, and in a line with the
embankment, was a thick forest, in which the elephantssheltered themselves during the day. On the upper
side and all around the tank there was a considerable
ca n . III .] T HE ELEPHANT . 119
margin of open ground. I t was one of those beautifulbright, clear, moonlight nights, when Objects could beseen a lmost as distinctly as by day, and I determined toavail myself of the
“ opportunity to Observe the movements Of the herd, which had a lready manifested someunea siness at our presence. T he locality was veryfavourable for my purpose, and an enormous tree pro
jecting over the tank afforded m e a secure lodgement inits branches. H aving ordered the fires Of my camp tobe extinguished at an early hour, and a ll my followers toretire to rest , I took up my post Of Observation on theoverhanging bough ; but I had to remain for upwardsof two hours before anything was to be seen or heard ofthe elephants, although I knew t hey were within 500yards of me. At length, about the distance of 300
yards from the wate r, an unusually large elephantissued from the dense cover, and advanced cautiouslya cross the open ground to within 100 yards Of the tank,where he stood perfectly motionless . SO quiet had theelephants become (although they had been roaring andbreaking the jungle throughout the day and evening),that not a movement was now to be hea rd . T he hugevidette remained in his position, still as a rock
, for a
few‘ minutes, and then made three successive stea lthy
advances Of several yards (halting for some minutesbetween ea ch, with ears bent forward to catch the
slightest sound), and in this way he moved slowly up tothe water’s edge. Still he did not venture to quenchhis thirst, for though his fore- feet were partially in thetank and his va st body was reflected clear in the water
,
he remained for some minutes listening in perfectstillness . Not a motion could be perceived in himselfor his shadow ,
H e returned cautiously and slowly to1 4
120 MAMMALIA.
‘
[CH AP . H IT.
the position he’
had at first taken up on emergingfromthe forest. H ere in a little while he was j oined by five
others, with which he again proceeded a s cautiously, but
less slowly than before, to within a few yards of the
tank, and then posted his patrols . H e then re- entered
the forest and collected a round him the whole herd,which must have amounted to between 80 and 100
individuals,— led them a cross the open ground with themost extraordinary composure and quietness
,till he
j oined the advanced guard, when he left them for a
moment and repeated his former reconnoissance at the
edge of the tank. After which, having apparentlysatisfied himself that all was safe, he returned and
obviously gave the order to advance, for in a moment
the whole herd rushed into the water with a degree Of
unreserved confidence, so opposite to the caution and
timidity which had marked their previous movements,that nothing will ever persuade m e that there was notrational and
‘
preconcerted co - opera tion throughout thewhole party, and a degree of responsible authority exercised by the patriarch leader.When the poor animals had gained possession of the
tank (the leader being the la st to enter), they seemedto abandon themselves to enj oyment without restraintor apprehension Of danger. Such a ma ss of animal lifeI had never before seen huddled together in so narrowa space . I t seemed to m e as though they would havenearly drunk the tank dry. I watched them with greatinterest until they had satisfied themselves as well inbathing as in drinking, when I tried how small a noisewould apprise them of the proximity of unwelcomeneighbours . I had but to break a little twig, and the
solid ma ss instantly took to flight like a herd of fright
[CH AP. I II .122 MAMMALIA.
the water with his trunk without disturbing the surrounding sand.
I have reason to believe, although the fact has not beenauthoritatively stated by natura lists, that the stomach of
the elephant will be found to include a section analogousto that possessed by some of the ruminants
,ca lculated
to contain a supply Of water a s a provision againstemergencies . T he fa ct of his being. enabled to retain a
quantity Of water and discharge it at pleasure has beenlong known to every Observer of the habits of the
animal ; but the proboscis has always been supposed tobe “ his water-reservoir,
” Iand the theory of an internal
receptacle has not been discussed. T he truth is that theanatomy Of the elephant is even yet but imperfectlyunderstood 2, and
,although some peculiarities Of his
BRODERIP’
S Zoological Recrea
tions, p . 259 .
i 2 F or observing the osteology of
the elephant, materials are of course
abundant in the indestructible re
mains of the animal : but the studyof the intestines , and the dissection
of the softer parts by comparative
anatomists in Europe, have been upto the present time beset by difficulties . T hese arise not alone from the
rarity of subjects , but even in ca ses
where elephants have died in these
countries , decomposition inter
poses , and before the thorough ex
amination of so vast a body can b e
satisfactorily completed, the great
mass falls into putrefaction.
T he principal English authorities
are An Ana tomical Account of theElephant a ccidenta lly burnt in
Dublin,by A. MOLYNEUX, A .D .
1696 which is probably a reprint
of a letter on the same subject inthe library of T rinity College, Dublin, addressed by A. Moulin
, to Sir
William Petty, Lond. 1682 . T here
are also some papers communicated
to Sir H ans Sloane, and afterwards
published in the Philosophica l
T ransactions of the year 1710 , byDr. P. BLAIR , who had an opportu
nity of dissecting an elephant
which died at Dundee in 1708 .
T he latter writer observes that,
itnotwithstanding the vast interest
THE ELEPHANT .CHAP. II I .] 123
stomach were observed at an early period, and even theirconfiguration described, the function Of the abnormal
portion remained undetermined, and has been only re
cently conjectured . An elephant which belonged to
L ouis XIV. died at Versailles in 168 1 at the age Of
seventeen, and an a ccount of its dissectionwas published
in the Me’
moires p our servir a l’H istoire Na turelle,
under the authority of the Academy of Sciences, inwhich the unusual appendages Of the stomach are pointedout with sufficient particularity, but no suggestion is
made as to their probable us es . ” 1
attaching to the elephant in all
ages , yet has its body been hithertovery little subjected to anatomical
inquiries ,and he laments that the
rapid decomposition of the carcase,and other causes , had interposed
Obstacles to the scrutiny of the subject he was so fortunate a s to find
access to .
In 1723 Dr. WM. ST UCKLEY pub
lished Some Ana tomica l Observa
tions made up on theDissection of an
Elephant ; but each of the aboveessays is necessarily unsatisfactory,and little has since been done to
supply their defects . One of the
latest and most valuable contribu
tions to the subjects , is a paper readbefore theRoyal Irish Academy, onthe 18th of F eb . , 1847, by Profes
sor H ARRI SON,who had the oppor
tunity of dissecting an Indian
elephant which died of acute fever ;but the examination,
so far as hehes
made it public , extends only to thecranium ,
the brain,and the probos
cis , the larynx, trachea , and oeso
phagne. An essential service would
b e rendered to science if some
Sportsman in Ceylon,or some of the
Oflicers connectedwith the elephant
establishm ent there,would take the
trouble to forward the carcase of a
young one to England in a state fit
for dissection.
Pos tscrip tum . I am happy to
say that a young elephant, carefully
preservedinspirits ,ha s recentlybeenObtained inCeylon, andforwardedto
Prof. Owen, of the BritishMuseum ,
by the joint exertions ofM. DIARB
and Major Sm nn. An Oppor
tunity has thus been afforded fromwhi ch science wil l reap advantage,of devoting a patient attention to
the internal structure of this In
teresting animal .
1 T he passage as quoted by BUFF ON from theMernoz res is as follows— “ L
’
estomac avoit peo
u de dia
metre ; il en avoit moins que lecolon, car son diamétre n
’
éto it que
de quatorz e pouces dans la partie laplus large ; 11 avoit trois pieds et
demi de longueur : l’
orifi ce superi
eur étoit a-
peu-
prés aus si éloignédu pylore que du fond du grand
cul de- sac qui se terminoit en une
pointe compos ée de tuniques beaucoupplus epaisses que cellesdu reste
de l’
es tomac ; il y avoit au fond du
grand cul -de- sac plusieurs feuillets
épais d’
une ligne, larges d’
un pouce
et demi , et dispo sés irréguliérement;
le reste de parois intérieures étoitpercé de plusieurs petits trons et
124 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. 111.
A writer in the Qua rterlyReview for December 1850 ,says that CAMPER and other comparative anatomistshave shown that the left, or cardia c end Of the stoma chin the elephant is adapted, by several wide folds of liningmembrane, to serve a s a receiver for water ; but this isscarcely correct, for a lthough CAMPER has a ccuratelyfigured the external form of the stomach, he disposesOf the question of the interior functions with the simpleremark that its folds semblent en faire une espece dedivision particuliere .
” 1 In like manner SIR EVERARDH OME, in his Lectures on Comp a ra tive Ana tomy, ha s
not only ca refully described the form of the elephant’s
stoma ch,
and furnished a drawing of it even moreaccurate than CAMPER ; but he ha s equa lly omitted toa ssign any purpose to so strange a formation, contentinghimself with Ob serving that the structure is a peculiarity,and that one of the remarkable folds nearest the orificeOf the diaphragm appea rs to a ct a s a va lve, so that the
portion beyond may be considered a s an appendagesimilar to that of the hog and the p ecca ry?
par de plus grands qui correspon
doient a des grains glandul eux.
”
BUFFON,H is t. Na t , vol . xi. p . 109 .
“L’
extrémité voisine du cardia
se termine par une poche tr'
es - con
sidérab le et doublée a l'intérieuredu quatorz e valvules orbiculairesque semblent en faire une espece
dedivisionparticuliere . CAMPER,
Descrip tion Ana tomique d’
un Ele
phant Male, p . 37, tabl . 1x.
2 T he elephant has another
pecul iarity in the internal structure
Of the stomach. I t is longer and
narrower than that of most animals .
T he cuticular membrane Of the
oesophagus terminates at the orificeof the stomach. At the cardiac end,which is very narrow and pointed
at the extremity, the lining is thickand glandul ar, and is thrown intotransverse folds
, Of which five are
broad and nine narrow . T hatnearest the orifice of the oesophagusis the broadest, and appears to a ctoccasionally a s a valve
,so that the
part beyond may be considered a s
an appendage similar to that Ofthe peccary and the hog . T hemembrane Of the cardiac portion isuniforml y smooth ; that of the
pylorIc is thicker and more va son
lar.
”
Lectures on Comp a ra tiveAnatomy, by Sir EVERARD H OME ,Bart . 4 to . Lond. vol . i. p . 155.
T hefigure of the elephant’
s stoma chI s g1ven
m
in his Lectures, vol. ii.
plate xvui .
126 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. III .
Whilst Professor OWEN wa s advancing this conjecture,another comparative anatomist, from the examination of
another portion of the structure of the elephant, was ledto a somewhat simila r conclusion . Dr. H ARRISON of
Dublin had, in 1847, an Opportunity of dissecting thebody of an elephant which had suddenly died ; and in
the course of his examination of the thora cic viscera,he
Observed that an unusually close connection existedbetween the tra chea and oesophagus, which he found todepend on a muscle unnoticed by any previous anatomist,connecting the back of the former with the forepart ofthe latter, a long which the fibres descend and can be distinctly traced to the cardia c orifice of the stoma ch .
Pneumogastric
Imperfectly a cquainted with the habits and functions ofthe elephant in a state of nature, Dr. H ARRISON found itdifficult to pronounce as to the use Of this very peculiar
CH AP . I II ] THE ELEPHANT . 127
structure ; but looking to the intimate connection betweenthe mechanism concerned in the functions of respirationand deglutition, and seeing that the proboscis served ina double capacity a s an instrument Of voice and an organfor the prehension of food, he ventured (apparentlywithout adverting to the abnorma l form Of the stoma ch)to express the opinion that this muscle, viewing itsatta chment to the tra chea , might either have someinfluence in raising the diaphragm, and thereby a ssistingin expiration, or tha t itmight
"
ra ise the ca rdia c orifice
of the stoma ch,a nd so a id this organ to regurgita te a
p ortion of its contents into the oesophagus .
” 1
Dr. H ARRISON, on the reflection that we have no satisfactory evidence that the animal ever rum inates
,
”
thought it useless to specul ate on the latter suppositionas to the a ction of the newly discovered muscle
,and
rather inclined to the surmise that it wa s designed to
assist. the elephant in producing the rema rkable soundthrough his proboscis known a s trumpeting but thereis little room to doubt that of the two the rej ected hypothesis was the more correct one . I have elsewheredescribed the occurrence to which I wasmyself a witness2,Of elephants inserting their proboscis in their mouths,and withdrawing gallons of water, which could only havebeen contained in the receptacle figured by CAMPER and
H OME, and of which the true uses were discerned by theclear inte llect of Professor OWEN. I was not
,till very
recently, aware that a similar Observation as to the re
markable habit of the elephant, had been made by theauthor of the Ayeen Abberg, in his a ccount Of the Feel
1 Proceed. Roy. Irish Acad. , vol . iv. p . 133.
2 In the account of an elephant corral , chap. vi.
128 MAMMALIA. [CHAP . III :
Kaneh, or elephant stables of the Emperor Akbar, in
which he says, an elephant frequently With his trunktakes water out of his stoma ch and sprinkles himself
with it, and it is not in the lea st Offensive .
l FORBES, in.
his Oriental Memoirs, quotes this passage of the Ayeen
Akbery, but without a remark nor does any Europeanwriter with whose works 1 am a cquainted appear to havebeen cognisant of the peculiarity in question .
I t is to be hoped that Professor OWEN’S dissection of
WAT ER -GEM S IN T H E ST OMACH OF T H E CAM EL .
the young elephant, recently arrived, m ay serve to decide this highly interesting point
? Should scientific investigation hereafter more clearly establish the fa ct that,in this particula r, the structure of the elephant is a s
sim ilated to that of the llama and the camel, it will be
Ayeen Akbery, transl . byGLAD the pecul iarity of the stomach for
WIN , vol. 1 . pt . 1 . p . 147. retaining a supply of water ? Or2 One of the Indian names for has it merely reference to the habit
the elephant I s duip a , which signi of the animal to fill his trunk b e
flee “ to dr ink twice (AMANDI , p . fore transferring the water to his
Can this have reference to mouth.
130 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. 111.
time when the fruit of the palmyra palm begins tofall to the ground from ripeness . In like manner in theea stern provinces where the custom prevails of cultivating what is ca lled chena land (by clea ring a patch of
forest for the purpose of raising a single crop , a fterwhich the ground is abandoned, and reverts to jungleagain), a lthough a single elephant m ay not have beenseen in the neighbourhood during the early stages of the
process, theMoorm en, who are the principal cultivators ofthis cla ss, will predict their appea rance with a lmost nu
erring confidence so soon a s the grains sha ll have begunto ripen ; and a lthough the crop comes to maturity at
different periods in different districts, herds are certainto be seen at ea ch in succession
,a s soon a s it is ready to
be cut. In these well- timed excursions, they resemblethe bison of North America
,which, by a similarly mys
terious instinct, finds its way to portions of the distant
prairies, where a ccidenta l fires have been followed by agrowth of tender gra ss . Although the fences a roundthese chena s are little more than lines of reeds looselyfa stened together, they are sufficient, with the presenceof a single watcher, to prevent the entrance of the ele
phants, who wait patiently till the rice and cora can havebeen removed, and the watcher withdrawn ; and, thenfinding gaps in the fence, they m ay be seen gleaningamong the leavings and the stubble ; and they take theirdeparture when these are exhausted, apparently in thedirection of some other chena
,which they have a soer
tained to be about to be cut.T here is something still unexplained in the dread
which an elephant a lways exhibits on approaching a
fence, and the reluctance which he displays to face theslightest artificial obstruction to his passage. In the
CH AP. I II .] THE . ELEPHANT . 131
fine old tank of T issa -weva , close by Anarajapoora , thenatives cultivate grain, during the dry sea son, aroundthe margin where the ground has been left bare by thesubsidence Of the water. T hese little patches of ricethey enclose with sma ll sticks an inch in diameter and
five or six feet in height, such a s would scarcely serve tokeep out a wild hog if he attempted to force his waythrough . Pa ssages Of from ten to twenty feet wide are
left between ea ch field, to permit the wild elephants,which abound in the vicinity to m ake their nocturna lvisits to the water still remaining in the tank. Nighta fter night these open pathways are frequented by immense herds, but the tempting corn is never touched,nor is a single fence disturbed, a lthough the merestmovement of a trunk would b e suflicient to demolishthe fragile structure. Y et the same spots, the fencesbeing left open a s soon as the grain has been cut and
carried home, are eagerly entered by the elephants toglean amongst the stubble.
Sportsmen Observe that an elephant, even when eu
raged by a wound, will hesitate to charge an a ssailant
a cross an intervening hedge, but will hurry along it toseek for an opening. I t is possible that, on the part ofthe elephant, there m ay be some instinctive consciousness, that owing to his superior bulk, he is exposed todanger from sources that might be perfectly harmless in
the ca se of lighter anima ls, and hence his suspicion that
every fence m ay conceal a snare or pitfa ll . Some simi
lar apprehension is apparent in the deer, which shrinks
from attempting a fence Of wire, a lthough it will clearwithout hesitation a solid wa ll of greater height.
At the same time, the caution with which the elephantis supposed to approach insecure ground and pla ces of
x 2
132 MA MMALIA. [CHAP . III .
doubtful l solidity, appea rs to m e , so far as my own Ob
servation and experience extend, to be exaggerated, andthe number of temporary bridges which a re annua llybroken down by elephants in a ll parts Of Ceylon, issuffi cient to Show that, a lthough in captivity, and whenfamiliar with such structures, the tame ones m ay, and
doubtless do, exhibit a ll the wariness a ttributed to them ;
yet, in a state of liberty, and whilst una ccustomed tosuch artificia l appliances, their instincts are not sufficient to ensure their safety. Besides, the fa ct is advertedto elsewhere2, that the chiefs of the Wanny, during thesovereignty of the Dutch , were a ccustomed to take in
pitfa lls the elephants which they rendered a s tribute togovernment.A fact illustrative a t once of the caution and the
Spirit Of curiosity with which an elephant regards an
unaccustomed object ha s been frequently mentioned tom e by the officers engaged in opening roads through theforest. On such occa sions the wooden “ tra cing pegs
”
which they are obliged to drive into the ground to markthe levels taken during the day, will often be withdrawnby the elephants during the night, to such an extent a s
frequently to render it necessary to go over the work a
second time, in order to replace them .
3
Colonel H ARDY,formerly Deputy Quarter-Master
Genera l in Ceylon , when proceeding, about the year1820 , to a military out-post in the south- eas t of the
island, imprudently landed in an uninhabited part Of
1 One of the strongest instincts vol . 1. pp . 17, 19 , 66 .
which the elephant possesses , is this2 WoL F
’
s Znfe and Adventures,
which impels him to experiment p . 151. See p . 115,note.
upon the solidity of every surface 3 Priva te Letter from Dr . DAvx,
which he is required to cross .
”
author ofAnAccount of the InteriorMenageries, do. T he Elephant, of Ceylon.
134 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . H I .
higher degree of development consequent on his more
intimate domestication and a ssociation with m an .
One remarkable fa ct wa s called to my a ttention by a
gentleman who resided on a coffee plantation a t Ra ssawé,
one of the loftiest mountains of the Amb ogamm oa range.
More than once during the terrific thunder-bursts that
precede the rains at the change of ea ch monsoon, he oh
served that the elephants in the adj oining forest ha stened
from under cover Of the trees and took up their station
in the open ground, where I saw them on one Of these
Occa sions collected into a group ; and here, he said, itwa s their custom to remain till the lightning had cea sed ,when they retired again into the jungle .
l I t must beObserved, however, that showers, and especia lly lightdriz z ling rain, are believed to bring the elephants fromthe jungle towards pathways or other openings in the
forest ;— and hence, in places infested by them,timid
persons are . afraid to travel in the afternoon duringuncertain weather.When free in its native woods the elephant evinces
rather simplicity than saga city, and its intelligenceseldom exhibits itself in cunning. T he rich profusion inwhich nature has supplied its food, and anticipated itsevery want
,has made it independent Of those devices
by which carnivorous anima ls provide for their subsistence ; and, from the absence of all rivalry betweenit and the other deniz ens Of the plains, it is neverrequired to resort to a rtifice for self-protection. For
these rea sons, in its tranquil and harmless life, it m ay
appear to casua l Observers to exhibit even less than
T he elephant is believed by the of ra in ; and the T amils have a
Singhalese to express his uneasi proverb -“H s ien to the elephant,
ness by his voice. on the approach ra in is coming.
”
CH AP. III .] TH E ELEPHANT . 135
ordina ry ability ; but when danger and apprehension callfor the exertion Of its powers, those who have witnessedtheir display are seldom inclined to underva lue its sa
ga city.
Mr. CRIPPS ha s related to me an instance in which a
recently captured elephant was either rendered senseless
from fea r, or, a s the native attendants a sserted, feigneddea th in order to regain its freedom . I t was led from
the corra l as usual between two tame Ones, and had a l
ready proceeded far towards its destination ; whennight closing in , and the torches being lighted, it re
fused to go on, and finally sank to the ground,appar
ently lifeless . Mr. CRIPPS ordered the fa stenings to beremoved from its legs, and when all attempts to raise ithad failed, so convinced wa s he that it wa s dead, that heordered the ropes to b e taken Off and the carca se abandoued . While this was being done he and a gentlemanby whom he wa s a ccompanied leaned against the bodyto rest. T hey had sca rcely taken their departur e and
proceeded a few ya rds, when , to their a stonishment, theelephant rose with the utmost a lacrity, and fled towards
the jungle, screaming at the top of its voice,its cries
being audible long after it had disappeared in the shadesof the forest.
136 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . III .
APPENDIX T O CH APT ER III .
NARRAT IVES or T HE NAT IVES or CEYLON RELAT IVE T 0
ENCOUNTERS WITH ROGUE'
ELEPHANT S.
T HE foll owing narratives have b een taken down by a Singha lese
gentlem an,from the statem ents of the na tives by whom
they are recounted — and they are here inserted,in order to
show the Opinion preva lent am ongst the people of Ceylon a s
to the hab its and propensities of the rogue elephant . T he
stories are given in words of my correspondent, who writes inEnglish, a s follows
1 .
“We,
”sa id my informant
,who was a native trader of
Caltura, were on our way to Badulla , by way of Ratnapoora
and Ba langodde, to b arter our m erchandiz e for coffee . T here
were six in our party, myself, my b rother- in - law,and four
coolies,who carried on pingoes
l our m erchandiz e,which con
sisted of cloth and b ra ss articles . Ab out 4 o’
clock,P. M.
,we
were close to Ida lga sinna , and our coolies were rather unwilling
to go further for fear of elephants , which they sa id were sure
to b e m et with at that noted pla ce, especia lly a s there had b eena slight driz z ling of rain during the whole afternoon . I wa s
a s much afraid of elephants a s the coolies them selves ; but I
wa s anxious to proceed, and so,after a few words of encourage
ment addressed to them,and a prayer or two offered up to
S aman dewz'
ycfl,we resum ed our j ourney . I also took the
Yokes borne on the shoulder,
2 T he tutelary spirit of the sa
with a package at each end. cred mountain,Adam
’
s Peak .
138 MAMMALIA. [CHAP . III .
the body to a very j elly. T his done,he took up the pingo and
moved away from the spot ; but a t the distance of ab out a
fa thom or two,laid it down aga in, and ripping open one of the
bundles,took out of it a ll the contents
,soma ns‘
,cambdya s
2,
handk erchiefs,and severa l pieces of white cambrick clo th
,a ll
which he tore to small pieces , and flung them wildly here and
there . H e did the sam e with a ll the other pingoes . Whenthis was over the elephant quietly wa lk ed away into the jungle,trumpeting a ll the way a s far a s I could hear . When dangerwa s past I cam e out of my concea lm ent
,and returned to the
place where we had ha lted that m orning. H ere the rest
of my companions j oined m e soon after . T he next m orning
we set out again on our j ourney,our party being now increa sed
by som e seven or eight traders from Salpity Corle : bu t thi s
tim e we did not m eet with the elephant . W'
e found the
m angled corpse of our cooly on the sam e spot where I had seen
it the day b efore, together with the torn pieces o f my cloths ,
of which we collected a s fa st a s we cou ld the few which wereserviceab le
,and all the b ra ss utensils which were quite unin
jured. T hat elephant wa s a noted rogue . H e had b efore this
killed many people on tha t road,especially those carrying
pingoes of coco—nut oil and ghee . H e was afterwards killed
by an Englishm an . T he incidents I have m entioned ab ove,took pla ce ab out twenty years ago .
”
T he following a lso rela tes to the sam e locality. It wa s
narra ted to m e by an old Moorman of Barb eryn , who , duringhis earlier years
,led the life of a pedlar .
2 . I and another,
said he,
“ were on our way to Badulla ,
one day som e twenty- five or thirty years ago . We were
quietly m oving a long a path which wound round a hill, whena ll of a sudden
,and without the slightest previou s intimation
either by the rustling of leaves or by any other sign, a huge
elephant with short tusks ru shed to the pa th. Where he hadbeen b efore I can’
t say ; I believe he must have b een lying in
1 Woman’
s robe.
2 The figured clothworn bymen.
CH AP . THE ELEPHANT .39
wait for travellers . In a mom ent he rushed forward to
the road,trumpeting dreadfully, and seiz ed my companion . I
,
who happened to b e in the rear,took to flight, pursued by
the elephant, which had a lready killed my companion by
striking him against the ground. I had not m oved more than
seven or eight f athom s,when the elephant seiz ed m e, and threw
m e up with such force,that I was carried high into the a ir
towards a Caha ta tree,whose b ranches caught m e and pre
vented my fa lling to the ground. By this I received no otherinjury than the disloca tion of one of
_mywrists . I do not know
whether the elephant saw m e after he had hurled m e awaythrough the air ; but certainly he did not com e to the
tree to which I wa s then c linging : even if he had com e, he
couldn’
t have done m e any m ore harm ,a s the branch on
which I wa s wa s far b eyond the rea ch of his trunk , and the
tree itself too large for him to pull down . T he next thing
I saw wa s the elephant returning to the corpse of my com
panion ,which he again threw on the ground, and placing one
of his fore feet on it,he tore it with his trunk limb after limb ;
and dabb led in the blood tha t flowed from the shapeless mass
of flesh which he wa s still holding under his foot .
”
3 .
“ In 1847 or said another informant,
“ I wa s a
superintendent of a coco - nu t estate b elonging to Mr . Armitage ,
situa ted ab out twelve m iles from Negomb o . A rogue elephant
did considerab le injury to the estate a t that tim e ; and one day,
hearing tha t it wa s then on the planta tion ,a Mr . Lindsay, an
Englishm an,who wa s proprietor of the adjoining property , and
myself,accompanied by som e seven or eight people of the
neighb ouring vill age, went out,carrying with u s six rifles
loaded and prim ed. We continued to wa lk along a path which,near one of its turns
,had some bushes on one side . We had
calcul a ted to com e up with the brute where it had b een seen
ha lf an hour b efore ; but no sooner had one of our m en ,
who wa s wa lking forem ost,seen the animal a t the distance
of some fifteen or twenty fa thom s,than he exclaim ed,
T here ! there !’ and immedia tely took to his heels, andwe all
140 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. II I .
followed his example . T he elephant did not see u s until wehad run some fifteen or twenty pa ces from the spot wherewe turned
,when he gave u s cha se
,scream ing frightfully a s he
came on . T he Englishm an managed to climb a tree,and
the rest of my companions did the sam e ; a s for myself Ic ou ld not
,a lthough I m ade one or two superhum an efforts .
But there wa s no tim e to b e lost . T he elephant wa s running
a t m e with his trunk b ent down in a curve towards the ground.
At this critica l m oment Mr . Lindsay held out his foot to m e,
with the help of which and then of the b ranches of the tree ,
which were three or four feet ab ove my head, I m anaged to
scramb le up to a b ranch . T he elephant cam e directly to thetree and a ttempted to force it down, which he could not . H e
first coiled his trunk round the stem,and pu lled it with a ll his
m ight, but with no efl"
ect . H e then applied his head to the
tree,and pushed for severa l m inu tes
,but with no b etter
success . H e then trampled with his feet a ll the projectingroots
,m oving, a s he did so
,severa l tim es round and
round the tree . Lastly, failing in a ll this,and seeing a pile of
timb er,which I had la tely cut
,a t a short distance from u s , he
rem oved it all (thirty- six pieces) one a t a tim e to the root of
the tree,and piled them up in a regular bu siness
- like m anner ;
then pla cing his hind feet on this pile, he ra ised the fore part
of his b ody, and rea ched ou t his trunk,but still he could not
touch u s,a s we were too far ab ove him . T he Englishm an then
fired,and the b a ll took effect som ewhere on the elephant
’
s
head, but did not kill him . I t m ade him only the more furiou s .
T he next shot,however
,levelled him to the ground. I
afterwards b rought the skull of the anima l to Co lomb o , and it
is still to b e seen a t the hou se ofMr . Arm itage .
”
4 . One night a herd of elephants entered a village in the
Four Corles . After doing considerab le injury to plaintain
bushes and young coco - nu t trees , they retired,the villagers
being unable to do anything to protect their fruit trees from
destruction . But one elephant wa s left b ehind, who continued
to scream the whole night through a t the same spot . It was
142 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. IV
CHAP. IV.
THE ELEPHANT .
Elephant Shooting.
As the shooting of an elephant, whatever endurance and
adroitness the sport m aydisplay in other respects, requiresthe sma llest possible skill a s a ma rksman, the numberswhich are annually slain in this waymay be regarded a s
evidence of the multitudes abounding in those parts of
Ceylon to which they resort. One offi cer, Major ROGERS,killed upwards of 1400 another, Captain GALLWEY , ha sthe credit of slaying m ore than ha lf that number ; Maj or
SKINNER, the Commissioner ofRoads, almost a s many and
less persevering a spirants follow at humbler distances . l
1 T o persons like myself, who
are not addicted to what is called“sport,
”the statement of these
wholesale slaughters is calcul ated
to excite surprise and c‘
ur iosity a s
to the nature of a passion that
impels men to self- exposure and
privation, in a pursuit which pre
s ents nothing but the monotonous
recurrence of scenes of blood and
suffering. Mr. BAKER , who has
recently published, under the titleof The Refle and the H ound in
Ceylon,”
an account of his exploits
in the forest, gives us the a ssura
that although man is naturallybloodthirsty, and a beast of preyby instinct
, yet that the true
sportsman is distinguished from
the rest of the human race by his“ love of na ture and of noble sce
nery .
”In support of this preten
sion to a gentler nature than the
rest of mankind, the author pro
ceeds to attest his own abhorrenceof cruelty by narrating the suf
ferings of an old hound,which
,
although“ toothless
,
”he cheered
on to a ssail a boar at b ay, but the
poor dog recoiled “covered with
ance that “a ll rea l sp ortsmen a re blood, cut nearly in ha lf
,with a
tender-hearted men,who shun cra
elly to an anima l, and a re ea szlymoved by a ta le of dis tress ,
”
wound fourteen inches in length,from the lower part of the belly,
and passing up the flank , completely
CHAP . IV .) THE ELEPHANT . 143
But notwithstanding this prodigious destruction, a re
ward Of a few shillings per head offered by the Government for taking elephants wa s claimed for 3500 destroyedin part of the northern province a lone, in less than threeyears prior to 1848 : and between 1851 and 1856, a
similar rewa rd was paid for 2000 in the southern province, between Ga lle and H ambangtotte .
Although there is little opportunity for the display of
ma rksmanship in an elephant battue, there is one featurein the sport, a s conducted in Ceylon, which contra stsfavourably with the slaughterhouse details chronicledwith revolting minuteness in some recent accounts of
severing the muscles of the hind mental commissions , and had,
leg, and extending up the spine ; therefore, an object,however di s
his hind leg having the appearance proportionate, in his slaughter of
of being nearly off.”
In this state, 1400 elephants .
forgetful of the character he had One gentleman in Ceylon,not
so la tely given of the true sports less distinguished for his genuine
man,a s a lover of nature and a kindness of heart
, than for his
hater of cruelty, b e encouraged marvellous success in shooting ele
the poor old dog,”
a s he ca ll s phants , avowed to me that the
him, to resum e the fight with the eagerness
‘
with which he found
boar, which lasted for an hour , him self impell ed to pursue them
when he managed to call the dogs had often excited surprise in his
off ; and perfectly exhausted, the own mind ; and al though he had
mangled hound crawled out of the never read the theory of Lord
jungle with several additional Kames,or the specul ations of Vi
wounds , including a severe gash cesimus Knox,he had come to the
in his throat . H e fell from conclusion that the pa ssion thus
exhaustion, and we made a litter excited within him was a remnant
with two poles and a horsecloth to of the hunter’
s instinct,with which
carry him hom e.— P. 314 . I f man wa s originally endowed to
such were the habitual enjoym ents enable him , by the cha se, to supOf this class of Sportsm en
, their port existence in a state of nature,m otiveless massacres would admit and which, though rendered dor
of no m anly justification. In com mant by civilisation,had not been
parison with them one is disposed utterly eradicated.
to regard almost with favour the T his theory is at least more
exploits of a hunter like Major consistent and intelligible than
ROGERS , who is said to have applied the “ love of nature and scenery,
”
the value of the ivory Obtained sentim entally propounded by the
from his encounters towards the author quoted above.
purchase of his successive regi
MAMMALIA. [CH AP . Iv.144
elephant shooting in South Africa . T he pra ctice in
Ceylon is to aim invariably a t the head, and the sportsmanfinds his safety to consist in boldly fa cing the anima l,advancing to within fifteen pa ces, and lodging a bullet,either in the temple or in the hollow over the eye, or ina well-known spot immediately above the trunk, wherethe weaker structure of the skull affords an ea sy a ccessto the brain .
1 T he region of the ear is a lso a fata l spot,and often resorted to, —the places I have mentioned inthe front of the head being only a ccessible when theanimal is “ charging. Professor H ARRI SON, in his
communica tion to the Roya l I rish Academy on the
Anatomy of the Elephant, ha s rendered an intelligibleexplanation of this in the following pa ssage descriptiveof the cranium it exhibits two remarkable fa cts :
fi rst, the sma ll space occupied by the brain ; and,
secondly, the beautiful and curious structure of the bonesof the head . T he two tables of a ll these bones
,except
the occipital, are separated by rows Of large cells, somefrom four to five inches in length
,others only sma ll,
irregular, and honey- comb - like z— these a ll commu
nicate with ea ch other, and, through the frontal sinuses,with the cavity of the nose, and a lso with the tympanumor drum of each ear ; consequently, a s in some birds
,
these cells are filled with air,and thus while the skull
attains a great siz e in order to afford an extensive surfa ce
T he vulnerability of the ele
phant in this region of the head
was known to the ancients,and
PL INY, describing a combat of elephants in the amphitheatre at
Rome, says, that one was slain bya single blow, pilum sub oculo
adactum ,in vitalia capitis vene
rat.”
(Lib . viii. c . Notwith
standing the comparative facilityOf access to the brain afforded a t
this spot, an ordinary leaden bullet is not certain to penetrate, andfrequently becom es flattened. T hehunters
, to counteract this , are
a ccustomed to harden the ball, by
the introduction Of a small portionof type
-metal along with the lead.
146 MA MMALIA. [CHAP . Iv.
Contras ted with this, one reads with a shudder thesickening details of the African huntsman approachingbehvnd the retiring animal, and of the torture inflictedby the shower of bullets which tear up its flesh and
lacerate its flank and shoulders. 1
‘fronter,’that is, above the trunk .
Behind the ear is said to b e deadly,but that is a shot which I never
fired or saw fired that I remember.
I f the ball go true to its mark, all
shots (in the head) are certain
but the bones on either side of the
honey-comb passage to the brain
are so thick that there is in all a‘
glorious uncertainty which keeps
a man on the gut vive till he sees
the elephant down .
” — F rom a paper
on Elep hant Shooting in Ceylon, byMajor MACREADY, late MilitarySecretary at Colombo .
In Mr. GORDON CUMMI NG’S aocount Of a H unter
’
s fi fe in SouthAfrica , there is a narrative of his
pursuit of a wounded elephant
which he had lamed by lodging a
ball in its shoulder-blade. I t limped
towards a tree,
against
which it leaned itself in helpless
agony, whilst its pursuer seatedhims elf in front of it, in safety, toboil his coj ee, and Observe its sufferings . T he story is continued as
follows “H aving admired himfor a considerable time, I resolvedto make exp eriments on vulnerable
p oints and approaching very nearI fired several bul lets at different
parts of his enormous skul l . H e
only acknowledged the shots by a
salaam - like movement ofhi s trunk,
with the point of which he gentlytouched the wounds with a striking and peculiar action. Surprisedand shocked at finding that I was
only prolonging the sufferings Of thenoble beast, which bore its trialswith such dignified composure, I
resolved to finish the proceedingwith a ll possible despatch, and ac
cordingly Opened fire upon him
from the left side, aiming at the
shoul der. I first fired six shots
with the two-
grooved rifle, whichmusthaveeventually provedmortal .
After which I fired six shots at the
same part with the Dutch six
pounder. Large tears now trickled
from his eyes , which he slowly shut
and op ened, his colossa l frameshivered convulsively, and fa llingon his side, he expired.
”
(Vol . ii.
p . 10 )In another place, after detailing
the manner in which he assailed a
poor animal — he says ,“ I was
loading and firing a s fast as could
b e, sometimes at the head, some
times behind the shoulder, until
my elephant’
s fore-quarter was a
mass of gore ; notwithstandingwhich he continued to hold on,
leaving the grass and branches of
the forest scarlet in his wake.
H aving fired thirty-five rounds
withmy two grooved rifle, I Openedupon him with the Dutch six
pounder, and when forty bulletshad perforated his hide, he beganfor the fir st tim e
,to evince signs of
a dil apidated constitution.
” T he
disgusting description is closed
thus .
“ T hroughout the charge he
repeatedly cooled his person with
large quantities of water, which heej ected from his trunk over his
sides and back, and just as the
pangs of death came over him , he
stood trembling violently beside a
thorn tree, and kept pouring waten
CHAP. IV.] THE ELEPHANT . 147
T he shooting of elephants in Ceylon has been described with tiresome iteration in the su ccessive j ournals
of sporting gentlemen, but one who turns to their pages
for traits of the animal and his instincts is disappointedto find little beyond graphic sketches of the daring and
exploits of his pur suers, most of whom, having had nofurther opportunity of Observation than is derived from a
casual encounter with the outraged‘
animal, have ap
parently tried to exalt their own prowess , bymisrepresenting the ordinary chara cter of the elephant, describinghim as savage, wary, and revengeful .
”
T hese epithets may undoubtedly apply to the outca stsfrom the herd, the Rogues ” or hora a llia , but so small
is the proportion Of these that there is not probably one
rogue to be found for every five hundred of those inherds ; and it is a manifest error, arising from imperfectinformation, to extend this censure to them generally
,
or to suppose the elephant to be an anima l “ thirstingfor blood, lying in wait in the j ungle to rush on theunwary passermby, and knowing no greater pleasure thanthe a ct of cru shing his victim to a shapeless mass beneathhis feet. ” 2 T he cruelties practised by the hunters haveno doubt taught these saga cious creatures to be cautiousand a lert, but their precautions are simply defensive ;and beyond the alarm and apprehension which they
into his bloodymonth until he died, 1 The Rifle and the H ound in
when he pitched heavily forward Ceylon by S . W. BAKER,Esq , pp .
with the whole weight of his fore 8,9 .
“ Next to a rogue,”
says Mr.
quarters resting on the points of his BAKER,
“ in ferocity, and even more
ta sks . T he strain was fair , and persevering in the pursuit Of her
the tusks did not yield ; but the victim,is a femal e elephant.
”But
port ion of his head in which the he appends the s ignificant qualifi
tusks were embedded, extending a cation,
“ when her young one has
long way above the eye, yielded and been hilled.
”—Ibid., p . 13.
burst with a muffled crash.
”
(1b ,
2 I bid.
vol . ii. pp . 4 ,
148 MAMMALIA. [CHAP . IV.
evince on the approach ofman, they exhibit no indicationof hostility or thirst for blood .
An ordinary traveller seldom comes upon elephantsunl ess a fter sunset or towards daybreak, as they go to orreturn from their nightly visits to the tanks but whenby a ccident a herd is disturbed by day, they evince, if
unatta cked, no disposition to become a ssailants ; and if
the attitude of defence which they instinctively a ssume
prove suflicent to check the approa ch of the intruder, no
further demonstration is to be apprehended.
Even the hunters who go in search of them find themin positions and occupations altogether in consistent withthe idea of their being savage, wary, or revengeful .T heir demeanour when undisturbed is indicative of
gentleness and timidity, and their a ctions bespeak lassitude and indolence
,induced not alone by heat, but
probably a scribable in some degree to the fa ct that
the night has been spent in watchfulness and amusement. A few are generally browsing listlessly on thetrees and plants within reach, others fann ing themselves
with leafy branches, and a few are asleep ; whilst theyoung run playfully among the herd, the emblems of
inn ocence, as the Older ones are of pea cefulness and
Almost every elephant m ay be Observed to exhibitsome peculiar a ction of the limbs when standing at rest ;some move the head monotonously in a circle, or fromright to left ; some swing their feet back and forward ;others flap their ears or sway themselves from side to side,or rise and sink by alternately bending and straightening
the fore knees . As the opportunities of Observing thiscustom have been almost confined to elephants in cap
tivity, it has been conjectured to arise from some morbid
150 MAMMALIA. [CHAP . IV.
which an animal of the prodigious siz e of the elephantcan conceal himself, and the motionl ess silence whichhe preserves, is quite surprising ; whilst beaters pa ss andrepas s within a few yards of his hiding place, he will
maintain his ground till the hunter, creeping almostclose to his legs, sees his little eye peering out throughthe leaves, when, finding himself discovered, the elephantbreaks away with a crash, levelling the brushwood in hisheadlong career.If surprised in open ground, where stealthy retreat is
impracticable, a herd wil l hesita te in indecision, and,
after a few meaningless movements, stand huddled together in a group , whilst one or two, more adventurousthan the rest, advance a few steps to ,
reconnoitre. Ele
phants are generally observed to be bolder in openground than in cover, but, if bold at al l, far moredangerous in cover than in open ground .
In searching for them, sportsmen Often avail themselves Of the expertness of the native trackers ; and
notwithstanding the demonstration of Combe that thebrain of the timid Singhalese is deficient in the organof destructiveness‘, he shows an instinct for hunting,and exhibits in the pursuit of the elephant a courageand adroitness far surpassing in interest the mere handling Of the rifle, which is the principal share of the
proceeding that falls to his European companions.T he beater on these occasions has the double task of
finding the game and carrying the guns ; and, in an
animated communi cation to m e, an experienced sportsm an describes “ this light and a ctive creature, with hislong glossy hair hanging down his shoulders, every
2 Systemof Phrenology, by GEO. COMBE, vol. 1. p. 256 .
CH AP . Iv .] THE ELEPHANT . 151
muscle quivering with excitement ; and his countenancelighting up with intense animation, leaping from rock torock, as nimble as a deer, tra cking the gigantic game likea blood-hound
,falling behind as he comes up with it,
and as the elephants , baffled and irritated, make the firststand, pas sing one rifle into your eager hand and holdingthe other ready whilst right and left each barrel performsits mission, and if fortune does not flag, and the second
gun is as successful as the first, three or four hugecarcases are piled one on another within a space equalto the area of a dining room .
” 1
I t is curious that in these encounters the herd neverrush forward in a body, as buffaloes or bisons do, butonly one elephant at a time moves in advance of the
rest to confront, or, as it is called, to “ charge,”the
as sailants . I have heard of but one instance in whichtwo so advanced as champions of their companions .
Sometimes, indeed , the whole herd will follow a leader,and manoeuvre In his rear like a body of cavalry ; butso large a party are necessarily liable to panic ; and, oneof them having turned in alarm, the entire body retreatwith terrified precipita tion .
As regards boldness and courage, a strange varietyof temperament is observable amongst elephants, but itm ay be affirmed that they are much more generallytimid than courageous . One herd m ay be as diflEicult
to approach as deer, gliding away through the jungle sogently and quickly that scarcely a trace marks their
pas sage : another, in apparent stupor, will huddle themselves together like swine, and allow their as sailant tocome within a few yards before they break away in
2 Private letter from Capt . PH IL IP PAYNE GALLWEY .
L 4
152 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . IV .
terror ; and a third will await his approach withoutmotion
, and then advance with fury to the charge .
”
In individuals the same differences are discernible
one flies on the first appearance of danger, whilst
another, a lone and unsupported, will fa ce a whole host
of enemies. When wounded and infuriated with pain,many of them become literally savage 1 ; but, so unaccustomed are they to a ct a s a ssailants, and so awkward
and inexpert in using their strength, that they rarely or
ever exceed in killing a pursuer who falls into their
power. Although the pressure of a foot, a blow with thetrunk
,or a thrust with the tusk, could scarcely fail to
prove fatal, three- fourths of those who have fallen intotheir power have escaped without serious injury. So
great is this chance of impunity, that the Sportsman
prefers to approach within about fifteen paces of the ad-s
vancing elephant, a space which gives time for a second
fire should the first shot prove ineffectual, and shouldboth fail there is still opportunity for flight.Amongst full- grown timber, a skilful runner can
escape from an elephant by dodging round the trees,but in cleared land, and low brushwood, the difliculty ismuch increased, a s the small growth of underwood whichobstructs the movements of man presents no obstacle tothose of an elephant. On the other hand, on level andOpen ground the chances are rather in favour of the ele
phant, a s his pace in full flight exceeds that of man,
a lthough as a general rule, it is unequal to that Of a
horse, as has been sometimes asserted.
2
Some years ago an elephant succeeded in making good its re
Which had been wounded by a treat to the jungle .
native, nearH ambangtotte,pursued2 SH AW, in his Zoology, asserts
the man into the town,followed that an elephant can run as swiftly
him along the street, trampled him as a horse can gallop . Londonto death in the baz aar before a 1800—6, vol . 1. p. 216.crowd of terrified spectators, and
MAMMALIA. [CHAP. Iv.
NOTE .
AMONGST extraordinary recoveries from desperate wounds, Iventure to record here an instance which occurred in Ceylonto a gentleman while engaged in the chase of elephants, and
which, I apprehend, has few parallels in pathological experience .
Lieutenant GERARD FRETZ,of the CeylonRifleRegiment
,whilst
firing at an elephant in the vicinity of Fort MacDonald, in
Oovah,waswounded in the fa ce by the bursting ofhis fowling
piece, on the 22nd January, 1828 . H ewa s then ab out thirtytwo years of age . On raising him ,
it was found that part of
the breech of the gun and ab out two inches of the barrel hadb een driven through the frontal sinus
,at the junction of the
nose and forehead. It had sunk a lmost perpendicul arly tillthe iron-
plate called “ the tail - pin,”by which the b arrel is
made fast to the stock by a screw,had descended through the
palate, carrying with it the screw,one extremity of which had
forced itself into the right nostril, where it wa s disc ernibleexternally, whilst the headed end lay in contact with his
tongue . T o extract the jagged mass of iron thus sunk in theethm oidal and sphenoidal cell s was found hopelessly impracti
cab le ; but, strange to tell,after the inflamm ation sub sided
,
Mr . FRET z recovered rapidly ; his general health was unim
paired, and he returned to his regiment with this singul ar ap
pendage firmly emb edded b ehind the bones of his face. H e
took his turn of duty a s u sual, attained the command of his
company, participated in all the enjoym ents of the m ess - room,
and died eight years afterwa rds , on the l st ofApril , 1836, not
from any c onsequences of this fearful wound, but from feverand inflammation b rought on by other causes .
CH AP. IV.] THE ELEPHANT . 155
SO little was he apparently inconvenienced by the presence
of the strange body in his palate that he was a ccustom ed with
his finger partially to undo the screw, which butfor its extreme
length he might altogether have withdrawn . T o enable this
to b e done,and possib ly to a ssist by this m eans the extraction
of the breech itself through the original orifice (which neverentirely closed), an attempt was made in 1835 to take off a
portion of the screw with a file ; but, after having cut it three
parts through the operation was interrupted, chiefly owing to
the carelessness and indifference of Capt . FRETZ, whose deathoccurred b efore the attempt coul d be resumed. T he piece of
iron, on being removed after his decease, was found to m easure
2g inches in length, andweighed two scruples more than twoounces and thr ee quarters . A cast of the breech and screw
now form s No . 2790 amongst the deposits in the Medical
Museum of Chatham .
156 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. V
CHAP. V.
THE ELEPHANT .
An E lephant Corra l.
So long a s the elephants of Ceylon were merely required
in small numbers for the pageantry of the native prin
ces, or the sacred processions of the Buddhist temples,their capture was effected either by the instrumenta lityof female decoys, or by the artifices and agility of the
individuals and ca stes who ‘devoted themselves to their
pursuit and training. But a fter the arrival of the
European conquerors of the island, and when it had become expedient to take advantage of the strength and
intelligence of these creatures in clearing forests and
making roads and other works, establishments were or
ganised on a great scale by the Portuguese and Dutch,
and the supply of elephants kept up by periodicalbattues conducted at the cost of the government, on a
plan similar to that adopted on the continent of India ,when herds varying in number from twenty to one
hundred and upwards are driven into concealed en
closures and secured.
In both these processes, success is entirely dependenton the skill with which the captors turn to advantagethe terror and inexperience of the Wild elephant, sincea ll attempts would be futile to subdue or confine byordinary force an animal of such strength and sagacity.
l
T he device of taking them by India : but in addi tion to the diffi
means of pitfalls still prevails in culty of providing against that
158 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. V.
who have been marked for the beauty of their ivory,the natives avail themselves of the aid of fema les inorder to effect their approaches and secure an oppor
tunity of ca sting a noose over the foot of the destinedcaptive. All accounts concur in expressing high admiration Of their courage and address ; but from what hasfallen under my own observation, added to the descriptionsI have heard from other eye
-witnesses, I am inclinedto believe that in such exploits the Moormen of Ceylonevince a daring and adroitness, surpas sing a ll others.T hese professional elephant catchers, or, a s they are
ca lled, Panickeas, inhabit the Moorish villages in the
north and north- east of the island, and from time immemoria l have been engaged in taking elephants, whichare afterwards trained by Arabs, chiefly for the use of
the rajahs and native princes in the south of India ,whose vakeels are periodically despatched to make purchases in Ceylon .
T he ability evinced by these m en in tracing elephantsthrough the woods has a lmost the certainty of instinct ;and hence their services are eagerly sought by the
European Sportsmen who go down into their country insearch of game. So keen is their glance, that like houndsrunning “ brea st high they will follow the course of
an elephant, a lmost at the top of their speed, overglades covered with stunted gra ss, where the eye of a
stranger would fail to discover a tra ce of its passage,and on through forests strewn with dry leaves, whereit seems impossible to perceive a footstep . H ere theyare guided by a bent or broken twig
,or by a leaf
dropped from the anima l’s mouth, on which the pressure of a tooth m ay be detected. I f at fault, they fetcha circuit like a setter, till lighting on some fresh marks,
CH AP. v.] THE ELEPHANT . 159
they go a -head again with renewed vigour. So delicateis the sense of smell in the elephant, and so indispensable is it to go against the wind in approaching him ,
that on those occa sions when the wind is so still that itsdirection cannot be otherwise discerned, the Panickeaswill suspend the film of a gossamer to determine it andshape their course a ccordingly.
T hey are enabled by the inspection of the footmarks ,when impressed in soft clay, to describe the siz e as wellas the number of a herd before it is seen ; the height ofan elephant at the shoulder being as nearly as possibletwice the circumference of his fore foot. l
On overtaking the game their courage is as conspicuousas their sagacity. I f they have confidence in the sportsm an for whom they are finding, they will advance tothe very heel of the elephant, slap him on the quarter,and convert his timidity into anger, till he turns uponhis tormentor and exposes his front to receive the bul letwhich is awaiting him .
2
1 Previous to the death of the
fema le elephant in the Zoological
Gardens , in the Regent’
s Park, in
1851, Mr . MI T CH ELL , the Secre
tary, caus ed measurements to be
a ccurately made, and found the
statement of the Singhalese hunters
to b e strictly correct, the height at
the shoulders being precisely twicethe circumference of the fore foot .
2 Major SKINNER , the Chief Otfi
cer at the head of the Commission
of Roads, in Ceylon, in writing to
me,mentions an anecdote illus
trative of the daring of the Panic
keas .
“ I once saw, he says ,“a
very beautiful example of the con
fidence with which these fellows ,from their knowledge of the ele
phants, meet their worst defiance.
It was in Neuera-Kalawa ; I wa s
bivouacking on the bank of a river,and had been kept out so late that
I did not get to my tent until b e
tween 9 and 10 at night . On our
return towards it we passed several
single elephants making their wayto the nearest water, but at length
we came upon a large herd that had
taken possession of the only road
by which we coul d pass, andwhich
no intim idation would induce to
move off. I had some Panickeas
with me ; they knew the herd, and
counsell ed extreme caution . After
trying every device we could think
of for a length of tim e, a little old
Moorm an of the party came to me
and requested we should all retire
to a distance. H e then took a
couple of chul es (flambeaux of dried
wood, or coco-nut leaves), one in
160 MA MMALIA. [CHAP. V .
SO fearless and confident are they that two m en,
Without aid or attendants, will boldly a ttempt to cap
ture the largest- siz ed elephant. T heir only weapon is aflexible rope made of elk’s or buffa lo’s hide, with whichit is their object to secure one of the hind legs. T histhey effect either by following in its footsteps when inmotion or by stealing close up to it when at rest, andavailing themselves of its well-known propensity at
such moments to swing the feet backwa rds and forwards,they contrive to slip a noose over the hind leg.
At other times this is a chieved by spreading thenoose on the ground partially concea led by roots andleaves beneath a tree on which one of the party is stationed, whose business it is to lift it suddenly by means
of a cord, raising it on the elephant’s leg at the moment
when his companion has succeeded in provoking him to
place his foot within the circle, the other end havingbeen previously made fa st to t he stem of the tree.
Should the noosing be effected in open ground, and notree of suflicient strength at hand round which to wind
the rope, one of the Moors, allowing himself to be pursued by the enraged elephant, entices him towa rds thenearest grove ; where his companion, dexterously layinghold of the rope a s it trails a long the ground, suddenlycoils it round a suitable stem,
and brings the fugitive to
a stand still . On finding himself thus arrested, the
natural impulse of the captive is to turn on the m an
each hand, and waving them above face. T he effectwas instantaneous ;his head till they flamedout fiercely, the whole herd dashed away in a
he advanced at a deliberate pace to panic, bellowing, screaming, and
within a few yards of the elephant crushing through the underwood,
who was acting as leader of the whils t we availed ourselves of the
party, and who was growling and open path to make our way to our
M peting in his rage, and flour tents .
ished the flaming torches in his
162 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. v .
that they at length venture to remove him to their ownvillage, or to the sea - side for shipment to India .
N0 part of the hunter’s performances exhibits greater
skill and auda city than this first forced march of the
recently captured elephant from the great centra l foreststo the sea - coa st. As he is still too morose to submit tobe ridden
,and a s it would be equa lly impossible to
lead or to drive him by force, the ingenuity of the
captors is displayed in a lternately irritating and eludinghim
,but a lways so attra cting his attention a s to a llure
him a long in the direction in which they want him togo . Some a ssistance is derived from the rope by whichthe origina l capture wa s effected, and which, a s it servesto make him safe at night
,is never removed from the
leg till his taming is sufficiently advanced to permit ofhis being entrusted with partia l liberty.
In Ceylon the principal pla ce for exporting theseanimals to India is Manaa r, on the western coa st, towhich the Arabs from the continent resort, bringingwith them horses to be bartered for elephants . In orderto rea ch the sea, open plains must be traversed, a crosswhich it requires the utmost courage, agility, and patience of the Moors to coax their reluctant charge . At
Manaar the elephants are usua lly detained till any
wound on the leg caused by the rope ha s been healed,when the shipment is effected in the most primitivemanner. I t being next to impossible to induce the stilluntamed creature to walk on board, and no mechanica lcontrivances being provided to ship him ; a dhoney, ornative boat, of about forty tons’ burthen, and aboutthree parts filled with the strong ribbed leaves of thePa lmyra palm,
is brought a longside the quay in front of
the Old Dutch Fort, and la shed so that the gunwale
CH AP. v.] THE ELEPHANT . 163
m ay b e a s nearly as possible on a line with the level ofthe wharf. T he elephant being placed with his back tothe water is forced by goads to retreat till his hind legsgo over the side of the quay, but the main contest commenees when it is attempted to disengage his fore feetfrom the shore, and force him to entrust himself onboa rd . T he scene becomes exciting from the screamsand trumpeting of the elephants, the shouts of the Arabs,the ca lls of the Moors, and the rushing of the crowd.
Meanwhile the huge creature strains every nerve toregain the land ; and the day is often consumed beforehis efforts are overcome
,and he finds himself fairly
afloat. T he same dhoney will take from four to fiveelephants, who pla ce themselves athwa rt it, and exhibitamusing adroitness in a ccommodating their movementsto the rolling of the little vessel ; and in this waythey are ferried a cross the narrow strait which separatesthe continent of India from Ceylon.
l
But the fea t of ensnaring and subduing a singleelephant, courageous a s it is, and demonstrative of the
supremacy with which m an wields his dominion over
every bea st of the earth,”
falls far short of the daring
1 In the Philosop hica l T ransac land, and he swam after the boattions for 1701, there is “An to the ship , where tacklewas reeved
Account of the taking of Elephants to the sail- cloth, andhe was hoisted
in Ceylon,by Mr. ST RACHAN ,
a on board.
Physicianwho lived seventeenyears But a better way has been in.
there,
”
in which the author de vented lately,”
says Mr . Strachan ;scribes the m anner in which they
“a large flat-bottomed vessel is
were shipped by the Dutch,
at prepared, covered with planks likeMatura , Galle, and Negombo . A a floor ; so that this floor is almost
piece of strong sail - cloth having of a height with the key. T henbeen wrapped round the elephant
’
s the sides of the key and the vessel
chest and stomach, he was forced are adorned with green branches ,into the sea between two tame so that the elephant sees no water
ones,and there made fast to a boat . till heis in the ship .
” — Phi l. T rans ,
T he tame ones then returned to vol . xxiii. No. 227, p . 1051.
M 2
164 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . v .
exploit of capturing a whole herd when from thirty toone hundred wild elephants are entrapped in one vastdecoy. T he mode of effecting this
, a s it is pra ctised inCeylon
,is no doubt imitated, but with considerable
modifications, from the methods preva lent in various
parts of India . I t wa s introduced by the Portuguese,and continued by the Dutch, the latter Of whom had
two elephant hunts in ea ch yea r, and conducted theiroperations on so large a scale, that the annua l export,after supplying the government establishments
,wa s
from one hundred to one hundred and fifty elephants,taken principally in the vicinity of Matura
,in the
southern province, and marched for shipment toManaar.
l
T he custom in Bengal is to construct a strong eu
closure (called a keddah), in the heart of the forest,
formed of the trunks of trees firmly secured by transverse beams and buttresses, and leaving the gate for theentrance of the elephants. A second enclosure
,open
ing from the first, contains water (if possible a rivulet)this, aga in,
communicates with a third, which terminates in a funnel - shaped pa ssage, too narrow to admit ofan elephant turning, and within this the captives beingdriven in line, are secured with ropes introduced fromthe outside, and led away in custody of tame ones trainedfor the purpose.
T he keddah being prepared, the first operation isto drive the e lephants towards it, for which purposeva st bodies of men fetch a compass in the forest a roundthe haunts of the herds, contra cting it by degrees, tillthey complete the enclosure of a certain a rea , round
VALENTYN, Oud en Nieuw Dost-Indien, ch. xv. p . 272 .
166 MA MMALIA. [CHAP . v .
Portuguese cwrm l, a cattle-
pen consists of but oneenclosure instead of three. A stream or watering-
placeis not uniformly enclosed within it, because, a lthoughwater is indispensable a fter the long thirst and ex
haustion of the captives, it ha s been found that a pondor rivulet within the corra l itself adds to the difficultyof leading them out, and increa ses their reluctance toleave it ; besides which , the smaller ones are often smothered by the others in their eagerness to crowd intothe water. T he funnel- shaped outlet is a lso dis
pensed with, a s the anima ls are liable to bruise and
injure themselves within the narrow stockade and
should one of them die in it, a s is too often the ca sein the midst of the struggle, the diffi culty of removingso great a carca se is extreme . T he noosing and securingthem,
therefore, takes pla ce in Ceylon within the a reaof the first enclosure into which they enter, and the
dexterity and daring displayed in this portion of the
work far surpa sses that of merely atta ching the ropethrough the Openings of the paling, a s in an Indiankeddah .
One result of this change in the system is manifestedin the increa sed proportion of hea lthy elephants whichare eventua lly secured and trained out of the numberorigina lly enclosed. T he rea son of this is obviousunder the old arrangem ents
,months were consumed in
the preparatory steps of surrounding and driving in theherds
,which at last a rrived so wa sted by excitement
and exhausted by privation that numbers died within
the corra l itself, and still more died duringthe processof training. But in later years the labour of months isreduced to weeks, and the elephants are driven in fresh
and full of vigour, so that comparatively few are lost
CH AP . V.] THE ELEPHANT . 167
either in the enclosure or the stables . A conception of
the whole. operation from commencement to end will bebest conveyed by describing the progress of an elephantcorral as I witnessed it in 1847 in the great forest onthe banks of the Alligator River, the Kimbul- oya , inthe district of Kornega lle, about thirty miles north-westof Kandy.
Kornegalle, or Kurunai- galle, wa s one of the ancientcapita ls of the island, and the residence of its kingsfrom A.D. 1319 to T he dwelling-house of the
principa l civil offi cer in charge of the district now oc
cupies the site of the former pa la ce, and the groundis strewn with fragments of columns and carved stones,the remnants of the royal buildings. T he modern townconsists of the bungalows of the European officia ls, ea chsurrounded with its own ga rden ; two or three streetsinhabited by Dutch descendants and by Moors ; and a
native ba z aa r, with the ordinary a rray of rice and currystuffs and cooking chattees of bra ss or burnt clay.
T he charm of the village 1s the unusua l beauty of
its position . It rests within the shade of an enormousrock of gneiss upwards of 600 feet in height , nearlydenuded of verdure, and so rounded and
'
worn by timethat it has acquired the form of a couchant elephant,from which it derives its name of Aetagalla , the Rockof the T usker. 2 But Aetagalla is only the la st eminencein a range of similarly- formed rocky mounta ins, whichhere terminate abruptly ; and, which from the fanta sticshapes into which their gigantic outlines have been
1 See Sm J . EMER SON TENNENT’
S resemblance in shape to the backCeylon,
Vol . I . Pt . m . ch. xi l p . 4 15. of that insect, and hence is said2 Another enormous mass of to have been derived the name of
gneiss is called the Kuruminia the town, Kuruna -
galle or Korne
galla , or the Beetle-rock
, from its galle.
M 4
168 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . v.
wrought by the action of the atmosphere, are ca lled bythe names of the T ortoise Rock
,the Eel Rock, and the
Rock of the T usked Elephant. SO impressed are the
Singhal ese by the a spect of these stupendous ma ssesthat in ancient grants lands are conveyed in perpetuity,or so long as the sun and the moon, so long as
Aetaga lla and Andaga lla sha ll endure .
”
Kornegalle is the resort of Buddhists from the re
m otest parts of the island, who come to visit an ancienttemple on the summit of the great rock, to which a ccess
is had from the va lley below by means of steep pathsand steps hewn out of the solid stone . H ere the chiefobject of veneration is a copy of the sacred footstephollowed in the granite, similar to that which conferssanctity on Adam’s Peak, the towering apex of which
,
about forty miles distant, the pilgrims can discern from
Aetagalla .
At times the heat at Kornegalle is intense, in consequence of the perpetual glow diffus ed from thesegranite cliffs. T he wa rmth they acquire during thebla z e of noon becomes almost intolerable towa rdsevening, and the sultry night is too short to permitthem to cool between the setting and the rising of the
sun . T he district is a lso liable to occa sional droughtswhen the watercourses fail, and the tanks are dried up .
One of these ca lamities occurred about the period of myvisit
,and such was the suffering of the wild animals
that numbers of crocodiles and bears made their wayF ORBES quotes a T amil con chap . 11. I t will not fail to b e
voyance of land, the purchaser of observed, that the same figur e wa swhich is to “
possess and enjoy it employed in H ebrew literature a s
as long a s the sun and the moon, a type of duration T hey shal l
the earth and its vegetables , the fear thee, so long a s tke sun and
mountains and the River Cauvery moon endure throughout all gene
exist .”
- 0 rz'
enta l Memoirs, vol . ii. rations .
” — Psalm lxxii. 5, 17.
170 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. V .
the murmuring hum of glittering insects, or the shrill
clamour of the plum-headed parroquet and the flute
like ca lls of the golden oriole.
We crossed the broad sandy beds of two rivers overa rched by ta ll trees, the most conspicuous of which is
the Kombook 1,from the calcined bark of which the
natives extra ct a species of lime to b e used with theirbetel. And from the branches hung suspended overthe water the gigantic pods of the huge puswa el bean
2,
the sheath of which mea sures six feet long by five or six
inches broad .
On a scending the steep bank of the second stream,
we found ourselves in front of the residences which had
been extemporised for our party in the immediate
vicinity of the corral. T hese cool and enj oyable struc
tures were formed of branches and thatched with palmleaves and fragrant lemon grass ; and in addition to a
dining- room and suites of bedrooms fitted with tentfurniture, they included kitchens, stables, and storerooms, a ll run up by the natives in the course of a few
days.In former times, the work connected with these
elephant hunts was performed by the“ forced labour ”
of the natives, a s part of that feudal service which under
the name of Raja -kariya wa s extorted from the Sin
ghalese during the rule of their native sovereigns . T hissystem was continued by the Portuguese and Dutch , and
prevailed under the British Government till its abolitionby the Earl of Ripon in 1832 . Under it from fifteenhundred to two thousand men superintended by theirheadmen, used to be occupied, in constructing the
Pentap tera panicula ta .
2 Entada p urswtka .
CH AP. V.] THE ELEPHANT . 171
corral, collecting the elephants, maintaining the cordonof watch-fires and watchers, and conducting a ll the
laborious operations of the capture . Since the abolitionof Raja -kariya , however, no difficulty has been found in
obtaining the voluntary co- Operation of the natives onthese exciting occa sions. T he governm ent defrays theexpense of that portion of the preparations which in
volves actual cost,
for the skilled labour expended in
the erection of the corra l and its appurtenances, and the
providing of spears, ropes, arms,flutes, drums, gun
powder, and other necessaries for the occa sion .
T he period of the year selected is that which leastinterferes with the cultivation of the rice- lands (in theinterval between seed time and harvest), and the peoplethemselves, in addition to the excitement and enjoymentof the sport, have a personal interest in reducing thenumber of elephants, which inflict serious injury ontheir gardens and growing crops . For a sim ila r rea sonthe priests encourage the practice, because the elephantsdestroy their sa cred Bo- trees, of the leaves of which theyare pa ssionately fond ; besides which it promotes thefacility for obtaining elephants for the processions of thetemples and the Rata -mahat-mayas and headmen havea pride in exhibiting the number of retainers who followthem to the field, and the performances of the tameelephants which they lend for the business of the corra l .T hus vast numbers of the pea santry are voluntarily oc
cupied for many weeks in putting up the stockades, cutting paths through the jungle, and relieving the beaterswho are engaged in surrounding and driving in the
elephants .In selecting the scene for the hunt a position is chosen
which lies on some Old and frequented route of the ani
17-2 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. v .
mals, in their periodical migrations in search of forageand water ; and the vicinity of a stream is indispensable,not only for the supply of the elephants during the timespent in inducing them to approach the enclosure, butto enable them to bathe and cool themselves throughoutthe process of training after capture .
In constructing the corral itself, ca re is taken toavoid disturbing the trees or the brushwood within theincluded spa ce, and especia lly on the side by which theelephants are to approa ch, where it is essentia l to concea l the stockade a s much as possible by the density of
the foliage. T he trees used in the structure are fromten to twelve inches in diameter ; and are sunk aboutthree feet in the earth
,so a s to leave a length of from
twelve to fifteen feet above ground with spa ces betweeneach stanchion sufficiently wide to permit a m an to glidethrough . T he uprights are made fa st by transversebeams
,to which they are lashed securely by ratans and
00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
GROUND PL AN OF A CORRAL,A ND ME T H OD OF FE NC ING I T .
flexible climbing plants, or as they are called “ jungle
ropes,”and the whole is steadied by means of forked
174 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. V.
order to surround a sufficient number, and the cautionto be observed involves patience and delay ; as it isessential to avoid a larming the elephants, which mightotherwise escape . T heir disposition being essentially
pea ceful, and their only impulse to browse in solitudeand security, they withdraw instinctively before theslightest intrusion, and advantage is taken of thistimidity and love of seclusion to cause only just such
an amount of disturbance a s will induce them to re
turn slowly in the direction which it is desired theyshould take. Several herds are by this means concen
trated within such an area as will admit of their beingcompletely surrounded by the watchers ; and day afterday, by degrees, they are moved gradua lly onwards tothe immediate confines of the corral . When theirsuspicions become awakened and they exhibit restlessnessand alarm,
bolder measures are adopted for preventingtheir escape. Fires are kept burning at ten pa ces apart,night and day, along the circumference of the areawithin which they are detained ; a corps of from two tothree thousand beaters is completed, and pathways arecarefully cleared through the jungle so as to keep opena communication a long the entire circuit. T he headm en keep up a constant patrol, to see that their followersare a lert at their posts, since neglect at any one spotmight permit the escape of the herd, and undo in a
moment the vigilance of weeks . By this means any
a ttempt of the elephants to break away is genera llychecked, and on any point threatened a sufficient forcecan be promptly a ssembled to drive them ba ck. At
last the elephants are forced onwards so close to theenclosure, that the investing cordon is united at eitherend with the wings of the corral, the whole forming a
CHAP. V.] THE ELEPHANT . 175
circle of about two miles, within the area of which theherd is detained to await the signal for the fina l drive.
T wo months had been spent in these preliminaries,and the preparations had been thus far completed, on
the day when we arrived and took our places on thestage erected for us, overlooking the entrance to thecorra l . Close beneath us a group of tame elephantssent by the temples and the chiefs to a ssist in securingthe wild ones, were picketed in the shade, and la z ilyfanning themselves with leaves. T hree distinct herds
,
whose united numbers were variously represented at
from forty to fifty elephants, were enclosed, and wereat that moment concea led in the jungle within a shortdistance of the stockade. Not a sound wa s permittedto be made, each person spoke to his neighbour inwhispers, and such wa s the silence observed by the mul
titude of the watchers at their posts, that occa siona lly
we could hear the rustling of the branches a s some of
the elephants stripped off a leaf.
Suddenly the signa l wa s made, and the stillness Of
the forest wa s broken by the shouts of the guard, therolling of the drums and tom- toms, and the dischargeof muskets ; and beginning at the most distant side of
the area , the elephants were urged forwa rd a t a rapid
pac e towards the entrance into the corral .
T he watchers along the line kept silence only till theherd had pa ssed them, and then j oining the cry in theirrear they drove them onward with redoubled shouts andnoises. T he tumult increa sed a s the terrified rout drewnear, swelling now on one side now on the other, a s theherd in their panic da shed from point to point in theirendeavours to force the line, but they were instantly
driven back by screams, muskets, and drums .
176 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. V .
At length the breaking of the branches and the
cra ckling of the brushwood announced their close ap
proach, and the leader bursting from the jungle rushedwildly forwa rd to within twenty yards of the entrancefollowed by the rest of the herd . Another momentand they would have plunged into the open gate, whensuddenly they wheeled round, re- entered the forest, and
in spite of the hunters resumed their original position.
T he chief headman came forwa rd and a ccounted for
the freak by saying that a wild pigl,an anima l which
the elephants are said to dislike, had started out of thecover and run a cross the leader, who would otherwisehave held on direct for the corra l ; and intimated that
a s the herd was now in the highest pitch of excitement ;and it was at all times much more difficult to effect asuccessful capture by daylight than by night when thefires and flambeaux a ct with double effect, it wa s thewish of the hunters to defer their fina l effort till theevening, when the darkness would greatly aid theirexertions.After sunset the scene exhibited wa s of extra ordinary
interest ; the low fires, which had apparently only sm oul
dered in the sunlight, a ssumed their ruddyglow amidst thedarkness, and threw their tinge over the groups collectedround them ; while the smoke rose in eddies throughthe rich foliage of the trees. T he crowds of spectatorsmaintained a profound silence, and not a sound wa s perceptible beyond the hum of an insect. On a sudden thestillness was broken by the distant roll of a drum,
fol
F ire, the sound of a horn,and H fip 6? 1r7
'
oe?'ra z Ital xpcbv nepaocpdpou,the grunting of a boar are the three Ka l 7 63V pox/ 166V Bohr T hudOpdav.
things which the Greeks, in the
middle ages , believed the elephant 1P711
7
mn, Exp osztzo de Elephante,
Specially to dislike
17s MAMMALIA. [CH AP . v
slowly returned to their forlorn resting-
place in the
centre of the corral .T he attraction of this strange scene was not confined to
the spectators ; it extended to the tame elephants whichwere stationed outside. At the first approach of the
flying herd they evinced the utmost interest. Two in
particular which were picketed near the front wereintensely excited, and continued tossing their heads,
pawing the ground, and starting a s the noise drew near.At length, when the grand rush into the corra l took
pla ce, one of them fairly burst from her fa stenings andrushed towards the herd, levelling a tree of considerablesiz e which obstructed her pa ssage.
l
For upwa rds of an hour the elephants continued totraverse the corra l and a ssail the palisade with unabatedenergy
,trumpeting and screaming with rage a fter ea ch
disappointment. Aga in and again they attempted toforce the gate, a s if aware, by experience, tha t it oughtto afford an exit a s it had already served a s an entrance,but they shrank back stimned and bewildered. By degrees their efforts became less and less frequent. Singleones rushed excitedly here and there, returning sullenlyto their companions after ea ch effort ; and a t la st thewhole herd, stupified and exhausted, formed themselvesinto a single group, drawn up in a circle with the young
T he other elephant, a fine
tusker, which belonged to Dehigam
Ratam ahatmeya , continued in ex
treme excitement throughout all
the subsequent operations of the
capture, and at last,after attempt
ing to break its way into the corral ,shaking the bars with its foreheadand tusks , it went Off in a state of
frenzy into the jungle. A few days
a fter the Ar atchy went in search of
it with a female decoy, and watch
ing its approach, Sprang fairly on
the infuriated bea st,with a pair of
sharp hooks in his hands , which he
pressed into tender parts in front
of the shoul der,and thus held the
elephant firmly till chain s were
pa ssed over its legs , and it per
mitted itself to b e led quietly away.
CH AP. V .] T HE ELEPHANT . 179
in the centre, and stood motionless under the dark shade
of the trees in the middle of the corral .Preparations were now made to keep watch during
the night, the g uard was reinforced a round the enclosure,and wood heaped on the fires to keep up a high flame
till sunrise.
T hree herds had been originally entrapped by thebeaters outside ; but with characteristic instinct theyhad ea ch kept clear of the other, taking up differentstations in the spa ce investe d by the watchers . When
the final drive took place one herd only had entered theenclosure, the other two keeping behind ; and a s the
gate had to be instantly shut on the first division, the
la st were unavoidably excluded and remained concealedin the jungle. T o prevent their escape, the watcherswere ordered to their former stations
, the fires werereplenished ; and a ll precautions having been taken,we returned to pass the night in our b tmgalows by theriver.
180 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. VI .
CHAP . VI .
T HE ELEPHANT .
The Cap tives .
As our sleeping-
pla ce wa s not above two hundredyards from the corra l, we were frequently awakened by
the din of the multitude who were bivoua cking in the
forest, by the merriment round the watch-fires, and now
and then by the shouts with which the guards repulsedsome sudden charge of the elephants in attempts to
force the stockade. But at daybreak, on going down to
the corra l, we found a ll still and vigilant. T he fireswere a llowed to die out a s the sun rose, and the watcherswho had been relieved were sleeping near the great
fence, the enclosure on all sides being surrounded bycrowds of m en and boys with spears or white peeledwands about ten feet long, whilst the elephants withinwere huddled together in a compa ct group, no longerturbul ent and restless, but exhausted and ca lm
, and
utterly subdued by apprehension and ama z ement at a llthat had been pa ssing a round them .
Nine only had been a s yet entrapped1, of which
1 In some of the elephant hunts hood of them, and thus protect
conducted in the southern provinces the crops from destruction. In the
of Ceylon by the earlier British present instance, the object beingGovernors , as many as 17O and to secure only as many as were
200 elephants were secured in a required for the Government stud,
single corral , of which a portion it was not sought to entrap more
only were taken out for the public than coul d conveniently b e attended
service, and the rest shot , the to and trained after capture .
motive being to rid the neighbour
182 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . VI .
(one of which had been caught but the '
year before,
yet it wa s now ready to a ssist in capturing others), fourbelonged to the neighbouring chiefs, and the rest, including the two which first entered the corral, were part
of the Government stud. Of the latter, one was of
prodigious age, having been in the service of the Dutchand English Governments in succession for upwards of
a century.
1 T he other, called by her keeper Siriheddi,
”was about fifty years old, and distinguished for
gentleness and docility. She wa s a most accomplisheddecoy, and evinced the utmost relish for the sport.H aving entered the corral noiselessly, carrying a mahouton her shoulders with the headman of the noosers seatedbehind him , she moved slowly along with a sly composureand an a ssumed air of ea sy indifference ; saunteringleisurely in the direction of the captives, and haltingnow and then to pluck a bunch of gra ss or a few leavesas she pa ssed. As she approa ched the herd, they putthemselves in motion to meet her, and the leader, having advanced in front and pa ssed his trunk gently overher head
,turned and paced slowly back to his dej ected
companions . Siribeddi followed with the same listlessstep, and drew herself up close behind him , thus affording the nooser an opportunity to stoop under her and
slip the noose over the hind foot of the wild one . T he
latter instantly perceived his danger, shook off the rope,and turned to atta ck the man. H e would have sufferedfor his tem erity had not Sirib eddi protected him byraising her trunk and driving the assailant into themidst of the herd, when the old m an, being slightly
T his elephant is since dead ; skeleton is now in the Museum of
she grew infirm and diseased, and the Natural H istory Society at
died at Colombo in 1848 . H er Belfast .
CH AP. VI .] THE ELEPHANT . 183
wounded, was helped out of the corra l, and his son,
Ranghanie, took his pla ce.
The herd again collected in a circle,with their heads
towards the centre. T he largest male wa s singled out,and two tame ones pushed boldly in, one on either sideOf him
, till the three stood nearly abrea st. H e madeno resistance
,but betrayed his unea siness by shifting
restlessly from foot to foot. Ranghanie now crept up,and, holding the rope open with both hands (its otherextremity being made fa st to Sirib eddi
’
s collar), and
watching the instant when the wild elephant lifted itshind- foot, succeeded in pa ssing the noose over its leg,drew it close, and fled to the rear. T he two tameelephants instantly fell back, Siribeddi stretched therope
~to its ful l length, and, whilst she dragged out the
captive, her companion pla ced himself between her andthe herd to prevent any interference .
In order to tie him to a tree he had to be drawnbackwards some twenty or thirty yards, making furiousresistance
,bellowing in terror, plunging on a ll sides, and
crushing the smaller timber, which bent like reeds beneath his clumsy struggles. Siribeddi drew him steadilyafter her, and wound the rope round the proper tree,holding it a ll the time at its full tension, and steppingcautiously a cross it when, in order to give it a secondturn, it was necessary to pa ss bet-ween the tree and
the elephant. With a coil round the stem, however, itwas beyond her strength to haul the prisoner close up,
which wa s, nevertheless, necessary in order to makehim perfectly fast ; but the second tame one, perceivingthe difficulty, returned from the herd, confronted thestruggling prisoner, pushed him shoul der to shoulder,and head to head, forcing him ba ckwards, whilst at
N 4
184 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. VI .
every step Siribeddi hauled in the sla ckened rope till shebrought him fairly up to the foot of the tree, where hewas made fa st by the cooroowe people . A second noosewas then pa ssed over the other hind- leg, and securedlike the first
,both legs being afterwards hobbled to
gether by ropes made from the fibre of the kitool orjaggery palm,
which, being more flexible than that of
the coco-nut, occa sions less formidable ulcerations . T he
two decoys then ranged themselves, a s before, abrea st of
the prisoner on either side,thus enabling Ranghanie to
stoop under them and noose the two fore- feet a s he hadalready done the hind ; and these ropes being made fa stto a tree in front, the capture wa s complete, and the
tame elephants and keepers withdrew to repeat theoperationon another of the herd .
186 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. VI .
some sudden impul se ; but at la st the va in strife subsided, and the poor animal remained perfectly motionless
, the image of exhaustion and despair.Meanwhile Ranghanie presented himself in front Of
the governor’s stage to claim the a ccustomed largessefor tying the first elephant. H e was rewarded by ashower of rupees, and retired to resume his perilousduties in the corral .T he rest of the herd were now in a state of pitiable
dejection, and pressed closely together as if under a
sense of common misfortune. For the most part theystood a t rest in a compa ct body, fretful and unea sy.
At intervals one more impatient than the rest wouldmove out a few steps to reconnoitre ; the others would
follow at first slowly,then at a quicker pace, and at la st
the whole herd would rush off furiously to renew the
Often-baffled attempt to storm the stockade.
T here was a strange combination of the sublime and
the ridicul ous in these abortive onsets ; the appearance
of prodigious power in their ponderous limbs, coupledwith the almost ludicrous shuffle of their
.
clum sy gait,and the fury of their apparently resistless charge, converted in an instant into timid retreat. T hey rushedm adly down the enclosure, their ba cks arched, theirtails extended, their ears Spread, and their trunks raisedhigh above their heads, trumpeting and uttering Shrillscreams, yet when one step further would have da shedthe opposing fence into fragments, they stopped shorton a few white rods being pointed at them through the
palingl
and, on catching the derisive shouts of the
1 T he fact of the elephant ex relates,that in order to inculcate
hibiting timidity, on having a long contempt for want of courage in
rod pointed towards him , wa s the elephant, they were introduced
known to the Romans and PL INY,into the circus during the triumph
quoting from the anna ls of Prso , of MET ELLL' S, after the conquest of
CH AP. VI .] THE ELEPHANT . 187
crowd,they turned in utter discomfiture, and after an
objectless circle or two through the corral, they pacedslowly back to their melancholy halting pla ce in the
shade .
T he crowd, chiefly comprised of young men and boys,exhibited a stonishing nerve and composure at suchmoments, rushing up to the point towards which the
elephants charged, pointing their wands at their trunks,and keeping up the continual cry of whoop ! whoop !
which invariably turned them to flight.T he second victim singled out from the herd was
secured in the same manner as the first. It was a
female. T he tame ones forced themselves in on eitherside a s before, cutting her Off from her companions,whilst Ranghanie stooped under them and atta ched thefata l noose, and Siribeddi dragged her out amidst unavailing struggles, when she was made fast by each legto the nearest group of strong trees. When the noosewa s placed upon her fore- foot, she seiz ed it with hertrunk
, and succeeded in carrying it to her mouth, whereshe would speedily have severed it had not a tame ele
phant interfered, and pla cing his foot on the rope
pressed it downwards out of her jaws . The individualswho a cted a s leaders in the successive charges on the
palisades were always those selected by the noosers, andthe operation of tying each
,from the first approaches of
the decoys, till the captive wa s left alone by the tree,occupied on an average somewhat less than threequarte rs of an hour.I t is strange that in these encounters the wild ele
the Carthaginians in Sicily, and Operarns b astas praepil atas habendrz
'
ven round the area by workmen tibus , per circum totam actos .
”
holding blunted sp ears , Ab Lib . viii. c . 6 .
188 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. VI .
phantsmade no attempt to attack or dislodge them ahoutsor the cooroowes, who rode on the tame ones . T heymoved in the very midst of the herd, any individual in
which could in a moment have pulled the riders fromtheir seats but no effort wa s made to molest them .
1
As one after another their leaders were entrapped andforced away from them, the remainder of the group
“ In a corral , to b e on a tame Adigar’
s head was on a level with
elephant, seem s to insure perfect the ba ck of the wild animals : I
immunity from the attacks of the felt very nervous , but he rode right
wil d,
ones . I once saw the old in among them, and received not
chief Mollegodde ride in amongst the slightest molestation.
”—Lettera herd of wild elephants , on a from MAJOR SKIN'
NER .
small elephant ; so small that the
190 IMAMMALIA. [CH AP. VI .
animal . T hey vented their rage upon every tree and
plant within reach ; if sma ll enough to b e torn down,they levelled them with their trunks, and stripping themof their leaves and branches, they tossed them wildlyover their heads on a ll sides. Some in their strugglesmade no sound, whilst others bellowed and trumpetedfurious ly, then uttered short convulsive screams, and at
last, exhaus ted and hopeless, gave vent to their anguishin low and piteous moanings . Some, after a few violent
efforts of this kind, lay motionless on the ground, withno other indication of suffering than the tears whichsuffused their eyes and flowed incessantly. Others in a ll
the vigour of their rage exhibited the most surprisingcontortions ; and to us who had been a ccustomed toa ssociate with the unwieldy bulk of the elephant theidea that he must of necessity be stiff and inflexible,the attitudes into which they forced themselves werealmost incredible. I saw one lie with the cheek pressedto the earth, and the fore- legs stretched in front
,whilst
the body wa s twisted round till the hind- legs extendedin the opposite direction .
It was a stonishing that their trunks were not woundedby the violence with which they flung them on all sides.One twisted his proboscis into such fanta stic shapes, thatit resembled the writhings of a gigantic worm ; he coiledit and uncoiled it with restless rapidity, curling it uplike a watch- Spring, and suddenly unfolding it again toits full length . Another, which lay otherwise motionless in a ll the stupor of hopeless anguish
,slowly beat
the ground with the extremity of his trunk, as a man
in despair beats his knee with the pa lm of his hand .
T hey displayed an amount of sensitiveness and de
licacy of touch in the foot, which was very remarkable
CH AP. VI .] THE ELEPHANT . 19 1
in a limb of such clumsy dimensions and protected by sothick a covering. T he noosers could always force themto lift it from the ground by the gentlest touch of a leaf
or twig, apparently applied so as to tickle ; but the im
position of the rope was instantaneously perceived, and
if it could not b e reached by the trunk the other foot
was applied to feel its position, and if possible removeit before the noose could be drawn tight.
One pra ctice was incessant with a lmost the entireherd : in the interva l between their struggles they beatthe ground with their fore feet , and taking up the dry
earth in a coil of the trunk, they flung it dexterously over
every part of their body. Even when lying down, the
sand within rea ch was thus collected and scattered overtheir limbs : then inserting the extremity of the
trunk in their mouths, they withdrew a quantity of
water, which they discharged over their ba cks, repeat
ing the operation again and again, till the dust wa sthoroughly saturated . I was astonished at the quantity
of water thus applied, which was suffi cient when theelephant, as was generally the ca se, had worked the spotwhere he lay into a hollow, to convert its surface intoa coating of mud . Seeing that the herd had beennow twenty- four hours without access to water of any
kind, surrounded by watch- fires, and exhausted bystruggling and terror, the supply of moisture an ele
phant is capable of containing in the recepta clea tta ched to his stomach must be very considerable .
T he conduct of the tame ones during a ll these proceedings was truly wonderful. T hey displayed the most
perfect conception of every movement, both of the obj ectto b e atta ined, and of the means to a ccomplish it .
192 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . VI .
T hey manifested the utmost enjoyment in what wasgoing on . T here was no ill-humour, no malignity in
the spirit displayed, in what was otherwise a heartless
proceeding, but they set about it in,a way that showed
a thorough relish for it, a s an agreeable pa stime.
T heir caution was a s remarkable a s their sagacity ; therewa s no hurrying, no confusion, they never ran foul of
the ropes, were never in the way of the animals alreadynoosed ; and amidst the most violent struggles, when
the tame ones had frequently to step a cross the captives,they in no instance trampled on them,
or occasionedthe slightest a ccident or annoyance. SO far from this,they saw intuitively a difficulty or a danger, and ad
dressed themselves unbidden to remove it . In tying
up one of the larger elephants, he contrived before hecould be hauled close up to the tree, to wa lk once ortwice round it, carrying the rope with him ; the decoy,
perceiving the advantage he had thus gained over thenooser, walked up of her own a ccord, and pushed himba ckwards with her head, till she made him unwind himself again ; upon which the rope wa s hauled tight andmade fa st. More than once, when a wild one was extending his trunk, and would have intercepted the ropeabout to be placed over his leg, Siribeddi, by a suddenmotion of her own trunk
, pushed his a side, and prevented him ; and on one occa sion, when successive effortshad failed to put the noose over the fore- leg of an
elephant which wa s a lready secured by one foot,but
which wisely put the other to the ground a s Often a s itwas attempted to pa ss the noose under it, I saw thedecoy watch her opportunity, and when his foot wa sagain raised, suddenly push in her own leg beneath it,and hold it up till the noose wa s attached and drawn
tight.
194 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. VI .
instances where the intervention of the other decoysfailed to reduce a wild one to order, the mere presence
and approach of the tusker seemed to inspire fear, and
insure submission, without more active intervention .
I do not know whether it was the surprising qualitiesexhibited by the tame elephants that cast the courage
and dexterity of the m en into the shade, but even whensupported by the presence, the sagacity, and co- operation
of these wonderful creatures, the part sustained by the
Hoosers can bear no comparison with the address and
daring displayed by the p icador and ma tador in a
Spanish bull-fight. T hey certainly possessed greatquickness of eye in watching the slightest movement ofthe elephant, and great expertness in flinging the nooseover its foot and attaching it firmly before the animalcould tear it Off with its trunk ; but in all this they had
the cover of the decoys to conceal them ; and theirshelter behind which to retreat. Apart from the serviceswhich, from their prodigious strength, the tame elephantsare alone capable of rendering, in dragging out andsecuring the captives, it is perfectly obvious that withouttheir co - operation the utmost prowess and dexterity of
the hunters would not avail them, unsupported, to enterthe corral and ensnare and lead out a single captive.
Of the two tiny elephants which were entrapped, onewas about ten months old, the other somewhat more. T he
smaller one had a little bolt head covered with woollybrown hair, and was the most amusing and interestingminiature imaginable. Both kept constantly with theherd, trotting after them in every charge ; when theothers stood at rest they ran in and out between the legsof the older ones ; and not their own mothers alone, but
every female in the group caressed them in turn .
CHAP. VI .] THE ELEPHANT . 195
T he dam of the youngest was the second elephantsingled out by the noosers, and a s she was dragged a longby the decoys, the little creature kept by her side till she
was drawn close to the fatal tree. T hem en at first were
rather amused than otherwise by its anger ; but theyfound that it would not permit them to place the secondnoose upon its mother ; it ran between her and them,
it
tried to seiz e the rope, it pushed them and struck themwith its little trunk, till they were for ced to drive it
back to the herd. It retreated slowly, shouting all the
way, and pausing at every step to look back. I t thenattached itself to the largest female remaining in the
group , and placed itself a cross her forelegs, whilst she
hung down her trunk over its side and soothed and
caressed it. H ere it continued moaning and lamenting,till the noosers had left off securing its mother, when it
instantly returned to her side ; but as it became troublesome again, attacking every one who pa ssed, it was at la sttied up by a rope to an adjoining tree, to which theother young one was also tied . T he second little one,
equally with its playmate, exhibited great affection forits dam ; it went willingly with its captor as far as the
tree to which she was fa stened, and in pa ssing her
stretched out its trunk and tried to rej oin her ; butfinding itself forced a long, it caught at every twig andbranch within its reach, and screamed with grief and
disappointment.T hese two little creatures were the most vociferous of
the whole herd, their shouts were incessant, theystruggled to attack every one within reach and as theirbodies were more lithe and pliant than those of greatergrowth, their contortions were quite wonderful. T he
most amusing thing was, that in the midst of a ll their
0 2
196 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. vr.
agony and affi iction, the little fellows seiz ed on everya rticle of food that wa s thrown to them,
and ate and
roared simultaneously.
Amongst the la st of the elephants noosed was therogue. T hough far more savage than the others, hej oined in none of their charges and a ssaults on the fences,a s they uniformly drove him Off and would not permit
him to enter their circle. When dragged pa st another
of his companions in misfortune, who wa s lying exhaustedon the ground, he flew upon him and attempted to fa stenhis teeth in his head ; this was the only instance of
viciousness which occurred during the progress of thecorral. When tied up and overpowered, he wa s at firstnoisy and violent, but soon lay down pea ceful ly, a Sign ,a ccording to the hunters, that his death wa s at hand.
T heir prognostication was correct ; he continued for
about twelve hours to cover himself with dust like theothers, and to moisten it with water from his trunk ; butat length he lay exhausted, and died so ca lmly, thathaving been moving but a few moment before, his deathwas only perceived by themyriads of black flies by whichhis body was almost instantly covered, a lthough not onewa s visible a moment before .
1 T he Rodiya s were ca lled
The surpr1s1ng facul ty Of vul
tures for discovering carrion,has
been a subject of much specul ation,
a s to whether it b e dependent on
their power of sight or of scent .
I t is not , however, more mysterious
than the unerring certainty and
rapidity with which some of the
minor anim al s, andmore especiallyinsects , in warm climates congre
gate around the offal on which
they feed. Circumstanced as theyare, they must b e guided towards
their object mainly if not exclu
sively by the sense of smell ; but
that which excites astonishm ent isthe small degree of odour which
seems to suffi ce for the purpose ;the subtlety and rapidity with
which it traverses and impregnates
the air ; and the keen and quickperception with which it is taken
up by the organs of those creatures .
T he instance of the scavenger
beetles has been already alludedto ; the promptitude with which
they discern the existence ofmatter
suited to their purposes, and the
198 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. VI .
families had collected to see the spectacle ; women,whose children clung like little bronz ed Cupids by theirsides and girls, many of them in the graceful costumeof that part of the country, —a sca rf, which, after havingbeen brought round the waist, is thrown over the left
shoulder, leaving the right arm and side free and uncovered.
At the foot of ea ch tree was its captive elephant ;some still struggling andwrithing in feverish excitement,whilst others, in exhaustion and despair, lay motionless,except that, from time to time, they heaped fresh dustupon their heads . T he mellow notes of a Kandyan flute,which wa s played at a distance, had a striking effectupon one or more of them ; they turned their heads inthe direction from which the music came, expandedtheir broad ears, and were evidently soothed with the
plaintive sound. T he two young ones alone still roa redfor freedom ; they stamped their feet, and blew cloudsof dust over their shoulders, brandishing their littletrunks a loft
, and attacking every one who came withintheir rea ch .
At first the older ones, when secured, Spurned everyoffer of food
,trampled it under foot, and turned haugh
tily away. A few,however, a s they became more com
posed, coul d not resist the temptation of the juicy stemsof the plantain, but rolling them under foot, till theydeta ched the layers, they raised them in their trunks
,
and commenced chewing listlessly.
On the whole, whilst the sagacity, the composure, anddocility of the decoys were such as to excite livelya stonishment, it was not possible to withhold the highestadmiration from the calm and dignified demeanour of
the captives . T heir entire bearing was at variance with
CHAP. VL] THE ELEPHANT . 199
the representation made by some of the “ sportsmenwho harass them, that they are treacherous, savage, andrevengeful ; when tormented by the guns of their persecutors, they, no doubt, display their powers and
saga city in efforts to reta liate or escape ; but here theirevery movement wa s indicative of innocence and timidity.
After a struggle, in which they evinced no disposition toviolence or revenge, they submitted with the ca lmnessof despair. T heir attitudes were pitiable, their griefwas most touching
, and their l ow moaning went to theheart. We could not have borne to witness their distress had their capture been effected by the needlessinfliction of pain, or had they been destined to ill- trea tment afterwards.I t was now about two hours after noon, and the first
elephants that had entered the corral having been dis
posed Of, preparations weremade to reopen the gate, anddrive in the other two herds, over which the watcherswere still keeping guard. T he area of the enclosure wascleared ; and silence was again imposed on the crowdswho surrounded the corra l. T he bars that secured theentrance were withdrawn, and every precaution repeateda s before ; but as the space inside was now somewhattrodden down, especially near the entrance, by the frequent charges of the last herd, and as it was to be appre
hended that the others might be earlier a larmed and
retra ce their steps, before the barricades could be re
placed, two tame ones were stationed inside to protectthe men to whom that duty was a ssigned .
All preliminaries being at length completed, the
signal was given ; the beaters on the side most distantfrom the corral closed in with tom- toms and discordantnoises ; a hedge-fire of musketry was kept up.
in the
o 4
200 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. VI .
rear of the terrified elephants ; thousands of voices urgedthem forward we heard the jungle crashing a s theycame on, and at la st they advanced through an openingamongst the trees, bearing down a ll before them like a
charge of locomotives . T hey were led by a huge female,nearly nine feet high, after whom one ha lf - of the herdda shed precipitately through the narrow entrance, butthe rest turning suddenly towards the left, succeeded inforcing the cordon of guards and making good theirescape to the forest.No sooner had the others passed the gate, than the
two tame elephants stepped forward from either side,and before the herd could return from the further endof the enclosure, the bars were drawn, the entrance closed,and the m en in charge glided outside the stockade.
T he elephants which had previously been made prisonerswithin exhibited intense excitement a s the fresh dina rose around them ; they started to their feet, and
stretched their trunks in the direction whence theywinded the scent of the herd in its headlong flight ; anda s the latter rushed past, they renewed their strugglesto get free and follow. I t is not possible to imagineanything more exciting than the specta cle which thewild ones presented careering round the corral, uttering
piercing screams, their heads erect and trunks a loft, thevery emblems of rage and perplexity, of power and helplessness .Along with those which entered at the second drive
was one that evidently belonged to another herd, and
had been separated from them in the melee when thelatter effected their escape, and, a s usual, his new com
panions in misfortune drove him off indignantly as oftenas he attempted to approach them .
202 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . VI .
who were now relieved from duty in the forest, and thespectators retired to their bungalows for the night.T he business of the third day began by noosing and
tying up the new captives, and the first sought out wastheir magnificent leader. Siribeddi and the tame tuskerhaving forced themselves on either side of her, a boy inthe service of the Rata -Mahatmeya succeeded in attaching a rope to her hind- foot. Siribeddi moved off, butfeeling her strength insufficient to drag the reluctant
priz e, she went down on her fore-knees, so a s to add thefull weight of her body to the pull. T he tusker, seeingher difficulty, placed himself in front of the prisoner, andforced her backwards, step by step, till his companionbrought her fairly up to the tree, and wound the roperound the stem . T hough overpowered by fear
,she
showed the fullest sense of the nature of the danger shehad to apprehend. She kept her head turned towardsthe noosers, and tried to step in advance of the de
coys ; in spite of all their efforts, she tore off the firstnoose from her fore- leg, and placing it under her foot,snapped it into fathom lengths. When finally secured,her writhings were extra ordinary. She doubled in herhead under her chest, till she lay a s round a s a hedgehog, and rising again, stood on her fore- feet, and liftingher hind- feet off the ground, she wrung them from sideto side, till the great tree above her quivered in everybranch .
Before proceeding to catch the others, we requestedthat the smaller trees and jungle, which partially ob
structed our view, might b e broken away, being no longer
essential to screen the entrance to the corral ; and five
of the tame elephants were brought up for the purpose.
T hey felt the strength of each tree with their trunks,
CH AP. VI .] THE ELEPHANT . 203
then swaying it backwards and forwards, by pushing itwith their foreheads , they watched the Opportunity when
it was in full swing to raise their fore- feet agains t thestem, and bear it down to the ground. T hen tearing Offthe festoons of climbing plants, and trampling down thesmaller branches and brushwood, they pitched them withtheir tusks, piling them into heaps al ong the side of the
fence.
Am ongst the la st that was secured was the solitaryindividual belonging to the fugitive herd. When theyattempted to drag him backwards from the tree near
which he was noosed, he laid hold of it with his trunkand lay down on his side immoveable. T he templetusker and another were ordered up to a ssist, and it required the combined efforts of the three elephants to
204 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. VI .
force him a long. When dragged to the pla ce at whichhe was to be tied up, he continued the contest withdesperation, and to prevent the second noose being placedon his foot, he sat down on his haunches, a lmost in theattitude of the “ Florentine Boar,
” keeping his hind- feetbeneath him ,
and defending his fore- feet with his trunk,with which he flung ba ck the rope a s often a s it was
attempted to attach it.When overpowered and made fa st, his grief was most
affecting ; his violence sunk to utter prostration, and he
lay on the ground, uttering choking with tearstrickling down his checks.T he fina l operation wa s that of slackenlng the ropes,
and marching each captive down to the river betweentwo tame ones . T his wa s effected very simply. A
decoy, with a strong collar round its neck, stood on
either side of the wild one, on which a Simila r collar
was formed, by successive coils of coco-nut rope ; and
MAMMALIA. [CHAP. VI .
Of the two young elephants which were taken in thecorral, the smallestwa s sent down to my house atColombo,where he became a general favourite with the servants.H e atta ched himself especially to the coachman, who hada little shed erected for him near his own quarters atthe stables. But his favourite resort was the kitchen,where he received a daily allowance of milk and plantains, and picked up several other delicacies besides .H e was innocent and playful in the extreme, and whenwalking in the grounds he would trot up to m e
,twine his
little trunk round my arm, and coax me to take him to
the fruit- trees . In the evening the gra ss- cutters nowand then indulged him by permitting him to carry homea load of fodder for the horses, on which occa sions hea ssumed an air of gravity that was highly amusing
,show
ing that he wa s deeply impressed with the importanceand responsibility of the service entrusted to him . Beingsometimes permitted to enter the dining- room
,and
helped to fruit at desert, he at la st learned his way to theside-board ; and on more than one occa sion having stolenin, during the absence of the servants, he made a clearsweep of the wine-gla sses and china in his endeavours toreach a basket Of oranges. For these and simila r prankswe were at la st forced to put him away. H e was sent tothe Government stud, where he wa s affectionately re
ceived and adopted by Siribeddi, and he now takes histurn of public duty in the department of the Commissioner of Roads.
CHAP. VI I .
THE ELEPHANT .
Conduct in Cap tivity.
T he idea prevailed in ancient times, and obtains even at
the present day, that the Indian elephant surpasses that
of Africa in sagacity and tractability, and consequently
in capa city for training, so a s to render its services more
available to m an. T here does not appear to m e to b esuffi cient ground for this conclusion . It originated, inall probability, in the first impressions created by thea ccounts of the elephant brought ba ck by the Greeksafter the Indian expedition of Alexander, and above all
by the descriptions of Aristotle, whose knowledge of the
animal was derived exclusively from the Ea st. A longinterval elapsed before the elephant of Africa , and itscapabilities, became known in Europe. T he first ele
phants brought to Greece byAntipater, were from India ,as were a lso those introduced by Pyrrhus into I taly.
T aught by this example, the Carthaginians undertook toemploy African elephants in war. Jugurtha led themagainst Metellus, and Juba against Caesar ; but from inexperienced and deficient training, they proved lesseffective than the elephants of India ‘, and the historians
ARMANDI, H is t. Milit. des Ele on the coins of Alexander, and the
phunte, liv. i. ch. i. p. 2 . It is an Seleucidae invariably exhibit theInteresting fact, noticed by AR characteristics of the Indian type,MAND I, that the elephants figured whilst those on Roman medals
20 8 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . VI I .
of these times a scribed to inferiority of race, that whichwas but the result of insufficient education.
It must,however, b e remembered that the elephants
which, at a later period, astonished the Romans by theirsagacity, and whose performances in the amphitheatrehave been described by ZElian and Pliny, were broughtfrom Africa , and acquired their a ccomplishments fromEuropean instructors l ; a suffi cient proof that under
equally favourable auspices the African species are
capable of developing similar docility and powers withthose of India . I t is one of the facts from which theinferiority of the Negro race has been inferred, thatthey alone, Of all the nations amongst whom the elephantis found, have never manifested ability to domesticate it ;and even a s regards the more highly developed raceswho inhabited the valley of theNile, it is observable thatthe elephant is nowhere to be found amongst the animalsfigured on the monuments of ancient Egypt, whilst thecamelopard, the lion , and even the hippopotamus are re
presented. And although in later times the knowledgeof the art of training appears to have existed under thePtolemies, and on the southern shore of the Mediterra
nean, it admits of no doubt that it was communicatedby the more a ccomplished natives of India who hadsettled there .
2
can at once b e pronounced Afri can, ARMANDI has, with infinite in
from the peculiarities of the con dustry, collected from original
vex forehead and expansive ears . sources a ma ss of curious inform— 1?7id. liv. i. cap. 1. p . 3 . ations relative to the employment
of elephants in ancient warfare,which he ha s published under the
title of H is toire Milita ire des Elé
p hants dep uis les temp s les p lus
recule'
s j usqu’
a l’
introduetion des
armes afeu . Paris . 1843.
1 JEL IAN, lib . ii. cap . ii.
2 See SCHLEGEL’
S Essay on the
MAMMALIA. [CH AP. VI I .2 10
of the Ceylon animal in wa r .
1 T his estimate of the
superiority of the elephant of Ceylon, if it ever prevailedin India, was not current there at a very early period ;for in the Ramayana , which is probably the oldest epicin the world, the stud of Dasartha , the king of Ayodhya ,was supplied With elephants from the H imalaya and the
VindhyaMountains . 2 I have had no opportunity of testing by personal observation the justice of the a ssumption ;but from all that I have heard of the elephants of thecontinent, and seen of those of Ceylon, I have reason toconclude that the difference, if no t imaginary, is exceptional, and must have arisen in particular and individualinstances, from more judicious or elaborate instruction .
T he earliest knowledge of the elephant in Europeand the West, was derived from the conspicuous
position a ssigned to it in the wars of the Ea st : in
India , from the remotest antiquity, it formed one of
the most picturesque, if not the most effective, featuresin the armies of the native princes .
3
1 T he expression of T AVERNI ER is
to the effect that as comparedwitha ll
others,the elephants of Ceylon are
“
plus courageux a la guerre.
”
T he
rest of the passage is a curiosity :
I l faut remarquer ici une chose
qu’
on aura peut- étre de la peine a
croire m ais qui est toutefois tres
véritable : c ’est que lorsque quelqueroi ou quelque seigneur a quelqu
’
un
de ces éléphants de Ceylan,et qu
’
on
en amene quelqu’
autre des lieux
les marchands vont les prendre,comm ed
’
Achen,dc Siam
, d’
Arakan,
de Pegu, du royaume de Boutan,
d’
Assam , des terres de Cochin et
de la coste du Melinde, des que leselephants en voient un de Ceylan ,
par un instinct de nature,ils lui
font la révérence, portant le boutde leur trompe a la terre et la
I t is more than
relevant. I l est vrai que les ele
phants que les grands seigneurs
entretiennent, quand on les amene
devant eux, pour voir s
’
ils sont en
b on point, font trois fois une espece
de reverence avec leur trompe, cc
que j’
a i vu souvent; m ais ils sont
styles a cela , et leurs maitres lo
leur enseignent de bonne heure.
”
Les Six Voyages de J .B. T AvERNIER ,
lib . iii. ch. 20 .
2 Ramayana , sec . vi . ; CAR EY
and MARSHMAN,i. 105 ; FAUCH E ,
t . i. p . 66 .
3 T he only m ention of the ele
phant in Sacred H istory is in the
a ccount given in Maccabees of the
invasion Of Egyp t by An tiochus,who entered it 170 B .C. ,
“ with
chariots and elephants , and horse
men,and a great navy .
”-1Mace.
T HE ELEPHANT .CHAP. VIL] 2 11
probable that the earliest attempts to take and train
the elephant, were with a view to military uses, andthat the art wa s perpetuated in later times to gratify
the pride of the ea stern kings, and sustain the pompof their processions .
An impression prevails even to the present day, that
the process of training is tedious and difficult, and thereduction of a full- grown elephant to obedience, slowand troublesome in the extreme .
1 In both pa rticulars,however, the contrary is the truth. T he training as it
prevails in Ceylon is simple, and the conformity and
obedience of the animal are developed with singular
i. 17. F requent allusions to the his journeys he compil ed a sum
us e of elephants in war occur in mary under the title of “ Moroudjboth books ; and in chap . vi. 34 , it a l-dz eheb
,
”
or the Golden Iliea
is stated that “to provoke the ele
phants to fight they showed them
the blood 0 5 grapes and of mulher
ries . T he term showed,might b e thought to imply that the
animal s were enraged by the sight
of the Wine and its colour, but in
the T hird Book of Maccabees , inthe Greek Septuagint , various
other passages show that wine, on
such occasions , was adm inistered
to the elepharits to render them
furious . Ma cc . v . 2,10
,45 .
PHI LE m entions the sam e fact, De
Elep hante, i. 145 .
T here is a very curious account
of'
the mode in which the Arabconquerors of Scinde, in the 9th
and l oth centuries,equipped the
elephant for war ; which beingwritten with all the particul arityof an eye
-witness,bears the impress
of truth and a ccuracy, MASSOUDI ,
who wa s born in Bagdad at the
cl ose of the 9th century, travelled
in India in the year A .D . 9 13, and
visited the Gulf of Cambay, thecoast ofMalabar
,and the I sland of
dows,
”
the MS . of which is now in
the Bibliotheque National e . M.
BEINAUD,in describing this manu
s cript says , on its authority,
“ T he
Prince of Mensura,Whose do
minions lay south of the Indus,
m aintained eighty elephants train
ed for war, each of which bore inhis trunk a bent cym eter (carthel), with which he was taught tocut and thrust at all confrontinghim . T he trunk itself was effect
ually protected by a coat of m ail,and the rest of the body envelopedin a covering composed jointly of
iron and horn. Other elephantswere employed 1n drawing chariots ,carrying baggage, and grindingforage, and the peformance of all
bespoke the utmost intelligence anddocility. REINAUD
,Mémoire sur
l’
Inde,ante
’
rieurement a u milieu da
XI 8 sie‘
cle, d
’
ap res les e'
crivains
arabes, p ersans et chinois . Paris ,
e x. p . 215 . See SPREN
GER’
8 English T ranslation of
Mas soudi, vol . i. p . 383.
1 BRODERIP, Zoologica l Recrea
Ceylon—from a larger account of tions
, p . 226 .
P 2
212 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. VII .
rapidity. F or the first three days, or till they will eatfreely, which they seldom do in a less time, the newlycaptured elephants are a llowed to stand quiet ; and, if
pra cticable, a tame elephant is tied near to give theWild ones confidence. Where many elephants are beingtrained at once, it is customary to put every new
captive between the stalls of half- tamed ones, when itsoon takes to its food. T his stage being a ttained,training commences by pla cing tame elephants on
either side. T he cooroowe vidahn,” or the head of
the stables, stands in front of the wild elephants holding a long stick with a sharp iron point. T WO m en are
then stationed one on either side, a ssisted by the tameelephants, and each holding a hendoo or crook 1 towardsthe wild one’s trunk, whilst one or two others rub theirhands over his back, keeping up all the while a soothing and plaintive chaunt, interlarded with endearingepithets, such a s ho ! my son,
” or “ ho ! my father,
or “ my mother,”as m ay be applicable to the age and
sex of the captive . T he elephant is at first furious,
and strikes in all directions with his trunk ; but the
1 T he iron goad with which the I t is figured in the medals of
keeper directs the movements of Caracalla in the identical form in
the elephants , called a hendoo in which it is in use at the present
Ceylon and hawlcus in Bengal, day in India .
appears to have retained thepresent T he Greeks called it ap1rn, andshape from the remotest antiquity. the Romans cusp is .
Modern H endoo .
Medal of Numidia .
214 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. VI I .
elapse before an elephant will allow his feet to betouched without indications of alarm and anger.
T he observation has been frequently made that the
elephants most vicious and troublesome to tame, and
the most worthless when tamed, are those distinguishedby a thin trunk and flabby pendulous ears . T he periodof tuition does not appear to b e influenced by the siz eor strength of the animals : some of the smallest givethe greatest amount of trouble ; wherea s, in the in
stance of the two largest that have been taken in
Ceylon within the la st thirty years, both were docilein a remarkable degree . One in particular, which wascaught and trained by Mr. Cripps, when Governmentagent, in the Seven Korles, fed from the hand the fir stnight it was secured, and in a very few days evinced
plea sure on being patted on the head .
1 T here is
none so obstinate, not even a rogue, that m ay not,when kindly and patiently treated, be conciliated and
reconciled.
T he ma les are generally more unm aneagab le than thefemales, and in both an inclination to lie down to restis regarded as a favourable symptom of approa chingtra ctability, some of the most resolute having beenknown to stand for months together, even during sleep .
T hose which are the most obstinate and violent at first
T his was the largest elephant
that had been tamed in Ceylon ;he measured upwards of nine feet
attendant decoys . H e,on one oc
casion,escaped, but wa s recaptured
in the forest ; and he afterwards
at the Shoul ders and belonged to
the caste so highly priz ed for the
temples . H e was gentle after his
first capture, but his removal from
the corral to the stables, though onlya distance of six mil es , wa s a matter
of the extremest difficulty ; his
extraordinary strength renderinghim more than a match for the
becam e so docile a s to perform a
variety of tricks . H ewa s at length
ordered to b e removed to Colombo ;but such wa s his terror on ap
proa ching the fort, that on coaxinghim to enter the gate, he became
paralysed in the extraordinarywayelsewhere alluded to, and died on
the sp ot.
THE ELEPHANT . 2 15CHAP . VII .]
are the soonest and most effectually subdued, and
generally prove permanently docile and submissive .
But those which are sullen or morose, although they
m ay provoke no chastisement by their viciousness, arealways slower in being taught, and are rarely to b etrusted in after life .
1
But whatever m ay be its natural gentleness and
docility, the temper of an elephant is seldom to b e im
plicitly relied on in a state of captivity and coercion .
T he most amenable are subject to occasional fits of
stubbornness ; and even after years of submission, irritability and resentment will unaccountably manifestthemselves . It m ay be that the restraints and severerdiscipline of training have not been entirely forgottenor that incidents which in ordinary health would be pro
1 T he natives profess that the had been form erly inhabited by a
high caste elephants , such as are race of elephants , so fortifi ed by na
allotted to the temples , are of all
others'
the most difficul t to tame,
and M. BLES, the Dutch corre
spondent of BUFFON,mentions a
caste of elephants which he had
heard of,a s being peculiar to the
Kandyan kingdom ,that were not
higher than a heifer
covered with hair, and insusceptible of being tamed. (BUFFON,
Supp . vol . vi. p. Bishop H E
BRR ,in the account of his journey
from Bareilly towards the H ima
layas , describes the Raja Gour
man Sing,“ mounted on a little
female elephant, hardly biggerthan a Durham ox, and almost as
shaggy a s a poodle.
” — J ourn . , ch.
xvii. I t will be remembered thatthe mammoth discovered in 1803
embedded in icy soil in Siberia ,was covered with a coat of longhair
, with a sort of wool at theroots . H ence there arose the question whether that northern region
ture against cold ; orwhether the in
dividual discovered had been bornethither by currents from some more
temperate latitudes . T o the latter
theory the presence of hair seemed
a fatal obj ection but so far a s myown observation goes , I believe theelephants ar e more or less provided
with hair. In some it is m ore
developed than in others , and it is
particularly observable in theyoung,whichwhen captured are frequentlycovered with a woolly fleece, os
pecially about the head and
shoulders . In the older individu
a ls in Ceylon,this is less apparent
and in captivity the hair appears
to b e altogether removed by the
custom of the m ahouts to rub their
skin daily with oil and a rough
lump of burned clay. See a paper
on the subject, Asia t. J ourn . N. S .
vol . xiv. p . 182, by Mr G . FAIR
H OLME .
216 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. VII .
ductive of no demonstration whatever, m ay lead, in moments of temporary illness, to fretfulness and anger.
T he knowledge of this infirmity led to the popularbelief recorded by PH ILE, that the elephant had two
hea rts , under the respective influences of which it
evinced ferocity or gentleness ; subdued by the one tohabitual tractability and obedience, but occasionallyroused by the other to displays of rage and resist
ance.
1
In the process of taming, the presence of the tameones can generally be dispensed with after two months,and the captive m ay then be ridden by the driver alone ;and after three or four months he m ay be entrustedwith labour, so far as regards docility ; —but it is un
desirable, and even involves the risk of life, to work an
elephant too soon ; it has frequently happened that a
valuable animal has lain down and died the first time it
was tried in harness , from what the natives believe to bebroken heart,
” — certain ly without any cause inferablefrom injury or previous diseas e.
2 I t is observable, that
1 AmAfis Sé axi
om etin‘ opfio a t KapBia s"
Ka l 7 33 p év ell/a t S vumbv 7 b Snpiov
Bis dxpa'r?) nfvnow hpefiroue
’
vou,
T 3? at npoome‘
s It a l «Spao b'm‘
ros ge’
vov.
Ka l 7rfi ,uév a fin’
bv dicpoéia ea z 7 561}
Ad'ywv
Oils b'
w7 1s’
Iv8bs ei’
i fl eao efiwv Aé‘yoz,H z? 66 npts a zi'roiis T oirs ti c/r efs e
’
m
vpéxew
E23 naAa tds e’
ic'rpa
'
rrév Kanovp
yid s.
PHI LE ,Exp os . de Eleph , 1. 126, & c.
2 Captain YULE , in his Na rra ~
tive of an Embassy to Ava in 1855,records an illus tration of this ten
deney of the elephant to sudden
death ; one newly captured, the
process of taming which was ex
hibited to theBritishEnvoy,‘ made
vigorous resistance to the placingof a coll ar on its neck
,and the
people were proceeding to tighten
i t, when the elephant , which had
lain down a s if quite exhausted,reared suddenly on the hind quarters
,and fell on its side — dead
P. 104 .
Mr. STRACHAN noticed the same
liability of the elephants to sudden
death from very shght causes“of
the fall,
”
he says ,“at any time,
though on plain ground, theyeither die imm ediately, or languish
till they die ; their great weight
occasioning them so much hurt bythe f — Phil . T rans . A . .D 170 1,vol . xxiii. p. 1052 .
2 18 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . VII .
tions,the activity of his eye, and the earnestness of his
attitudes, c an only be comprehended by being seen. In
moving timber and masses Of rock his trunk is the instrument on which he mainly relies, but those whichhave tusks turn them to good a ccount. T o get a weightystone out of a hollow an elephant will kneel down so asto apply the pressure of his head to move it upwards,then steadying it with one foot till he can raise himself,he will apply a fold of his trunk to shift it to its place,and fit it a ccurately in position : this done, he will stepround to view it on either side, and adjust it with due
precision . H e appears to gauge his task by his eye, andto form a judgment whether the weight be proportionate to his strength . I f doubtful of his own power, hehesitates and halts, and if urged against his will, he roarsand shows temper.In clearing an opening through forest land, the power
of the African elephant, and the strength ascribed to himby a recent traveller, as displayed in uprooting trees, havenever been equalled or approached by anything I haveseen of the elephant in Ceylon
l or heard of them in India .
1 H ere the trees were large and
handsom e, but not strong enough
to resist the inconceivable strength
of the mighty monarch of these
forests ; almost every tree had half
its branches broken short by them
and at every hundr ed yards I came
upon entire trees, and these, the
largest in theforest, uprooted clean
out of the ground, and broken short
across thei r s tems .
”
A H unter’
s
L ife in SouthAfrica . ByR . GOR
DON CUMMING,vol . 11. p . 305.
Spreading out from one another,they smash and destroy all the
finest trees in the forest which
happen to b e in their cour se.
I have rode through forests where
the trees thus broken lay so thick
across one another, that it wa s
almost impossible to ride through
the district .
”
I bid. , p . 310 .
Mr. Gordon Cumming does not
name the trees which he saw thus“uprooted
”and “ broken across ,
”
nor ha s he given any idea of their
siz e and weight ; but Major DENH AM
, who observed like traces of
the elephant in Africa , saw onlysmall trees overthrown by them ;and Mr . PR INGLE ,
who had an
Opportunity of Observing similar
practices of the animals in the
neutral territory of the Easternfrontier of the Cape of Good H ope,describes their ravages as being
CHAP . VII .] THE ELEPHANT . 219
Of course much must depend on the nature of the timberand the moisture of the soil ; thus a strong tree on theverge of a swamp m ay be overthrown with greater easethan a small and low one in parched and solid ground .
I have seen no “ tree ” deserving the name, nothing butjungle and brushwood, thrown down by the mere movement of an elephant without some special exertion of
force . But he is by no means fond of gratuitously taskinghis strength ; and food being so abundant that he obtainsit without an effort, it is not altogether apparent, evenwere he able to do so, why he should assail “ the largesttrees in the forest, and encumber his own haunts withtheir broken stems ; especially as there is scarcely any
thing which ah elephant dislikes more than venturingamongst fallen timber .A tree of twelve inches in diameter resisted successfully
the most strenuous struggles of the largest elephant I
ever saw led to it and when directed by their keepers toclear away jungle, the removal of even a small tree, ora healthy young coco- nut palm, is a matter both of timeand exertion . H ence the services of an elephant are of
much less value in clearing a forest than in draggingand piling felled timber. But in the latter occupationhe manifests an intelligence and dexterity which is sur
prising to a stranger, because the sameness of the operation enables the animd to go on for hours disposingof log after log, almost Without a hint or direction fromhis attendant. For example, two elephants employed
confined to the mimosas , immense of their food. Many of the larger
numbers of which had been torn mimosas had resis ted a ll their
out of the ground, and placed in efi'
orts ; and indeed it is only afteran inverted position, in order to heavy ra in
,when the soil is sof t and
enable the animals to browse at loose,tha t they ever successf ully
their ease on the soft and juicy a ttemp t this op era tion .
”- PRIN
roots,which form a favourite part GLE
’
S Sketches of SouthAfrica .
220 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. VII .
in pil ing ebony and satinwood in the yards attached tothe commissariat stores at Colombo, were so accustomedto their work, that they were able to a ccomplish it withequal precision and with greater rapidity than if it hadbeen done by dock- labourers . When the pile attaineda certain height
,and they were no longer able by their
conj oint efforts to raise one of the heavy logs of ebonyto the summit
,they had been taught to lean two pieces
against the heap, up the inclined plane of which theygently rolled the remaining logs
, and placed themtrimly on the top .
I t has been as serted that in their occupations ele
phants are to a surprising extent the creatures of habit,” 1
that their movements are altogether mechani cal, and
that “ they are annoyed by any deviation from theira ccustomed practice, and resent any constrained departure from the regularity of their course .
”So far as my
own observation goes, this is incorrect ; and I am
as sured by offi cers of experience, that in regard tochanging his treatment, his hours, or his occupation,an elephant evinces no more consideration than a horse,but exhibits the same pliancy and facility.
At one point, however, the utility of the elephantstops short. Such is the intelligence and earnestness hedisplays in work, which he seems to conduct a lmostwithout supervision, that it has been assumed2 that hewould continue his labour
, and a ccomplish his giventask, a s well in the absence of his keeper as during his
presence. But here his innate love of ea se displaysitself, and if the eye of his attendant b e withdrawn, themoment he has finished the thing immediately in hand,
1 Menageries , {ita ,
“ T he Elephant, vol . ii. p . 23.
2 Ibid. , ch. vi. p. 138 .
222 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. VI I .
able and obedient to their new driver a s to the old, in
fa ct so soon as they have become familiarised with his
voice.
T his is not, however, inva riably the ca se ; and Mr.
CRIPPS, who had remarkable opportunities for observing
the habits of the elephant in Ceylon, mentioned to m e
an instance in which one of a singul arly stubborndisposition occasioned some inconvenience after the
death of its keeper, by refusing to obey any other, till
its attendants bethought them of a child about twelveyears old, in a distant village, where the animal hadbeen formerly picketed, and to whom it had displayedmuch atta chment. T he child was sent for ; and on itsarrival the elephant, as anticipated, manifested extremesatisfa ction, and was managed with ea se, till by degreesit became reconciled to the presence of a new superin
tendent.It has been said that the mahouts die young, owing
to some supposed injury to the spinal column from the
peculiar motion of the elephant ; but this remark doesnot apply to those in Ceylon, who are healthy, and a s
long lived a s other m en . If the motion of the elephantb e thus injurious, that of the camel must be still moreso ; yet we never hear of early death ascribed to thiscause by the Arabs.T he voice of the keeper, with a very limited vocabulary
of articulate sounds, serves almost alone to guide theelephant in his domestic occupations .
1 Sir EVERARD
1 T he principal sound by which the sound is so expressive of the
the mahouts in Ceylon direct the sense that persons in charge of
motions of the elephants is a repe anim als of a lmost every descriptition, with various modulations , of tion throughout the world appear
the words ur- re .
f a r - re .f T his is to have adopted it with a concur
One of those interjections in which rence that is very curious . T he
T H E ELEPHANT . 223CH AP . VI L].
H OME, from an examination of the muscular fibres in
the drum of an elephant’s ear, came to the conclusion,
that notwithstanding the distinctness and power of his
perception of sounds at a greater distance than other
animals, he was insensible to their harmonious modula
tion and destitute of a musical ear .
1 But Professor
H ARRISON, in a paper read before the Royal I rish
Academy in 1847, has stated that on a careful examina
tion of the head of an elephant which he had dissected,he could “
see no evidence of the muscular structure of
the m embrana tymp ani so accurately described by SirE . H OME .
”Sir EVERARD’
S deduction, I m ay observe,is clearly inconsistent with the fa ct that the power oftwo elephants m ay b e combined by singing to them a
mea sured chant, somewhat resembling a sailor’s capstansong ; and in labour of a particular kind, such as hauling
a stone with ropes, they will thus move conj ointly a
weight to which their divided strength would be un
equal. 2
drivers of camels in T urkey, Pales
tine, and Egypt encourage them to
speed by shouting ar a r
T he Arabs in Algeria cry eirich .’
to their mul es . T he Moors seem
to have carried the cus tom wi th
them into Spain,where mules are
still driven with cries of arre'
(whence the mul eteers derive their
Spanish appell ation of arrieros
In F rance the Sportsman excites
the hound by shouts of hare ! hare
and the waggoner there turns his
shouts Of kurrish a sound closelyresembling that used by the ma
houts in Ceylon .
1 On the Difi rence between the
H uman Membrana Tymp ani and
tha t of the Elephant. By Sir EVE
RARD H OME ,Bart Philos . Trans ,
1823. Paper by Prof. H ARRI SON,
Proc . Royal IrishAcademy, vol .
p . 386 .
2 I have already noticed the
striking effect produced on the
captive elephants in the corral,by
horses by his voice, and the use of the harmonious notes of an ivorythe word hurhaut In theNorth
,
H urs was a word used by the old
Germans in urging their horses to
speed and to the present day,the herdsmen in Ireland
, and parts
of Scotland, drive_their pigs with
flute ; and on looking to the graphicdescription which is given byJEL IAN of the exploits which he
witnessed a s perform ed by the
elephants exhibited at Rom e,it is
remarkable how very large a share
224 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . VI I .
Nothing can more strongly exhibit the impulse toobedience in the elephant, than the patience with which,at the order of his keeper, he swallows the nauseousmedicines Of the native elephant- doctors and it is im
possible to Witness the fortitude with which (withoutshrinking)he submits to excruciating surgical operationsfor the removal of tumours and ulcers to which he is sub
ject, without conceiving a vivid impression of his gentl
ness and intelligence . Dr. DAVY when in Ceylon was
consulted about an elephant in the government Stud,which was suffering from a deep, burrowing sore in theback
,just over the ba ck- bone
,which had long resisted
the treatment ordinarily employed. H e recommendedthe use of the knife, that issue might be given to
‘
the
accumulated matter, but no one of the attendants wascompetent to undertake the operation . Being a ssured,
”
he continues, that the creature would behave well, Iundertook it myself. T he elephant was not bound, butwas made to kneel down at his keeper
’s command and
with an amputating knife, using a ll my force, I madethe incision required through the tough integuments.T he elephant did not flinch, but rather inclined towards
me when using the knife and merely uttered a low,and
as it were suppressed, groan . In short, he behaved as
like a human being as possible, as if conscious (as I
of their training appears to have mony : the whole“3s iqarising in a .
been a scribed to the employment crea ture whose limbs are withoutofmusic . j oints .
PH IL E ,in the account which he,
ha s given of the erephant’
s fondness7 am ”
for music, would almost seem to
have versifi ed the prose narrativePH ILE
’Exp os. deElep h 1‘ 216‘
of JEL I AN,as he describes its excite F or an account of the training
ment at the more animated por and performances of the elephantstions
,its step being regul ated to the at Rome, a s narrated by JEL IAN,
time and movements of the har~ see the appendix to this chapter.
Kan/bx) 7 1 170 t dudpepwv op
226 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. VI I .
the murrain among cattle is of frequent occurrence, andcarries off great numbers of anima ls, wild as well as
tame. In such visitations the elephants suffer severely,not only those at liberty in the forest, but those careful ly tended in the government stables. Out of a studof about 40 atta ched to the department of the Com
mission of Roads, the deaths between 184 1 and 1849
Were on an average four in each year, and this wasnearly doubled in those years when murrain prevailed.
Of 240 elephants, employed in the public departmentsof the Ceylon Government, which died in twenty- five
years, from 1831 to 1856, the length of time that ea chlived in captivity has only been recorded in the instancesof 138 . Of these there died
Duration of Captivity. Male . F ema le
CH AP . VI I .] THE ELEPHANT . 227
Of the 72 who died in one year ’s servitude, 35 ex-a
pired within the first six months of their captivity.During training, many elephants die in the una ccount
able manner already referred to, of what the nativesdesignate a broken hea rt.
On being first subjected to work, the elephant isliable to severe and often fatal swellings of the jaws andabdomen .
l
F rom these causes there betweenOf cattle murrain
Sore feet
Colds and inflammation
Diarrhoea
Worm s
Of disea sed liver
Injuries from a fall
General debilityUnknown causes
Of the entire, twenty- three were females and eleven :
males .T he ages of those that died could not b e accurately
stated, owing to the circumstance of their having beencaptured in corra l . Two only were tuskers . T owards ‘
keeping the stud in hea lth, nothing has been found soconducive a s regularly bathing the elephants, and
giving them the opportunity to stand with their feet inwater
,or in moistened earth .
Elephants are said to be aflflicted with tooth- a chetheir tushes have likewise been found with symptoms ofinternal perforation by some parasite, and the nativesassert that, in their agony, the animals have been known
1 T he elephant which was dis letter,was “
very like scarlatina,at
sected by Dr. H ARRI SON of Dublin, that time a prevailing disea se ; itsin 1847, died of a febrile attack
, skin in some places became almostafter four or five days
’
illness, scarlet.
”
which, as Dr. H . tells mein a private
228 MAMMALIA. [CH AP . VII .
to break them Off short.1 I have never heard of theteeth themselves being so affected, and it is just possible that the Operation of shedding the subsequentdecay o f the milk- tushes, m ay have in some instancesbeen accompanied by incidents that gave rise to thisstory.
At the same time the probabilities are in favour Of itsbeing true. CUVIER committed himself to the statementthat the tusks of the elephant have no a tta chments toconnect them with the pulp lodged in the cavity at
their base, from which the peculia r modification of
dentine, known as“ ivory, is secreted” ; and hence, by
inference, that they would b e devoid of sensation .
But independently of the fact that ivory is permeatedby tubes so fine that a t their origin from the pulpycavity they do not exceed
1 5 0 0 0th part of an inch in
diameter, OWEN had the tusk and pulp of the great
elephant which died at the Zoological Ga rdens in
London in 1847 longitudinally divided, and found that,“although the pulp could be eas ily detached from the
inner surface of the cavity, it was not without a certainresistance ; and when the edges of the co - adapted pulpand tusk were examined by a strong lens
, the fi lam en
tary processes from the outer surfa ce of the formercould be seen stretching, as they were drawn from the
dentinal tubes, before they broke . T hese filaments areso minute, he adds, tha t to the naked eye the deta chedsurface o f the pulp seems to be entire ; and hence CUVIERwas deceived into supposing that there was no organic
1 See a paper entitled Recollec 1805 . p. 94 , and Ossemens F ossiles ,tions of Ceylon,
”in F ra ser
’
s Maga quoted by OWEN, in the article on
z ine for December, 1860 .
“ T eeth, in T ODD
’
s Cyclop . of2 Annales da Museum F . viii. Ana tomy, 47a , vol . iv. p. 929 .
230 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. VII .
tear of the highways and bridges would prove too costlyto be borne. On the other hand, by restricting it to a
somewhat more manageable quantity, and by limitingthe weight, a s at present, to about one ten a nd a ha lf,it is doubtful whether an elephant performs so muchm ore work than could b e done by a horse or by bullocks,as to compensate for the greater cost of his feeding and
a ttendance.
Add to this, that from a ccidents and other causes,from ulcerations of the skin, and illnesses of many kinds,the elephant is so often invalided, that the a ctual costof his labour, when at work, is very considerably en
hanced . Exclusive of the sala ries of higher ofiicers
atta ched to the government establishments, and other
permanent charges, the expenses of an elephant, lookingonly to the wages of his attendants and the cost of hisfood and medicines, varies from three shillings to fourshillings and Sixpen ce per diem, a ccording to his siz eand class . 1 T aking the average at three shillings and
1 An ordinary- siz ed elephant en that would b e likely to disagree
grosses the undivided attention of with him he unerringly rejects .
three men. One,a s his m ahout or H is favourites are the palms
, espe
superintendent , and two a s leaf cially the cluster of rich,unopened
cutters , who bring him branches leaves , known a s the “cabbage,
”of
and grass for his daily supplies . the coco -nut,and areca ; and he de
An animal of larger growth would lights to tear Open the young trunks
probably require a third leaf- cutter . of the palmyra andjaggery (0 aryotaT he daily consumption is two cwt . ici
-ens) in search of the farinaceous
of green food with about half a matter contained in the spongy”bushel of grain. When in the pith. Next to these come thevicinity of towns and villages , the varieties of fig
- trees , particul arlyattendants have no difiicul ty in pro
curing an abundant supply of the
branches of the trees to which ele
phants are partial ; and in journeysthrough the forests and unopened flower .
country, the leaf-cutters are suffi
the sacred Bo (F . religiosa ) whichis found near every temple, andthe na yaha (Messna f errea), withthick dark leaves and a scarlet
T he leaves of the J ak - tree
and bread-fruit (Artoea rpns inle
ciently expert in the knowledge of grifolia , and A . incisa), the Wood
those particular plants with which apple (q eMarmelos), Palu (Mithe elephant is satisfi ed. T hose musop s Indica), and a number of
CHAP. VII .] THE ELEPHANT . 231
nine-
pence, and calculating that hardly any individualworks more than four days out of seven, the charge for
ea ch day so employed would amount to sice shillings and
sixp ence. T he keep per day of a powerful dray- horse,working five days in the week, would not exceed half- a
crown,and two such would unquestionably do more
work than any elephant under the present system . I
do not know whether it be from a comparative calculation of this kind that the strength of the elephantestablishments in Ceylon has been gradually diminishedof late years, but in the department of the Commissioner of Roads, the stud, which formerly numberedupwards of sixty elephants, was reduced, some yearsago, to thirty- six, and is at present less than half thatnumber.T he fa llacy of the supposed reluctance of the elephant
to breed in captivity ha s been demonstrated by manyrecent authorities ; but with the exception of the birthof young elephants a t Rome, a s mentioned by E LIAN
,
the only instances that I am awa re of their a ctually producing young under such circumstances, took pla ce inCeylon. Both parents had been for severa l years atta ched
others well known to their attend
ants, are all consumed in turn.
T he stems of the plaintain, the
stalks of the sugar- cane
,and the
feathery tops of the bamboos , areirresistible luxuries . Pine- apples ,water-melons
,and fruits of every
description, are voraciously de
voured,and a coco-nut when found
is first rolled under foot to detach
it from the husk and fibre, and thenraised in his trunk and crushed,a lmost without an effort, by his
ponderous jaws .
T he grasses are not found in sufn
fi cient quantity to b e an item ofdaily fodder ; the Mauritius or
the Guinea grass is seiz ed withavidity ; lemon grass is rejectedfrom its overpowering perfume
,but
rice in the straw,and every de
scription ofgrain,whether growing
or dry ; gram (Cicer a rietinmn),Indian Corn
,and millet are his
natural food. Of such of these a s
can be found, it is the duty of theleaf- cutters
,when in the jungle and
on march,to provide a daily supply.
232 MAMMALIA. [CHAP. VII .
to the stud of the Commissioner of Roads, and in 1844
the female, whilst engaged in dragging a waggon, gavebirth to a still-born ca lf. Some years before, an ele
phant that had been captured by Mr. Cripps, dropped a
female calf,which he succeeded in rearing. As usual,
the little one became the pet of the keepers ; but a s it
increas ed in growth , it exhibited the utmost violencewhen thwarted ; striking out with its hind- feet, throwing
itself headlong on the ground, and pressing its trunk
against any opposing obj ect.T he duration of life in the elephant has been from the
remotest times a m atter of uncertainty and speculation.
Aristotle says it wa s reputed to live from two to threehundred years ] , and modern z oologists have a ssigned toit an age very little less ; CU
'
VIER2allots two hundred
and DE BLAINVILLE one hundred and twenty. T he onlyat tempt which I know of to establish a period b istorically or physiologically is that of F LEURENs, who ha sadvanced an ingenious theory on the subject in histrea tise “ De la Longévité H um a ine. H e a ssumes thesum total of life in a ll animals to b e equiva lent to fivetimes the number of years requisite to perfect theirgrowth and development ; —and he adopts a s evidenceo f the period at which growth cea ses, the final consolidation of the bones with their ep iphyses ; which in theyoung consist of ca rtilages ; but in the adult becomeuniformly osseous and solid . So long as the epiphysesare distinct from the bones, the growth of the animalis proceeding, but it cea ses so soon as the consolidationis complete. In m an, a ccording to F LEURENS, this consummation takes pla ce at 20 yea rs of age, in the horse at
ABI S'rorELEs deAnim. 2. viii. c. 9. 2 Menag. deMus. Na t. p. 107.
234 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. VI I .
said to have been found in the stables by the Dutch onthe expulsion of the Portugese in 1656 .
I t is perhaps from this popula r belief in their a lmostillimitable age, that the natives generally a ssert that thebody Of a dead elephant is seldom or never to b e discovered ih the woods . And certain it is that frequenters
of the forest with whom I have conversed, whetherEuropean or Singhalese, are consistent in their a ssurauces that they have never found the remains of an
elephant that had died a natura l death . One chief, theWannyah of the T rincoma lie district
,told a friend of
mine, that once after a severe murrain, which had swept‘
the province, he found the ca rca ses of elephants thathad died of the disease. On the other hand, a Euro
pean gentleman, who for thirty - six years withoutintermission ha s been living in the jungle, a scending tothe summits of mounta ins in the prosecution of the
trigonometrical survey, and penetrating va lleys in tra cing roads and Opening means of communication
,—one,
too,who ha s made the habits of the wild elephant a
subject of constant Observation and study, — ha s oftenexpressed to m e his a stonishment that a fter seeing manythousands of living elephants in a ll possible situations,he had never yet found a single skeleton of a dead one,
except of those which had fa llen by the rifle .
I
I t ha s been suggested that the bones of the elephantmay b e so porous and spongy a s to disappea r in conse
quence Of an early decompo sition ; but this remark would
1 T his remark regarding the ele woods are frequently found.
phant of Ceylon does not appear to African Memoranda rela tive to an
extend to that ofAfrica , a s I Observe a ttemp t to es tablish British Settle
that BEAVER ,in his African Me ments a t the Island of Bulama .
anoranala,says that
“ the Skeletons Lond. 1815, p. 353.
of old ones that have died in the
CHAP . VIL ] THE ELEPHANT . 2 35
not apply to the grinders or to the tusks ; besideswhich,the inference is at variance with the
“
fact, that not onlythe horns and teeth, but entire skeletons of deer, are
frequently found in the districts inhabited by the ele
phant.T he natives
,to a ccount for this popular belief, declare
that the survivors of the herd bury such of their com
panions a s die a natural death.
1 I t is curious that thisbelief was current a lso amongst~ the Greeks of the LowerEmpire ; and PH ILE, writing early in the fourteenthcentury
,not only describes the younger elephants a s
tending the wounded,but a s burying the dead
Ora v O’
éWtO‘
Tfi 7 779 T ss '
rijs Oxpévos
Kan/oi) T E'KOUs c’
l/ wva v d‘g'
s'
vos chapel .”
T he Singhalese have a further superstition in relationto the close Of life in the elephant : they believe that, onfeeling the approa ch ofdissolution, he repairs to a solita ryva lley, and there resigns himself to death . A nativewho a ccompanied Mr. Cripps, when hunting, in the
forests of Anarajapoora , intimated to him that he wasthen in the immediate vicinity of the spot
“ to which
the elep han ts come to die,” but that it wa s so mysteriously
concealed, that a lthough every one believed in its exist
1 A corral was organi sed near was complete. T he wild elephantsPutlam in 1846
,by Mr. Morris
,resum ed their path through it , and
the chief Officer of the district . I t a few days afterwards the headm an
was constructed across one of the reported to Mr . Morris that the
paths which the elephants frequent bodies had been removed andin their frequent m arches
, and carried outside the corral to a spotduring the course of the proceedings to which nothing but the elephantstwo of the captured elephants died. coul d have borne them .
T heir carcases were left of course2 PH ILE
, Exp ositio de Eleph. 1.within the enclosure, which was 243.
abandoned as soon as the capture
236 MAMMALIA. [CHAI’ . VII .
ence, no one had ever succeeded in penetrating to it.At the corral which I have described a t Kornegalle, in1847, Dehigame, one of the Kandyan chiefs, a ssured me
it was the universal belief of his countrymen, that theelephants, when about to die, resorted to a va lley in
Saffragam , among the mountains to the ea st of Adam’sPeak
,which wa s rea ched by a narrow pa ss with wa lls
Of rock on either side, and that there, by the side of a
lake of clear water, they took their la st repose .
l I t wa s
not without interest that I afterwards recognised thistradition in the story of Sinba d of the Sea , who in hisSeventh Voyage, a fter conveying the presents of H arounal Ra schid to the king of Serendib, is wrecked on his return from Ceylon, and sold a s a slave to a ma ster whoemploys him in shooting elephants for the sake of theirivory ; till one day the tree on which he wa s stationedhaving been uprooted by one of the herd, he fell senseless to the ground, and the great elephant approachingwound his trunk a round him and carried him away,cea sing not to proceed, until he had taken him to a pla cewhere, his terror having subsided, he found himselfamongst the bones of elephants, and knew tha t this
wa s their buria l p la ce.2 I t is curious to find this legend
of Ceylon in what ha s, not inaptly, been described as the“ Arabian Odyssey ”
of Sinbad ; the original of which
1 T he selection by animals of a and twent heads . —Na t. Voy.
p lace to die, is not confined to the ch, viii. b e same has been re
elephant. DARWIN says , that in
South America “ the guanacos (llamas) appear to have favourite spotsfor lying down to die ; on the
banks of the Santa Cruz river, in
certain circumscribed spaces whichwere generally bushy and all near
the water, the ground wa s. actually
white with their bones ; on one
such spot I counted between ten
marked in the Rio Gallegos ; and
at St, J ago in the Cape de Verde
I slands, DARW IN saw a retired
corner similarly covered with the
bones of the goat, as if itwere“the
burial -ground of all the goats in theisland.
”
2 Arabian Nights’Enterta in
7
7
n
7
ent, LANE
’
S edition, vol. ili p.
238 MAMMALIA. ECH AP . VII .
andmakes no mistake . T hus ha s Na ture form ed him not onlythe grea test in siz e
,but the most gentle and the m ost ea sily
taught . Now if I were going to write ab ou t the tra ctab ilityand aptitude to lea rn am ongst those of India
,E thiopia , and
Libya,I should prob ab ly appear to b e concocting a tale and
a cting the b raggart, or to b e telling a fa lsehood respecting thenature of the animal founded on a m ere report, a ll which it
b ehoves a philosopher, and m ost of all one who is an ardent
lover of truth, not to do . But what I have seen myself, and
what others have'
described a s having o ccurred a t Rome,this
I have chosen to rela te,selecting a few fa cts out Of many
,to
show the particul ar na ture of those creatur es . T he elephant
when tam ed is an animal most gentle and m ost ea sily led to do
whatever he is directed. And by way of showing honour to
tim e,I wil l first narra te events of the oldest date . Caesar
Germanicu s,the nephew of T ib erius
,exhibited once a pub lic
show,wherein there were m any full -
grown elephants, ma le
and fem a le,and som e of their b reed b orn in this country.
When their limb s were b eginning to b ecom e firm,a person
fam iliar with such anim als instructed them by a strange and
surpa ssing m ethod of tea ching ; u sing only gentleness and kindness
,and adding to his m ild lessons the b ait Of plea sant and
varied food. By this m eans he led them by degrees to throw
Off all wildness,and
,a s it were, to desert to a sta te of civilisa
tion,conducting them selves in a manner a lm ost human . H e
taught them neither to b e excited on hearing the pipe, nor to
b e disturb ed by the b ea t of drum,bu t to b e soothed by
the sounds of the reed,and to endure unm usical noises and
the cla tter of feet from persons while m arching ; and theywere tra ined to feel no fear of a m a ss of m en
,nor to b e enra g ed
a t the infliction of b lows,not even when compelled to twist
their limb s and to b end them like a stage—dancer
,and this too
although endowed with strength and m ight . And there is in
this a very nob le addition to na ture,not to conduct them selves
in a disorderlym anner anddisob ediently towards the instru ctionsOf man ; for after the dancing
- ma ster had made them expert,
CHAP . VII .] THE ELEPHANT . 239
d they had learnt their lessons a ccurately, they did not
b elie the lab our of his instruction whenever a necessity and
Opportunity ca lled upon them to exhibit what they had b eentaught . F or the whole troop cam e forward from this and tha t
side of the thea tre , and divided them selves into parties : theyadvanced walking with a mincing gait and exhibiting in their
whole b ody and persons the m anners of a b eau,clothed in the
flowery dresses of dancers ; and on the b a llet~m a ster giving a
signa l with his voice,they fell into line and went round in a
circle,and if it were requisite to
‘
deploy they did so . T hey
ornam ented the floor of the stage by throwing flowers upon it ,and this they did in m odera tion and sparingly, a nd straight
way they beat a m easure with their feet and kept time to
gether .
“Now that Dam on and Spintharu s and Aristoxenus and
Xenophilus and Philoxenu s and others shoul d know music
excellently well , and for their cleverness b e ranked am ongst
the few,is indeed a thing of wonder
,but not incredible nor
contrary a t all to rea son . F or this reason that a man is a
ra tional anim al,and the recipient of mind and intelligence .
But that a j ointless animal (o’
lva pfipov) shoul d understand
rhythm and m elody, and preserve a gesture, and not deviate
from a m ea sured m ovem ent,and fulfil the requirem ents of
those who laid down instru ctions,these are gifts of nature
,I
think,and a peculiarity in every way a stounding . Added to
these there were things enough to drive the specta tor out of
his senses ; when the strewn rushes and other m a terials for
b eds on the ground were plac ed on the sand of the thea tre,
and they received stuffed m a ttra sses su ch a s b elonged to rich
hou ses and variegated b ed coverings, and gob lets were pla ced
there very expensive, and b owls of gold and silver,and in
them a great quantity of water ; and tab leswere pla ced there of
sweet - sm elling wood and ivory very superb : and upon them
flesh m ea ts and loaves enough to fill the stom achs of animals
the most voracious . When the prepara tions were completed
and abundant, the banqueters came forward,six male and an
240 MAMMALIA. [CH AP. VII .
equal number of female elephants ; the former had on a male
dress,and the latter a female ; and on a signal b eing given
they stretched forward their trunks in a subdued manner,and
took their food in great m oderation , and not one Of them ap
peared to b e gluttonous greedy, or to snatch at a greater portion
,a s did the Persian m entioned by Xenophon . And when
it wa s requisite to drink , a b owl wa s placed by the side of
each ; and inhaling with their trunks they took a draught
very orderly ; and then they scattered the drink about in fim ;
but not a s in insult . Many other a cts of a simila r kind,both
clever and a stonishing, have persons described, relating to the
peculiarities of these animals,and I saw them writing letters on
Roman tablets with their trunks,neither looking awry nor turn
ing a side . T he hand,however
,of the teacher was placed so
a s to b e a guide in the form ation of the letters ; and while itwas writing the animal kept its eye fixed down in an accom
plished and scholarlike manner .
”
242 BIRDS. [CHAP. VII I .
and some others equally cha rming ; when at the first
dawn of day, they wake the forest with their clear re’
veil.
I t is only on emerging from the dense woods and
coming into the vicinity of the lakes and pa sture of the
low country, that birds become visible in great quantities . In the close jungle one occasiona lly hears the call
of the copper- smith‘, or the strokes of the great orange
coloured woodpecker2as it beats the decaying trees in
search of insects, whil st clinging to the bark with itsfinely
-
pointed claws, and leaning for support upon theshort stiff fea thers of its tail. And on the loftybranches of the higher trees, the hornbil l3 (the toucanof the Ea st), with its enormous double ca sque, sits towatch the motions of the tiny reptiles and sma ller birdson which it preys, tossing them into the air when seiz ed,and catching them in its gigantic mandibles as theyfall. 4 T he remarkable excrescence on the beak of this
is never seen in the unfrequentedjungle, but, like the coco -nut palm ,
which the Singhalese assert will
only flourish within the sound of
the hum an voice, it is a lways found
near the habitations of men.
”
E . L . LAYARD .
T he greater red-headedBarbet
(Megalaima indica , La th. M. Phi
lippensis , oa r . A. the inces
sant din of which resembles the
blows of a smith hammering a
caul dron.
2 Brachypternus aurantius , I/inn.
Buceros pica , Scop . B. Mala
b aricus, J erd. T he natives assert
that B. pica builds in holes in the
trees , and that when incubationhas fairly comm enced, the female
takes her seat on the eggs , and the
male closes up the orifice by whichshe entered, leaving only a small
aperture through which he feeds
his partner, whilst she successfully
guards their treasures from the
monkey tribes ; her formidable billnearly fil ling the entire entrance.
See a paper by Edgar L . L ayard,Esq . Mag . Na t. H is t. March, 1853.
Dr. H orsfield had previously oh
served the same habit in a species
of Buceros in J ava . (See H OR S
FI ELD and MOORE’
S Ca ta l. Birds ,E . I . Comp . Mus . vol . ii. ) I t is
curious that a similar trait,though
necessarily from very different in
stincts , is exhibited by the ter
mites,who litera lly build a cell
round the great progenitrix of the
community, and feed her through
apertures .
T he hornbill is also fi 'ugivor
ous , and the natives a ssert tha t
when endeavouring to detach a
fruit,if the stem is too tough to b e
severed by his mandibles , he flingshimself off the branch so a s to add
the weight Of his body to the pres
CH AP . VIH .] THE HORNBILL . 243
extraordinary bird m ay serve to explain the statement
of the Minorite friar Odoric, of Portenau in Friuli, whotravelled in Ceylon in the fourteenth century, and
T H E H ORNBIL L .
brought suspicion on the vera city of his narrative by
asserting that he had there seen birds with two
heads .
” 1
T he Singhalese have a belief that the hornbill neverresorts to the water to drink ; but that it subsists exclu
sively by what it catches in its prodigious bill while
sure of his beak . T he hornbill flesh as a sovereign specifi c for
abounds in Cutta ck, and bears there rheumatic afi'
ections .—Asia t. Res .
the nam e of “ Kuchila -Kai, or ch. xv. p . 184 .
Kuchila - eater, from its partiality I tinerarius F RAT RI S ODORICI ,for the fruit of the Strychnus nux de F oro Julii de Portu-vahonis ,vomica . T he natives regard its & c .
— Hm ux'r, vol . ii . p . 39 .
B 2
244 BIRDS . {CH AP. VI I I .
rain is falling. T his they a llege is a ssociated withthe incessant screaming which it keeps up duringshowers .As we emerge from the dark shade, and approa ch
park- like openings on the verge of the low country,
quantities of pea- fowl are to b e found e ither feeding
on the seeds among the long grass or sunning themselves Ou the branches of the surrounding trees . NO
thing to b e m et with in English demesnes can givean adequate idea of the siz e and magnificence of thismatchless bird when seen in his native solitudes .H ere he genera lly selects some projecting branch, fromwhich his plumage m ay hang free of the foliage
, and,
if there be a dead and leafless bough, he is certa in tochoose it for his resting-
pla ce, whence he droops hiswings and suspends his gorgeous train, or spreads it inthe morning sun to drive Off the damps and dews of thenight.In some Of the unfrequented portions of the eastern
province, to which Europeans rarely resort, and wherethe pea
- fowl are unmolested by the natives, their number is so extra ordinary that, regarded as game, it ceasesto b e “ sport
” to destroy them ; and their cries at earlydawn are so tumultuous and incessant as to banishsleep, and amount to an a ctual inconvenience . T heirflesh is excellent in flavour when served up hot, thoughit is said to b e indigestible ; but, when cold, it contra ctsa reddish and disagreeable tinge .
T he European fable of the ja ckdaw borrowing the
plumage of the peacock, has its counterpart in Ceylon ,where the popular legend rims that the pea - fowl sto lethe plumage of a bird called by the natives avitchia .
I have not been able to identify the species which bea rs
246 BIRDS. [CH AP. VII I .
northern coas ts and the salt lakes of the ea stern provinces, particularly when the receding t ide leaves barean expanse of bea ch, over which it hunts, in companywith the fishing eagle 1, sa cred to Siva . Unlike its
companions, however, the sea eagle rejects garbage forliving prey, and especially for the sea snakes whichabound on the northern coasts . T hese it seiz es bydescending with its wings half closed, and, suddenlydarting down its ta lons, it soars aloft again with itswrithing victim .
2
H awks — T he beautiful Peregrine Fa lcon 3 is rare,but the Kestrel4 is found almost umversa lly ; and the
bold and daring Goshawk 5 wherever wild crags and precipices afi
°ord safe breeding pla ces . In the district of
Anarajapoora , where it is tra ined for hawking, it isusua l, in lieu of a hood, to darken its eyes by meansof a silken thread passed through holes in the eyelids .T he ignoble birds of prey, the Kites
e, keep close by the
shore,and hover round the returning boats of the fisher
m en to fea st on the fry rejected from their nets .Owls . Of the nocturnal a ccipitres the most remark
able is the brown owl, which, from its hideous yell, has
a cquired the name of the Devil-Bird .
” 7 T he Singha
H aliastur Indus,Bodd.
2 E . L . L ayard. Europeans have
given this bird the name of the
Brahminy Kite,”
probably fromObserving the superstitious feelingof the natives regarding it , who
believe that when two armies are
about to engage, its appearance
prognosticates victory to the partyover whom it hovers .
3 F alco peregrinus, Z/inn .
4 T innunculus alaudarius , Briss .
6 Milvus govinda, Sykes . Dr.
H amilton Buchanan remarks that
when gorged this bird delights tosit on the entablature of buildings ,exposing its back to the hottest
rays of the sun, placing its brea stagainst the wall , and stretchingout its wings exac tly as theEgyp tian
H awk is rep resented on the monu
ments .
7 Syrnium Indranee, Sykes . Mr .
Blyth writes to me from Calcuttathat there are some doubts aboutthis bird. T here woul d appear to
be three or four distinguishable
CH AP. VII I ] OWLS. 247
lese regard it literally with horror, and its scream bynight in the vicinity Of a village is bewailed a s the
T H E “ DEV IL BIRD .
harbinger of impending ca lamity.
l T here is a popula rlegend in connection with it, to the effect that a morose
races , the Ceylon bird approxim at
ing most nearly to that of the
Malayan Peninsula .
T he horror of this nocturnal
screamwas equally prevalent in theWest a s in the East. Ovid intro
duces it in his F as ti, L . vi. 1. 139 ;and T ibullus in his Elegies, L . i.
E1. 5 . Statius says
Noc turnaeq ue gemunt stnges , et fgraha buboDamnu oa nem . T heb . 5 11
But Pliny, l . xi. 0 . 93, doubts as towhat bird produced the sound ;and the details Of Ovid
’
s description do not apply to an OWl .
Mr . Mitford,of the Ceylon Civil
Service, to whom I am indebtedfor m any valuable notes relative tothe birds of the island
,regards the
identification of the Singhalese
Devil -Bird as open to similar
R 4
24 8 BIRDS. [CHAP . VIII .
and savage husband , who suspected the fidelity of his
wife, ava iled himself of her absence to kill her child,of whose paternity he was doubtful, and on her return
pla ced before her a curry prepared from its flesh . Of
this the unhappy woman pa rtook, till discovering thecrime by finding the finger of her infant, she fled in
frenz y to the forest, and there destroyed herself. Onher death she wa s m etamorphosed, a ccording to theBuddhist belief, into an
fula ’ma , or Devil-bird, which
still a t nightfall horrifies the villagers by repeatingthe frantic screams of the bereaved mother in her
agony.I I . PASSERES. Swa llows — Within thirty-five miles of
Ca ltura , on the western coa st, are inland caves,
'
to whichthe Esculent Swift resorts, and there builds the ediblebird’s nest,
” so highly priz ed in China . Near the spota few Chinese immigrants have established themselves,who rent the nests as a royalty from the government,and make an annual export of the produce. But theSwifts are not confined to this district, and caves con
doubt : he says T he Devil -Bird
is not an owl . I never heard 1t
until I came to Kornegalle, where
it haunts the rocky hill at the backof Governm ent -house. I ts ordinarynote is a magnificent clear shout
like that of a human being, and
which can b e heard at a great dis
tance,and ha s a fine effect in the
silence of the closing night. I t has
another cry like that of a hen justcaught , but the sounds which have
earned for it its b ad name,and
which I have heard but once to
perfection, are indescribable,the
most appalling that can b e ima
gined, and scarcely to b e heard
without shuddering ; I can only
compare it to a boy in torture,
whose scream s are being stopped
by being strangled.,I have offered
rewards for a specim en,but with
out success . T he only European
who had seen and fired at one
agreed with the natives that it is
Of the siz e of a pigeon, with a longtail . I believe it is a Podargu s or
Night H awk.
”In a subsequent
note he further says— “ I have
since seen two birds by moonl ight,one of the siz e and shape of a.
cuckoo , the other a large blackbird
,which I im agine to b e the
one which gives thes e calls .
1 Collocalia brevirostris ,McC'lell.
C. nidifica , Gray.
250 BIRDS. [CHAP. VII I .
natives “ the Cotton T hief, from the circumstance thatits tail consists of two long white feathers, which stream
T CH I T REA PARAD I S I .
behind it a s it flies . Mr.
says I have often watchedthem, when seeking their insect
prey, turn suddenly on their perchand whisk their long ta ils with a
j erk over the bough, as if to protect them from injury.
T he tail is sometimes brown, and
the natives have the idea that thebird changes its plumage at stated
periods, and that the ta il- feathersbecome white and brown in alternate years. T he fact of the va
riety of plum age is no doubt true,but this story as to the alternation
CHAP. VIII .) THE BULBUL.— TAILOR~BIRD. 2 51
Of colours in the same individual requires confirm a
tion .
1
The Bu lbu l T he Conda tchee Bu lbu l 2, which, fromthe crest on its head, is called by the Singhalese theKonda Cooroola ,
” or Taft bird, is regarded by thenatives as the most game
”of all birds ; and training
it to fight was one of the duties entrusted by the Kingsof Kandy to the Cooroowa , or H ead-m an, who hadcharge of the King’s animals and Birds. For this pur
pose the Bulbul is taken from the nest as soon a s the
sex is distinguishable by the tufted crown and securedby a string, is taught to fly from hand to hand of its
keeper. When pitted against an antagonist,such is
the obstinate courage of this little creature that it willsink from exhaustion rather than relea se its hold. T his
propensity, and the ordinary chara cter of its notes,render it impossible that the Bulbul of India could beidentical with the Bulbul of I ran, the Bird of a
T housand Songs,” 3
of which poets say that its delicate
pa ssion for the rose gives a plaintive chara cter to itsnote .
T a ilor-Bird. TheWeaver -Bird. T he tailor-bird 4
having completed her nest, sewing together leaves by
pa ssing through them a cotton thread twisted by herself,
leaps from branch to branch to testify her happiness by
1 T he engraving of the T chitrea
given on page 244 is copied by per
mission from one of the Splendid
drawings in MB . GOUL D’
S Birds of
2 Pycnonotus haemorrhous , Gmel.3 H a z arda sita am,
”
the Persian
name for the bulbul . “ T he Per
sians , according to Zakary b en
Mohamed al Caswini,“say the
bulbul has a passion for the rose,
and laments and cries when he seesit pulled.
”
OUSELEY’
S Orienta lCollections
, vol . i. p . 16 . According to Pallas it is the true nightin
gale of Europe, Sylvia luscinia ,which the Armenians call boulboul
,
and the Crim -T artars byl-byl
-i.‘1 Orthotomus longicauda , Gmel .
252 BIRDS. [CH AP. VI II .
a clear and merry note ; and the Indian weaver 1,a
still more ingenious a rtist, hangs its pendulous dwelling from a proj ecting bough ; twisting it with gra ss intoa form somewhat resembling a bottle with a prolongedneck
,the entrance being inverted, so a s to baffle the
approa ches of its enem ies, the tree snakes and otherreptiles. T he natives a ssert that the male bird carriesfire flies to the nest, and fa stens them to its sides by a
particle of soft mud Mr. Layard a ssures m e that
0 18 8A PUELLA
he has never succeeded in finding the fire fly,
the nest of the male bird (for the female occupiesanother during incubation) invariably contains a patch
1 Ploceus baya , Blyth ; P. Philippina s, Auc t.
254 BIRDS. [CH AP. VI II .
growth of cinnamon by feeding on the fruit, and thusdisseminating the undigested seed.
1
So a ccustomed are the natives to their presence and ex
ploits, that, like the Greeks and Romans, they have madethe movements of crows the ba sis of their auguries ;and there is no end to the vicissitudes of good and evilfortune which m ay not be predicted from the direction
of their flight, the hoarse or mellow notes of their croaking, the variety of trees on which they rest, and the
numbers in which they are seen to a ssemble.
All day long these birds are engaged in watching either
the offal of the Offices,or the preparation for meals in
the dining- room : and a s doors and windows are neces
sarily opened to relieve the heat, nothing is more common than the pa ssage of a crow a cross the room
,lifting on
the wing some ill- guarded morsel from the dinner- table.
N0 article, however unpromising its quality, providedonly it be portable, can with sa fety be left unguarded in
any apartment a ccessible to them. T he contents of
ladies’ work- boxes, kid gloves, and pocket handkerchiefsvanish instantly if exposed near a window or Open door.T hey Open paper parcels to a scerta in the contents ; theywill undo the knot on a napkin if it encloses anything
eatable, and I have known a crow to extract the pegwhich fa stened the lid of a basket in order to plunderthe provender within.
On one occa sion a nurse seated in a garden adj oininga regimenta l mess- room, was terrified by seeing a bloodycla sp-knife drop from the air a t her feet ; but the mystery was explained on learning that a crow,
which hadbeen watching the cook chopping mince-mea t, had seiz ed
1 WOLE’S Life and Adventures, p. 117.
CH AP. VIII .] GROWS. 255
the moment when his head was turned to carry off the
knife.
One of these ingenious marauders, after vainly atti
tudinising in front of a chained watch-dog, that wasla z ily gnawing a bone, and after fruitlessly endeavouringto divert his attention by dancing before him
,with
head awry and eye a skance, at length flew away for
a moment, and returned bringing a companion which
perched itself on a branch a few yards in the rear. T he
crow’s grima ces were now a ctively renewed, but with nobetter success, till its confederate, poising itself on itswings, descended with the utmost velocity, striking thedog upon the spine with a ll the force of its strong beak .
T he ru se was successful ; the dog started with surpriseand pain, but not quickly enough to seiz e his a ss ailant
,
whilst the bone he had been gnawing wa s snatched awayby the first crow the instant his head was turned. T wo
well- authenticated instances of the recurrence of thisdevice came within my knowledge at Colombo, and
attest the saga city and powers of communication and
combination possessed by these astute and courageousbirds.On the approach of evening the crows near Colombo
a ssemble in noisy groups a long the margin of the freshwater lake which surrounds the fort on the ea stern side ;and here for an hour or two they enj oy the luxury of
throwing the water over their shining ba cks, and arrang
ing their plumage decorously, after which they disperse,ea ch taking the direction of his a ccustomed quarters forthe night. 1
1 A‘
similar habit has been no daily resort at the same hour to
h eed in the damask Parrots of their accustomed pools to bathe.
256 BIRDS . [CH AP. VI II .
During the storms which usher in the mons oon, it hasbeen observed, that when coco- nut palms are destroyedby lightning
,the effect frequently extends beyond
a single tree, and from the contiguity and conduction
of the spreading leaves, or some other peculia r cause,la rge groups will b e affected by a single fla sh
, a few
killed instantly, and the rest doomed to rapid decay.
In Belligam Bay, a little to the ea st of Point- de-Oralle,
a small island, which is covered with coco-nuts , hasa cquired the name of Crow I sland, from being theresort of those birds, which are seen ha stening towa rdsit in thousands towa rds sunset. A few yea rs ago, during
a violent storm of thunder, such was the destruction of
the crows that the bea ch for some distance was coveredwith a bla ck line of their remains, and the grove onwhich they had been resting was to a great extentdestroyed by the same fla sh .
l
I I I . SCANSORES. Pa rroquets .— Of the Psitta cidae the
only examples are the parroquets, of which the mostrenowned is the Pa loeorfnis A lexander; which ha s thehistoric distinction of bea ring the name of the greatconqueror of India , having been the first of its ra ceintroduced to the knowledge of Europe on the return of
his expedition . An idea of their number m ay be formedfrom the following statement of Mr . Layard
,a s to the
multitudes which are to b e found on the western coa st.At Chilaw, I ha ve seen such va st flights of pa rroquetshurrying towards the coco-nut trees which overhang the
Similar instances are recorded found on the shores of a lake in
inother countries of sudden andpro the county Westm eath in Ireland
digious mortality amongst crows ; after a storm . T H OMPSON’
S Na t.
but whether occasioned by lightning H is t. I reland, vol . i. p . 319 . PAT
seems uncertain. In 1839 thirty T ERSON in his Zoology, p . 356, men
three thousand dead crows were tions other cases .
258 BIRDS. [CH AP . VI II .
migratory ‘, allured, as the Singhalese a llege, by the
ripening of the cinnamon berries, and hence one speciesis known in the southern provinces as the CinnamonDove.
” Others feed on the fruits of the banyan : and
it is probably to their instrumentality that this m ar
vellous tree chiefly owes its diffusion, its seeds beingcarried by them to remote localities. A very beautiful
pigeon, peculiar to the mountain range, discovered inthe lofty trees at Nencra - ellia , has, in compliment tothe Viscountess T orrington, been named Ca rp ophagaT orringtonioe.
Another, called by the natives neela—eobeya2, although
strikingly elegant both in shape and colour, is still moreremarkable for the singularly soothing effect of its lowand ha rmonious voice . A gentleman who has spentmany years in the jungle, in writing to m e of thisbird and of the effects of its melodious song, says, thatits soft and melancholy notes, as they came from somesolitary pla ce in the forest, were the most gentle soundsI ever listened to . Some sentimental smokers assertthat the influence of the propensity is to make themfeel a s if they cou ld freely forgive a ll who ha d ever
0 ended them ; and I can say with truth such has beenthe effect on my own nerves of the plaintive murmursof the neela - ocheya , that sometimes, when irritated, and
'
not without reason, by the perverseness of some of
my native followers, the feeling ha s a lmost instantlysubsided into pla cidity on suddenly hearing the lovingtones of these beautiful birds . ”
1 Alsoeoma s puniceus , the Sea its periodical arrival and. departure.
sonPigeon”
ofCeylon so calledfrom 2 Chalcophaps Indicus, I/inn.
CH AP. VII I .] THE CEYLON JUNGLE FOWL. 2 59
V. GALLINE . The Ceylon J ungle-fowl. — T he jungle
fowl Of Ceylon 1 is shown by the peculiarity of its
plumage to b e not only distinct from the Indian species,but peculiar to the island . I t has never yet bred orsurvived long in captivity, and no living specimenshave been successfully transmitted to Europe. It
abounds in all parts of the island, but chiefly in thelower ranges of mountains ; and one Of the vividmemoria ls which are a ssociated with our journeysthrough the hills, is its clear cry, which sounds like
a person ca lling George Joyce and rises at earlymorning amidst mist and dew, giving life to the
scenery, that has scarcely yet been touched by the
sun- light.
T he female of this handsome bird wa s figured manyyears ago by Dr. GRAY in his illustrations of In
dian Zoology,” under the name of G. Stan leyi. T he
cock bird subsequently received from LESSON, the
name by which the species is now known : but itshabitat was not discovered, until a specimen havingbeen forwarded from Ceylon to Ca lcutta , Dr. BLYTHrecognised it as the long- sought- for male Of Dr. Gray’sspecimen.
Another of the Gallinae Of Ceylon, remarkable for thedelicate pencillings of its plumage, a s well as for the
peculiarity Of the double spur, from which it has a o
quired its trivia l name, is the Ga llop erdix bica lca ra tu s ,of which a figure is given from a drawing by Mr.
Gould.
Gallus Lafayetti, Less on. jungle fowl differs from that of2 I apprehend that in the parti the Dehkan, where I am told that
ca lar of the peculiar cry the Ceylon it crows like a bantam cock.
‘260 BIRDS . [CH AP . VII I .
GA LLOPERD IX BI CAL CA RA T US.’
VI . GBALLE .— On reaching the m arshy pla ins and
shallow lagoons on either side Of the island, the a stonishm ent Of the stranger is excited by the endless multitudes of stilt- birds and waders which stand in long a rraywithin the wa sh Of the water, or sweep in va st cloudsabove it. Ibises 1, storks 2, egrets, spoonbills
",herons“,
and the sma ller ra ces Of sand larks and plovers, are seenbusily traversing the wet sand, in search of the red
worm which burrows there, or peering with steady eye
to watch the motions of the sma ll fry and aquatic insectsin the ripple on the shore.
VI I . ANSERES. Preeminent in siz e and beauty, the
l T antalus leucocephalus, and conia leucocephala).Ibis falcinellus .
3 Platalea leucorodia , In'
nn.
2 T he violet-headed Stork (Ci4 Ardea cinerea . A . purpurea .
262 BIRDS. [Cam VI I I .
T he upper mandible, which is convex in other birds, isflattened in the flamingo, whilst the lower, instead Of
being flat, is convex. T o those who have had an Oppor
tunity of witnessing the a ction of the bird in its nativehaunts, the expediency of this a rrangement is at onceapparent. T O countera ct the extra ordinary length Of
its legs, it is provided with a proportionately long neck,so that in feeding in sha llow water the crown Of the
head becomes inverted and the upper mandible broughtinto contact with the bottom ; where its flattened surface
qualifies it for performing the functions of the lowerone in birds of the same clas s ; and the edges Of bothbeing laminated, it is thus enabled, like the duck, bythe aid of its fleshy tongue, to sift before swa llowingits food .
Floating on the surfa ce of the deeper water, are fleetsOf theAnatidae, the Coromandel tea l 1, the Indian hoodedgull 2
, the Ca spian tern, and a countless variety Of ducksand sma ller fowl— pintails
3,teal 4
,red- crested pocha rds
5,
shovellers fi,and terns . 7 Pelicans 8 in great numbers
resort to the mouths of the rivers, taking up their position a t sunrise on some projecting rock, from which todart on the pa ssing fish, and returning far inland a t
night to their retreats among the trees which overshadow some solitary river or deserted tank.
I chanced upon one occa sion to come unexpectedlyupon one of these rema rkable breeding places during a
visit which I made to the great tank of Padivil, one Of
those gigantic constructions by which the early kings ofCeylon have left imperishable records of their reigns .
1 Nettapus coromandelianus , Gm .
5 F uligula rafina , Pa llas .
2 Larus brunnicephalus, J erd.
6 Spatul a clypeata , In'
nn .
3 Dafila acuta , In nn.
7 Sterna minuta , In'
nn.
4 Querquedul a orecca , In'
nn.
9 Pelicanus Philippensis, Gmel .
CHAP. VIII . ] PELICANS . 263
It is situated in the depth of the forests to the northwest Of T rincom alie, and the tank is itself the ba sin
Of a broad and sha llow valley, enclosed between twolines Of low hills, that gradually sink into the plain a s
they approa ch towards the sea . T he extreme breadth
of the included space m ay be twelve or fourteen miles,narrowing to eleven at the spot where the retaining bund has been constructed across the va lley ; andwhen this enormous embankment wa s in effectua l repair,and the reservoir filled by the rains, the water musthave been thrown ba ck a long the ba sin of the va lleyfor at lea st fifteen miles . I t is difficult now to determine the precise distances, a s the overgrowth Of woodand jungle ha s obliterated all lines left by the origina llevel of the lake at its junction with the forest. Evenwhen we rode a long it, the centre Of the tank was deeplysubmerged
,so that notwithstanding the partia l escape,
the water still covered an area Of ten miles in diameter.Even now its depth when full must be very considerable,for high on the branches of the trees that grow in the
area , the la st flood had left quantities of driftwood andwithered gra ss ; and the rocks and banks were coatedwith the yea sty foam, that remains after the subsidenceof an agitated flood.
T he b ed Of the tank was difl‘icult to ride over, beingstill soft and trea cherous, a lthough covered everywherewith tall and waving gra ss ; and in every direction itwa s poohed into deep holes by the innumerable ele
phants that had congregated to roll in the soft mud, tobathe in the collected water, or to luxuriate in the richherbage, under the cool shade of the trees. T he ground,too, was thrown up into hummocks like great molehillswhich, the natives told us, were formed by a huge earth
s 4
264 BIRDS. [CH AP . VIII .
worm,common in Ceylon, nearly two feet in length,
and a s thick as a small snake. T hrough these inequa lities the wa ter was still running Off in natural drainstowards the great channel in the centre, that conducts itto the broken sluice ; and a cross these it was sometimesdifficult to find a safe footing for our horses .
In a lonely spot, towards the very centre of the tank,we came unexpectedly upon an extra ordina ry scene. A
sheet Of still water, two or three hundred yards broad,and about half a mile long, wa s surrounded by a line Of
tall forest- trees, whose branches stretched above itsmargin. T he sun had not yet risen, when we perceivedsome white Objects in large numbers on the tops of thetrees ; and as we came nearer, we discovered that a va stcolony of pelicans had formed their settlement and
breeding-
pla ce in this solita ry retreat . T hey litera llycovered the trees in hundreds ; and their heavy nests,like those of the swan,
constructed of large sticks,forming great platforms, were sustained by the horiz onta lbranches. Ea ch nest conta ined three eggs, rather largerthan those of a goose ; and the ma le bird stood placidlybeside the fema le as she sat upon them .
Nor was this a ll ; a long with the pelicans prodigiousnumbers Of other water-birds had selected this for theirdwelling-
pla ce, and covered the trees in thousands,
standing on the topmost branches ; ta ll flam ingoes,herons, egrets, storks, ibises, and other waders. We
had disturbed them thus early,before their habitua l
hour for betaking themselves to their fishing- fields. Bydegrees, a s the light increa sed, we saw them beginningto move upon the trees ; they looked around them onevery side, stretched their awkward legs behind them,
extended their broad wings, gradually rose in groups,
266 [CH AP. VIII .BIRDS.
tents is mainly due to the untiring energy and exertionsOf my friend, Mr. E . L . Layard. Nearly every bird inthe list has fallen by his gun ; so that the most amplefacilities have been thus provided, not only for extending the limited amount of knowledge which formerlyexisted on this branch of the z oology of the island ; butfor correcting, by a ctual comparison with recent specimens, the errors which had previously prevailed as toimperfectly described species. T he whole Of Mr.
L ayard’
s fine collection is at present in England.
ACCI PI T RES.
Aquila.
Bonelli, T emm .
pennata , Gm .
Sp iz aetusNlpalensm,
Hodgs .
l lm naeétus , H orsf.IctinaetusMa layensis , Reinw.
H a matorm s
Bacha , D a ud .
spIIOga ster, Blyth.
Pontoae tusleucoga ster , Gm .
ichthyaetus , H orsf.H alias tur
Indus , Bodd.
F alco
peregrinus, L inn .
peregrm ator, Sa nd .
T innunculusa laudarius , Brass.
H ypotn orchischicq uera , Daud .
Baz alophotes, Cuv.
Milvusgovinda , Sykes.
E lanusmelanopterus , Da ud .
Asturt rivirgatus, T emm .
Accnpiterb adlus, Gm
CircusSwa insonu , A Sm ith.
c inera scens , Mon t
melano leuco s . Gm .
rerug znosus , L n .
A thenec a stonatus, B! (k .
scutulata , R s .
Ephia ltesscops , L inn .
lemp lj ii, H orsf.suma . H oags .
KetupaCeylouensis, Gm.
SyrniumIndranee, Sykes .
Strix
Javanica , Gm .
PASSERES .
Batrachostomusmom liger, L aya rd.
CaprimulgusMa hm ttens is , Sykes .
Ke laa rt l , Blyth.
A siat l cus , L a t/z.Cypselus
b ata ssiensis,Gray .
melb a , Lmn .
aflim s , Gray .
Macropteryxcoronatus , T ickell .
Co lloca liab revirostris, McClel .
Acanthylis
caudacuta ,L a t/z.H irundo
panayana .
daurica , L inn .
hyperythra . L ayarddom l co la , Jerdon .
Cora cia sIndica, L inn .
H arpac tes
fa sc ia tus, Gm .
Eurystomus
o rienta lis , L inn .
H alcyon
Capensis , L inn .
a tn cap l llus ,’
Gm .
Smyrnensxs , L inn .
Ceyx
tridactyla , L inn.
AlcedoBeugalensis, Gm .
Cerylerudis, L inn .
Merops
Philippinus , L inn .
V l l‘
ld l S, Lm n.
quinctlco lo r, F icill .Upupa
mgripeunis , Gould.
Nec tarina
Zeylanica , L inn.
mw ima, Sykes .
A sna t lca , L a t/z .L o tania , L inn.
Dicaeumm inimum
, T IC/fell .Phyllorm s
Malabarica , L a th.‘
J erdonl , Blyth .
DendrOphila
frontahs, H arv:Piprisoma
ag i le , Blyth .
Ortho tomuslongxcauda , Gm .
Cistico lacursrtans , F ) a nkl .oma lura , Bly th.
Drymorcavahda , Blyth.
ino rna ta , Sykes .
Prim a
social l s , Sykes .
Acro cepha lusdumetorum , Blyth.
PhyllOpneustenit ldus , Blyth.
montanus , Bly th.
vin danus , Blyth .
Copsychussaularis, L inn.
Kittacmc lamacrura , Gm .
Pratincolac aprata , L inn.
a tt ata, Kela a rt .
Calliope
cyanea , H odgs .
T hamnob iafulica ta
, L inn .
CyaneculaSuecxca , L inn.
Sylviaa tfinis , Blyth .
Paruscm ereus
,Vieill .
Zosteropspalpebrosus , T emm .
CHAP. VII I .] LIST OF CEYLON BIRDS .
IoraZeylanica , Gm.
typhl a , L inn .
Motacilla
sulohurea , Becks.Indica , Gm .
Madraspatana , Briss .Budytes
Viridls , Gm .
A nthus
rufulus,Vzezll .
Richard li, Vzezll.stn o latus , Blyth.
Brachyp teryxPa llI serI , Kela art.
A lcippemgrl frons, Bly th.
Pittab ra ch; ura , Jerd.
Oreoc inc lasp l loptera , Blyth.
Merula
W a rdil , J erd.
Kinnisu, Kela a rt .
ZootheraImbrlca ta , L aya rd .
Garrulaxcmereifrons , Blyth.
Porma torhmus
m elanm us , Blyth.
Malacocercus
rufescens , Blyth .
griseus , Gm .
stn atus , Swa i’
ns .
Pellorneumfuscocapillum , Blyth.
D umet la
a lb ogularis , Blyth.
Chrysomma
Smeuse, Gm .
Oriolusmelano cephalus , L inn .
I ndicus , Brzss .
CrmigerIc tericus , StIl l.
Pycnonotus
pen c illa tus , Kela a rt .flavirl c tus , Stu ck] .
ha mo rrhous , Gm .
a trl cap l llus , Vzezll .
H em ipus
p ica tus , Sykes .
HypsxpetesN ilgherrieusis , J erd .
Cyorn lsrubeculordes , Vig .
Mylagraa z urea , Bodd .
Cryp to lOphacmereocapnl la , Vieill .
L eucocerc acompressirostris , Blyth.
T chitrea
p aradl si, L inn .
Euta lisla tl rostris , Rnfi
‘ies .
Muttul , L aya od .
Stoparo lamelanops, Vag .
Pericrocotusfiammeus , F orst .
peregrinus, L inn .
GALLINE .
267
CampephagaMa cei, L ess
Sykesil , Strzckl .
Artamus
fuscus , Vzeill .
Edo llus
paradiseus , Gm .
D icrurusmacrocercus , Viezll.
edo ll fo rm l s , Bly th .
longicaudatus, A H ay .
leucopyg ia lis , Bly th .
caeru lescens , L inn .
Irena
puella , L a th.
L amus
supercillosus, La th.
ery thronotus , Vzg .
T ephrodo rm s
a ffi rms, BlythCissa
p a ella , Blyth L aya rd.
Corvussplendens , I
’
iezll .
culmmatus , Sykes .
Eulab es
religio sa , L inn .
pt l logenys , Blyth.
Pa sto rroseus, L n .
H etaerornis
pagodarum , Gm .
a lbif ronta ta , Lay ard.
Acrido theres
tristIs , L inn.
Ploceusmanyar, H orsflb aya. Bly th.
Munia
undula ta L a tr
Ma la ba rica L inn.
Ma lacca , L inn .
rub ronigra , H odgs .
stn ata , L inn .
Kelaart] , Bly th.
Passer
Indicus, J a rd . Selb .
Alauda
gulgula , F ra nk .
Ma la ba r lCd , Soap .
Pyrrhulauda
grisea , Sc
Mira fraop
afiinis, Jerd.
Bucero s
gingalensis , Shaw.
Ma laba ricus,J eod
SCANSORES .
LoriculusAsia ticus , L a t/z .
Palaeorm s
Alexandri,L inn .
torquatus , B; a s .
cyanocephalus , L inn .
Ca lthropaa, L aya rd .
Mega la imaIndica , L a tr .
Zeylanica , Gmel .
fi avnfrons , Cuv.
rub icapilla , Gm .
Picus’
gymnOph thalmus , Blth .
Mahra ttensw, L a t/z .Ma cei, Vzezll .
Gecinuschlorophanes , Vrezll .
Brachypternus
aurantlus , L inn .
Ceylonus , F o rst .
rubescens ,Vze zll .
S tricklaudi, L aya rd.
Micropternusgularis , J erd .
Centropus
rufipennis , I llrger .
chlororhynchos , Blyth.
Oxylophusmelano leucos, Gm .
Corom andus , L n .
Eudynam5so rientalis , L inn .
Cuculus
Po liocephalus , L a t/z .striatus , Drap iez .
canora s , L inn .
Polypha siatenm ro stris
,Gray .
Sonnera til, L a t/z .
H ierococcyxva rlus , Vahl .
Surmculus
d ic rurOIdes, H odgs .
hoenicophaus
pyrrho cepha lus , F orst.Zanc lo stomus
viridirostris, Jerd.
T reronb icmc ta , Jerd.
fi avogula ri s , Blyth .
Pom padoura ,Gm .
chlo rogaster, Blyth .
Carpophaga
pusilla , Blyth .
T orringtomae , Kelaa rt .Alsocomus
pum ceus, T icket.Columb a
mtermedia,Strzckl .
T urturrisorius
, L inn .
Sura tensm, L a t/a.humi lis , T emm .
or iental is, L a th .
ChalcophapsIndicus, L inn.
Pavocristatus , L inn.
G allus
L afayetti, Lesson .
G aIIOperd
b ica lcaratus , L inn .
F ranco lmusPonticerianus , Gm .
Perdicula
agoondah, Sykes .
268
CoturnixOhmensis , L inn.
T um lx ocella tus ,a a r .Benga lens is , Blyth.
va r . taxgoor, Sykes .
GRALLE
E sacusrecurv irostris , Cuv.
(Edicnemusc rep ltans , T emm .
CursonusC oromandel lcus , Gm .
LObivanellusb l lob us , Gm .
GOensm, Gm .
Charadnus
vxrglmcus , Becks .
H iaticulaPhilippenms , Scop .
Cant laua , L a t/z .
L eschenaultxi, L ess .
Strepsila sInte rpres , L inn.
Ardea
purpurea , L inn .
c inerea . L inn .
a sha , Sykes .
interm ed l a,Wagler.
garz etta , L inn .
a lba , L inn .
bubulcus, Sa vig .
Ardeo laleuCOptera , Bodd .
Ardetta
cmnamomea , Gm .
flavl co ll ls , L a t/2.
Sinensis , Gm .
ButorOIdesJ avam ca , H orsj l
Plata lealeuco rodia
,L inn.
Nyct lcorax
grl seus , Lmn .
T igrlsom a
m elanolopha . Rafi t.Mycten a
aus tral l s , Shaw .
L eptOph IlusJ avanica , H o ’ sf .
C Ic oma
leucocephala , Gm .
Ana stomus
osc1taus , Bodd.
BIRDS. [CHAP. VI II .
T antalusleucocephalus, Gm .
G erontl cusmelanocephalus, L a th.
F a lcm ellus
igneus , Gm .
Numemus
arqua tus , Lmn.
phazopus , L inn.
T otanusfuscus . L inn .
ca lidn s, L inn.
glo ttis , L inn .
stagnahs , Bechs t.
Actitis
glareola , Gm .
o chropus , L inn .
hypo leucos, Lmn .
T ringammuta , L eist .
sub a rq ua ta , Gm .
L im lco la
pla tyrhyncha , T emm.
L imo sa
aegocephala , L inn.
H lm antopus
cand ldus, Ban .
Recurviro stra
avoc etta, L inn.
H aem atopus
ostra legus , L inn.
RhynchmaBenga lensis , L inn .
Sco lopax
rusticola , L inn.
Ga l lmago
stenura , T emm .
sca lop a cm a , Ban .
ga Il znula , L inn .
H ydropha siarusSmensm, Gm .
Ortygometra
rub igxnosa , T emm .
CorethuraZeylanica , Gm .
Ra llusstria tus, L inn .
Indicus , Blyth .
Porphyrio
polxocephalus , L a tk .
P orz ana
pygm aea , Nan .
Gallmula
phoenicura , Penn .
chlo rOpus , L inn .
cristata , L a t/z.
ANSERES.
Phoenicop terus
rub er, L inn.
Sarkidtorms
m elanonoto s , Penn.
NettapusCoromandelianus , Gm .
Ana s
poecnlorhyncha , Penn .
Dendrocygnusa rcuatus, Cuv.
Dafi laacuta
, L inn.
Querquedulacrec ca , L inn.
c urc la , L inn .
rnfina , Pa ll .Spatula
c lypea ta , L inn .
PodxcepsPhi lippensis , Gm .
L arusbrunnicepha lus , Jerd.
ichthyae tus , Pa ll .Sylo chehdon
Casp lus , L a th.
H ydroche l ldon
Ind icus , Steph.
GelochelidonAnglicus , Mont.
Onychopn on
ana sthaetus , Soap .
Stem a
Javanica , H orsf .
me lanogaster, T emm .
m inuta , L inn.
Seena
aurantia,Gray.
T ha'
a sseus
Bengalensis . L ess.
cris tata,Step /z .
D ramas
a rdeola , Payk.
Atagen
an el , Gould.
T hala smdrom a
mela nogas ter, Gould .
Plotusmelanoga ster, Gm .
Pelicanus
Ph il ippensis, Gm .
GraculusSmenS IS , Shaw.
pygmazus , Pa lla s .
270 BIRDS . [CH AP. VIII .
Picus gymnophthalmus. L a) ard’
s wood
pecker. T he sm a llest o f the spec ies ,wa s di scovered near Co lombo , amongst
jak-trees .
Brachypternus Ceylonus. T he Ceylonwoodpecker , is found in abundance near
Nenera -ellia .
Brachypternus rubescens. T he red wood
pecker.Centropus chlo rorhynchus. T he yel low
b illed cuckoo , w a s detected by Mr.
L ayard in dense jungle nea r Co lomb oand Avisavel le
PhoeniCOphaus pyrrhocephalus . T he mal .
koha , is confined to the southern high
lands .
T reron Pompadoura. T he Pompadour
p igeon. T he Prince o f C anino ha s
sho u n tha t this is a to ta l ly d ist inc t b i rd
from T r. flavogula ris , W ith which i t wa s
confounded it is much sma l ler, W ith thequant ity o fm a roon co lour on the m ant le
grea tly reduced .
” —Pa per byMr. BLYT H ,
Mag . Na t. H ist . p . 514 : 1857 .
Carpophaga T orringtoniae. L ady T or
rington’
s pigeon ; a very handsome
p igeon discovered in the high lands byD r. Kela art . It fl ies high in longsweeps , and makes its nest on the loft
iest trees . Mr. Blyth is of opinion tha tit is no more than a loca l race , barelyseparable from C . Elphinstonii Of theNi lgiris and Ma lab ar c oa st.
Carpophaga pusula . T he little-hill dove,a m igra to ry species found by Mr. Layardin the m ountain z one , only appearingwith the ripened frui t o f the teak , b an
yan , & c . , on which they feed .
C a llus L afayetti. T he Ceylon junglefowl. T he fem ale o f this handsomeb ird wa s figured by Mr. GRAY (I ll . Ind .
Zool ) under the nam e o f G . Stanleyi .T he cock b i rd had long b een lost to
natura lis ts , until a spec imen wa s forwarded by Dr. T empleton toMr. Blyth ,who a t once recognised i t a s the longlooked- fo r male o f Mr. G ray
'
s recentlydescrib ed fem a le . It is abundant in a llthe uncultiva ted po rtions Of Ceylon ;com ing out into the Open spa ces to feedin the mornings and evenings . Mr.
Blyth s ta tes tha t there can b e no doub ttha t H ardwicke
’s pub lished figure refers
to the hen o f this spec ies , long after .
wa rds term ed G . L afayetti.Galloperdix b ica lca ra tus. Not uncommon in suitab le Situations .
CH AP. IX.] THE T ALLA- GOYA. 271
CHAP. IX.
REPT ILES.
LIZARDS. Iguana . One Of the earliest, if not thefirst remarkable anima l to startle a stranger on arrivingin Ceylon, whilst wending his way from Point- deGalle to Colombo, is a huge liz ard of from four tofive feet in length, the T a lla -
goyd Of the Singha lese,and Iguana 1
Of the Europeans . I t may be seen at noon
day sea rching for ants and insects in the middle of the
highway and a long the fences ; when disturbed, but byno means a larmed, by the approach Of m an
,it moves
Off to a safe distance ; and, the intrusion being a t an
end, it returns again to the occupation in which it hadbeen interrupted . Repulsive as it is in appearance, itis perfectly harmless, and is hunted down by dogsin the maritime provinces, and its delicate flesh
,which
is believed to be a specific in dysentery, is con
verted into curry, and its skin into shoes . Whenseiz ed, it has the power Of inflicting a smart blow withits tail. T he T a lla - goya lives in a lmost any convenienthollow, such a s a hole in the ground
,or a deserted
nest of the termites ; and some small ones, which fro
quented my ga rden at Colombo, made their retreat inthe heart of a decayed tree.
1 Monitor dracaena , I /inn. Among ig uana , which they regard as a spethe barbarous nostrum s of the un cific for consumption, if pluckededucated natives , both Singhalese from the living animd and swaland T amil, is the tongue of the lowed whole.
272 REPT ILES. [CH AP. IX.
A still larger species, the Ka ba rayoyd1,is partial to
marshy ground, and when disturbed upon land, will take
refuge in the nea rest water. From the somewhateruptive appearance of the yellow blotches on its sca les,a closely a llied species, similarly spotted, formerly Oh
ta ined amongst natura lists the name Of -Monitor ea an~
thema ticns,and it is curious that the native appellation
of this one, ka ba ra 2,is suggestive of the same idea . T he
Singha lese, on a strictly homoeopathic principle, believethat its fat, externa lly applied, is a cure for cutaneousdisorders, but that. taken inwardly it is poisonous . T he
skilfulness of the Singhalese in their preparation Of
poisons, and their addiction to using them,are unfor
tunately notorious traits in the chara cter Of the rural
population. Am ongst these preparations, the one whichabove a ll others excites the utmost dread, from the
number Of murders attributed to its agency, is the
potent kabara - tel — a term which Europeans sometimes corrupt into cobra - tel, implying that the venom is
Obtained from the hooded- snake ; wherea s it professesto b e extra cted from the “ kabara - goya.
”
Such is thebad renown Of this formidable poison, that an individual suspected of having it in his possession, iscautiously shunned by his neighbours . T hose especi
a lly who are on doubtful terms with him , suspect theirown servants lest they should be suborned to m ixkabara - tel in the curry. SO subtle is the virus sup
H ydrosauru s salvator, Laur.
2 In the Mahawanso the hero,T ail compressed ; fingers long ; T issa , is said to have beennostrils near the extremity of the “
afflicted with a cutaneous com
snout . A black band on each plaint which m ade his skin scalytemple ; round yellow spots dis like that Of the yodho .
” —Oh.
posed in transverse series on the p . 148 . Godho”
is the Pali
ba ck . T eeth with the crown com name for the Kabara -
goya.
pressed and notched.
274 REPT ILES . [CHAP. IX.
the compliment Of a betel- leaf, which it would be rudeness to refuse
,facilities are thus afforded for present
ing the concea led drug. I t is curious that to thislatent suspicion has been tra ced the origin Of a customuniversal amongst the natives
, Of nipping Off with thethumb nail the thick end Of the stem ‘ before chewingthe betel.In the preparation of this mysterious compound, the
unfortunate Kabara - goya is forced to take a painfully
prominent part. T he receipt, as written down by a
Kandyan, wa s sent to m e from Kornegalle, by Mr.
Morris, the civil Oflicer of that district ; and in
dramatic a rrangement it far outdoes the cauldron Of
Ma cbeth’s witches. T he ingredients are extra cted from
venomous snakes, the cobra de capello, the Carawilla ,and the T ic -
polonga , by making incisions in the head
Of these reptiles and suspending them over a chattie to
collect the poison as it flows . T o this,arsenic and other
drugs are added, and the whole is “ boiled in a humanskull, with the aid of the three Kabara -goya s, which are
tied on three sides of the fire, with their heads directedtowards it, and tormented by whips to make them hiss,so that the fire m ay bla z e. T he froth from their lips isthen added to the boiling mixture, and so soon as
an Oily scum rises to the surface, the ka ba ra - tel is
complete.
”
I t is obvious that arsenic is the main ingredient in the
poison, and Mr. Morris reported to m e that the modeof preparing it, described above
, was a ctually pra ctisedin his district. T his a ccount wa s transmitted by himapropos to the murder of a Mohatal l and his wife,
which had been committed with the ka ba ra - tel, and
A native head-man of low rank .
CH AP . IX.] THE GREEN CALOT ES . 275
was then under investigation. Before commencing theOperation of preparing the poison, a cock has to b esacrificed to the yakhos or demons.T his ugly liz ard is itself regarded with such aversion
by the Singhalese, that if a ha ba ra enter a house orwa lk over the roof, it is regarded a s an omen Of ill fortune,sickness
,or death and in order to avert the evil, a priest
is employed to go through a rhythmical incantation one
portion Of which consists in the repetition Of the words
Kabara goyin wan dOseyAda pal ayan e dOsey.
T hase a re the inflictions caused by the Kabara - goyalet them now b e averted II t is one of the incidents that serve to indicate that
Ceylon m ay belong to a sepa rate circle Of physica l geography, that this liz ard, though found to the eastwa rdin Burmah‘, has not hitherto been discovered in the
Dekkan or H in’
dustan,
Blood- su ehers .— T he liz a rds already mentioned, how
ever, a re but the stranger’s introduction to innumerable
varieties of others, a ll most attractive in their suddenmovements, and some unsurpa ssed in the bril liancy Of
their colouring, which bask on banks, dart over rocks
and peer curiously out of the chinks of every ruined wa ll.In a ll their motions there is that vivid and brief energy
,
the rapid but restrained a ction a ssociated with their
In corroboration Of the view cluding, not only individual species,propounded elsewhere (see pp . 7, but whole genera pecul iar to the84
,and Opposed to the island, and not to b e found on the
popular belief that Ceylon, at some mainl and. See a paper by Dr . A .
remote period, was detached from GUNT RER on The Geog . Dis tributionthe continent of India by the in of Rep tiles , Magaz . Nat. Hist . forterposition Of the sea , a list of March, 1859, p. 230 .
reptiles will b e found at p . 319 , in
276 REPT ILES. [CHAP . Ix .
CALOT E S OPH IOMA CE US
limited power Of
respiration, whichjustifies the ao
curate picture Of
T he green liz ard, rustling thro
’
the
grass ,
And up the fluted shaft , with short,
quick, sp ring
T o vanish in the“chink s which time
has made.
”
T he most beautiful of the
ra ce is the green ca lotes2 , in‘
length about twelve inches,which, with the exception Of
a few dark streaks about the
head, is a s brilliant as the
purest emerald ormala chite .
Unlike its congeners of the
same family, it never a ltersthis da z z ling hue ; whilstmany of them possess, but
27s REPT ILES. [CH AP . Ix.
ments . As usually Observed it is of a dull greenishbrown
,but when excited its back becomes a rich Olive
green, leaving the head yellowi sh the underside Of the
body is of a very pa le blue, a lmost approa ching white .
T he open mouth exhibits the fauces Of an intense ver
milion tint ; so that, a lthough extrem ely handsome,this liz ard presents, from its extraordinarily shapedhead and threatening gestures, a most malignant a spect.I t is, however, perfectly harmless.Cham eleon .
— T he true chameleon l is found,but not
in great numbers, in the dry districts to the north Of
Ceylon, where it frequents the trees, in slow pursuit ofits insect prey ; but compensated for the sluggishn
Of its other movements,by the electric rapidity of its
extensible tongue . Apparently sluggish in its generalhabits, the chameleon rests motionless on a branch ,from which its varied hues render it scarcely distin
guishab le in colour ; and there patiently awaits the ap
proa ch Of the insects on which it feeds. Instantly on
their appearance its wonderful tongue comes into play.
T ONGUE OF CH AMELE ON
T hough ordinarily concea led,it is capable Of protrusion
till it exceeds in length the whole body of the creature.
NO sooner does an incautious fly venture within reach
Chamelco vulgaris , Da za l
CH AP. IX.] CERATOPHORA. 279
than the extremity of this treacherous weapon is
disclosed,broad and cuneiform, and covered with a
viscid fluid and this, extended to its full length, isdarted at its prey with an unerring aim , and redrawnwithin the jaws with a rapidity that renders the act
almost invisible.
l
Whilst the fa culty of this creature to assume all the
colours Of the rainbow has attra cted the wonder Of a ll
ages, sufficient attention has hardly been given to the im
perfect sympathy which subsists between the two lobesOf its brain, and the two sets of nerves that permeate theopposite sides of its frame. H ence, not only has each of
the eyes an a ction quite independent of the other, butone side Of its body appears to be sometimes a sleep whilstthe other is vigilant and a ctive one will a ssume a greentinge whilst the opposite one is red ; and it is sa id thatthe chameleon is utterly unable to swim,
from the in
capa city Of the muscles of the two sides to a ct in concert .
Cera tophora .— T his which till lately was an unique
liz ard, known by only two specimens, one in the British
Museum, and another in that Of Leyden, wa s ascertainedby Dr. Kelaart, about five years ago, to be a native of the
higher Kandyan hills, where it is sometimes seen in theolder trees in pursuit of insect larvae. T he first speci
m en brought to Europe wa s called Cera tophora Stoolda rtii, after the name Of its finder ; and the recentdiscovery of severa l others in theNational Collection ha s
enabled m e, by'
the aid of Dr. A. Gunther, to add someimportant fa cts to their history.
T his liz ard is remarkable for having no externalear ; and it has acquired its generic name from the
1 Prof. RYMER J ONE S, art. Rep t vol . iv . pt . i. p . 292 .
zinc,in T ODD
’
s Cyclop . of Ana t.
T 4
2 80 REPT ILES . [CH AP . IX .
curious horn- like process on the extremity of the nose .
T his b orn,a s it is found in mature ma les Of ten inches
in length,is five lines long, conica l, pointed, and slightly
curved ; a miniature form Of the formidable weapon,from which the Rhinoceros takes its name. But thecomparison does not hold good either from an anatomica l or a physiologica l point Of View. For
,whilst
the horn of the rhinoceros is merely a derma l production
, a conglomeration Of hairs cemented into one densema ss a s hard a s bone, and answering the purpose Of a
defensive weapon, besides being used for digging up theroots on which the animal lives ; the horn of the cera to
phora is formed of a soft, spongy substance , coated bythe rostra l shield, which is produced into a kind Of sheath .
Although flexible, it a lways remains erect, owing to theela sticity Of its substance . Not having a ccess to a livingspecimen, which would afford the opportunity of testingconj ecture, we are left to infer from the interna l structureof this horn, that it is an erectile organ which
,in mo
ments Of irritation, will swell like the comb of a cock.
T his Opinion a s to its physiologica l nature is confirmedby the remarkable circumstance that, like the rudimentary comb of the hen and young cooks
,the female and
the immature ma les Of the cera tophora have the hornexceedingly sm all . In mature females Of eight inches inlength (and the fema les appea r a lways to be smallerthan the ma les), the horn is only one half or one linelong while in immature ma les five inches in length, itis one line and a ha lf.Among the specimens sent from Ceylon by Dr. Kelaart,
and now in the British Museum,there is one which so
remarkably differs from C. Stodda rtii, that it attractedmy attention,
by the peculiar form Of this rostra l appendage . Dr . G i‘NT HER pronounced it to be a new
CH AP. T HE GECKO. 28 1
species ; and Dr. Gray concurring in this Opinion, theyhave done m e the honour to ca ll it Cera top hora T enh entii. I ts “ horn ” somewhat resembles the comb Of a
cock not only in its internal structure, but also in its
externa l appea rance ; it is nearly six lines long by twobroad
,slightly compressed, soft, flexile, and extensible,
and covered with a corrugated, granular skin . It bearsno resemblance to the depressed rostral hump of Lyr io
cep ha lus , and the differences Of the new species fromthe latter liz ard may be ea sily seen from the annexeddrawing and the notes given below.
‘
Geckoes .-T he most familia r and attractive Of the
liz ard cla ss are the Geckoes2 , that frequent the sittingroom s, and being furnished with pads to each toe, they areenabled to a scend perpendicular wa lls and adhere to gla ssand ceilings. Being nocturnal in their ha bits, the pupil Ofthe eye, instead of being circular a s in the diurna l species,is linear and vertical like that of the ca t. As soon a s
evening arrives,the geckoes are to be seen in every house
in keen and crafty pursuit Of their prey ; emerging fromthe chinks and recesses where they conceal themselves
T he specimen in the British of the neck . T he scales on the
Museum is apparently an adult belly, on the extremities , and on
m a le, ten inches long, and. is , with the tail are slightly keeled. T ail
regard to the distribution of the nearly round. T his species is more
scales and the form of the head, uniformly coloured than C. Stod
very simil ar to C. Stoddartii. T he dartii it is greenish, darker on the
posterior angles of the orbit are sides .
not projecting, but there is a small 2 H emidactylus maculatus , Dam.
tubercle behind them ; and a pair et Bib. ,H . L eschenaultii, Dam
,
Of somewhat larger tubercles on et Bib H . frenatus , Schlegel. Of
the neck . T he gul ar sac is absent . these the last is very common in
T here are five longitudinal quad the houses Of Colombo . Colour,rangul ar, imbricate scales on each grey ; sides with small granul es ;side of the throat ; and the sides of thumb short ; chin - shields four ;the body present a nearly horiz ontal tail rounded with transverse series
series Of similar scales . T he scales of small spines ; femoral and
on the median line Of the back preanal pores in a continuous line .
scarcely form a crest ; it is , how GRAY,L iz ards
, p . 155.
ever,more distinct on the nape
282 REPT ILES . [CH AP. IX.
during the day, to sea rch for insects that then retire tosettle for the night . In a boudoir where the ladies of
my family spent their evenings,one Of these familiar
and amusing little creatures had its hiding-pla ce behinda gilt picture frame. Punctually a s the candles werelighted, it made its appearance on the Wa ll to be fedwith its accus tomed crumbs ; and if neglected, it reiterated it sharp , quick call Of chic, chic, chit, till attendedto. I t wa s Of a delica te gray colour, tinged with pinkand having by a ccident fallen on a work- table, it fled,leaving part Of its tail behind it, which, however, it re
produced within less than a month . T his fa culty of
reproduction is doubtless designed to enable the creatureto escape from its a ssailants : the detaching Of the limbis evidently its own a ct ; and it is observable, that whenreproduced, the tail generally exhibits some variationfrom the previous form,
the diverging spines beingabsent, the new portion covered with small square uniform scales placed in a cross series, and the scuta belowbeing seldom so distinct as in the original member.
1
In an Officer’s quarters in the fort Of Colombo, a geckoehad been taught to come daily to the dinner- table, andalways made its appearance a long with the dessert. T hefamily were absent for som e
l
m onths, during which thehouse underwent extensive repairs, the roof having beenraised, the wa lls stuccoed, and the ceilings whitened. I t
wa s naturally surmised that so long a suspension of its
a ccustomed habits would have led to the disappearanceOf the little liz ard ; but on the return Of its Old friends,it made its entrance a s usual at their first dinner theinstant the cloth was removed .
Crocodile. T he Portuguese in India , like the Spa
Brit. Mus . Ca t. p. 143 KELAART’
S Prod. F a un . Zeylan , p . 183 .
284 REPT ILES . [CHAP . IX .
any va riation from the habits of those found in othercountries. T here would appear to be two well-distin
guished species found in the island, the E li-kimboola1,
the Indian crocodile, inhabiting the rivers and estuariesthroughout the low countries of the coa sts, attaining thelength Of sixteen or eighteen feet, and ready to a ssail m an
when pressed by hunger ; and the m arsh- crocodile 2,
which lives exclusively in fresh water, frequenting thetanks in the northern and central provinces, and confining its a tta cks to the smaller anima ls : in length itseldom exceeds twelve or thirteen feet. Sportsmen com
plain that their dogs are constantly seiz ed by bothspecies ; and water-fowl, when shot, frequently disappearbefore they can be secured by the fowler. 3 I t is genera llybelieved in Ceylon that, in the ca se of larger animals, thecrocodile absta ins from devouring them till the comm encem ent Of decomposition fa cilitates the operation Of
swa llowing. T O a ssist in this,the natives as sure m e that
the reptile contrives to fasten the carca se behind theroots Of a mangrove or some other convenient tree,and tears Off ea ch piece by a ba ckward spring.
T here is another popular belief that the crocodile isexceedingly sensitive to tickling ; and that it will relaxits hold of a m an
,if he can only contrive to reach and
rub with his hand the softer parts Of its under side.
4 An
1 Crocodilus biporcatus , Cuvier .
2 Crocodilus palustris , Less .
2 In Siam the flesh Of the croco
dile is sold for food in the m arkets
and baz aars . Un jour je vis
plus de cinquante crocodi les, petits
et grands , a ttachés aux colonnes
de leurs m aisons . I ls ’es vendent
la chair comme on vendrait de la
chair de porc, m ais a bien m eill eur
m arché . ” — PAL LEGOIx,Seam, vol .
i. p . 174 .
4 A native gentleman who re
sided for a long time at Caltura ,tells me that in the rivers which
flow into the sea , both there and
at Bentotte, crocodiles are fre
quently caught in corrals , formed
Of stakes driven into the ground
in shallow water,
and so con
structed,that when the reptile
enters to seiz e the bait placed
wit-bin, the aperture closes behind,
and secur es him . A professional“crocodile charmer
”
then enters,
muttering a spell, and with one end
Ca n . IX. ] CROCODILES. 285
incident indicative of some rea lity in this piece of folklore, Once came under my own observation . One morning, about sunrise, when riding a cross the sandy plainnea r the Old fort ofMoeletivoe, we came suddenly upona crocodile a sleep under some bushes Of the Buffa lothorn
,several hundred yards from the water. T he
terror Of the poor wretch was extreme, when it awokeand found itself discovered and completely surrounded .
I t wa s a hideous creature, upwards of ten feet long, andevidently of prodigious strength, had it been in a condition to exert it, but consternation completely pa ralysed it. I t started to its feet and turned round in a
circle hissing and clanking its bony jaws,with its ugly
green eye intently fixed upon us. On being struckwith a stick
,it lay perfectly quiet and appa rently dead.
Presently it looked cunningly round, and made a rushtowa rds the water, but on a second blow it lay againmotionless and feigning death . We tried to rouse it,but without effect
, pulled its tail, slapped its back,
struck its hard sca les, and tea sed it in every way, buta ll in vain ; nothing would induce it to move till a ccidenta lly my son, then a boy of twelve years Old
,tickled
it gently under the arm,and in an instant it drew the
limb close to its side and turned to avoid a repetition of
the experiment. Again it wa s touched under the otherarm , and the same emotion wa s exhibited
, the greatmonster twisting about like an infant to avoid beingtickled . T he scene was highly amusing
,but the sun wa s
rising high, and we pursued our j ourney to Moeletivoe,
Of a stick pats the creature gently a rope under its body, by which iton the head for a time . T he Ope is at last dragged on shore . T his
rator then boldly mounts astride story serves to corroborate the narupon its shoul ders , and continues to ratiy e of Mr. Waterton and his
soothe it with his one hand, whilst alligator.
with the other he contrives to pass
286 REPTILES . [CH AP. Ix.
leaving the crocodile to make its way to the adj oininglake .
T he Singha lese believe that the crocodile can onlymove swiftly on sand or smooth clay, its feet being tootender to tread firmly on hard or stony ground . In
the dry sea son, when the watercourses begin to fail andthe tanks become exhausted, the marsh- crocodiles haveoccasionally been encountered in the jungle
,wandering
in search of water. During a severe drought in 1844,
they deserted a tank near Kornegalle and traversed thetown during the night, on their way to another reservoirin the suburb two or three fell into the wells ; others,in their trepidation, laid eggs in the street
, and some
were found entangled in garden- fences and killed.
Generally, however, during the extreme drought,
when unable to procure their ordinary food from the
drying up Of the watercourses, they bury themselves inthe mud, and remain in a state of torpor till released by
the recurrence of rains . 1 At Arne- tivoe, in the ea stern
province, whilst riding a cross the parched bed Of the
tank, I wa s shown the recess, still bearing the form and
impress Of a crocodile, out Of which the anima l had
been seen to emerge the day before . A story wa s a lsorelated to m e Of an Officer attached to the departmentOf the Surveyor-Genera l, who, having pitched his
tent in a similar position, was disturbed during thenight by feeling a movement of the earth below his b ed,from which on the following day a crocodile emerged,making its appearance from beneath the matting.
2
T he fresh water species that inhabits the tanks is essen
1 H ERODOT US records the Ob ser 2 H UMBOLDT relates a simil ar
vations of the Egyptians that the story a s occurring at Calabaz o, incrocodile of the Nile abstains from Venezuela —Persona l Narra tive, 0 .
foodduring the four winter months .
— Euterp e, lviii.
288 REPT ILES . [CHAP . Ix.
residence, a hook having been laid the night before,
baited with the entrails of a goat ; andmade fast, in thenative fa shion
,by a bunch Of fine cords, which the
creature cannot gnaw a sunder a s it would a solid rope ,since they sink into the spa ces between its teeth . T he
one taken was sma ll; being only about ten or elevenfeet in length, wherea s they are frequently killed fromfifteen to nineteen feet long. As long as it wa s in the
water, it made strong resistance to being hauled onshore, carrying the canoe out into the deep channel,and occa sionally raising its head above the surfa ce
, and
clashing its jaws together mena cingly. T his a ction ha sa horrid sound, as the crocodile ha s no fleshy lips, andit brings its teeth and the bones Of the mouth togetherwith a loud cra sh, like the clank Of two pieces of hardwood . After playing it a little, the boatmen drew it to
land,and when once fairly on the shore all courage and
energy seemed utterly to desert it . I t tried once ortwice to regain the water, but at la st laymotionless and
perfectly helpless on the sand. I t wa s no ea sy m atterto kill it ; a rifle ba ll sent diagonally through its breast
had little or no effect, and even when the shot had beenrepeated m ore than once, it wa s a s full Of life as ever.
1 I t
1 A remarkable instance Of the
vitality of the common crocodile,C. bip orca tus , wa s related to m e
by a gentleman at Galle : he had
caught on a baited hook an nu
usually large one, which his coolies
disembowell ed, the aperture in the
stomach being left expanded by a
stick placed across it . On return
ing in the afternoon with a view to
secure the head. they fOimd that
the creature had crawled for some
distance, and made its escape into
the water.
“ A curious incident occurred
some years ago on the Maguru
ganga , a stream which flows throughthe Pa sdun Corle
,to join the Ben
tolle river . A man wa s fishingseated on the branch of a tree that
overhung the water ; and to shelter
him self from the driz z ling rain, he
covered his head and shoulders
with a b ag folded into a shape‘
common with the natives . Whilein this attitude
, a leopard sprungupon him from the jungle, but ,missing its aim
,seiz ed the bag and
not the man, and fell with it into)
the river. H ere a crocodile, which
had been eyeing the angler in
despair, seiz ed the leopard a s it
CH AP . IX.] THE TORTOISE. 289
feigned death and lay motionless, with its eye sclosed ;
but, on being pricked with a spea r, it suddenly regaineda ll its a ctivity. I t was at last finished by a harpoon,and then opened. I ts m aw contained severa l sma lltortoises, and a quantity Of broken bricks and gravel,taken medicinally, to promote digestion .
During our j ourneys we had numerous opportunitiesof Observing the habits of these hideous creatures, andI am far from considering them so formidable as theyare usua lly supposed to be. T hey a re evidently notwantonly destructive ; they a ct only under the influenceof hunger, and even then their motions on land are
awkward and ungainly, their a ction timid, and their
whole demeanour devoid of the sagacity and couragewhich characterise other animals Of prey .
T ESTUDINATA. T ortoise.—Land tortoises are numerous
,
but present no remarkable features beyond the beautifulmarking of the sta rred variety 1, which is common in thenorth-western province around Putlam and Chilaw, andis distinguished by the bright yellow rays which diversify
the deep bla ck of its dorsal shield . From one Of thesewhich was kept in my garden I took a numb er of flatticks (facades), which adhere to its fleshy neck in such
a position a s to baffle any attempt of the animal itselfto remove them ; but a s they are exposed to constantdanger of being crushed against the pla stron during
the protrusion and retra ction of the head, each iscovered with a horny case a lmost a s resistant as the
ca rapa ce Of the tortoise itself. Such an adaptation Of
structure is scarcely less striking than that Of the
fell , and sunk with it to the Supreme Court , l oth J any. ,
bott om .
”Letter from GOONE 1 T estudo stell ata .
RATN E Modliar, interpreter Of the
U
290 REPT ILES. [CH AP. IX.
para sites found on the spotted liz ard of Berar by Dr.H ooker, each Of which presents the distinct colour Ofthe sca le to which it adheres . 1
T he marshes and pools Of the interior are frequentedby terrap ins
2,which the natives are in the habit Of
keeping a live in wells under the conviction that theyclea r them of impurities. T hese fresh-water tortoises,the greater number of which are included in the genusErnys of natura lists, are distinguished by having theirtoes webbed. T heir shell is less convex than that oftheir congeners on land (but more elevated than thatOf the sea - turtle); and it has been Observed that themore rounded the shell, the nearer does the terrapinapproach to the land- tortoise both in its habits and in
T H E T H REE—R IDGED T ORT OISE (EMYS T RIJUGA )
1 H OOKER’
S H ima layanJ ourna ls , is distinct . I t is generally distri
vol . i. p . 37. buted in the lower parts Of Ceylon,
2 Cryp topus granuin, SCHOPF . in lakes and tanks . I t is the one
DR . KELAART , in his Prodromus usually put into wells to act the part
(p . 17 refers this to the common of a scavenger . By the Singhalese
Indian Species, C. p uncta ta ; but it it is named Kiri-ibba .
292 REPTILES. [CHAP. IX.
one hand to scoop out the blood, which ooz es slowly.
T he blade is next pa ssed round, till the lower shellis detached and pla ced on one side, and the internalorgans exposed in full a ction . A customer, a s he
applies, is served with any part selected, which is cut
off as ordered, and sold by weight. Each Of the fins isthus successively removed, with portions Of the fat andflesh, the turtle showing, by its contortions, that each
a ct Of severance is productive of agony. In this state itlies for hours, writhing in the sun, the heart 1 and headbeing u sua lly the last pieces selected, and till the latter
is cut Off the snapping Of the mouth, and the Opening
and closing of the eyes, Show that life is still inherent,even .when the shell has been nearly divested Of its
contents.At certain sea sons the flesh of turtle on the south
western coast Of Ceylon is avoided as poisonous, and
some lamentable instances are recorded Of deaths
ascribed to its use. At Pantura , to the south of
Colombo, twenty- eight persons who had partaken Of
turtle in October, 1840 , were immediately seiz ed withsickness, after which coma supervened, and eighteendied during the night. T hose who survived said therewa s nothing unusual
)
in the appearance of the fleshexcept that it wa s fatter than ordinary. Other similarlyfatal occurrences have been attributed to turtle curry ;but a s they have never been proved to proceed exclu
sively from that source, there is room for believing that
the poison”
may have been contained in some other
ingredient.
In the Gulf of Manaa r turtle is frequently found
1 ARI ST OT LE was aware of the the removal of the heart—De Vitafact that the turtle will live after et Morte, ch. ii.
CHAP. IX. ] TURTLES . 293
Of such a siz e a s to mea sure between four and five
feet in length ; and on one occa sion, in riding alongthe sea - shore north of Putlam , I saw a man in chargeof some sheep, resting under the shade Of a turtle shell,which he had erected on sticks to protect him from the
sun almost verifying the statement Of ZElian, that inthe sea s Off Ceylon there are tortoises so large that
evera l persons may find ample shelter beneath a singleshell. 1
T he hawksbill- turtle2,which supplies the tortoise- shell
of commerce, wa s at former times taken in great numbers in the vicinity Of H amb angtotte during the sea sonwhen they came to deposit their eggs . T his gave riseto the trade in tortoise- shell at Point de Galle
,where it
is still manufa ctured into a rticles of ornament by theMoors ; but the shell they employ is a lmost entirelyimported from the Maldives .I f taken from the animal after death and decomposi
tion, the colour Of the shell becomes clouded andmilky,
and hence the cruel expedient is resorted to Of seizing
the turtles a s they repair to the shore to deposi t their
eggs, and suspending them over fires till heat makes the
plates on the dorsal shields start from the bone Of the
carapa ce, after which the creature is permitted to escapeto the water. 3 In illustration Of the resistless influence
1 “ T horax/r a t 86 dpa eu r uarn 7 1? referred to some tradition con
S ak air rn, ica l xeAwi/a u ae'
y ia'ra t
,nected with the gigantic fossilised
wmrep 0 52 m eAv‘
rpa opo<pot yluov species dis covered on the Sewalik
r an Kai. yel
p e’
a'ri. ital n ew ek a ldexa H ills, the remains ofwhi ch are now
nnxé‘
m$1; xeAafiaeiov, dis h omely m
i
x in the Museum at the East India.
OAi'yovs, ita l r oils iiMovs nv ae H ouse ?
a rdr ovs ita l amavdaaévms2 Caretta imbricata , In
'
nn.
nape’
xei.”— Lib . xvi. c . 17. ZElian 2 At Celebes , whence the finest
Oopied this statement literatim from tortoise- shell is exported to China ,MEGAST HENES, Indica F rag. lix. the natives kill the turtle by blows31. May not Megasthenes have on the head, and immerse the shell
0 3
294 REPT ILES. [CH AP. IX .
of instinct at the period of breeding, it m ay be men
tioned that the identical tortoise is believed to return
again and again to the same spot, notwithstanding thatat each visit she m ay have to undergo a repetition of
this torture. In the year 1826, a hawksbill turtle wastaken near H ambangtotte, which bore a
- ring atta chedto one of its fins that had been pla ced there by a Dutchofficer thirty yea rs before, with a view to establish the
fa ct of these recurring visits to the same bea ch .
l
An opportunity is afforded on the sea - shore of Ceylon
for observing a rema rkable illustration of instinct in theturtle, when about to deposit its eggs . As if consciousthat if she went and returned by one and the same linea cross the sandy bea ch, her hiding place would b e discovered at its farthest extremity
,she resorts to the ex
pedient of curving her course, so as to regain the sea bya different tra ck ; and after depositing the eggs, buryingthem about eighteen inches deep, she carefully smoothesover the surface to render the precise spot indiscernible.
T he Singhalese, awa re of this device, sound her line of
march with a rod till they come upon the concealednest.Snakes .
— It is perhaps owing to the aversion excited bythe ferocious expression and unusual a ction of serpents,combined with an instinctive dread of atta ck 2, that exaggerated idea s prevail both as to their numbers inCeylon, and the danger to b e apprehended from en
countering them. T he Singhalese profess to distinguisha great many kinds, of which they say not more than
in boiling water to detach the ration —J ourna l Indian Amhz’
p el.
plates . Dry heat is only resorted vol . iii . p . 227, 1849 .
to by the unskilful, who frequently 1 BENNETT’S Ceylon, c . xxxiv.
destroy the tortoise-shell in the ope2 Genesis iii. 15 .
296 REPT ILES. [CH AP . IX.
attention was carefully directed to the poisonous serpentsof Ceylon‘, came to the conclusion that but four, out oftwenty species examined by him ,
were venomous, and
that of these only two (the tie-p olongefland cobra, ele
cap ello3
)were capable of inflicting a wound likely to b efatal to man. T he third is the a brownsnake of about two feet in length ; and for the fourth,of which only a few specimens have been procured, theSingha lese have no name in their vernacular a proofthat it is neither deadly nor abundant. But Dr. Davy’sestimate of the -venom of the eamwa la is below the
truth, as ca ses have been authenticated to m e, in whichdeath from its bite ensued within a few days. T he
effect, however, is not uniformly fatal ; a circumstancewhich the natives explain by a sserting that there are
three varieties of the carawa la , named the fil l- la , thedunu , and the ma l- carawala ; the second being thelargest and the most dreaded.
In like manner, the tic-
p olonga , particularised byDr. Davy, is said to b e but one out of seven varieties ofthat formidable reptile . T he word tic means literallythe spotted
”
polonga , from the superior clearness ofthe markings on its scales . Another, theMali, or sleeping
”
polonga , is so called from the fact that a personbitten by it is soon prostrated by a lethargy from whichhe never awakes .5 T hese formidable serpents so infested
1 See DAW’
S Ceylon, ch. xiv.
2 Daboia elegans , Baud.
3 Naja tripudians, Mew .
4 T rigonocephalus hypnale,Mew .
5 T he other varieties are the
etta , lay, a lu, kunu, and nil-p o
longas . I have heard of an eighth,the p a lla
-
p olonga .
Amongst the numerous pieces of
folk- lore in Ceylon in connexion
with snakes , is the belief that a
deadly enmity subsists between thepolonga and the cobra de capello,and that the latter, which is
naturally shy and retiring, is pro
voked to conflicts by the audacityof its rival . H ence the proverbapplied to persons at enmity, that
SNAKES.CHAP. IX 297
the oflicia l residence of the District Judge of T rincomaliein 1858 , a s to compel his family to abandon it. In an
other instance, a friend of mine, going ha stily to take a
supply of wafers from an open tin ca se which stood inhis oflice, drew back his hand, on finding the box cecu
pied by a tic-polonga coiled within it. During myresidence in Ceylon, I never heard of the death of a
European which was caused by the bite of a snake ;and in the returns of coroners’—inquests m ade offi ciallyto my department, such accidents to the natives appea rchiefly to have happened at night, when the anima l
,
having been surprised or trodden on, inflicted the woundin self- defence .
1 For these reas ons the Singhalese, whenobliged to leave their houses in the dark, carry a stick
with a loose ring, the noise 2 of which as they strike iton the ground is suffi cient to warn the snakes to leavetheir path .
“ they hate like the polonga and the infant was not to be molested.
cobra .
”
T he Singha lese believe the polonga to b e by far the most savage
and wanton of the two , and theyillustrate this by a popul ar legend,that once upon a tim e a child, in the
absence of its mother,was playing
beside a tub ofwater, which a cobra ,impelled by thirst during a longcontinued drought , approached to
drink,the unconscious child all the
while striking it with its hands to
prevent the intrusion . T he cobra ,on returning, was met by a tic
polonga , which seeing its scales
dripping with delicious moisture,entreated to be told theway to the
well . T he cobra , knowing the
vicious habits of the other snake,and anticipating that it woul d kill
the innocent child which it had so
recently spared, at first refus ed,and only yielded on condition that
But the polonga , on reaching the
tub , was no sooner obstructed bythe little one, than it stung him to
death.
In a return of 112 coroners’
inquests , in cases of death from
wil d animals,held in Ceylon in
five years , from 1851 to 1855 in
elusive,‘
68 are ascribed to the bitesof serpents ; and in,
almost everyinstance the a ssault is set down as
having taken place a t night. T he
majority of the sufferers were
children and women .
2 PLINY notices that the serpenthas the sense of hearing more
acute than that of sight ; and that
it is more frequently put inmotion
by the sound of footsteps than bythe appearance of the intruder,excitatur pede saepius.
” — Lib . viii.
c . 36.
298 REPT ILES. [CHAP. 1x,
Cobra ole Cap ella . T he cobra de capello is the only
one exhibited by the itinerant snake- charmers : and
the truth of Davy’s conjectu re, that they control it,not by extra cting its fangs, but by courageously avail
ing themselves of its well-known timidity and extremereluctance to use its fatal weapons, received a painfulconfirmation during my residence in Ceylon, by the
death of one of these performers, whom his audience
had provoked to attempt some unaccustomed familiaritywith the cobra ; it bit him on the wrist, and he expired
the same evening. T he bill near Kandy, on which theoflicial residences of the Governor and Colonial Secretaryare built, is covered in many places with the desertednests of the white ants (termites), and these are the
favourite retreats of the sluggish and Spiritless cobra ,which watches from their apertures the toads and
liz ards on which it preys. H ere, when I have re
peatedly come upon them, their only impulse was
concealment ; and on one occa sion, when a cobra of
considerable length could not escape, owing to the
bank being nearly precipitous on both sides of the road,a few blows from my whip were sufl
‘icient to deprive it
of life.
1
A gentleman who held a civil appointment at
Kornegalle, had a servant who wa s bitten by a snake
A Singhalese work, the Sarp a correctly, in the Ceylon T imes for
dosé , enumerates four castes of the J anuary, 1857. I t is more than
cobra — the raj a , or king ; the probable, a s the division repre
bamunn, or Brahman ; the velanda , sents the four cas tes of the H indus ,or trader ; and the ger
-fl,or agricul Cha striyas , Brahmans Vaisyas , and
turist . Of these the raja , or “ king Sudras ; that the insertion of the
of the cobras ,” is said to have the gom’
instead of the latter was a
head and the anterior half of the pious fraud of some copyist to
b ody. .of - so light ‘
a colour, that at a confer rank upon the Vella les, the
distance it seem s like a silvery agricul tural caste of Ceylon.
white . T he work is quoted, but not
300 REPT ILES. [CH AP. IX.
killed in a bath of the Government H ouse at Colombo,its mate wa s found in the same spot the day after ; andagain, at my own stables, a cobra of five feet long
,
having fallen into the well , which was too deep to permit
its escape, its companion of the same siz e was found thesame morning in an adjoining drain.
l On this occasion
the snake, which had been“several hours in the well,
swam with ea se, raising its head and hood above water ;and instances have repeatedly occurred of the cobra decapello voluntarily taking considerable excursions by
sea . When the Wellington,”
a government vesselemployed in the conservancy of the pearl banks, wa sanchored about a qua rter of a mile from the land
,in
the bay of Koodrem a lé, a cobra was seen, about an
hour before sunset, swimming vigorously towards theship . I t came within twelve yards
,when the sailors
a ssailed it with billets of wood and other missiles,and
forced it to return to land. T he following morningthey discovered the track which it had left on the
shore,and traced it along the sand till it was lost in
the jungle . On a later occa sion, in the vicinity of the
same spot, when the “ Wellington was lying at some
distance from the shore, a cobra was found and killedon board
,where it could only have gained access by
climbing up the cable. It was first discovered by asailor, who felt the chill as it glided over his foot.One curious tradition in Ceylon embodies the popular
legend, that the stomach of the cob ra de capello occasionally contains a precious stone of such unapproachable
PL INY notices the affection them happens to be kill ed, the
that subsists between the male and other seeks to avenge its death.
female asp ; and that if one of Lib . viii. c . 37.
can ». IX.] SNAKES . 30 1
brilliancy as to surpass all known jewels . T his inestimable stone is called the ndga -mdnik- kya ; but notone snake in thousands is supposed to possess sucha trea sure . T he cobra , before eating, is believed toca st it up and conceal it for the moment ; else its
splendour, like a flambeau,would attract all beholders .
T he ta les of the pea santry, in relation to it, all turnupon the devices of those in search of the gem , and
the vigilance and cunning of the cobra by whichthey are baffled ; the reptile itself being more en
am oured of the priceless jewel than even its mostardent pursuers .In BENNET T ’S a ccount of Ceylon a nd its Cap a
bilities,
” there is another curious piece of Singhalesefolk- lore, to the effect, that the cobra de capello everytime it expends its poison loses a j oint of its ta il, andeventually a cquires a head resembling that of a toad .
A recent addition to z oological knowledge has thrownlight on the origin of this popular fa llacy. T he familyof false snakes ” (p seudo typhlop s, as Schlegel namesthe group)have till lately consisted of but three species,of which only one was known to inhabit Ceylon. T heybelong to a family intermediate between the serpentsand that Saurian group commonly ca lled S low-wow s orGla ss - snakes ; they in fa ct represent the slow-worms ofthe temperate regions in Ceylon. T hey have the bodyof a snake, but the cleft of their mouth is very narrow,
and they are unable to deta ch the latera l pa rts of the
lower jaw from each other, as the true snakes do whendevouring a prey. T he most striking chara cter of the
group, however, is the siz e and form of the tail ; thisis very Short, and a ccording to the observations of
302 REPT ILES . [CHAP . IX.
Professor Peters of Berlin ‘, shorter in the fem a le thanin the ma le . I t does not terminate in a point a s in
other snakes, but is truncated obliquely, the abruptsurfa ce of its extremity being either entirely flat
,or
more or less convex, and a lways covered with rough
T H E UROPE L'
I‘
IS PH IL IPPINU S .
keels . T he reptile a ssists its own movements by pressing the rough end to the ground, and from this peculia rform of the tail, the family has received the name of Uro
p eltidoe, or Shield- tails. Within a very recent periodimportant additions have been made to this family,which now consists of four genera and eleven species .T hose occurring in Ceylon are enumerated in the List
“
1 PETER S,De Serp entum f amilia Urop eltaeeom m . Hero] . 4 . 1861.
304 REPTILES. [CHAP. IX .
not of such portentous dimensions, in the cinnamongardens within a mile of the fort of Colombo, where it
feeds on hog- deer, and other sma ller anima ls .
T he natives occa sionally take it a live, and securing itto a pole expose it for sale a s a curiosity . One that
wa s brought to m e tied in this way mea sured seventeen
feet with a proportionate thickness : but one more fullygrown
,which crossed my path on a coffee estate on the
Pea cock Mountain at Pusilawa , considerably exceededthese dimensions . Another which I watched in the
garden at Elie H ouse, near Colombo, surprised me bythe ea se with which it erected itself a lmost perpendicularly in order to scale a wall upwards of ten feethigh .
T he Singhalese a ssert that when it has swallowed adeer, or any animal of Similarly inconvenient bulk, the
python draws itself through the na rrow aperture betweentwo trees, in order to crush the bones and a ssist in the
process of deglutition .
I t is a singular fa ct that the small and innocuousground- snakes called Ca lama rioe, which abound on thecontinent of India and in the islands . are not to be foundin Ceylon ; where they woul d appear to be repla ced bytwo singular genera , the Asp iclura and H ap loeercus .
T hese latter have only one series of shields belowthe tail, whilst most other harmless snakes (Ca lama ria included) have a double series of sub - caudals .
T he Asp iolnra, has been known to natura lists for
many years ‘ ; the H ap loeercus of Ceylon has onlyrecently been described by Dr. Gunther, and of it notmore than three existing specimens are known : hence
Boie in I sis 1827 p. 517.
.SNAKES .CHAP. IX.] 305
its habits and the extent of its distribution over theisland are still left in uncertainty.
‘
Of ten species of snakes that a scend trees in Ceylonto search for, squirrels and liz ards, and to rifle the nestsof birds, one half, including the green ca rawa la , and
the deadly tic p olonga , are believed by the natives tobe venomous ; but the truth of this is very dubious.I have heard of the cobra being found on the crown of
a coco- nut palm, attracted, it was said, by the toddywhich wa s flowing at the time, it being the sea son fordrawing it . Surrounding Elie H ouse, near Colombo,in which I resided, were a number of tall ca sua rina s
and India - rubber trees, whose branches a lmost touched
the lattices of the window of the room in which I usua lly
sat. T hese were a favourite resort of the tree- snakes,
and in the early morning the numbers which clung tothem were sometimes quite remarkable . I had thus anopportunity of observing the action of these creatures,which seems to m e one of vigilance rather than of
effort, the tongue being in perpetua l a ctivity, a s if it
were an organ of feeling ; and in those in which thenose is elongated, a similar mobility and restlessness,
1 GUNT H . Col. Snakes , p . 14 . In
the hope that some inquirer in
Ceylon will b e able to furnish such
information as may fill up this
blank in the history of the haplo
cercus , the following particul ars
are here appended. T he largest of
the specimens in the British
Mus eum is about twenty-five inches
in length ; the body thin,andmuch
elongated ; the head narrow, and
not distinct from the neck,the
tail of moderate length. F orehead
covered by three shields,one an
terior and two posterior frontals ;no loreal shield; one small Shieldbefore, two behind the eye ; seven
Shields al ong the upper lip, the eye
being above the fourth. T he scales
are disposed in seventeen longi
tudinal series ; they are lanceolate
and strongly keeled. T he upper
parts are uniform blackish or
brown, with two dorsal rows of
small indistinct black spots ; occiputwith a whitish coll ar, edged with
darker. T he lower parts un iform.
yellowish.
X
306 REPT ILES. [CH AP. IX.
especially when ala rmed,affords evidence of the same
fa culty.
T he general chara cteristic of the T ree- snake is an
exceedingly thin and delicate body, often adorned withcolours exquisite a s those of the foliage amongst whichthey live concealed. In some of the South Americanspecies the tints vie in brilliancy with those of the
humming-birds ; whilst their forms are so flexible and
slender as to justify the name conferred on them of
whip- snakes .
”T he Siamese, to denote these combina
tions of grace and splendour, call them Sun-beams. ”
A naturalist 1, describing a bright green species in Braz il
(Philodrya sfviriolissimns), writes : I am always de
lighted when I find that another tree- snake has settled
in my garden . Y ou look for a bird’s nest,the young
ones have gone, but you find their bed occupied by one
of these beautiful creatures, whi ch will coil up its
body of two feet ln length within a space no largerthan the hollow of your hand. T hey appear to b ealways watchful ; for at the instant you discover one,
the quick playing of the long, black, forked tonguewill show you that you too are observed. On perceivingthe slightest Sign of your intention to disturb it, thesnake will dart upwards through the branches and overthe leaves which scarcely appear to bend beneath theweight. A moment more, and you have lost sight of
it . Whenever I return to Europe, you may be surethat in my hot-house those harmless
,lovely creatures
shall not be missing.
”
Ceylon has several species of T ree- snakes,and one of
the most common is the green Pa sserita , easily recog
1 Dr. WUCHERER of Bahia .
CH AP . IX. ] TREE- SNAKES . 307
niz ed from its bright colour and from the pointed moveable appendage, into which the snout is prolonged. T he
snakes of this genus being a ctive chiefly during the
night,the pupil of the eye is linear and horiz ontal .
T hey never willingly descend from trees, but preythere upon nocturnal Saurians, geckoes, small birds andtheir young ; and they are perfectly harmless, a lthoughthey often try to bite. I t is strange that none of the
numerous specimens which it has been attempted tobring to Europe have ever fed in captivity ; whilst inSouth America they take their food freely in confine
ment, provided that some green plants are placed intheir cage .
In Ceylon I have never seen any Specimen of a
larger siz e than three feet ; whilst they are known toattain to more than five on the Indian Continent.T he inference is obvious, that the green coloration
of the maj ority of tree- snakes has more or less connection with their habits and mode of life . Indeed
,
whenever a green- coloured snake is observed, it m ay at
once b e pronounced, if slender or provided with a pre
hensile tail, to be of the kind which passes its life ontrees ; but if it be short-bodied then it lives on the
prairies . T here are nevertheless tree- snakes which havea very different coloration ; and one of the most remarkable species is the Pa sserita f’LLSCCL or Dryinus
fuscus , of which a figure is ann exed. I t closely re
sembles the green Passerita in form,so that natu
ralists have considered it to be a mere variety. It is
entirely of a shining brown,shot with purple, and
the yellow longitudinal stripe which runs along theside of the belly of the green species, is absent in thisone. It is much more rare than the green one, and
x 2
308 REPTILES. [CH AP. IX.
does not appear to be found in H indostan : no intermediate forms have been observed in Ceylon.
Wa ter-Sna kes . T he fresh-water snakes, of whichseveral Species
1 inhabit the still waters and pools, area ll harmless in Ceylon . A gentleman, who found near
a river an agglutinated cluster of the eggs of one variety
(Trop idophis schistosa s placed them under a gla ss
shade on his drawing- room table, .where one by one the
young reptiles emerged from the shell to the number oftwenty.
T he sea - snakes of the Indian tropics did not escapethe notice of the early Greek mariners who navigatedthose sea s ; and amongst the fa cts collected by them,
[Elian has briefly recorded that the Indian Ocean
produces serpents withfla ttened ta ils‘z, whose bite, he
adds,is to be dreaded less for its venom than the la cer
ation of its teeth . T he first statement is a ccurate,but
the latter is incorrect, a s there is an a ll but unanimous concurrence of Opinion that every species of thisfamily of serpents is more or less poisonous . T he com
pression of the tail noticed by fElian is one of the
principal chara cteristics of these reptiles, a s their motionthrough the water is mainly effected by its aid, coupledwith the undulating movement of the rest of the body.
T heir scales, instead of being imbricated like those of
land- snakes, form . hexagons ; and those on the belly,instead of being scutate and enlarged, are nearly of the
same siz e and form a s on other parts of the body .
1 Chersydrus granul atus , Mean ; water snakes . H is remark on
Cerberus cinereus , Baud ; T rOpido the compression of the tail shows
phis schistosus , Daud. that his inform ants were aware of2 HAa 'rel
‘
s ofipdv. E LLAN,this speciality in those that inhab It
the sea .
zElian speaks elsewhere of fresh
310 REPT ILES . [CH AP . IX.
on the western shores of tropical America . And if, as
has been stated1, they have been seen on a late occasionin considerable numbers In the Bay of Panama, the fact
can only be regarded as one of the rare instances, inwhich a change in the primary distribution of a race of
animals has occurred, either -by an active or a pa ssiveimmigration. Being exclusively inhabitants of the sea
,
they are liable to be swept along by the influence of
currents ; but to compensate for this they have been
endowed with a wonderful power of swimming. T he
individuals of all the groups of terrestria l serpents a reobserved to be possessed of this faculty to a greater ora less degree ; and they can swim for a certain distancewithout having any organs specially modified for the
purpose ; except, perhaps, the lung, which is a long saccapable of taking in a sufficient quantity of air, to keepthe body of the snake above water. Nor do we find any
peculiar or specia lly adapted organs even in the freshwater- snakes
,although they can catch frogs or fishes
while swimming. But in the hydrophids , which are
permanent inhabitants of the ocean, and which in an
adult state, approach the beach only occasionally, and
for very short times, the tail, which is rounded and
tapering in the others, is compressed into a verticalrudder- like organ
,similar to
, and answering all the
purposes of, the caudal fin in a fish . When these snakesare brought on shore or on the deck of a Ship, theyare helpless, and struggle vainly in awkward attitudes.T heir food consists exclusively of such fishes a s are
found near the surfa ce ; a fact which affords ample
proof that they do not descend to great depths, although
1 Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858.
312 REPT ILES . [CHAP . IX.
which the drawing is taken, was obtained by Dr. T em
pleton at Colombo .T he use of the Pamboo -Kaloo, or snake- stone, as a
remedy in ca ses of wounds by venomous serpents, has
probably been communicated to the Singhalese by the
itinerant snake- charmers who resort to the island from
the coas t of Coromandel and more than one well
authenticated instance of its successful application hasbeen told to m e by persons who had been eye
-wit
nesses to what they described. On one occa sion, inMarch, 1854 , a friend of mine was riding, with someother civil officers of the Government, a long a jungle
path in the vicinity of Bintenne,when he saw one of
two T amils, who were approa ching the party, suddenlydart into the forest and return, holding in both handsa cobra de capello which he had seiz ed by the head and
tail. H e cal led to his companion for assistance to placeit in their covered ba sket, but, in doing this, he handl edit so inexpertly that it seiz ed him by the finger, and re
tained its hold for a few seconds,a s if unable to retra ct
its fangs. T he blood flowed, and intense pain appearedto follow a lmost immediately ; but, with all expedition,the friend of the sufferer undid his waistc loth, and tookfrom it two snake- stones, ea ch Of the siz e of a smalla lmond, intensely bla ck and highly polished, thoughof an extremely light substance . T hese he applied,one to each wound inflicted by the teeth of the serpent,to which they a tta ched themselves closely ; the bloodthat ooz ed from the bites being rapidly imbibed by the
porous texture of the article applied. T he stones ad
in two pairs ; eyes very small, over second upper labial shield elon
urth and fifth labials ; one gated.
ante and two post-oculars ; the
CHAP . IX .] SNAKE- STONES. 313
hered tenaciously for three or four minutes, the woundedman’s companion in the meanwhile rubbing his arm
downwards from the shoul der towards the fingers. At
length the snak e- stones dropped off of their own a o
cord the suffering of the m an appeared to subside ; hetwi sted his fingers til l the j oints cra cked, and went onhis way without concern . Whilst this had been goingon
,another Indian of the party who had come up took
from his bag a small piece of white wood, which re
sembled a root, and passed it gently near the head ofthe cobra , which the latter immediately inclined close tothe ground he then lifted the snake without hesitation,and coiled it into a circle at the bottom of his basket.T he root by which he professed to be enabled to performthis Operation with safety he called the Naya - tha lia
Ka ldnga (the root of the snake-
plant), protected bywhich he professed his ability to approach any reptilewith impunity.
In another instance, in 1853, Mr. Lavalliere, thenDistrict Judge of Kandy, informed me that he saw a
snake - cha rmer in the jungle,close by the town, search
for a cobra de capello, and,after disturbing one in its
retreat, the man tried to secure it, but, in the attempt,he was bitten in the thigh till blood trickled fromthe wound . H e instantly applied the Pamboo-Ka loo
,
which adhered closely for about ten minutes, duringwhich time he passed the root which he held in hishand ba ckwards and forwards above the stone, till thelatter dropped to the ground . H e a ssured Mr. Lavalliere that a ll danger was then pa st. T hat gentlemanobtained from him the snake- stone he had relied on,and saw him repeatedly afterwards in perfect health.
T he substances used on both these occas ions are now
314 REPT ILES. {CH AP . IX.
in my possession. T he roots employed by the several
parties are not identical . One appears to be a bit of
the stem of an Aristolochia the other is so dried as torender its identification difficult, but it resembles thequadrangular stem of a jungle vine. Some species ofAristolochia
,such as the A . serpenta ria of North Am e
rica , are supposed to act as specifics in the cure of snakebites ; and the A . indica is the plant to which the
ichneumon is popularly believed to resort as an antidotewhen bitten1 ; but it is probable that the use of any
particular plant by the snake- charmers 1s a pretence, orrather a delusion, the reptile being overpowered by theresolute a ction of the operator
2, and not by the influence
1 F or an a ccount of the en
counter between the ichneum on
andthe venomous snakes of Ceylon,see Ch I . p . 39 .
2 T he following narrative of the
operations of a snake- charmer in
Ceylon is conta ined in a note from
Mr. Reyne, of the department of
public works “ A snake- charmer
came to my bungalow in 1854 , re
questing m e to allow him to show
me his snakes dancing. As I had
frequently seen them,I to ld him I
would give him a rupee if hewoul d
a ccompany m e to the jungle, and
catch a cobra , that I knew fr e
quented the place. H e was willing,and as I was anxious to test the
truth of the charm,I counted his
tam e snakes,and put a watch over
them until I returned with him .
Before going I examined the m an,
and s atisfied myself he had no
snake about hi s person . Whenwe arrived at the spot , he played
on a small pipe, and after perse
vering for some tim e out cam e a
large cobra from an ant hill,which
I knew it occupied. On seeing the
man it tried to escape, but he
caught it by the tail and kept
swinging it round until we reached
the bungalow. H e then made it
dance,but before long it b it him
above the knee. H e imm ediatelybandaged the leg above the bite ,and applied a snake- stone to the
wound to extract the poison . H e
was in great pain for a few minutes ,but aft er that it gradually went
away, the stone falling off ju st b efore he was relieved. When herecovered he held a cloth up, which
the snake flew at , and caught its
fangs in it ; while in that position,
the man passed his hand up its
back,and having seiz ed it by the
throat, b e extracted the fangs in
my presence and gave them to me.
H e then squeez ed out the poison
on to a lea f. I t wa s a clear oilysubstance, and when rubbed on thehand produced a fine lather. I
carefully watched the whole opera
tion,which was also witnessed by
my clerk and two or three other
persons . Colombo, 13th J anua ry,1860 .
— H . E . REYNE .
3 16 REPT ILES . [CH AP. IX.
any vegetable substance, for it is almost entirely com
posed of phosphate of lime . Mr. Fa raday adds that if
the piece of matter has ever been employed as a spongyabsorbent, it seems hardly fit for that purpose in its
present state ; but who can say to what treatment it hasbeen subjected since it wa s fit for use, or to what treatment the n atives may submit it when expecting to have
o ccas ion to use it ? ”
T he probability is, that the animal charcoal,when
instantaneously applied, m ay be sufficiently porous
and absorbent to extra ct the venom from the recentwound
,together with a portion of the blood, before it
has had time to be carried into the system ; and that theblood which Mr. Faraday detected in the specimen subm itted to him was that of the Indian on whose personthe effect wa s exhibited on the occa sion to which my
informant was an eye-witness . T he snake - charmers
from the coa st who visit Ceylon profess to prepare thesnake- stones for themselves, and to preserve the com
position a secret. Dr. Davy 1, on the authority of SirAlexander Johnston, says the manufacture of them is alucrative trade, carried on by the monks ofManilla , whosupply the merchants of India and his analysis confirms that ofMr. Faraday. Of the three different kindswhich he examined one being of partially burnt bone,and another of chalk, the third, consisting chiefly of
vegetable matter, resembled bez oar, — all of them (except the first, which possessed a Slight absorbent power)were quite inert, and incapable of having any effectexcept on the imagination of the patient. T hunberg
was shown the snake- stone used by the boers at the
1 Account of the Interior of Ceylon, ch. iii. p . 101.
CHAP. IX.] CZECILIA GLUT INOSA. 3 17
Cape in 1772 , which was imported for them from the
Indies, especially from Malabar, at so high a pricethat few of the farmers could a fford to possess themselves of it ; he describes it a s convex on one side,black
,and so porous that when thrown into water,
it caused bubbles to rise and hence, by its absorbentqualities, it served, if Speedily applied, to extract the
poison from the wound.
1
Coeeilia .- T he rocky jungle, bordering the higher
coffee estates, provides a safe retreat for a very singularanimal
,first introduced to the notice of European
natura lists about a century ago by Linnaeus, who
gave it the name Cceeilia glu tinosa , to indicate two
peculiarities manifest to the ordinary observer an
apparent defect of vision, from the eyes being so smalland embedded a s to be scarcely distinguishable and a
power of secreting from minute pores in the skin a
1 Thunberg, vol . i. p . 155. Since USE — T hewoundbeingslightlythe foregoing account was pub punc tured, apply the bone to thelished, I have received a note from Opening, to which it will adhere
Mr. HARDY, relative to the p iedra firmly for the space of two minutes ;p onsona , the snake
- stone ofMexico,in which he gives the foll owinga ccount of the m ethod of pre
paring and applying it :“ T ake a
piece of hart’
s horn of any con
venient siz e and shape ; cover it
well round with gra ss or hay,enclose both in a thin piece of
sheet copper well wrapped round
them ,and place the parcel in a
charcoal fire till the bone is sufliciently charred.
“When cold, remove the cal cined
b orn from its envelope, when it
will be ready for immediate use.
In this state it will resemble a
solid bla ck fibrous substance, of
the same Shape and siz e as beforeit was subjected to this treat.
ment.
and when it fall s , it should b e re
ceived into a basin of water. I t
shoul d then b e dried in a cloth,and again applied to the wound.
But it will not adhere longer than
about one minute. In lik e m anner
it may be applied a third tim e ;but now it will fall almost imme
diately, and nothing will cause it
to adhere any more.
T hese effects I witnessed in the
case of a bite of a rattle- snake at
Oposura , a town in the province of
Sonora, in Mexico , from whence I
obtained my recipe ; and I have
given other particulars respectingit in my T ravels in the Interior of
Mexico, published in 1830 . R .
W. H . HARDY. Ba th, 30th J anu
ary,
3 18 REPT ILES. [CH AP. IX.
viscous fluid, resembling that of snails, eels, and some
salamanders . Specimens are ra re in Europe owing to
the readiness with which it decomposes, breaking down
into a flaky ma ss in the spirits in which it is attempted
to preserve it .T he creature is about the length and thickness of an
ordinary round desk ruler, a little flattened before and
rounded behind . I t is brownish, with a pa le stripe
a long either side . T he skin is furrowed into 350 circu
lar folds, in which a re imbedded minute sca les . T he
head is tolerably distinct, with a double row of fine
curved teeth for seiz ing the insects and worms on whichit is supposed to live.
Naturalists are most desirous that the habits and m e
tam orphoses of this creature should be carefully a soertained, for great doubts have been entertained a s to the
position it is entitled to occupy in the chain of creation .
Ba tra chians — In the numerous marshes formed bythe overflowing of the rivers in the plains of the low
country, there are many varieties of frogs, which, bothby their colours and by their extraordinary siz e, are cal
culated to excite the surprise of a stranger. In the
lakes around Colombo and the still water near T rincoma lie
, there are huge creatures of this family, fromsix to eight inches in length 1
, of an olive hue, deepening into brown on the ba ck and yellow on the underside. A Kandyan species, recently described, is of muchsmaller dimensions, but distinguished by its brilliantcolouring, a beautiful grass green above and deep orangeunderneath .
2
1 A Singhalese variety of the bus ta, proves to b e a Ceylon spe
Rana ca tip ora ? and the Malabar cimen of the R. ca tip ora .
bull -frog, Hylarana Malabarica . A 2 R. Kandiana,Kelaart .
frog named by BLYT H Rana ao
320 REPT ILES . [CH AP. IX.
In undergoing this change, it is chiefly the organsof respiration that manifest a lteration. In its earliestform the young batra chian, living in the water, breathesa s a fish does by gills, either free and projecting a s in
the water- newt , or pa rtia lly covered by integument a sin the tadpole. But the gills disappea r a s the lungsgradua lly become developed : the duration of the pro
cess being on an average one hundred days from the timethe eggs were first deposited. After this importantchange, the true batra chian is incapable any longer of
living continuously in water, and either betakes itselfa ltogether to the land, or seeks the surfa ce from time totime to replenish its exhausted lungs.
1
T he change in the digestive functions during metamorphosis is scarcely less extraordinary ; frogs, for
example, which feed on animal substances at maturity,subsist entirely upon vegetable when in the condition
of larvae, and the subsidiary organs undergo remarkabledevelopment, the intestinal canal in the earlier stagebeing five times its length in the later one.
Of the family of tailed batrachians, Ceylon does notfurni sh a single example ; but of those without thisappendage, the island, a s above remarked, affords manyvarieties ; seven distinguishable species pertaining tothe genus rana , or true frogs with webs to the hindfeet ; two to the genus bufo, or true toads, and five tothe Polyp eda tes, or Ea st Indian tree- frogs besides afew others in allied genera . T he tree- frog,
” whose
1 A few Batrachians, such as the with lungs in mature age, they are
Siren of Carolina,the Proteus of not capable of living out of the
Illyria , the Axolotl of Mexico, and water . Such batrachians form an
the Menobranchus of the North intermediate link between reptiles
American Lakes, retain their gill s and fishes .
during life ; but although provided
CH AP . 1X.) LIST OF REPT ILES . 32 1
toes are terminated by rounded discs which a ssist it inclimbing, possesses, in a high degree, the faculty of
changing its hues ; and one as green a s a leaf to- day,will be found grey and spotted like the bark to-morrow.
One of these beautiful little creatures, which had seateditself on the gilt pillar of a lamp on my dinner- table,became in a few minutes scarcely distinguishable incolour from the or-molu ornament to which it clung.
List of Ceylon Rep tiles .
I am indebted to Dr. Gray and Dr . Gunther, of the
BritishMuseum,for a list of the reptiles of Ceylon but
many of those new to Europeans have been carefullydescribed by the la te Dr . Kelaart in his Prodromu s
F a unoe Zeylanicee and its appendices, a s well as in the13th vol . Maga z . Na t. H ist.
SilyburaSAURA ’ Ceylonica , Cuv.
OPHID IA °
H ydrosaurus H em idac tylus Megaera
sa lva tor, Wagler .
Mon itor
dracaena , L inn .
RiOpa
puncta ta , L inn .
H ardw ickn, Gray .
Brachym e les
Boni ta , Dum . Bib.
T iliq ua
rufescens , Shaw.
Eumeces
T aprob anius, Kel .N
'
essna
But toni, Gray.
Acontla sL ayardi, Kela a rt.
A rgyrophis
b ram ions,Da ud.
Lygosoma
fa llax, Pele i s .
Rhinophl soxyrhynchus ,Sehn .
puncta tus , J Mull
phl l ippinus , J . Mull
hom o lepl s , H emp r .
p laniceps . PetersBlythil , Kela a rt.me lanogaster, Gray .
Urope ltis
grandis , Kela a rt .
safl? agama s , Kela a rt.
frenatus,Schleg . tngonocephala , L a ir .
L eschenaultii, Dam . (Sf T rigonocepha lusB ib .
trihedrus , Daud .
ma cula tus , Duma Bib.PI resu, Kela a rt .
C octoei, Dum . (5 s .
pustulatus , Dum .
sub laevis , Cantor.
PeripiaPeronii. Dum . n b .
GymnodactylusKandianus
,Kelaa rt
Sitana
Ponticereana , Cuv.
Lyn ocepha lusscutatus
, Lmn .
CeratophoraStoddartii. Gray.
T ennentii , Gunther .
Otocrypt isb 1v1ttata , Wiegm .
Sa lea J erdonz'
, Gray .
CalotesOphiomachus
, Merr.
mgrilabn s , Peters .
verswo lor, Da ud .
Rouxii, D am . n b .
mystaceus,Duen .
Chameleo
vulgaris , Da ud.
hypnalis , M6 7 7”
.
Daboiaelegans , Daud .
Belamysb icolor , Da ud .
Ala n a
lapemoides , Gray.
H ydrophissub lsevis , Gray .
cyanocinctus, B aud .
Chersydrus
granulatus , Schneid .
Cerb eruscinereus
, Da ud .
T rop idophisschistosus , Daud
Pythonreticulatus , Gray .
CylmdrOphisrufa
,Schneid .
m aculata , L inn .
AspIdura
b ra chyorrhos , Bore .
trachyprocta , Cope.
H aplocercusCeylonensis , Gu
’
nth.
Oligodonsub quadratus , Dam .
Bib .
322 REPT ILES . [CH AP . IX .
subgriseus ,Dum . &s . Bungarusfa sc Iatus
,Schneid.
Simotes var. Ceylonensis , Gibr .
Russell“, Da ud. Naja
purpurascens , Schleg . tripudians , Merr .
Ablabescol laris , Gray .
CH EL ONI—A'
T ropidono tus T estudo
quincunciatus , Sehleg . s tellata , Schweig .
var. funeb n s . Emysvar . canna tus . Seb a , Gray ,
stolatus , L ima.
trij uga , Schwezjgg .
chrysargus , 3 0 26 3 Caretta
CynophI S imbricata , L inn .
C
fi
g/1
1
19
518 . Daud. Chelonia
ho tyo 0 on virga ta , Sc weigg .
Blumenb achii, Mew .
Cyc lophisEMYDOSAUR I .
ca lamaria,Gunth. Crocodxlus
ChrySOpelea b 1porca tus . Cuv .
om ata , Shaw. pa lustrl s , L ess .
Den
gffgf‘
ém .
BAT RACPIIA .
Pas serita Rana
mycteriz ans , L inn . hexadac tyla , L ess .
fusca . Kuhl li, Schleg .
Dipsadomorphus cu tipora , Dum . Bib.
Ceylonensis, G itnth. tigrina , D a ud .
Lycodon Vittigera , e gm .
aulicus, L inn . Ma lab arica ,
Cercaspis Kandiana , Kela a rt.carinata, Kuhl . Neuera-ell lana , Kel .
NOTE—T he following species are peculiar to Ceylon (andthe genera Ceratophora , Otocryptis, Uropeltis , Aspidura ,
Cerca spis, and H aplocercus woul d appear to b e sim ilarly re
stricted); Lygosoma fa llax ; T rimesuru s Ceylonensis , T .
nigromarginatus ; Megaera T rigonocephala ; T rigonocepha l
hypnalis ; Daboia elegans ; Rhinophis pun ctatus , Rh . hom o
lepis, Rh . planiceps, Rh . Blythii, Rh . m elanoga ster Uropeltis
grandis ; Silybura Ceylonica ; Cylindrophis maculata ; Aspi
dura brachyorrhos ; H aplocercus Ceylonensis ; Oligodon sub
lineatus ; Cynophis .H elena ; Cyclophis ca lamaria ; Dipsado
morphus Ceylonens1s ; Cerca spis carinata ; Ixa lus variab ilis, I .
leucorhinus,I . poecilopleurus ; Polypedat es microtympanum ,
P. eques .
Bufo
m elanostic tus . SchneidKelaartIi, G ttnth.
Ixalusvaria b ilis , G unth .
leucorhinus, Ma rtens .
poec 1lopleurus , Ma rt.
aun fa sc ia tus , Schleg .
schmardanus , Kelam f
Po lypedatesm acula tus , G ray .
m ic ro tympanum , G th .
eques , G unth .
L imnodytes11vidus , Blyth.
macularls , Blyth.
mutab il ls,Kela a rt.
m aculatus , Kelam t.
Kaloula
pulchra , Gray .
b a ltea ta,var. Gna th .
stella ta, Kelam t .
Adenomus
b ad1oflavus , Cope .
Pyxicepha lusfodiens , d .
Engystoma
rub rum,J ei d.
PSEUDOPH ID IA .
C& c1h .1
glutmosa , L inn .
F ISHES . [CH AP . X.324
a notice of their genera l chara cteristics forms an in
teresting appendix to the present chapter.1
Of those in ordinary use for the table the finest by faris the Seir- fi sh 2
, a species of Scomberoids, which is ca lled
T ora -ma lu by the natives. I t is in siz e and form very
Similar to the sa lmon, to which the flesh of the femalefish
,notwithstanding its white colour, bears a very close
resemblance both in firmness and flavour.
Ma ckerel, carp, whitings, mullet both red and striped,
perches and soles are abundant, and a sa rdine (Sa rdinella Neohowii, Va l .)frequents the southern and ea sterncoa st in such profusion that in one instance in 1839,
a gentleman who was present saw upwards of fourhundred thousand taken in a haul of the nets in thelittle bay of Goyapanna , ea st of Point- de-Ga lle. As
this va st shoal approached the shore the broken waterbecame a s smooth a s if a sheet of ice had been floatingbelow the surface .
3
Poisonous Fishes . T he sardine ha s the reputationof being poisonous at certain sea sons, and a ccidentsa scribed to eating it are recorded in a ll parts of theisland. Whole families of fishermen who have pa rtakenof it have died . T welve persons in the jail of Chilawwere thus poisoned, about the year 1829 ; and the
deaths of soldiers have repeatedly been a scribed to thesame cause . I t is diffi cult in such instances to say withcertainty whether the fish were in fault ; whether there
1 See note B appended to this
chapter.
2 Cybium (Scomber, Linn.) guttatum .
3 T hese facts serve to explain
the story told by the friar ODORIC
of F riul i, who visited Ceylon aboutthe year 1320 A .D, ,
and says there
are“ fishes in those seas that come
swimming towards the said country
in such abundance that for a great
distance into the sea nothing can
b e seen but the backs of fishes ,which ca sting them selves on the
shore,do suffer men for the Space
of three daies to come and to take
a s many of them a s they plea se,and then they return again into
the sea .
” —H a /cluyt, vol. ii. p . 57 .
CH AP . X .) SHARKS .— SAW- F ISH . 395
was not a peculiar susceptibility in the condition of the
recipients ; or whether the mischief m ay not have beenocca sioned by the wilful admini stration of poison, or its
a ccidental occurrence in the bra ss cooking vessels usedby the natives . T he p opular belief was, however, de
ferred to by an order pa ssed by the Governor in Council
in February, 1824 , which, after reciting that“Whereas
it appears by information conveyed to the Governmentthat at three several periods at T rincom alie
, death hasbeen the consequence to severa l persons from eating thefish called Sardinia during the months of January and
December, ena cts that it shall not b e lawful in that
district to catch sardines during these months, under
pain of fine and imprisonment. T his order is still inforce, but the fishing continues notwithstanding.
I
Sha rks .— Sharks appea r on a ll parts of the coa st,
and instances continua lly occur of persons being seiz edby them whilst bathing even
_
in the harbours of T rin
comalie and Colombo . In the Gulf ofManaar they aretaken for the sake of their Oil, of which they yield such
a quantity that shark’s oil is a recognised export. A
trade also exists in drying their fins, for which, owingto the gelatine conta ined in them, a ready market isfound in China ; whither the skin of the basking Shark
is a lso sent, to be converted, it is said, into shagreen .
Saw Fish. T he huge Pristis antiguorum2 infests
1 T here are other species of Sar a s the poisonous Sprat ; the
dine found at Ceylon besides the S . bonito (Thynnus afi nis, the
Neohowii ; such a s the S . lineola ta , kangewena , or unicorn fi sh (BaCuv . and Val . and the S . leioga s ter, lis tes and a number of others ,Guv. and Val . xx . 270 , which wa s are more or less in bad repute from
found by M. Reynaud at T rinco the same imputation .
malie. I t occurs al so off the coa st 2 N o other species are found in
of J ava . Another Ceylon fi sh of the Ceylon waters,P. cusp ida tus
the same group, a Clupea , is known and P. p ectina tus .
F ISHES. [CH AP . X .
the ea stern coast of the island, where it atta ins a
length of from twelve to fifteen feet, including the ser
rated rostrum from which its name is derived. T his
H EAD OF T H E SAW -FI SH (PRI ST I S AN T IQUORUM)
powerful weapon seems designed to compensate for theinadequa cy of the ordinary maxillary teeth which are
unusually small,obtuse, and insuflicient to capture and
kill the anima ls which form the food of this predatoryshark. T o remedy this
,the fore part of the head and
its cartilages are prolonged into a flattened plate, thelength of which is nearly equal to one third of the
whole body ; its edges being armed with formidable
teeth, that are never shed or renewed, but increa se in
siz e with the growth of the creature .
T he Rays form a large tribe of cartilaginous fishesin which, a lthough the skeleton is not osseous, the development of organs is so advanced that they wouldappea r to be the highest of the cla ss, approa ching nea restto amphibians. T hey are ea sily distinguished from the
sha rks by their broad and flat body, the pectoral finsbeing expanded like wings on ea ch side of the trunk.
T hey are a ll inhabitants of the ocean, and some growto a prodigious siz e. Specimens have been caught of
twenty feet in breadth . T hese , however, are of ra re
32s F ISHES . [CHAP. X .
less, a s the ray ha s no gland for secreting any venomousfluid. T he apprehension m ay, however, have originated
in the fa ct that a lacerated wound such a s would be
produced by a serrated spine, is not unlikely to assume
a serious chara cter, under the influence of a tropicalclimate . T he species figured on the la st page
'
is brownisholive on the upper surfa ce, with numerous greenishwhite round Spots, darkening towards the edges . T he
anterior annulations of the tail a re black and white, the
posterior entirely bla ck . Its mouth is transverse and
paved with a band of flattened teeth ca lculated to crush
the hard shells of the animals on which it feeds . I t
moves slowly a long the bottom in search of its food,which consists of crusta cea and mollusca , and seemsto b e unable to catch fishes or other quickly moving
animals . Specimens have been taken near Ceylon, of
six feet in width . Like most deep - sea fishes, the ray
has a wide geographical range, and occurs not only in
a ll the Indian Ocean, but a lso in the tropica l tra cts of
the Atlantic.Another armed fish , renowned since the times of
ZElian and Pliny for its courage in atta cking the wha le,
and even a ship, is the sword- fish (Xip hia s gladiu s).1
Like the thunny and bonito, it is an inhabitant of thedeeper seas , and, though known in the Mediterranean,is chiefly confined to the tropics . T he dangerous weaponwith which nature ha s equipped it is formed by the prolongation and intertexture of the bones of the upper jawinto an exceedingly compa ct cylindrical protuberance,
1 JELIAN tell s a story of a ship similar a ccident on the coast of
in the Bla ck Sea,the bottom of Mauritania . In the British Mu
which was penetrated by the sword seum there is a Specimen of a plank
of a Xiphias (L . xiv. c . and of oak, pierced by a sword-fi sh
,and
PL INY (L . xxxii. c . 8) speaks of a still retaining the broken weapon.
CH AP . X. ] SWORD-F ISHES . 329
somewhat flattened at the ba se, but tapering to a sharppoint. In strange inconsistence with its possession of soformidable an armature, the genera l disposition of the
sword-fi sh is represented to b e gentle and inoffensive ;and a lthough the fact of its a ssaults upon the whale ha sbeen incontestably established, yet the motive for suchconflicts
,and the causes of its enmity, are beyond con
jecture . Competition for food is out of the question, asthe Xiphias can find its own supplies without riva lry onthe part of its gigantic antagonist ; and a s to convertingthe whale itself into food, the sword- fi sh, from the construction of its mouth and the sma ll siz e of its teeth
, is
quite incapable of feeding on animals of such dimen
sions .In the sea s a round Ceylon sword- fishes sometimes
attain to the length of twenty feet, and are distin
guished by the unusual height of the dorsa l fin . T hoseboth of the Atlantic and Mediterranean possess thisfin in its full proportions, only during the ea rlierstages of their growth . I ts dimensions even then a re
much smaller than in the Indian species ; and it is acurious fa ct that it gradua lly decrea ses a s the fish ap
proaches to maturity ; wherea s in the sea s a round Ceylon,it retains its full siz e throughout the entire period of
life . T hey raise it above the water,whilst d a shing
a long the surfa ce in their rapid course ; and there is norea son to doubt that it occa sionally acts a s a sa il .T he Indian species (which are provided with two long
and filamentous ventra l fins) have been formed into thegenus H istiophorus ; to which belongs the individua lfigured on the next page . It is distinguished from othersmost closely allied to it, by having the immense dorsa l
fin Of one uniform dark violet colour ; whilst in its con
330 F ISHES. [CH AP . X.
geners, it is spotted with blue . T he fish from which theengraving ha s been made, was procured by Dr. T em
SWORD-FI SH (H I S T IOPH ORUS IMMA CUL AT US).
pleton nea r Colombo . T he species was previouslyknown only by a Single Spec imen captured in the
Red Sea , by Riippell, who conferred upon it the specificdesignation of imma cu la ta s .
” 1
ZELIAN, in his graphic a ccount of the strange forms
presented by the fishes Inhabiting the sea s a roundCeylon, says that one in particular is so grotesque inits configuration, that no painter would venture todepict it its main peculiarity being that it has feet orclaws rather than fins .
2 T he annexed drawing 3 may
1 T rans . Zool . Soc . ii. p . 71. Pl.
2 H éda s ye m‘
wxnkas ii nr epb'yza .
— Lib . xvi. c . 18 .
3 T he fi sh from which this draw
ing of the Cheironectes wa s made,
was taken near Colombo, and fromthe pecul iarities which it presents it
is in a ll probability a new and unde
sci’ibed species . Dr . G llN '
l‘
H ER has
remarked, that in it, whil st the first
and second dorsal spines are
situated a s usual over the eye (andform
, one the angling bait of
the fi sh,the other the crest
above the nose), the third is at an
unusual distance from the second,and is not separated, a s in the
other species , from the soft fi nby a
notch.
3 32 F ISHES. [CH AP . X .
there are quantities of the curious little fish, Sa la ria sa ltica s 1, which possesses the fa culty of darting a long thesurfa ce of the water, and running up the wet stones, with
the utmost ea se and rapidity. By a id of the pectora l
and ventral fins and gill- ca ses, they move a cross thedamp sand, a scend the roots of the mangroves, and climbup the smooth fa ce of the rocks in search of flies ; adhering so securely a s not to be deta ched by repeated
a ssaults of the waves. T hese little creatures are so
nimble, that it is a lmost impossible to lay hold of them,
a s they scramble to the edge, and plunge into the sea
on the slightest attempt to molest them . T hey are
from three to four inches in length, and of a dark browncolour
,a lmost undistinguishable from the rocks they
frequent.But the most striking to the eye of a stranger are
those fishes whose brilliancy of colouring has won for
them the wonder even of the listless Singha lese . Some,like the Red Sea Perch (H olocentrum rubrum ,
F orsk)and the Great Fire Fish2, are of the deepest scarlet and
flame colour ; in others purple predominates, a s in the
Serranu s flauo- eeeruleus ; in others yellow, a s in the
Chaetodon Brown friggii
3,and Acanthuru s vitta tus, of
1 Cuv. and VALEN .,H ist. Na t. des riggii, Bennett. A very small
Poissons, tom . xi. p . 249 . I t is
identical with S . trida ctylus , Schn.
2 Pterois murica ta, Cuv. and
Val . iv. 363 . Scorpaena miles,
Bennett ; named, by the Singha
lese,
“Mahara ia -
gini, the Great
Red F ire,a very brilliant red species
spotted with bla ck . I t is veryvoracious , and is regarded on some
parts of the coast a s edible,while
on others it is rejected.
3 Glyphisodon Brownriggii, Guv.
and Val . v. 484 ; Cha todon Brown
fi sh about two inches long, call ed
Kaha bartileyha by the natives .
I t is distinct from Choetodon, in
which BENNE T T placed it. Nume
rous species of this genus are scat
tered throughout the Indian Ocean.
I t derives its name from the fine
hair- like chara cter of its teeth.
T hey are found chiefly among cora l
reefs, and
, though eaten, are not
much esteemed. In the F rench
colonies they are call ed Chauffe
soleil .”
One Species is found on
THE PTEROIDS . 333CHAP. X.]
Bennett1, and numbers, from the lustrous green of theirsca les, have obtained from the natives the appropriate
name of Ciraway, or p a rrots , of which one, the Sp a ru s
H a rdwickii of Bennett, is called the Flower Pa rrot,”
from its exquisite colouring, being barred with irregu
lar bands of blue, crimson, and purple, green, yellow,
and grey, and crossed by perpendicular stripes of
bla ck.
Of these richly coloured fishes the most familiar in
the Indian sea s are the Pteroids .
'
T hey are well knownon the coa st of Africa , and thence ea stward to Polyn esia ;but they do not extend to the west coa st of America ,and are utterly absent from the Atlantic. T he rays of
the dorsal and pectora l fins are so elongated, that whenspecimens were first brought to Europe it was con
jectured that these fishes have the faculty of flight, and
hence the specific name of volitans .
” But this is an
error, for, owing to the deep incisions between the pectoral rays
,the pteroids are wholly unable to sustain them
selves in the an . T hey are not even bold swimmers,living close to the shore and never venturing into thedeep sea . T heir head is ornamented with a number offilaments and cutaneous appendages, of which one over
the shores of the New World (G .
saxa ta lzs), and it is curious tha t
Messrs . QUOY and GAIMARI) found
this fi sh at the Cape de Verde
I slands in 1827.
1 T his fi sh has a sharp round
Spine on the side of the body near
the tail ; a formidable weapon,which is generally partially con
cealed within a scabbard- lik e in
cision. I t raises or depresses this
spine atpleasure. T he fi shis yellow,
with several nearly parallel blue
stripes on the back and sides ; thebelly is white, the tail and fins
brownish green,edged with blue.
I t is found in rocky pla ces ; andaccording to BENNET T
,who ha s
figured it in his second plate, it isnamed Seweya . I t has been known,
however, to al l the old ichthyolo
gists , Va lentyn, Renard,Seba ,
Artedi, and has been named Che
todon linea tus, by Linné. I t is
scarce on the southern coast of
Ceylon.
334 F ISHES . [CH AP. X .
each eye and another at the angles of the mouth are the
most conspicuous. Sharp spines project on the crown andon the side of the gill- apparatus, a s in the other sea
perches, Scorp oena , Serranus , & c . , of which these are
PT E ROI S VOL I T AN 8 .
only a modified and ornate form . T he extra ordinary ex
pansion of their fins is not,however, a ccompanied by a
simila r development of the bones to which they are
attached, Simply because they appear to have no peculiarfunction, a s in flying fishes
,or in those where the spines
of the fins are weapons of offence. T hey attain to thelength of twelve inches, and to a weight of about two
pounds ; they live on sma ll marine anima ls,and by the
Singhalese the flesh (of some at lea st) is considered goodfor table. Nine or ten species are known to occur in
F ISHES . [CH AP . X.336
sent home by Maj or Skinner in 1852 , a lthough specimens of well-known genera , Colonel H amilton Smith
pronounced nearly the whole to be new and undescribed
species.Of eight of these, which were from the Mahawelli
ganga , and caught in the vicinity of Kandy, five wereca rps ; two were Leu cisci, and one a Ma sta cembelu s
(M. a rm a tu s, L acep); one wa s an Ophiocep ha lus, and
one a Polya canthu s, with no serrae on the gills. Six
were from the Ka lanyganga , close to Colombo, of whichtwo were B elostoma , in shape approaching the Cheetodon ; two Op hiocep ha li, one a Silunus, and one an
Ana ba s, but the gills were without denticulation .
From the still water of the lake, close to the walls of
Colombo, there were two Species of E leotris , one Siluruswith barbels, and two Ma la cop terygians, which appear
to be Bagri.T he fresh-wa ter Perches of Europe and of the North
of America are represented in Ceylon and India by se
veral genera , which bear to them a great externa l simi
larity (La tes, Therap on). T hey have the same habits
a s their European a llies, and their flesh is consideredqua lly wholesome, but they appea r to enter sa lt-water,or a t lea st bra ckish water, more freely. It is, however,
them . T he burbot and grey mullet esteemed as a fi sh for table . As it
are occasionally eaten,but they belongs to a family which possesses
taste of mud, and are not in re the faculty, hereafter alluded to,of
quest . surviving in the damp soil after
Some years ago the experiment the subsidence of the water in the
was made, with success , of intro tanks and rivers , it might with
ducing into Mauritius tlie Osphromenus alfas
'
of J ava , which has
a lso been taken to F rench Guiana .
In both places it is now highly
equal advantage b e acclim ated in
Ceylon. I t grows to 20 lbs . weight
and upwards .
CHAP . X.] THE THERAPON. 337
in their interna l organisation that they differ most fromthe perches of Europe ; their skeletons are composed of
T H E RA PON QU ADRIL INEA T US .
fewer vertebrae, and the air bladder of the Therap on isdivided into two portions, a s in the carps. Four species
at lea st of this genus inhabit the lakes and rivers of
Ceylon, and one of them, ofwhich a figure is given above,has been but imperfectly described in any ichthyo
logical work1 it attains to the'
length of seven inches .
In addition to marine eels, in which the Indian coastsabound, Ceylon has some true fresh-water eels, whichnever enter the sea . T hese are known to the nativesunder the name of Theliya , and to naturalists by that of
Ma sta cembelu s . T hey have sometimes in ichthyologicalsystems been referred to the Scombridae and other m a
rine families, from the circumstance that the dorsal finanteriorly is composed of spines. But, in addition to the
1 H olocentrus quadr ilineatus ,Bloch. I t is allied to H elotes
p olytaenia , Bleek. ,from H alma
heira , from which it can b e
readily distinguished by havingonly five or six bla ckish longitu
dinal bands , the black humeral
spot being between the fir st and
second ; another blackish blotch isZ
in the spinous dorsal fin. T here
are two specimens in the British
Museum collection, one of which
ha s recently arrived from Amoy ;of the other the locality is un
known . See G iiNT H ER , Acanthop t.
F ishes,vol . i. p. 282 , where m ention
of the black humeral spot has beeomitted.
333 F ISHES . [CH AP. X .
general shape of the body, their affinity to the eel is at
tested, by their confluent fins , by the absence of ventralfins, by the structure of the mouth and its dentition, bythe apparatus of the gil ls, which Opens with an inferiorslit, and above a ll by the formation of the skeletonitself. 1
T heir Skin is covered with minute scales, coated by a
slimy exudation, and the upper jaw is produced into asoft tripartite tenta cle, with which they are enabled tofeel for their prey in the mud . T hey are very tena ciousof life, and belong, without doubt, to those fishes which inCeylon descend during the drought into the muddy soil . 2
T heir flesh very much resembles that of the eel, and is
highly esteemed .
3 T hey were first made known toEuropean naturalists by Russell
“, who brought to Europe
from the rivers round Aleppo specimens, some of whichare still preserved in the collection of the British Mu
seum . Aleppo is the most western point of their geographical range, the group being mainly confined tothe East- Indian continent and its islands .
MA ST A CEMBELUS A RMAT US
In Ceylon only one species appears to occur, the
1 See GUNT H ER ’
S Acantlwp t.3 Cuv. and VAL , H ist. Peis s . vol.
F ishes , vol. iii. (F amily Mastacem iii. p . 459 .
b elidae). 4 Na t. H is t. Alepp o, 2md edit.2 See post, p. 351. Lond. 1794, vol. ii. p . 208, pl. vi.
340 F ISHES. [CHAP. X .
to be evaporated to dryness till the mud of the bottomis converted into dust, and the clay cleft by the heatinto gaping apertures yet within a very few days afterthe change o f the monsoon, the natives are busily en
gaged in fishing in those very spots and in the hollowscontigu ous to them, although the latter are entirelyunconnected w ith any pool or running streams . H erethey fish in the same way which Knox described nearly200 years a go , with a funnel- shaped basket, open at
bottom and top ,“ which,
”a s he says, they jibb down,
and the end sticks in the mud, which often happensupon a fish ; which, when they feel beating itself againstthe sides , they put in their hands and take it out, andreive a ratan through their gills, and so let them dragafter them.
” 1
FROM KNOX'
S CEYLON , A . D 168 ]
T his operation m ay b e seen in the lowlands, traversed
1 KNOX,H is torical Relation of Ceylon, Part L ch. vi.
CHAP. X .I FALL OF F ISHES FROM CLOUDS . 341
by the high road leading from Colombo to Kandy.
Before the change of the monsoon, the hollows on eitherSide of the highway are covered with dust or stuntedgra ss ; but when flooded by the rains, they are immediately resorted to by the pea sants with baskets , constructed precisely a s Knox ha s stated, in which the
fish are entrapped and taken out by the hand .
1
SO singula r a phenomenon as the sudden re- appearance of full- grown fishes in places that a few days beforehad been encrusted with hardened clay, ha s not failedto attra ct attention ; but the European residents havebeen content to explain it by ha z arding conjectures,either that the spawn must have lain imbedded in the
dried earth till relea sed by the rains, or that the fish,so unexpectedly dis covered, fa ll from the clouds duringthe deluge of the monsoon .
As to the latter conj ecture ; the fall of fish duringshowers, even were it not so problematical in theory, istoo ra re an event to a ccount for the punctual appea rance of those found in the rice- fields
, at stated periodsof the yea r. Both at Ga lle and Colombo in the southwest monsoon, fish a re popula rly believed to have fa llenfrom the clouds during violent showers, but those foundon the occa sions tha t give rise to this belief, consist of
the smallest fry, such a s could b e caught up by waterspouts, and vortices ana logous to them
,or otherwise
blown on shore from the surf ; wherea s those which
1 As anglers , the native Singha conducted into a series of enclolese exhibit little expertness ; but sures from which retreat is imfor fishing the rivers
, they con practicable. Mr . LAYARI) , in the
struct with singular ingenuity Maga z ine of Na tura l H istory for
fences form ed of strong stakes, May, 1853, has given a diagram of
protected by screens of ratan,that one of these fi sh corrals ,
”
a s theystretch diagonally across the cur are called, of which a copy is shown
rent ; and along these the fi sh are on the next page.
Z 3
3 42 F ISHES. [CHAP. X .
suddenly appear in the replenished tanks and in the
hollows which they overflow,are mature and well- grown
FI SH . CORRAL
fi sh.
1 Besides, the latter are found, underthe circumstances I have described, in a ll
parts of the interio r, whilst the prodigy of
a supposed fa ll of fish from the sky has
been noticed, I apprehend, only in the vi
cinity of the sea,or of some inland water.
T he surmise of the buried spawn is one
sanctioned by the very high est authority.
Mr. Y ARRELL in his “ H istory of British
Fishes,”adverting to the fa ct tha t ponds (in
India) which had been previou sly convertedinto hardened mud, are replenished withsmall fish in a very few days after the comm encem ent of ea ch rainy sea son, offers this“
s olution of the prob lem as probably the trueone :
“ The impregnated ova of the fish of
one rainy seas on are left unhatched in the
mud through the dry seas on, and from theirlow state of organisation as ova , the vita lityis preserved till the recurrence, and conta ct
1 I had an opportunity, on one
o cca sion only, of witnessing the
phenomenon which gives rise to
this popul ar belief. I was drivingin the cinnamon gardens near the
fort of Colombo, and saw a violent
but partial shower descend at no
great distance before me . On
coming to the spot I found a mul ti
tude of small silvery fi sh from one
and a half to two inches in length,leaping on the gravel of the high
road, numbers of which I collectedand brought away in my palankin .
T he spot was about half a mile
from the sea , and entirely uncon
nected with any watercourse or
pool .
Mr. e m e , who was many
years resident in T rincomalie,
writes me that he had often beentold by the natives on that side of
the island that it sometim es rained
fishes ; and on one occasion”
(headds) I was taken by them ,
in 1849,
to a field at the village of Karran
cotta - tivo,near Batticaloa
,which
wa s dry when I passed over it in
the morning, but had been covered
in two hours by sudden rain to the
depth of three inches,in which
there was then a quantity of small
344 F ISHES. [CH AP. x.
But supposing it possible to carry the spawn sumciently deep, and to deposit it sa fely in the mud below,which is still damp, whence it could be liberated on the
return of the rains, a considerable interva l would still
b e necessary a fter the replenishing of the ponds withwater to admit of vivifi cation and growth .
“
Y et so far
from this interva l being a llowed to elapse, the rainshave no sooner fa llen than the taking of the fish comm ences, and those captured by the natives in wickercages are mature and full grown instead of beingsma ll fish or fry, a s supposed by Mr. Y arrell .Even admitting the soundness of his theory, and the
probability that, under favourable circumstances, thespawn in the tanks might b e preserved during the drysea son so a s to contribute to the perpetuation of theirbreed, the fact is no longer doubtful, that adult fish inCeylon, like some of those that inhabit simila r watersboth in the New and Old World, have been endowed bythe Creator with the singular faculty of providing againstthe periodica l droughts either by j ourneying overland insearch of still unexhausted water, or, on its utter disappearance, by burying themselves in the mud to awaitthe return of the rains .I t is an illustration of the eagerness with which, after
the expedition of Alexander the Great, particulars connected with the natural history of India were sought forand a rranged by the Greeks, tha t in the works both of
ARIST OTLE and T HEOPHRASTUS fa cts are recorded of
the fishes in the Indian rivers migrating in search of
water, of their burying themselves in the mud on itsfailure, of their being dug out thence a live duringthe dry sea son, and of their spontaneous reappearanceon the return of the rains . T he earliest notice is
CHAP. X.] OPINIONS OF THEOPHRASTUS. 345
in ARISTOTLE’
S treatise De ReSp im tion c‘, where he
mentions the strange discovery of living fish found beneath the surfa ce of the soil, 7 661} ixdéwv oi woMto
‘
i
Q'
c'
bcn v év 7 337 37, dmvnn’
é‘
ovres,ue
’
zrroa, lca i sbpia'
fcom'
a i dpv'
r
Toner/ 0 1, and in his H istory of Animals he conjecturesthat in ponds periodica lly dried the ova of the fish soburied become vivified a t the change of the sea son .
2
H ERODOTUS had previously ha z arded a simila r theory toa ccount for the sudden appearance of fry in the Egyptianm arshes on the rising of the Nile ; but the ca ses are not
parallel . T H EOPH RASTUS, the friend and pupil of Aris
totle, gave importance to the subject by devoting to ithis essay H spi 7 739 7 631) ixfifiwv év dia yovijs , De
Piscibus in sicco degentibu s . In this,after adverting
to the fish called exocaetu s,from its habit of going on
shore to sleep , 43776 7 139 fcowfis ,”he instances the small
fish (5X9158ia ), that leave the rivers of India to wanderlike frogs on the land ; and likewise a species foundnear Babylon
,which, when the Euphrates runs low,
leave the dry channels in search of food,
“ movingthemselves along by means of their fins and tail . ” H e
proceeds to state that at H era clea Pontica there are
pla ces in which fish are dug out of the earth, dpvm'
oi
7 6m ixezfiwv,”
and he a ccounts for their being foundunder such circumstances by the subsidence of the
rivers, “ when the water being evaporated the fishgradually descend beneath the soil in search of moisture and the surfa ce becoming ha rd they are preservedin the damp clay below it, in a state of torpor, but arecapable of vigorous movements when disturbed. In
this manner, too,”adds T heophra stus, the buried fish
1 Chap. ix.
2 Lib . vi. ch. 15,16
,17.
346 F ISHES. [CHAP. x .
propagate, leaving behind them their spawn, which becomes vivified on the return of the waters to their accustomed b ed.
”T his work of T heophrastus became the
great authority for all subsequent writers on this question . ATH ENJEUS quotes it 1, and adds the furthertestimony of POLYBIUS , that in Gallia Narbonensis fish
are similarly dug out of the ground.
2 STRABO repeats
the story 3, and the Greek naturalists one and a ll re
ceived the statement as founded on reliable authority.
Not so the Romans . LIVY mentions it a s one of the
prodigies which were to b e expiated on the approach
of a rupture with Ma cedon, that “ in Gallico agro quainduceretur aratrum sub glebis pisc es em ersisse,
” 4 thustaking it out of the category of natural occurrences .POMPONIUS MELA
, obliged to notice the matter in his
a ccount of Narbon Gaul, a ccompanies it with the intimation that although a sserted by both Greek and
Roman authorities,the story was either a delusion or
a fraud. JUVENAL has a sneer for the rustic
miranti sub aratro
Piscibus invent1s .
” — Sa t. xii 1. 63.
And SENECA, whilst he quotes T heophra stus, adds ironically, that now we must go to fish with a ha tchet in
stead of a hook ; non cum hamis, sed cum dolabra ire
piscatum .
” PLINY, who devotes the 35th chapter of
his 9th book to this subject,uses the narrative of
T heophra stus, but with obvious caution, and universallythe Latin writers treated the story as a fable.In later times the subject received more enlightened
attention, and Beckman, who in 1736 published his
Lib . viii . ch. 2.
3 Lib . iv. and x1l .2
ch. 4 .4 Lib . xlii. ch. 2.
348 F ISHES . [CH AP . X .
and traverse the damp gra ss1
and SIR JOHN BOWRING,in his a ccount of his emba ssy to the Siamese kings in1855
,states
,that in a scending and descending the river
Meinam to Bankok, he was amused with the novel sightof fish leaving the river, gliding over the wet banks,and losing themselves amongst the trees of the jungle ?
T he cla ss of fishes endowed with this power are chieflythose with labyrinthiform pharyngea l bones, so disposedin plates and cells a s to reta in a supply of moisture
,
which,whilst theya re crawling on land, gradually exudes
so a s to keep the gills damp .
3
T he individual most frequently seen in these excursions in Ceylon is a perch called by the SinghaleseKavaya or H awky
-
ya , and by the T amils Pannei- eri,or Senna l. I t is closely a llied to the Ana ba s scandensof Cuvier, the Perca scandens of Daldorf. I t grows toabout six 1nches in length, the head round and coveredwith scales, and the edges of the gill- covers stronglydenticulated . Aided by the apparatus a lready advertedto in its head, this little creature issues boldly from itsnative pools and addresses itself to its toilsome marchgenera lly a t night or in the early morning
,whilst the
gra ss is still damp with the dew ; but in its distress itis sometimes compelled to move by day, and Mr. E . L .
Laya rd on one occa sion encountered a number of themtravelling along a hot and dusty road under the middaysun.
4
1 PALLEGorx, vol . i. p . 144 .
2 Sir J . BownrNG’
s Siam, gim,
vol . i. p . 10 .
3 Guv and VALENCIENNE S,
H ist. Na t. des Poissons , tom . vii.
p . 246 .
4 Anna ls andMay. of Na t. H ist ,May, 1853, p. 390 . Mr. Morris,
the government- agent of T rinco
malie, writing to me on this sub
ject in 1856 , says—“ I wa s lately
on duty inspecting the bund of a
large tank at Nade- cadua,which,
being out of repair, the remainingwater was confined in a small
hollow in the otherwise dry b ed.
CH AP . x.] CLIMBING F ISH . 349
Referring to the Ana ba s sca ndens , DR. H AMILTON
BUCHANAN says, that of a ll the fish with which he wasa cquainted it is the most tena cious of life ; and he hasknown boatmen on the Ganges to keep them for five orsix days in an earthen pot without water, and daily touse what they wanted, finding them a s lively and fresha s when caught . l T wo Danish na turalists residing at
Whilst there heavy rain came on,
and, a s we stood on the high
gr ound, we observed a pelican on
the m argin of the shallow pool
gorging him self ; our people went
towards him and raised a cry of
fi sh ! fi sh ! We hurried down,and
found numbers of fi sh strugglingupwards through the grass in the
rills formed by the trickling of the
rain . T here was scarcely water
enough to cover them,but never
theless they made rapid progres s
up the bank, on which our fol
lowers collected about two bushelsof them at a distance of forty
yards from the tank . T hey were
forcing their way up the knoll , and,had they not been intercepted firstby the pelican and afterwards byourselves
,they woul d in a few
minutes have gained the highest
point and descended on the other
side into a pool which formed
another portion of the tank . T heywere chub
,the sam e a s are found
in the mud after the tanks dry up .
I n a subsequent communication in
J uly, 1857, the sam e gentleman
says As the tanks dry up the
fi sh congrega te in the little pools
till at la st you find them in thou
s ands in the moistest parts of the
beds , rolling in the blue mud
which is at that time about theconsistence of thick gruel .
”
“ As the moistur e further evapo
rates the surface fi sh are left un
covered, and they crawl away in
search of fresh pools . In one place
I saw hundreds diverging in everydirection
,from the tank they had
just abandoned to a distance of
fifty or sixty yards , and still travel
ling onwards . In going this dis
tance,however
,they must have
us ed mus cular exertion sufficient
to have taken them half a mile on
level ground, for at these places all
the cattle and wild animals of the
neighbourhood had latterly come
to drink ; so that the surfac e wa s
everywhere indented with foot
marks in addition to the cracks in
the surrounding baked mud,into
which the fi sh tumbled in their
progress . In those holes which
were deep and the sides perpen
dicul ar they rem ained to die,and
were carried off by kites andcrows .
“My impression is that thi s mi
gration takes place at night or
before sunrise,for it was only early
in the m orning that I have seen
them progressing, and I found that
those I brought away with m e in
chatties appeared quiet by day,
but a large proportion managed to
get out of the chatties at night
s ome escaped altogether, others
were trodden on and killed.
“ One peculiarity is the large
siz e of the vertebral column, quitedisproportioned to the bul k of the
fi sh. I particularly noticed that all
in the act of migrating had their
gill s expanded.
”
1 F ishes of the Ganges, 4to. 1822.
F ISHES .350 [CH AP . X .
T ranquebar, have contributed their authority to the factof this fish a scending trees on the coa st of Coromandel
,
an exploit from which it a cquired its epithet of Percascandens . DALDORF , who wa s a lieutenant in the DanishEa st India Company
’s service, communicated to SirJoseph Banks, tha t in the yea r 179 1 he had taken thisfish from a moist cavity in the stem of a Pa lmyra palm,
that grew nea r a lake . H e saw it when a lready fivefeet above the ground struggling to a scend still higher ;suspending itself by its gill- covers, and bending its
tail to the left, it fixed its ana l fin in the cavity of the
bark, and sought by expanding its body to urge its wayupwards, and its march was only a rrested by the handwith which b e seiz ed it . ” 1
T here is considerable obscurity about the story of thisa scent, a lthough corroborated by M. JOHN. I ts motivefor climbing is not apparent, since water being close a t
hand it could not have gone for sake of the m oistureconta ined in the fissures of the pa lm nor could it be insearch of food, a s it lives not on fruit but on aquaticinsects ? T he descent, too, is a question of difficul ty.
1 T ransac tions Mnn. Soc . vol. the sea . On parle d’
un poissoniii. p . 63 . I t is rem arkable
,how
ever, that this discovery of Dal
dorf,which excited so great an
interest in 179 1, had been antici
pated by an Ar abian voyager a
thousand years before. Abou - z eyd,the compiler of the rem arkableMS . known since Renaudot
’
s trans
lation by the title of the T ra vels ofthe Two Mahornetans
,states that
Suleyman,one of his inform ants
,
who visited India at the close of
the ninth century, was told there
of a fi sh which, issuing from the
waters , ascended the coco-nutpalms
to drink their sap, and returned to
de mer qui, sortant de l’
eau, monte
sur la cocotier et boit ls suc de la
plante ; ensuite il retourne a lamer .
”
See REINAUD, Rela tions
des Voyages fa its p a r les Ara bes etPersans dans le nea ozéine s ie
'
cle,
tom . i. p . 21, tom . ii. p . 93.
2 Kirby says that it is“ in pur
suit of certa in crustaceans thatform its food
”
(Bridgewa ter T reatise
, vol i. p . but I am notaware of any crustaceans in theisland which a scend the palmyra orfeed upon its fruit . T he Birgasla tro
, which inhabits Mauritius,and is said to climb the coco -nut
352 F ISHES . [CH AP. X .
and by degrees their whole bodies, in the mud ; sinking
to a depth a t which they find sufficient moisture to preserve life in a sta te of lethargy long a fter the b ed of the
tank ha s been consolidated by the intense heat of thesun. I t is possible, too, tha t the cracks which reticulate
the surfa ce m ay admit air to some extent to sustain their
faint respiration .
T he same thing takes pla ce in other tropica l regions,subj ect to vicissitudes of drought and moisture. T he
Protopterus1, which inhabits the Gambia (and which
though demonstrated by Professor Owen to possess a llthe essential organisation of fishes, is nevertheless provided with true lungs), is a ccustomed in the dry sea son,when the river retires into its channel, to bury itself tothe depth of twelve or sixteen inches in the induratedmud of the banks, and to remain in a state of torpor tillthe rising of the stream after the rains enables it to resume its a ctive habits . At this period the natives of theGambia , like those of Ceylon, resort to the river, andsecure the fish in considerable numbers as they flounderin the still sha llow water. A para llel instance occursin Abyssinia in relation to the fish of the Mareb
, one of
the sources of the Nile, the waters of which are partia llyabsorbed in traversing the plains of T aka . During thesummer its b ed is dry, and in the slime at the depth of
more than six feet is found a species of fish withoutscales, different from any known to inhabit the Nile?
1 Lep idosiren annectans,Owen.
See I/ inn . T rans . 1839 .
2 T his statem ent will b e found
In QUAT H EMERE’
S Me'
moires s iir
l’
Egyp te, tom . 1. p . 17, on the
authority of Abdullah b en Ahmed
b en Solaim As souany, in his
H istory of Nubia ,“ Simon, hé
ritier présomptif da royaume
d’
Al ouah, m
’
a a ssuré que l’
on
trouve, dans la va se qui couvre le
fond de cette riviere,un grand
poisson sans écaill es, qui ne res
semble en rien aux poissons du
Nil,et que, pour l
’
avoir,il faut
creuser a une toise et plus de pro
CH AP. X.] BURYING F ISH . 353
In South America the “ round-headed ha ssa r of
Guiana , Ca llicthys littora lis, and the yarrow,
”a species
of the family Esocidae, a lthough they possess no speciallymodified respiratory organs, are a ccustom ed to burythemselves in the mud on the subsidence of water in
the pools during the dry sea son .
l T he Lorica ria of
Surinam,another Siluridan, exhibits a similar instinct,
and resorts to the same expedient. Sir R. Schomburgk ,
in his a ccount of the fishes of Guiana , confirms this
a ccount of the Callicthys, and says “ they can exist in
muddy lakes without any water whatever, and greatnumbers of them are sometimes dug up from such
situations . ” 2
In those portions of Ceylon where the country is flat,and small tanks are extremely numerous, the nativesare accustomed in the hot sea son to dig in the mud for
fondeur . T o this passage there
is appended this note —“ Le pa
triarche Mendes,cité par Legrand
(Rela tion H ist. d’
Abyssinie, du P.
LOBO, p . 212 - 3) rapporte que lo
fi euve Mareb , apres avoir arroséune étendue de pays considerab le,se perd sous terre ; et que quandles Portugais faisaient la guerre
dans ce pays , il s fouilloient dans le
sable, et y trouvoient de la bonneeau et du bon poisson. Au rap
port de l’
auteur de l’
Ayin Ahbery
(tom . ii. p . 146,ed. dans le
Soubah de Caschmir , pres du lieunomm é T ilahm oul ah
,estune grande
piece de terre qui est inondée pendant la saison des pluies . Lorsqueles eaux se sont évaporées, et quela va se est presque seche
,les habi
tans prennent des batons d’
environ
une aune de long, qu’
ile enfoncent
dans la vase,
et ils y trouvent
quantité de grands et petits pois
sons.
”In the library of the
BritishMuseum there is an unique
MS . of MANOEL DE ALMEIDA,
written in the sixteenth century,from which Balthasar T ellec com
pil ed his H istoria Genera l de
Ethiopia a lta, printed at Coimbra
in 1660, and in it the above statement of Mendes is corroborated byAlmeida
,who says that he was
told by J 0 50 Gabriel, a Creole
Portuguese, born inAbyssinia , whohad visited the Mareb, and who
said that the “ fish were to be
found everywhere eight or ten
palm3 down, and that he had eaten
of them.
”
1 See Paper“on some Sp ecies of
F ishes and Rep tiles in Demerara,
”
by J . H ANDCOCK,Esq . . M.D. ,
Zoo
logica l J ournal , vol . iv. p . 243 .
9 A curious a ccount of the bora
chung or“
ground fi sh”
of Bhoo
tan,will b e found in Note (C.) ap
pended to this chapter.
354 F ISHES . [CH AP. X.
fish . Mr. Whiting, the chief civil officer of the ea stern
province, informs me that, on two occa sions, he wa s present a ccidenta lly when the villagers were so engaged,once a t the tank of Ma lliativoe
,within a few miles of
Kottiar, near the bay of T rincom a lie, and again at a
tank between Ellendetorre and Arnitivoe, on the bankof the Vergel river . T he clay wa s firm, but moist, anda s the m en flung out lumps of it with a spade, it fell to
pieces, disclosing fish from nine to twelve inches long,which were full grown and hea lthy
,and jumped on the
bank when exposed to the sun light.Being desirous of obtaining a specimen of fish so ex
humed, I received from the Moodliar ofMatura , A.B.
Wickrem eratne, a fish taken a long with others of the
same kind from a tank in which the water had driedup it wa s found a t a depth of a foot and a ha lf wherethe mud wa s still moist, whilst the surfa ce wa s dry and
hard. T he fish which the m oodliar sent to m e is an
Anaba s, closely resembling the Perca scandens of Da l
dorf but on minute examination it proves to be a
T H E ANABA S OF T H E D RY T ANKS
species unknown in India , and hitherto found only inBorneo and China . I t is the A . oligolep is of Bleek.
FISHES . [CH AP. X .
Dr. John H unter1 has advanced an opinion that hybernation, a lthough a result of cold, is not its immediateconsequence, but is attributable to that deprivation of
food and other essentia ls which extreme cold occasions,
and against the recurrence of which nature makes atimely provision by a suspension of her fim ctions. Ex
cessive heat in the tropics produces an effect uponmals and vegetables analogous to that of excessive coldin northern regions, and hence it is reasonable to supposethat the torpor induced by the one may be but the coun
terpart of the hyb ernation which results from the other.T he frost that imprisons the a lligator in the Mississippias effectually cuts it off from food and a ction a s the
drought which incarcerates the crocodile in the sun-burntclay of a Ceylon tank . T he hedgehog of Europe enterson a period of absolute torpidity a s soon as the inclemency of winter deprives it of its ordinary supply of
slugs and insects ; and the tenrec2of Madaga scar, its
tropical representative, exhibits the same tendencyduring the period when excessive heat produces in thatclimate a like result.
the ground, pushing aside the nograph in the Camb. Phil. T rans .
moistened earth and coming forth vol . T he fact is elsewhere
from their retreats ; but on the alluded to in the present work of
disappearance of the water not one the power possessed by the land
of them was to b e seen above leech of Ceylon of retaining vitality
ground. Wishing to a scertainwhat even after being parched to hardhad become of them he turned up ness during the heat of the rainl ess
the earth at the base of several season. LYELL mentions the in
trees, and invariably found the stance of some snail s in I talywhich,shells buried from an inch to two when they hyb ernate, descend to
inches below the surface.
”Lieut . the depth of five feet and more
H utton adds that the Ampullarie below the surface. Princip . ofand Planorbes, a s well as the Palu Geology, do. p . 373.
dine are found in similar situa 1 H UNT HR’
S Observa tions onpa rts
tions during the heats of the dry of the Anima l Gflconomy, p . 88 .
season. T he British Pisidea ex 2 Centetes ecauda ta s,Illiger.
bibit the same facul ty (see a mo
CH AP. X.] E ST IVAT ION OF MOLLUSCS. 357
T he descent of the Ampu lla ria , and other fresh-watermolluscs
,into the mud of the tanks, ha s its pa rallel in
the conduct of the Bu limi and H elices on land. T he
European snail, in the beginning of winter, either buriesitself in the earth or withdraws to some crevice or overa rching stone to await the returning vegetation of spring.
So, in the season of intense heat, the H elix Wa ltoni ofCeylon, and others of the same family, before retiringunder cover, close the aperture of their shells with an
impervious epiphragm, which effectually protects theirmoisture and juices from evaporation during the periodof their aestivation. T he Bulimi of Chili have beenfound a live in England in a box pa cked in cotton afteran interva l of two years, and the animal inhabiting aland- shell from Suez , which wa s a tta ched to a tabletand deposited in the BritishMuseum in 1846, was foundin 1850 to have formed a fresh epiphragm, and on beingimmersed in tepid water, it emerged from its shell. I t
became torpid again on the 15th November, 1851, andwa s found dead and dried up in March, Butexceptions serve to prove the a ccura cy of H unter’s opinion a lmost a s strikingly as a ccordances, since the samegenera of anima ls that hybernate in Europe, where ex
treme cold disa rranges their oeconomy, evince no symptoms of lethargy in the tropics, provided their food benot diminished by the heat. Ants, which are torpid inEurope during winter, work a ll the year round in India ,where sustenance is uniform ? T he shrews of Ceylon
(Sorex montanus and S . ferrugineus of Kelaart), like
1 Anna ls of Na tura l H istory, in the Entomological T rans. the
1850 . See Dr. BAIBD’
S Account of operations of an ant in India which
H elix desertaram ; Excelsior, gm,lays up a store of hay against the
ch. 1. p . 345. rainy season.
2 Colonel SKY'
ES has describedA A 3
358 F ISHES . [CH AP . X .
those at home, subsist upon insects, but as they inhabita region where the equable temperature admits of the
pursuit of their prey at a ll sea sons of the year, unlikethose of Europe, they never hybernate . A simila r oh
servation applies to bats, which are dormant during anorthern winter when insects are rare, butnever becometorpid in any part of the tropics. T he bea r, in likemanner, is nowhere deprived of its activity except whenthe rigour of severe frost cuts off its a ccess to its a ccustom ed food. On the other hand, the tortoise, which inVenez uela immerses itself in indurated mud during thehot months shows no tendency to torpor in Ceylon,where its food is permanent ; and yet it is subject to hybernation when ca rried to the colder regions of Europe.
T o the fish in the deta ched tanks and pools when theheat, by exhausting the water, deprives them at once of
motion and sustenance, the pra ctica l effect must be thesame a s when the frost of a northern winter enca sesthem in ice . Nor is it difficult to believe that they can
successfully undergo the one crisis when we know beyondquestion that they m ay survive the other.
1
H ot-wa ter Fishes . Another incident is striking inconnection with the fresh-water fishes of Ceylon . I havedescribed elsewhere the hot springs of Kannea
2,in the
1 YARRELL,vol . i. p . 364
,quotes
the authority of Dr. J . H unter in
his Anima l (Economy, that fi sh,
after being froz en still retain so
much of life a s when thawed to
resume their vital actions and
in the sam e volum e (Introd. vol. 1.
p . xvii. ) he relates from Jnssn’
s
Gleanings in Na tura l H istory, the
story of a gold fi sh (Cyp rinusaura tus), which, together with thewater in a marble basin, was froz en
into one solid lump of ice, yet, on
the water being thawed,the fi sh
became a s lively a s usual . Dr.
RICH ARDSON,in the third vol . of
his F auna Borea lis Americana ,says the grey sucking carp, found
in the fur countries of NorthAm erica
,m ay b e froz en and thawed
again without being kill ed in the
process .
2 See SIR J . EMERSON T ENNENT’
S
Ceylon, &c. , vol . ii. p . 496 .
360 F ISHES . [CH AP. X .
I . OSSEOUS.
ACANT H OPTERYGII .BBBY CIDZE
, L owe.
Mynpristis murdian, F orsk.
H o locentrum rubrum , Porsk.
spim ferum , Forsk.
diadema , L a cép .
q cmm, Gunther.
1' L a tes ca lcan fer, Bl .Serranus louti, Porsk .
pacb ycentrum , C. Q V.
gutta tus , BlSonneratii, C. 4
» V.
angula rls , C. (S’ V.
m argina l is , B1.hexagona tus , F arsh.
flavocoeruleus, L a cép .
b igutta tus , C. <3; V.
l emm sca tus , C. 5, V.
Ambo inenSI S , Bleek.
bmnak , C. 3; V.
G ramm istes orienta l is, Bl .
G enyoroge Seb aa, C. 51 V.
Benga lensw, C. <3; V.
margmata , C. 5' V.
rivulata . C. d V.
gibb a , Porsk.
Spl lura , Benn .
MeSOpn on auro linea tus , C. a} V.
rangus , C. a V.
q umq uelmea tus, R ilpp .
J ohnii, Bl .
annularis . C. 5; V.
9 Priacanthus Blochu , Bleek .
Amba ssis n. sp . , G ii nth .
Commersonii, C. .5» V.
therma lis , C. V.
Apogon Ceylonicus, C . V.
ther-ma l l s, C. <§f
annulan s , R iipp . var. ro seip iauis .
Chilodipterus quinquelineatus , I
PRIST IPOMAT IDE , G iinther .
D ules Bennettu,Bleek .
T herapon servus , Blo ch .
trivntta tus , Buck . H am.
q uadrilineatus , Bl .H elotes po lytaenia , Bleek .
Pn stapom a hasta , Bloch.
maculatum, Bl .
D iagramma punc ta tum , Ehrenb .
orientale, Bl .
p oecrlopterum , C. 3; V.
Blochu , C. <3; V.
l ineatum, Gm .
Radja , Bleek .
Lob otes auctorum , C anth.
G erres ob longa s , C g. V.
Sco lopsis J apom cus , Bl .b imaculatus
, Rum .
monogramma, Ii .
div. H .
Synagn s furco sus , C. aPentapus aurohnea tus , L ace
'
p .
Sman s b a ltea tus , C. <3; V.
CEESIO coerulaureus, L a cépMULLIDE , Gray .
Upeneus ta niopterus , C. 3; V.
Indi cus , Sha w .
cyc lostoma L acép .
Upe . trifasciatus , L a cép .
c innab armus , C. V.
Upeneondes vitta tus , F orak.tragula .
sulphureus , C. V.
Mul loides flavohnea tus , L a cép .
Ceylonicus , C. g V.
SPARI DE , Gunther .
L ethrmus frenatus , C. 5; Vc inereus , C. 13 V.
fa scmtus . C. & V.
ramak, F arsh.
opercularis , C. Q V.
erythrurus , C. s; V.
Pagrus spinifer, F orsk .
C rysophrys hasta , Bl .Pimelepterus T ernatensis, Bleek.
SQUAMIPINNES, G iinther .
Chaetodon L ayardi , Bly th .
o l igacanthus , Bleek .
setifer, BLvagabundus , L .
guttatissimus , Benn .
pic tus, Porsk .
xanthocepha lus , Benn.
Sebae, C. V.
H eniochus macro lepidotus , Artedz‘
.
H olacanthus annularis, BI.
xanthurus, Benn .
impera tor, Bl .ScatOphagus argus , Gm .
E phippus o rb is , Bl .D repane punctata , Gm .
CIRRH IT IDE , Gray .
Cirrhl tes F ors teri, Schn .
CAT APH RACT I , Cuv.
Sc orpaena po lyprionPterois vohtans , L .
m i les , Benn.
T etraroge longispmis , C. V.
Pla tycepha lus msndia to r, orsh.
punc ta tus , C. a V.
serra tus, C. V.
tubercula tus , C. g, V.
suppo situs , T roschDactylopterus oriental is ,
ACH INIDJE,Gunther .
Uranoscopus guttatus , C. I? V.
Percis m i llepunc ta ta , G iinth.
S illago Sikama , F orsk.
Scmzmnis, Gunther .
Scrazna diacantba , L a cép .
m acu la ta, Schn .
Dussum ieri, C &' V.
Corvina miles , C. a V.
Otolithus argenteus , h . 5; v. H .
LYNEMIDE , Gunther .
Polynemus heptadactylus , C. a V.
hexanemus, C. a V.
Indicus , Shaw .
plebeius , Gm .
tetradactylus , Shaw.
SPH Y RE NIDIE , Agass .
Sphyraena j e llo , C. V.
ob tusa ta , C. 3; V.
T mcnmmnzs , Gunther .
T richiurus savala, Cuv.
CH AP. X.] LIST OF CEYLON F ISHES . 361
SCOMBRI DE, G iinther.
T hynnus a fiim s , Cant.Cyb ium Commersonn, L a cép .
guttatum , Schn .
Naucra tes ductor, L .
Elaca te nigra , Bl .n . sp .
Echene is remora , L .
scuta ta , Gunth.
naucrates , L .
Stromateus cmereus , Bl .I nger, Bl .
Coryphazna hippurus , L .
Mene macula ta , Schn .
CARANG IDE , Gu‘nther.
La ranx H eberi, Benn .
Rottleri, Bl .
cal la , C. V.
xanthurus , K . a v. H .
ta lamparoides ,Ma lab an cus , Schn .
specno sus , F arsh.
c a rangus , Bl .
hippo s , L .
armatus , F orsk.
crharis , Bl .
ga llus , L .
Micropteryx chrysurus , L .
S eriola mgro- fa scrata , R iipp .
Chorlnemus lysan, F orsk .
Sancti Petri , C. (S' V.
T racbyno tus ob longus , C. 3; V.
ova tus , L .
Psettus argenteus, L .
Platax vesperti lio , Bl .Rayna ldi, C. V.
Zenela s Sp . n.
L actanus del icatulus . C. d V.
Equula fa scxa ta , L acép .
edentula , Bl .
daura , Cuv.
interrupta .
G az z a m inuta , Bl .equulae formis, R iipp .
Pempheris sp .
XIPH I IDIE , Aga ss .
H isnophorus imm aculatus , Riipp .
T HEUT Y IDE ,Gunther .
T heutys Javus, L .
stellata , F arsh.
nebulosa , A . a G .
ACRONUBIDE , Gunther .
A canthurus triostegus , L .
nigro fuscus , F orsk .
lm ea tus , L .
T ennenti i, Gthr .
leucosternon , Bennett.c tenodon , C. V.
rhom b eus , Ki ttl .
xanthurus, Bly th.
Acronurus m ela s , C. 8; V.
m elanurus , C. V.
Nescus unicorm s, F orsk .
b l eviro stris , C. a V.
tub erosus , L acép .
hturatus , F orster .
AULOST OMAT A , Cuvier .
F istulan a serrata, BI.
BLENM lDE , Mall .
Sa larias fascwtus, BI.
Sal . marm oratus , Benn .
tridactylus , Schn .
quadricornis , C. a V.
GOBl lDlE , Mull .G ob lus ornatus , R iipp .
giuris , BUCh. H am .
a lb opunctatus, C. V.
grammepomus, Bleek .
Apocryptes lanceo la tus , Bl .Periophtha lmus Koelreuteri, Pa ll .Eleotrl s Ophiocephalus , K . 3. c . H .
fusca , Bl .
sexguttata , C. V.
mural is , A . (3 G .
MAST ACEMBELIDB , Gunther .
Ma stacembelus armatus, L a cép .
PEDICULAT I , Cuv.
Antennarius marmora tus , Gunth.
hisp idus , Schn .
p inniceps , Commers .
Commersonii, L a cép .
multiocel la tus . Gunth.
b igib bus , L a cép .
AT BERINIDE , Gunther .
A therina F orska l li, B ilpp .
duodec imalis, C. if; V.
MUG ILIDE , Gunther .
Mugi l p laniceps , C. 6] V.
W aigiensis, A . G .
Ceylonensxs , G i’
inth .
OPHIOCEPHALIDJE , Gunther .
Ophioc ephalus puncta tus , BI.Kelaarti i
, G linik.
striatus , Bl .
merulius , H am . Buck .
Channa orienta lis , Sohn .
LABYRINT H ICI , Cuv.
Anab as o ligo lepis , Bleek .
Polyacanthus signatus , G unth.
PHARYNGOGNAT HIAmphiprion Clark l i, J . Benn .
D a s cyllus aruanus , C. a V.
trim acula tus , Rupp .
G lyphisodon septem -fa sc iatus, C.
Brownrigii, Benn.
cce lestinus , Sol .Etroplus Suratensns, Bl .Julis lunan s L inn .
decussatus , W Benn.
form osus , C. 8; V.
quadricolor. L esson .
dorsa lis , Quay Ga z’
m .
aureomacula tus , W. Benn .
Cei lam cus , E Benn .
F inlaysoni C. s; V.
purpureo -lmea tus, C. V.
cingulum , C. is» V.
Gompho sus fuscus , C. 3; V.
coeruleus , Comm .
viridis , W'
. Benn .
Scarus pepo , W. Benn .
hand . F orsk .
T autoga fa sc ia ta , T hunb .
H em irhamphus Reynaldi, C. (Sf V.
Geo rgii C. 8} V.
Exocaatus evo lans , L inn .
Belone annulata, C. 8; V.
362 F ISHES . [CH AP. X .
MALACOPT ERYGII (ABDOMINALES). L OPH OBRANCH I .
Bagrus gulno , Buck . Syngna thus, L .
a lb i lab ris , C. V.
Plo to sus lm ea tus , C. g. V.
Barb us tor, C. a V.
Nurla thermorcos , C . V.
L euc iscus dand la , C. (S’ V.
sc a lpe l lus , C. g. V.
Ceylonicus , E . Benn
therm a lis, C. V.
Cob itis therma l l s , C V.
Chirocentrus dorab , F orsk
E lops sm rus , L .
Mega lops cundmga , Bu ch.
Engrauhs Browm i,Gm .
Sardme lla le loga ster , C. s» V.
lm eo la ta , C. a? V.
Neohowu .
Saurus myops , Va l .
b aurlda tomb il , Bl .
MAL ACOPT ERYGII (SUB-BRANCHIAT I).
Pleuronectes, L .
MALACOPT ERYGII (APODA).Muraena .
NOTE (A .)
INSTANCES OF F ISHES FALL ING FROM TH E CLOUDS IN INDIA.
(F rom the Bombay T imes,
See Page 343 .
T he late Dr. Buist, after enum era ting cases in which fisheswere sa id to have b een thrown ou t from volcanoes in South
Am erica and precipita ted from clouds in variou s parts of the
world,addu ced the following instances of Sim ilar occurrences
in India .
“ In he says ,“ fishes fell a t Meerut
,on the
m en of H er Maj esty’
s 14th Regim ent,then out a t drill
,and
were caught in numb ers . In July, 1826, live fi sh were seen
to fa ll on the gra ss a t Moradab ad during a storm . T hey werethe common cyprinu s , so preva lent in our Indian wa ters . On
the 19th of February, 1830 , a t noon,a heavy fa ll of fish
o ccurred a t the Nokulha tty fa ctory, in the Daccah z illah ;
PLECT OGNAT H II .
T etraodon ocel la tus , IV. Benn .
tepa , Buch .
a rgyropleura , E . Bennett .
urgenta tus , Blyth .
Ba listes b iaculeatus , (4 Benn .
lmea tus Bl .T n acanthus b l acu leatus , W. Benn .
A lutanus laevis , Bl .
I I . CART ILAGINOUS .
Pristis antiquorum . L a lh.
cuspida tus , La lh .
pec tm a tus , L a lh.
Chiloscyl lium pla a iosum , Benn .
Stego stoma fa sma tum , Bl .
Ca rchan a s a cutus , Rupp .
Sphyrna z ygaena . L .
Rhyncho ba tus laevis . Bl .
T rygon na rnak , F a rsh.
Pte roplatea m icrura , Bl.
T aen iura lym na,F orsk .
Myliob a tl s N leuhofi i , Bl .
Ae tobates ua rlnari , Bl .
364 F ISHES . [CH AP. X.
inches within one hour and a half,b eing the heaviest fa ll on
record. At Poonah,on the 3rd of Augu st, 1852 , after a very
heavy fa ll of rain, mul titudes of fishwere caught on the ground
in the cantonments,full half a mile from the nearest stream .
If showers of fish are to b e explained on the a ssumption that
they are carried up by squalls or violent winds, from rivers or
spaces of water not far away from where they fa ll , it would b enothing wonderful were they seen to descend from the air
during the fur ious squalls which occasionally occur in June.
”
NOTE
CEYLON F ISHES.
(Memorandum by Professor H uxley.)
See Page 324 .
T he large series of b eautifully coloured drawings of the
fishes of Ceylon , which has b een submitted to my inspection,possesses an unusual value for several reasons .
T he fishes, it appears , were a ll captured a t Colombo,and
even had those from other parts of Ceylon b een added,the
geographical area would not have been very extended. Nevertheless there are more than 600 drawings, and though it is
possib le that som e of these represent varieties in different
stages of growth of the sam e species, I have not been ab le to
find definite evidence of the fa ct in any of those groups whichI have particularly tested. If
,however
,these drawings repre
sent six hundred distinct species of fish, they constitute, so far
a s I know ,the largest collection of fish fi'
om one locality inexistence .
T he numb er of known British fishes may b e safely a ssumed
to b e less than 250 , and Mr . Y arrell enumerates only 226, Dr.
Cantor’s valuable work on Ma layan fishes enum era tes not
more than 238 , whil e Dr. Russell has figured only 200 from
CH AP. X.] F ISHES OF CEYLON. 365
Coromandel . Even the enorm ous area of the Chinese and
Japanese seas ha s a s yet not yielded 800 Species of fishes .
T he large extent of the collection a lone,then
,renders it of
great importance but its value is immea surab ly enhanced by
the two circum stances— first, that every drawing was m ade
while the fish retained all that vividness of colouring which
becom es lost so soon after its removal from its native elem ent ;
and secondly, that when the sketch was finished its subj ectwa s carefii lly lab elled, preserved in spirits , and forwarded toEngland, so that at the present moment the original of everydrawing can b e subj coted to ana tomical examination
,and
compared with already nam ed species .
Under these circum stances,I do not hesitate to say that the
collection is one of the m ost valuab le in existence, and m ight,
if properly worked out,b ecom e a large and secure founda tion
for all fii tur e investigation into the ichthyology of the Indian
Ocean.
I t woul d b e very haz ardous to express an opinion a s to the
novelty or otherwise of the species and genera figured withoutthe study of the specim ens them selves, a s the specific distin otions of fi sh are for the m ost part ba sed upon chara cter— the
fin - rays,teeth, the operculum , &c . , which can only b e made
ou t by close and careful examination of the obj ect,and cannot
b e represented in ordinary drawings however a ccurate .
T here are certain groups of fi sh, however, whose fam ilytraits are so marked a s to render it a lmost impossible to mis
tak e even their portraits , and hence I may venture,without
fear of b eing far wrong, upon a few remarks a s to the generalfeatures of the ichthyological fauna of Ceylon .
In our own seas rather less than a tenth of the species of
fishes b elong to the cod tribe. I have not found one repre
sented in these drawings, nor do either Russell or Cantor m en
tion any in the surrounding sea s, and the result is in genera l
harm ony with the known laws of distribution of these m ost
useful of fishes .
On the other hand, the mackerel family,including the tun
366 F ISHES . [CH AP . X .
nies,the b onita s
,the dories
,the horse-ma ckerels
,&c .
,which
form not m ore than one sixteenth of our own fi sh fauna, but
which are known to increa se their proportion in hot clima tes,
appear in wonderful variety of form and colour,and constitute
not less than one fifth of the who le of the species of Ceylonfi sh . In Russell
’
s ca ta logue they form less than one fifth, in
Cantor’
s less than one sixth .
Marine and other siluroid fishes , a group represented on the
continent of Europe , but doub tfully, if a t a ll,in this country,
c onstitu te one twentieth of the Ceylon fishes . In Russell’
s and
Cantor’
s lists they form ab out one thirtieth of the whole .
T he sharks and rays form ab out one seventh of our own fish
fauna . T hey constitute about one tenth or one eleventh of
Russell’
s and Cantor’
s lists,while am ong these Ceylon draw
ings I find not m ore than twenty,or ab out one thirtieth of the
whole, which can b e referred to this group of fishes . It must
b e extrem ely interesting to know whether this circum stance
is owing to a c cident,or to the local peculiarities of Colomb o ,
or whether the fa im a of Ceylon really is deficient in such
fishes .
T he like exceptional character is to b e noticed in the propor
tion of the trib e of flat fishes,or Pleuronectidce. Soles
,turb ots
,
and the like , form nearly one twelfth of our own fishes . Both
Cantor and Ru ssell give the flat fishes a s m aking one twentysecond part of their collection , while in the whole 600 Ceylondrawings I can find but five Pleuronectidie .
When this grea t collection has b een careful ly studied,I
doub t not tha t m any m ore interesting distributiona l fa cts willb e evolved .
Since receiving this note from Professor H uxley,the draw
ings in question have b een subm itted .to Dr . Gray, of the
British Museum . T hat em inent natura list, after a careful
analysis, has favoured m e with the following m emorandum of
cylindrical , with a thick body,somewhat shaped like a pike,
but rounder,the nose curved upwards, the colour olive-
green ,
with orange stripes , and the head speckled with crim son .
1
T his fish,a ccording to the native story
,is caught not in the
rivers in whose vicinity it is found, but“ in perfectly dry
pla ces in the m iddle of gra ssy jungle, sometim es a s far a s two
miles from the b anks .
”H ere
,on finding a hole four or five
inches in diam eter, they comm ence to dig, and continue till
they com e to water ; and presently the hora - Chung rises to the
surfa ce, som etim es from a depth of nineteen feet . In these
extemporised wells these fishes a re found a lways in pairs , andwhen brought to the surfa ce they glide rapidly over the groundwith a serpentine motion . T his a ccount appeared in 1839 ;
but some years later, Mr. Campb ell , the Superintendent of
Darjeeling, in a communica tion to the same journal 2, divestedthe story of much of its exaggeration, by sta ting, a s the resul t
of personal inquiry in Bhootan,that the bora - chung inhab its
the jheels and slow- running streams near the hills,but lives
principally on the banks,into which it penetra tes from one to
five or six feet . T he entrance to these retreats leading from
the river into the b ank is generally a few inches b elow the
surface, so that the fi sh can return to the water at plea sure .
The mode of catching them is by introducing the hand intothese holes ; and the bora - chungs are found genera lly two in
ea ch chamb er, coiled concentrically like snakes . It is not
b elieved that they b ore their own burrows, but that they take
possession of those made by land- crabs . Mr . Campb ell denies
that they are m ore capab le than other fi sh of moving on dry
ground. From the, particul ars given , the hora - Chung woul d
appear to b e an Ophiocep ha lus , probab ly the 0 . ba rlca describedby Buchanan , a s inhab iting holes in the bank s of rivers tributary to the Ganges .
1 Paper by Mr. J . T . PEARSON, J ourn. Asia t. Soc. Beng. , vol . v1n .
p . 551.
2 J ourn. Asia t. Soc. Beng . , vol . xi. p . 963
CHAP . XI .
SHELLS .
Mollusca .— Radia ta , etc.
CEYLON has long been renowned for the beauty and
variety of the shells which abound in its seas and inlandwaters, and in which an a ctive trade has been organisedby the industrious Moors, who clean them with greatexpertness, arrange them insatin-wood boxes
,and send
them to Colombo and a ll parts of the island for sale .
In genera l, however, these specimens are more priz edfor their beauty than va lued for their rarity, thoughsome of the “ Argus cowries 1 have been sold a s higha s four guinea s a pair.
One of the principal sources whence their supplies arederived is the beautiful Bay of Venloos, to the north
of Batticaloa , formed by the embouchure of the Natoor
river . T he scenery at this spot is enchanting. T he sea
is overhung by gentle a cclivities wooded to the summit ;and in an opening between two of these eminences theriver flows through a cluster of little islands covered
with mangroves and a cacia s . A bar of rocks proj ects
a cross it, at a short distance from the shore ; and theseare frequented all day long by pelicans, that come at
1 Cypraea Argus .
B B
SHELLS . [CHAP . XI .370
sunrise to fish, and at evening return to their solitary
breeding-
pla ces remote from the beach . T he strand islitera lly covered with beautiful shells in rich profusion ,and the dea lers from T rincom alie know the proper sea sonto visit the b ay for each particular description . T he en
tire coa st, however, as far north a s the Elephant Pa ss, isindented by little rocky in lets, where shells of endlessvariety m ay be collected in great abundance? During the north- ea st monsoon a formidable surf burstsupon the shore, which is here piled high with moundsof yellow sand ; and the remains of shells upon the
water ma rk show how rich the
sea is in mollusca . Amongst themare prodigious numbers of the
ubiquitous violet- coloured I an
thina 2 , which rises when the
ocean is ca lm, and by means of
its inflated vesicles floats lightly on the surfa ce.
T he trade in shells is one of extreme antiquityin Ceylon . T he Gulf of Manaar ha s been fished fromthe earliest times for the la rge chank shell, Turbinella
IANT H INA .
1 In one of these beautiful littlebays near Catchavelly, betweenT rincom alie and Batticaloa
,I found
the sand within the wa sh of the
sea litera lly covered with mollusca
and shells,and amongst others a
Species of Ba llia (B. vittata , I
think), the inhabitant of which
ha s the fa culty of mooring itself
firmly by sending down its mem
branous foot into the wet sand,
where, imbibing the water,this
organ expands horiz ontally into a
broad fleshy disc,by which the
animal anchors itself, and thus
secured,collects its food in the
ripple of the waves . On the
slightest alarm, the water is dis
charged, the disc collapses into its
original dimensions , and the shell
and its inhabitant disappear to
gether beneath the sand.
BUL L IA V I T T AT A ,
2 I anthina communis ,and I . p rolonga ta , Blainv.
Krauss,
372 SHELLS. [CH AP. XI .
BERTOLACCI mentions a curious loca l peculiarity 1
observed by the fishermen in the natura l history of the
chank .
“ All shells,”he says
,found to the northward
of a line drawn from a point about midway from Ma
naar to the opposite coa st (of India) are of the kindcalled p a tty, and are distinguished by a short flat headand a ll those found to the southward of that line are
of the kind called p ajel, and are known from having a
longer and more pointed head than the former. Nor is
there ever an instance of deviation from this singularlaw of nature. T he Wa llamp ory, or right- handchanks
,
’are found of both kinds.
T his tendency of particular localities to re -
producecertain specialities of form and colour is not confinedto the sea or to the instance of the chank shell. In
the gardens which line the suburbs of Ga lle in the
direction of Matura the stems of the coco- nut and jaktrees are profusely covered with the shells of the beautiful striped H elios hoema stoma . Stopping frequentlyto collect them, I wa s led to observe that each separategarden seemed to possess a va riety a lmost peculiar toitself ; in one the mouth of every individua l shell wasred ; in another, separated from the first only by a wa ll,bla ck ; and in others (but less frequently) pure white ;whilst the varieties of externa l colouring were equallylocal. In one enclosure they were nearly all red
, and
in an adj oining one brown ?
1 See al so the Asia tic J ournal borne about hal f of some of the
for 1827, p . 469 . herds were mouse-coloured, a tint
2 DARWIN,in his Na tura lis t
’
s not common anywhere else,— near
Voyage, mentions a parallel in Mount Pleasant dark-brown pre
stance of the localised propagation vailed ; whereas south of Choiseul
of colours amongst the cattle which Sound white bea sts with blackrange the pasturage of East F alk heads and feet were common.
”
land Island : “Round Mount Os Ch. ix. p . 192 .
CHAP. XL ] PEARL F ISHERIES. 373
A trade more ancient by far than that ca rried on inchanks
,and infinitely more renowned , is the fishery of
pearls on the west coa st of Ceylon,bordering the Gul f
of Manaar. N0 scene in Ceylon presents so drea ry an
aspect a s the long sweep of desolate shore to which,from time immemorial , adventurers have resorted fromthe uttermost ends of the ea rth in search of the precious
pearls for which this gulf is renowned. On approa chingit from sea the only perceptible landmark is a buildingerected by Lord Guildford, a s a tempora ry residence forthe Governor, and known by the name of the Doric
,
”
from the style of its architecture. A few coco- nut
palms appear next above the low sandy bea ch, and presently are discovered the scattered houses which formthe villages of Aripo and Condatchy.
Between these two pla ces, or rather between theKalaar and Arrive river, the Shore is raised to a heightof many feet, by enormous mounds of shells
, the a ccumulations of ages, the millions of oysters 1, robbed of
their pearls , having been year after year flung intoheaps, that extend for a distance of many miles .During the progress of a pearl- fishery, this singular
and dreary expanse becomes suddenly enl ivened by thecrowds who congregate from distant parts of India ; atown is improvised by the cons truction of temporarydwellings, huts of timber and cajans 2 , with tents of
palm leaves or canvas ; and baz aa rs spring up, to feedthe multitude on land, as well as the seamen and diversin the fleets of boats that cover the bay.
1 I t is almost unnecessary to say grina . I t is the Meleagrina Ma r
that the shell fi sh which produces garitifera of L am arck .
the true Oriental pearls is not an 2 Caj an is the local term for the
oyster, but belongs to the genus plaited fronds of a coco -nut .
Avicula, or more correctly, Melea
B B S
374 SHELLS . [CHAP . XI .
I visited the pearl banks oflicially in 1848 in com
pany with Capt . Steuart, the official inspector. Myimmediate obj ect was to inquire into the causes of the
suspension of the fisheries, and to a scertain the proba
bility of reviving a sour ce of revenue, the gross receipts
from which had fail ed for several years to defray thecost of conservancy. In fa ct, between 1837 and 1854 ,
the pearl bank s were an annual charge, instead of pro
ducing an annual income, to the colony. The conjecture,hastily adopted, to account for the disappearance of m a
ture shells, had reference to mechanical causes ; the
received hypothesis being that the young broods hadbeen swept off their a ccustomed feeding grounds, by the
establishm ent of unusual currents, occasioned by deepening the narrow pas sage between Ceylon and India at
Paumbam . It wa s also suggested, that a previous Governor
, in his eagerness to replenish the colonial treasury,had so scraped
”and impoverished the beds as to
exterminate the oysters . T o m e, neither of these suppo
sitions appeared worthy of a cceptance ; for,in the
frequent di sruptions of Adam’s Bridge, there was ample
evidence that the currents in the Gulf of Manaa r hadbeen changed at former times without destroying the
pearl beds : and moreover the oysters had disappearedon many former occa sions , without any imputation of
improper management on the part of the conservators ; and returned after much longer intervals of
absence than that which fell under my own notice, and
whi ch was then creating serious apprehension in the
colony.
A similar interruption had been experienced between1820 and 1828 : the Dutch had had no fishing for
376 SHELLS . [CH AP . XI .
movement, and unable of itself to quit the pla ce towhich it is originally attached 1, he demons trated, notonly that it possesses locomotive powers, but also thattheir exercise is indispensable to its (e conomy whenobliged to search for food, or compelled to escape fromlocal impurities . H e showed that, for this purpose, itcan sever its byssus, and re- form it at plea sure, so as to
migrate and moor itself in favourable situations ? T he
establishment of this important fa ct m ay tend to solvethe mystery of the occa sional disappearances of the
oyster ; and if coupled with the further discovery thatit is susceptible of translation from pla ce to place, andeven from salt to bra ckish water, it seems rea sonableto expect that beds m ay be formed with advantage in
positions Suitable for its growth and protection . T hus,like the edible oyster of our own shores, the pearl- oysterm ay b e brought within the domain Of pisciculture, andbanks m ay be created in suitable pla ces, just a s the
southern shores of France are now being colonised withoysters
,under the direction ofM. Coste .
3 T he operationof sowing the sea with pearl, should the experimentsucceed
,would be as gorgeous in reality, as it is grand
in conception ; and the wealth of Ceylon, in her treasures of the deep, might eclipse the renown of her
gems when she merited the title of the “ I sland of
Rubies. ”
On my arrival at Aripo, the pearl-divers, under theorders of their Adapanaar, put to sea , and commenced
1 STEUART’S Pearl F isheries of Ca lendar for 1858 .
—App endix,Ceylon, p . 27 ; CORDINER
’
S Ceylon, p . 14 .
dc , vol . ii. p . 45.
2 Rapp ort de M. COST E ,Pro
2 See Dr . KELAART’
S Report on fesseur d’
Embryogénie, &c . ,Paris,
the Pearl Oyster in the Ceylon 1858,
PEARL-DIVERS.CHAP. XL] 377
the examination of the banks? T he persons engagedin this calling are chiefly T am ils and Moors, who are
trained for the service by diving for chanks. T he piecesof apparatus employed to a ssist the diver in his operations are exceedingly simple in their character : theyconsist merely of a stone, about thirty pounds
’ weight,
(to a ccelerate the rapidity of his descent,)which is sus
pended over the side of the boat, with a loop atta chedto it for receiving the foot ; and of a net-work ba sket
,
which he takes down to the bottom and fills with theoysters a s he collects them . MASSOUDI , one of the
ea rliest Arabian geographers, describing, in the ninthcentury, the habits of the pearl- divers in the PersianGulf
,says that, before descending, ea ch filled his ears
with cotton steeped in oil, and compressed his nostrilsby a piece of tortoise- shell ? T his pra ctice continuesthere to the present day
3; but the diver of Ceylon
rejects a ll such expedients ; he inserts his foot in the
sinking stone and inhales a full breath ; presses hisnostrils with his left hand ; raises his body a s high
1 Detailed accounts of the pearl se fendaient la racine de l’oreille
fishery of Ceylon and the conduct p our resp irer ; en effet,ils ne
of the divers,will b e found in
PERCIVAL’
S Ceylon,ch. iii . and in
CORDINER’
S Ceylon,vol . ii. ch. xvi.
T here is al so a valuable paper on
the same subject by Mr. LE BECK ,
in the Asia tic Resea rches , vol . v. p .
993 but by far the most able and
intelligent description is contained
in the Account of the Pearl
F isheries of Ceylon, by JAME S
STEUART , Esq .,Inspector of the
Pearl Bank s , 4to . Colombo, 1843 .
2 MASSOUD I says that thePersian
divers , a s they coul d not breathethr ough their nostrils , clef t the root
of the ear for that purpose :“ I ls
peuvent se servir pour cet Objet desnarines , vu qu
’
ils se les bouchentavec des morceaux d
’
écail les de
tortue marine ou bien avec desmorceaux de corne ayant la form e
d’
un fer de lance . En méme temps
ils se mettent dans l’
oreille ducoton trempé dans de l ’huile.
Moroudj - a l-Dz eheb, 92a , REINAUD .
Me'
moire sur l’
Inde, p . 228 .
3 Colonel WI LSON says they com
press the nose with horn , and close
the ears with beeswax. See .Memorandum on the Pea r l F isheri es in
Persian Gulf .— J ourn. Geogr . Soc .
1833, vol . iii . p . 283.
378 SHELLS . [CH AP. XI .
a s possible above water, to give force to his descent ;and, liberating the stone from its fa stenings, he sinksrapidly below the surfa ce . As soon a s he has rea chedthe bottom, the stone is drawn up , and the diver,throwing himself on his fa ce, commences with ala crityto fi ll his basket with oysters. T his, on a concertedsignal, is hauled rapidly to the surfa ce the divera ssisting his own a scent by springing on the rope a s it
rises .Improbable tales have been told of the capacity which
these m en acquire of remaining for prolonged periodsunder water. T he divers who attended on this occa sionwere amongst the most expert on the coa st, yet not one
of them wa s able to complete a full minute below.
Captain Steuart, who filled for many years the office of
Inspector of the Pearl Banks, a ssured m e that he had
never known a diver to continue at the bottom longerthan eighty- seven seconds, nor to attain a greater depththan thirteen fathoms ; and on ordinary occa sions theyseldom exceeded fifty- five seconds in nine fathom water. 1
T he only precaution to which the Ceylon diver de
votedly resorts, is the mystic ceremony of the sharkcharmer, whose exorcism is an indispensable preliminaryto every fishery. H is power is believed to b e hereditary ;nor is it supposed that the va lue of his incantations is ata ll dependent upon the religious fa ith professed by theoperator, for the present head of the family happens to
1 RIBEYRO says that a diver that some divers stayed four or
coul d rem ain below whilst two five, and one sir minutes — Ceylon,
credos were being repeated :“ 11 p . 9 1 ; LE BECK says that in 1797
s’
y tient l’
espace de deux credo. he saw a Caffre b oy from Karical,Lib . 1. ch . xxii. p . 169 . PERCIVAL remain down for the space of seven
says the usual time for them to b e minutes .—Asia t. Res . vol . v. p .
under water was two minutes , but 402.
380 SHELLS. [CH AP . XI .
the inspection served only to suggest the prospect (which
has since been realised) that in time the income fromthis source might b e expected to revive — and
,forced
to content ourselves with this anticipation, we weighed
anchor from Condatchy, on the 30th March, and arrivedon the following day a t Colombo .
T he banks of Aripo are not the only localities, nor is
the a vicu la the only mollusc, by which pea rls are fur
nished. T he Bay of Tamblegam , connected with the
magnificent harbour of T rincom alie, is the seat of
another pearl fishery, and the shell which produces themis the thin transparent oyster (Pla cuna p la centa ), whoseclear white shells are used, in China and elsewhere, a s
a substitute for window gla ss . T hey are also collectedannually for the sake of the diminutive pearls containedin them . T hese are exported to the coa st of India , tobe calcined for lime, which the luxurious affect to chewwith their betel. T hese pearls are a lso burned in the
mouths of the dead . So prolific are the mollusca of thePla cuna , that the quantity of shells taken by the
licensed renter in the three years prior to 1858 , couldnot have been less than eighteen millions ? T hey delight in bra ckish water
,and on more than one recent
occa sion, an excess of either sa lt water or fresh has
proved fatal to great numbers of them .
On the occa sion of a visit which I made to Batticaloa ,in September, 1848 , I made some inquiries relative to astory which had rea ched me ofmusical sounds, said to be
given from drawings made for the at four months old, No . 3 . No . 4 ,
Oflicial Inspector, and exhibiting Six months . No . 5, one year . No .
the as certained siz e of the pearl 6,two years . T he second plate
oyster at every period of its growth, exhibits the shell at its full growth.
from the “spat
”to the mature 1 Rep ort of Dr. KELAAR T , Oct .
shell . T he young“ brood ”
are 1857.
shown at Nos . 1 and 2. T he shell
CH AP . XL ] MUSICAL SEA—SOUNDS. 38 1
often heard issuing from the bottom of the lake, at severa l
pla ces, both above and below the ferry opposite the old
Dutch Fort ; and which the natives suppose to proceedfrom some fish peculiar to the locality. T he report wasconfirmed in all its particula rs, and one of the spotswhence the sounds proceed wa s pointed out between the
pier and a rock that intersects the channel, two or threehundred yards to the ea stward . T hey were said to beheard at night, and most dis tinctly when the moon wasnea rest the full, and they were described a s resemblingthe faint sweet notes of an ZEolian harp . I sent forsome of the fishermen, who said they were perfectlyaware of the fact, and that their fathers had a lwaysknown of the existence of the musical sounds, heard, theysaid, at the spot a lluded to, but only during the drysea son, a s they cea se when the lake is swollen by thefreshes a fter the rain. T hey believed them to proceednot from a fish, but from a shell, which is known by theT amil name of (oorie cooleeroo cra doc , or) the cryingshell, a name in which the sound seems to have beenadopted a s an echo to the sense . I sent them in sea rchof the shell, and they returned bringing me some livingspecimens of different shells, chiefly littorina and ceri
thium?
1 I/ ittorina le cis . Cerithium p a
lus tre. Of the latter the specimens
brought to me were dwarfed and
solid, exhibiting in this particularthe usual peculiarities that distin
guish (1) shells inhabiting a rockylocality from (2) their congeners in
a sandy bottom . T heir longitu
dinal development was less , with
greater breadth, and increased
strength and weight .
CERIT H IUM PAL UST RE .
SHELLS. [CHAP . XI .
In the evening when the moon rose, I took a boat anda ccompanied the fishermen to the spot. We rowedabout two hundred yards north- ea st of the jetty by thefort gate ; there wa s not a breath of wind
,nor a ripple
except those caused by the dip of our oars. On comingto the point mentioned, I distinctly heard the sounds inquestion . T hey came up from the water like the gentlethrills of a musical chord, or the faint vibrations of awine-glass when its rim is rubbed by a m oistened finger.I t was not one sustained note, but a multitude of tinysounds, ea ch clear and distinct in itself ; the sweetesttreble mingling with the lowest ba ss. On applying theear to the woodwork of the boat, the vibration was
greatly increa sed in volume . T he sounds varied considerab ly at different points, a s we moved a cross thelake
,a s if the number of the anima ls from which they
proceeded was greatest in particular spots and occasiona lly we rowed out of hearing of them a ltogether, untilon returning to the original locality the sounds were atonce renewed.
T his fact seems to indicate that the causes of thesounds
,whatever they may be, are stationary at severa l
points ; and this agrees with the statement of the
natives, that they are produced by mollusca , and not byfish. T hey came evidently and sensibly from the depthof the lake, and there wa s nothing in the surroundingcircumstances to support the conjecture that they could
b e the reverberation of noises made by insects on theshore conveyed a long the surfa ce of the water for theywere loudest and most distinct at points where the nature of the land, and the intervention of the fort and
its buildings, forbade the possibility of this kind of con
duction.
384 SHELLS . [CH AP. XI .
same interesting phenomenon has been observed at the
mouth of the Pa scagoula , in the State ofMississippi, andof another river called the “ Bayon coq del Inde,
” onthe northern shore of the Gulf ofMexico . T he anima lsfrom which they proceed have not been identified at
either of these pla ces, and themystery remains unsolved,whether the sounds at Batticaloa are given forth by fishesor by molluscs .Certain fishes are known to utter sounds when removed
from the water‘, and some are capable of making noiseswhen under it2 ; but a ll the circumstances connectedwith the sounds which I heard at Batticaloa are un
favourable to the conjecture that they were produced byeither.Organs of hearing have been clea rly a scertained to
1 T he Cuckoo Gurnard (T riglz’
a
cuculus) and the maigre (Scie naagm la) utter sounds when taken
out of the water (YARRELL , vol . i.p . 44 , and herrings when
the net has just been drawn havebeen observed to do the same.
T his effect has been attributed tothe escape of air from the air
bladder, but no air bladder has
been found in the Cottus , which
makes a similar nois e.
2 T he fishermen a ssert that a
fi sh about five inches in length,found in the lake at Colombo, andcalled by them magoom ,
”makes
a grunt when disturbed under
water. PAL LEGOIX,in his account
of Siam , speaks of a fi sh resemblinga sole, but of brilliant colouringwith black spots , which the natives
call the “ dog’
s tongue,”
that
a ttaches itself to the bottom of a
boat,
“et fait entendre un bruit
tres - sonore et meme harmonieux .
”
T om . i. p . 194 . A Szlm'
us ,
found in the Rio Parana , and calledthe armado
,
”is remarkable for
making a harsh grating noise when
caught by hook or lin e, which can
be distinctly heard when the fi sh
is beneath the water. DARWIN ,
Na t. J ourn. ch. vii. Aristotle
and E lian were aware of the ex
istence of this faculty in some of
the fishes of the Mediterranean.
ARI ST OT LE, De Anim ,
lib . iv. ch.
ix. ; JEL IAN ,De Na t. Anim ,
lib .
x. ch. xi. see also PL INY, lib . ix .
ch. vii. , lib . x1 . ch. cxiii. ; AT EE
NE US, lib . vi l . ch. iii. vi. I have
heard of sounds produced under
water at Baltimore, and supposed
to b e produced by the cat-fi sh ;and at Swan River, in Australia,where they are ascribed to the“ trumpeter. A similar noise heard
in the T agus is attributed by theLisbon fisherm en to the Corm
'
na”
- but what fi sh is meant by that
name,I am unable to tell .
CHAP . x1.] MUSICAL SEA- SOUNDS. 385
exist,not only in fishes‘, but in mollusca . In the oyster
the presence of an a coustic apparatus of the simplest
possible construction has been established by the disco
veries of Siebold2, and from our knowledge of the reci
procal relations existing between the faculties of hearing
and of producing sounds, the a scertained existence of
the one affords legitimate grounds for inferring the co
existence of the other in animals of the same cla ss. 3
Besides, it has been clea rly established, that one at
lea st of the ga steropoda is furnished with the power of
producing sounds . Dr. Grant, in 1826, communicated to
the Edinburgh Philosophica l Society the fact, that on
pla cing some specimens of the Tritonia a rborescens in
a gla ss vessel filled with sea water, his attention was
a ttracted by a noise which he a scertained to proceed
from these mollusca . I t resembled the “ clink ”of a
steel wire on the side of the jar, one stroke only being
given at a time, and repeated at Short intervals .4
T he affinity of structure between the T ritonia and
the mollusca inhabiting the shells brought to m e a t
Batticaloa , might justify the belief of the natives of
Ceylon, that the latter are the authors of the sounds Iheard ; and the description of those emitted by theformer a s given by Dr. Grant, so nearly resemble them,
that I have a lways regretted my inability, on the occa
1 AGASSIZ,Comp ara tive Physio
logy, sec . ii. 158 .
2 I t consists of two roundvesicles
containing fluid, and crystalline or
elliptical calcareous particles or
o tohtes , remarkable for their oscil
latory a ction in the living or re
c ently killed animal . OWEN’
S
Lectures on the Comp ara tive Area
tomy and Physiology of the Inver
tebra te Anima ls, 1855, p . 511-552 .
3 I am informed that ProfessorMULLER read a paper on Musical
fishes ” before the Academy of Berlin,
in 1856 . I t will probably b efound in the volume of MULLER ’
S
Archie . feir Physiologie for that
year ; but I have not had an 0p
portunity of reading it .
4 EdinburghPhilosophica lJ ourn ,
vol . xiv. p . 188 . See a lso the Ap
pendix to this chapter .
0 0
386 SHELLS. [CHAP . XI .
sion of my yisits to Batticaloa , to investigate the subjectm ore narrowly. At subsequent periods I have since renewed my efforts, but without success, to obtain specimens or observa tions of the habits of the living mollusca .
T he only species a fterwards sent to m e were Cerithia ;but no vigilance sufficed to catch the desired sounds, and
I still hesitate to a ccept the dictum of the fishermen, as
the same mol lusc abounds in all the other bra ckish
estuaries on the coa st ; and it would be singula r, iftrue, that the phenomenon of its uttering a musicalnote should be confined to a single spot in the lagoon
of Batticaloa .
l
Al though natura lis ts have long been familiarwith themarine testacea of Ceylon, no successful attempt has
yet been made to form a classified cata logue of the
species ; and I am indebted to the eminent conchologist,
Mr. Sylvanus H anley, for the list which a ccompaniesthis notice .
In drawing it up, Mr. H anley observes that he found ita task of more difficulty than would at first be surmised
,
owing to the almost total absence of reliable data fromwhich to construct it . T hree sources were available :collections formed by resident naturalists, the contentsof the well-known satin-wood boxes prepared at T rincomalie, and the laborious elimination of locality fromthe habitats a scribed to a ll the known species in the
multitude of works on conchology in general.But, unfortunately, the first resource proved fallacious.
T here is no large collection in this country composed exclusively of Ceylon shells - and as the very few cabinets
1 T he letterwhich I receivedfrom stimul ate some other inquirer inDr. Grant on this subject, I have Ceylon to prosecute the investi
placed in a note to the present gation which I was unable to carrychapter, in the hope that it may out successfully.
SHELLS . [CH AP . XI .388
the less attractive ones of the land and the lakes .H ence Mr. H anley finds it necessary to premise thatthe list appended, a lthough the result Of infinite labourand research , is less satisfa ctory than could have beenwished.
“ I t is offered,”he says, “ with diffidence, not
pretending to the merit of completeness a s a shell- faunaof the island, but rather as a form, which the z ea l Of
other collectors m ay hereafter elaborate and fi ll up.
”
Looking at the little that ha s yet been done, comparedwith the va st and almost untried field which invitesexplorers, an a ssiduous collector m ay quadruple the
species hitherto described . T he minute shells especiallym ay b e said to b e unknown ; a vigilant examination of
the cora ls and excrescences upon the spondyli and pearlOysters would signally increa se our knowledge Of the
Rissose, Chemnitz iae, and other perfora ting testacea ,whilst the dredge from the deep water will a stonish theamateur by the wholly new forms it can scarcely fail todisplay.
List of Ceylon Shells .
T he arrangement here adopted is a modified Lamarckian one, very Simila r to that used by Reeve and Sowerby,and by Mr. H ANLEY, in his I llustra ted Ca ta logue ofRecent Shells .
1
1 Below will b e found'
a general Zeitsch. Ma lahoz . 1853.
'
AN 'rON
,
reference to theWorks or Papers in Wiegm . Arch. Na t. 1837 ; Ver
which are given descriptive notices z eichn . Conch. BECK in Pfeifi'
er,
Of the shells contained in the fol Symbol . H elic . BENSON , Ann . Na t.lowing list ; the names of the
authors (in full or abbreviated)being, as usual , annexed to each
species .
ADAMS , Proceed. Zool. Soc . 1853,54, 56 ; flhesaur. Conch. ALBERS,
H ist. vii. 1851 ; xii. 1853 ; xviii.1856 . BLAINVILLE
,Diet. Sc . Na t.
Noni) . Ann . Mus . H is . Na t. i.BOL T EN
, Mus . BORN, T est. Mus .
Ccees . Vind. BRODERIP,Zool .
J ourn. i. iii. BRUGUIERE, B icyc.
CHAP. XL] LIST OF
Aspergillum J avanum . Brag . Enc . Mét .sparsam ,
Sowerby , Gen . S he l ls . l
c lava tum , Chenu, l llust . Conch .
T eredo nucxvorus Sp Skr. Na t . Sels .2
So len tnunca tus . Wood , Gen. Conch.
hnean s, Wood , G en. Conch .
c ultel lus , Lm n . Syst . Na t .
radia tus, L mn . Syst . Na t .
Ana t lna sub ro strata , L am . Ani. s Vert .
Ana tm e lla NICObd rlCd . Gm . Svst . Na t .L utra ria E gypt laca , Chewu . Conch. Cab .
Blamvxl lea vm ea , Chemn . Conch . Cab 3
S c ro b lcu lan a angula ta , Chem . C on . Cab 4
Mac tra comp lanara , Des/z Proc . Zl. Soc .S
tum lda , Chem". Conch . Ca b .
ant iquata , Reeve (as o f C . Icon.
cygnea , Chemn . Conch . Cab .
1 A dichotomum , Chenu .
2 F istulana grega ta , L am .
3 Blamvrl lea . H upé .
4 L a tren a telhnordes , L am.
Me'
thod. Vers . CARPENTER ,Proc .
Zool. Soc . 1856 . CHEMNI T Z, Conch.
Ca b. CH ENU, Illus . Conch. DES
Zool. 1831 ; Voy . Relanger ; Edi t.
L am. An. s . Vert. ; Proceed. Zool.
Soc . 1853,54 , 55. DILLWYN
,
Descr. Ca t. Shells . DOII RN,Proc .
Zool . Soc . 1857, 58 ; Ma la/e.
Bldtter Land and F luvia tile Shells
DUCLOS, Monog of Conch. POT rEz etMI CH AUD,Ga lerie
Pfeifi’er Doua i.
of Ceylon .
Oliva . F ARRI CIUS , in
Monog . H elm ; in Dohrn’
s MSS .
FERUSSAC, H is t. Mollusques . F ORS
KAL, Anim . Orient. GMELD I
,Syst.
Na t. GRAY,Proc . Zool. Soc . 1834
,
52 ; Index T es ta ceologicus Supp l.
Spicilegia Zool. Zool. J ourn.
Zool . Beechey Voy . GRAT ELOL'
P,
Act. I /inn. Bordeaux,xi. GUERIN
,
Rev. Zool. 1847. H ANLEY, Thesaur .
Conch. i. ; Recent Biva lves ; Proc .
Zool. Soc . 1858 . H INDS,Zool. Voy.
Sulp hur ; Proc . Zool . Soc . H UT T ON,
J ourn . As . Soc . KARST EN, Mus .
Lesh. KLENER , Coquilles Vivantes .
KRAUSS, Sud-Afrik Mollus lc. LA
MARCK ,An. sans Verte
’
b. LAYARD,
Proc . Zool . Soc . 1854 . LEA , Pro
oecd. Zool. Soc . 1850 . LINNZEUS,
Sys t. .Na t. MART INI , Conch. Cab.
CEYLON SHELLS .
Na t.
SWAINSON,Zool .
T EMPLE T ON, Ann. Na t. H ist. 1858 .
T ROSCHEL,
Pneum ; Zeitschr .
389
5 I have al so seen M. hians Of Phl lipp lin a Ceylon co l lec tion ,
5 M. T aprob anensrs , I ndex T est . Supp l .7 Psammotella Sk mnen , Reeve.
MAWE , Introd. In'
nn . Conch. Index
T es t. Supp l . MEUSCII EN ,in Gronov.
ZOOp hyla c . MENKE,Synop . Mollus .
MULL ER ,H is t. Verm . T erres t.
PET I T,Pro . Zool . Soc . 1842 .
PFEI FFER,Ilfonog . H elic Monog .
Pneumon . Proceed. Zool. Soc .
1852, 53, 54
, 55, 56 ; Zeitschr .
Ma lacoz . 1853 . PH ILE PI,Zeitsch.
Ma l . 1846,47 ; Abbi ld. Neuer
RANG,Mag . Zool. ser. i. p .
100 . BECLUZ, Proceed. Zool . Soc .
1845 ; Revue Zool . Ca v. 1841 ;Mag . Conch. HERVE
, Conch.
I con . Proc . Zool . Soc . 1842,52 .
SCH UMACHER, Sys t. SH UT T LE
WOR T H . SOLANDER, in Dillwyn
’
s
Desc . Ca t. Shells ; SOWERBY, GeneraShells ; Sp ec ies Conch. Conch.
Misc . T besour . Conch. Conch.
I llus . ; Proc . Zool . Soc . App . to
T an/cerville Ca t. SPENGLER , Shrivt.
Selsh' . Kiobenhav. 1792 .
I llus t. ser. u .
in Pfeifier , Mon .
Mala/c. 1847 ;Wiegm . Arch. Na t. 1837. WOOD,
General Conch.
0 0 3
Corb iculoides , Deshayes , Pr. Z1. S . 1854.
Mesodesm a
L ayard] , Deshayes . Pr. Zool . Soc . 1854 .
stria ta . Chemn . Conch . Ca b .6
Cras »a te lla ro strata , L am . A nim . s . Vert .sulcata , L am AnIm . s . Vert.
Amphlde sma
duphca tum , Sowerby . Species Conch .
Pando ra Cey lamca , Sowerby ,Conch . Mis .
Ga leomm a L ayard l . Des/z Pr . S . 1856 .
Ke llia pecul ian s , Adams ,Pr . Zl . S . 18 56 .
Pem co la culte llus , D esh . Pr . Z1. S . 1853 .
S angumo lan a rose a , L am . Amm . 8 . V er: .
Psamm obia ros tra ta, L am . Amm . s . Vert .
o cc idens . Gm . Sys tema Na tures .
Skinnen , Reeve , Conch. Icon]
L ayardi , Desk . P. Z . Soc . 1854 .
390
lunulata , Desk . P. Z . Soc . 1854.amethystus , Wood, G en. Conch .
l
rugosa . L am . Anim . s . Vert. 2
T ellina Virga ta , L inn. Syst . Nat .3rugosa , Born , T est . Mus . Caes . Vind.Os tracea , L am . Anim . s . Vert.
a la , H a nley , T hesaur. Conch. i.
ine qua lis , H anley , T hesaur, Conch . i.L ayardi , Deshayes , P. Z . Soc . 1854 .
c a llosa , Deshayes . P. Z . Soc . 1854 .
rubra , Deshayes , P. Z Soc . 1854 .
a bb revia ta , Deshayes , P Z . Soc . 1854 .
fo liacea , L inn. Systema Na tures .
l ingua- felis, L inn . Sys tema Na turae.
vulsel la , Chemn . Conch . Cab .
4
L ucma interrupta , L am . Anim . s . Vert. 5
L aya rdi , Des/cages , Pr. Zoo l . Soc . 1855.
D onax scortum , L n . Syst . Nat.c uneata , Lmn . Syst . Na t .
faba , Chem . Conch C ab .
sp ino sa , Gm . Syst . Na t .
paxulus , Reeve, C onch. Icon.
Cyrena Ceylamca , Chemn . Conch . Cab .
T ennent i i , H a nle P. Z . Soc . 1858 .
Cytherea Erycina , i’
nn . Syst . Na t.6
m eretrix, L inn . Syst . Nat .7
c a stanea , L am . Anim . s . Vert.
castrensis , L inn . Sys t . Nat .
ca sta , Gm . Syst . Na t.
costa ta , Chemn . Conch. Cab .
lasta , Gm . Syst . Nat.trimaculata , L am . Anim . s . Vert .H eb raea , L am . Anim . s . Vert .
rugl iera , Lam . Anim . s . Vert .scripta , L inn , Syst . Na t.
gi bb ia , L am . Anim . s . Vert .Meroe
, L inn . Syst . Nat .testudina lis , L am . Anim . s . Vert .
sem inuda , Anton .Wiegm . A . Na t .
Venus ret icu lata , L inn . Syst . Nat .9
p inguis , Chemn Conch Cab .
recens , Phil ippa. Ab bi ld .
‘
Neuer Conch .
th ia ra , D zllw . De sc riptive Ca t . Shel ls.Malabarica
, Chemn . C onch. Ca b .
Bruguieri , H anley , Recent Biva lves
p api liona cea , L am . Anim . s . Vert .Indica , Sowerby , T hesaur. Conch . ii .
iodata , Deshayes , Proc . Zoo l . So c .
Ceylonens is . Sowerby , T hes . Conch. ii .
l itera ta , L inn . System a Na tures .
textrix, Chemn . Conch . Ca b .“
Card ium unedo , Lmn . Syst . Nat .m a culo sum , Wood , G en . Con.
leucostomum,Born, T t. M. Cas s. Vind.
l P. caerulescens . L am .
2 Sanguino laria rugo sa , L am .
3 T . s triatula o f L ama rck is also supposed to he indigenous to Ceylon .
4 T . ro stra ta , L am .
5 L . divaricata i s found,also , in mixed
Ceylon co llections .
5 C . d ispar Of Chemnitz is occasionallyfound in Ceylon co llec tions .
7 C . Impud ica , L am .
8 As D onax.
9 V . co rb is , L am .
10 As T apes .
11 V. textile, Lam.
SHELLS. [CHAP . XI .
12 Arca H elb lingi i, Chemn .
13 Mr . Cum ing info rms me that he hasfo rwarded no less than 8 1K distinc t Uniones from Ceylon to Isaac L ea , Of Philadelphia , for determina tion or description.
14 M. sma ra gdmus , Cha mu.
15 As Avicula .
16'
l he spec imens are not in a fittingsta te fo r po sitive determ ination . T heyare strong . extremely na rrow,
with theb eak o f the lower va lve much produced ,and the inner edge of the upper va lve den
t iculated throughout . T he muscular im
pressions are dusky brown.
rugosum , L a/m. Anim . s Vert
b iradia tum , Brugm ere, En. Meth . Vet s .a ttenua tum ,
Sowerby , Conch. Illust.enode , Sowerby , Conch. I llust .
papyra ceum , Chemn . Conch. C ab .
ring iculum , Sowerby , Conch . Illust .sub rugo~um ,
Sowerby , Conch . Il lust.la tum , Born. T est . Mus . Cass . Vind .
Asia tic um , Chemn Conch . Ca b .
Cardita variegata , Brag . Enc. Meth. Vers .
b ico lo r, L am . Anim . s . Vert.
Arca rhomb ea . Born , T est . Mus .
vellica ta , Reeve, Conch. Icon.
cruc ia ta ,Phihpp z
'
, Ab . Neur Conch .
decussat l , Reeve (a s of Sowerby), C .
scapha , Meuscken ,in G ronov. ZOO .
Pectuncu lus nodo sus , Reeve, Conch. Icon.
pert iniform is , L am . Anim s. Vert .
Nucnla m itra lis, H inds , Zool . voy. Sul .
L ayard i , Adams , Proc . Zoo l . Soc . 18 56
Mauritn (H anley as of H inds), Rec . Biv.
Umo
corruga tus , Muller , H ist. Verm . T er.13
margina lis , L am . Anim . s . Vert.L ithodomus
Cinnamoneus , L am . Anim . s . Vert.Myti lus V l l
‘
ld lS , L inn . Sys t. Nat .14
bilocula ris , L n . Syst . Na t .
Pinna infla ta , Chamn . Conch. Cab .
cance l la ta , Mawe, Intr . L in. Conch.
Ma l leus vu lgari s , L am . Anim . s . Vert.a lbus , L am . An im . s . Vert .Me leagrina m arga rit ifera , L inn . Syst. Nat.vexillum , Reeve, Conch . Icon .
”
Avicula m acro ptera , Reeve , Conch . I con.
L ima squamosa L am. Anim . s . Vert .Pecten pl ica , L inn . S‘yst . Na t.radula , L inn Syst . Na t .
p leuronec e s , Lm n . Syst. Nat .
pa lliuni , L inn . Syst . Na t .sena tor, Gm . Syst. Na t.
h istrion icus , Gm . Syst . Nat.Ind icus , Deshayes , Voyage Belanger.
L aya rdi, Reeve , Conch , Icon.
Spondylus L aya rdi , Reeve, Conch. Icon.
candidus , Reeve (a s o f L am . ) C . Icon.
Os trea hyo tis , L inn . Syst . Nat .
gla ucm a, L am Anim . s . Vert .
My t i lOides, L am . Anim . s . Vert.
cucul lata var. Born T est. M. Vind ."5
Vulse llaPho ladifo rmis
, Reeve, C . lcn. ( imma t . )Placuna placenta , L inn . Syst . Na t .
L ingula anatina , L am . Anim . s . Vert .
SHELLS . [CH AP . XI .
a lab astrum,Pfeifi
‘l Monog . Pneumon.
Baird ii , Pferfii Mono g . Pneumon.
T hwaitesn , Pf emfi Mo nog Pneumon .
annula tum , T ro cc/z . in Pfeifi‘
. M. Pneum .
parapsis . Ben s . An. Nat H is t . 1853 (X11
pa rm Ben s . An. Na t . H is . 1856 (xvni )c ratera
,Bens . An . N . H ist . l8 56 (xvni . )
(L ep topoma ) ha lophi lum ,Ben son , Ann .
Na t . H is t . ( ser. 2 Vii. ) 1851.
orophilum , Bens A . N . H . ( ser . 2 . xi . )ap ica tum . Bens . A . N . H . 1856 (xvn i . )c o nu lus, Pfegfl. Proc . Zool . Soc . 1854.
flammeum , Pfezfl'
Monog . Pneum on .
s em ic lausum , P/erfi .
‘
Monog . Pneumon .
pwcflum . Pfegfi‘
Monog Pneumon .
ela tum , Pferfi .
‘
Monog . Pneumon.
Cyclostoma (Autopoma )I te ri, G ué rm , Rev. Zo ol . 1847 .
helic inum , Chemn . Conch Cab .
H ofi'
meisteri , T roschel , Zeit. Ma l . 1847.
grande . Pferfi.
’
Monog . Pneumon.
s nheroideum , Dohrn , Ma lak . Bla tter.
grada tum , Pfeifi‘
Monog . Pneumon .
Cyclo stoma (Pterucyc los ).C inga lense , Bens A . N . H . (ser . 2 . xi
T rosche li, Bens . Ann. Na t . H ist . 1851.
Cum ingi i , Pf ezfi . Monog . Pneumon.
b ifrons , Pfezfi“ Monog . Pneumon .
Ca taulus T emnlemani , Pferfi‘
Mon Pneu .
eurytrem a , Pferfi .
’
Proc Zoo l . Soc . 1852.
m arg ina tus , Pfegfl'
Pro c . Zoo l . So c . 1853 .
duplicatus , F ie /f Pro c . Zoo l . Soc . 1854 .
aureUS , Pfezfii Proc . Zoo l . Soc . 18 55 .
L ayard i , Gray . Proc . ZOO] Soc . 18 32 .
Austeniani' s . Bens . A . N . H . 1853 (xii . )T hwa iteSii, Pfezfi .
’
Proc ZO . So c . 1852 .
Cuming ii . Pfefi Proc Zoo l . Soc . 1856dec orus , Bens Ann. Na t. H ist . 1853
haem astoma , Pfezfi .
’
Proc . Zo . So c . 1856 .
Planorb isCoromandel ianus , F a b . in Dorhn
’s MS .
Stelz eneri. Dohrn . Proc . Zool . Soc . 185 8 .
elegantulus , Dohrn , Proc . Z . So c. 1858 .
L imnaea
tigrina , Dohrn , Proc . Zool . So c . 18 58 .
p inguis , D ohrn , Pro c . Zool . Soc . 1858 .
Melania
tubercula ta , Muller , Verm . T er.‘
spinulosa , L am . Anim. s . Vert .
corrugata , L am Anim . s . Ve rt .
rudis , L t a , Proc . Zo o l. Soc 18 50 .
a canth ic a , L ea , Pro c . Zoo l . Soc . 1850 .
Zeylanica , L ea Proc . Z o o l . Soc . 1850 .
confusa , Dohrn ,Pro c . Zoo l So c . 1858 .
d atura , D ohrn , Proc . Zoo l . So c . 1858 .
L a t a rdi , Dohrn,Proc . Zool . Soc . 1858 .
Pa ludomus
abbren a tus , Reeve, Pr . Zool . Soc . 1852 .
c lavatus , Reeve, Pro c . Zoo l . Soc. 18 52.dil a ta tus
,Reeve , Proc . Zool . S oc . 1852 .
globulo sus , Reeve, C onch Icon.
decussatus , Reeve . Proc Zo ol Soc . 1852 .
nigricans , Reeve , Conch . Icon .
constric tus , Reeve. Pro c ZO. Soc . 1852 .
b ic inctus , Reeve , Proc . Zoo l . So c . 18 52 .
p ha sianinus , Reeve, Proc . ZO S o c . 1852.
Items , L aya rd, Proc . Zool . Soc . 1854.
i M. fasciolata , Olivier . authority o fMr. Dohrn.
3 T hese four species are included on the3 N . exuvia , L am . not L inn .
palustris , L aya rd, Proc . Zool Soc . 1854 .
iulgura tus , Dohrn , Proc Zo . Soc . 1857.
na sutus , Dohrn , Proc . ZOO I. Soc . 1857 .
Sphe ric us , Dohrn ,Pro c . Zo . Soc . 1857 .
so l idus , Dohrn , Proc . Zoo l . S oc . 1857 .
d is t inguendus , Dohrn,Proc . Z . S . 1857 .
Cum ingianus , Dohrn , Proc . Z . S 1857 .
d romeda rius . Dohrn , Pro c . Z S . 1857 .
Skinneri, D ohrn, Pro c Zoo l . Soc . 18 57 .
Swa insoni , Dohrn . Proc ZO . Soc . 1857 .
nodulo sus , Dohrn , Proc . Zo . Soc . 1857 .
Pa ludomus ( T a na lza ).lorica tus , Reeve, Conch . Icon.
erina ceus, Reeve, Proc . Zoo l . So c . 1852.
e reus , Reeve, Pro c . Zoo l. Soc . 1852 .
L ayardi, Reeve, Pro c . Zoo l . Soc . 1852.unda tus , Reeve , Conch . Icon .
Ga rdneri , Reeve, Conch . Icon .
T ennentii, Reeve . C onch . Icon .
Reevei , Lay a rd , Pro c . Zoo l . Soc . 1854 .
v io laceus , L ay a rd , Proc . Zoo l. So c 1854 .
S im ilis, L aya rd . Proc . Z o o l . So c. 1854.fun ic ula tus , L ag/m d . Pr. Z . Soc . 1854.
Pa ludomus ( Philoputam z’
sl .
sulca tus , Reeve , Conch . Icon.
rega lis , L aya rd , Proc Zoo l . Soc . 1854.
T hwa itesu . Laya rd , P. Zoo l. Soc. 1854 .
Pirena a tra , L inn . S) s tema Nature .
Pa lud ina m e lanostom a , Bens .
Ceylanica , Dohrn . Pr . Zoo l. Soc . 1857.
Bythm ia s teno the ides , Dohrn,Proc .
Zoo l . Soc 18 57 .
m odesta , Dohrn . MS .
inconsp icua , Dohrn , Pr. Zool . Soc . 1857.
Am pullaria La sa rdi , Reeve, Conch . Icon.
me sta,Reeve, Conch . Icon.
c inerea , Reeve , Conch . Icon .
W o odwa rd i,Dohrn . Pr . Z o o l . So c . 1858.
T i schbeini , Dohrn , Proc . Zool . Soc 1858.carina ta , Swa znson , Zoo l . l llus . ser. 2 .
pa lud inmdes , Ca t. Cu stoforz’
J an .2
Ma lab a rica , I’hzlzpp z , m onog . Ampul .
2
L u z onic a , Reeve, Conch . l con .2
Sum atrenS is , t lzpp z’
, monog . Ampule
Navicel la e l la , Reeve, Conch . Icon .
ret icula ta, Reeve ,C onch . Icon.
L it esayi , Dohrn , Proc . Z oo l . Soc . 1858 .
squama ta,Dohrn , Proc . Zoo l . Soc . 1858 .
depressa , L am . Anim . s . Vert.Nerit ina
crepidularia , L am . Anim . s. Vert .
melano st om a, T rosch. W . A . Na t. 1837 .
triseria li s , Sowerby ,C onch . Illustr.
Colombaria , Recluz , Pr. Zo o l . Soc . 1845.
Pero ttetiana , Beela r , Rev. Z . Guv. 184 1.CeylanenSIS , Reclu z , Mag . Conch . 1851.L aya rdi
,Reeve , Conch . Icon .
ro stra ta , Reeve, Conch . Icon.
reticula ta , Sowerby , Conch. I llustr.Nerita plica ta , Lmn . System a Nature .
cos ta ta , Chemn . Conch . Ca b .
plexa , Chemn . Conch . Cab .3
Na t ica aurantia , La m . 4mm . 8 . Vert.
mamm i l la , Lm n . Systema Nature .
p icta , Reeve (a s o f Reclu z ), C . Icon.
a rachnoidea , Gm . Systema Nature .
lineata , L am . Anim . s . Vert.
CH AP . XL] LIST OF CEYLON SHELLS . 393
adusta , Ch . C . C . f. 1926-7, 8: Ka rsten .l
pellis- tigrina , Ka rsten , Mus . Lesk .2
d idym a,Batten , Mus .
3
Ianth ina pro longa ia , Bla inv. D . S . N . xxiv .
communis,Kr . (as o fL . in part) S .A . M.
Sigaretus , sp .4
S toma te lla
ca ll io s tom a , Ada ms , T hesaur . Conch .
H al io tis va ria , L inn. Systema Na ture .
stria ta , Ma rtzn z (as of C . Can. i.
sem istria ta , Reeve, Conch. Icon .
T orna te lla so lidula , L n . Systema Nat .Pyram ide lla
maculo sa , L am . Anim . s . Vert.Eulima Martini , Adams , T hes . Conch . i i.
S iliqua i ia
muricata,Born . T est . Mus . Ce s . V ind.
Sc a laria ra ricos ta ta , L am . Anim . s . Vert .
D e lphinula la cm ia ta , L am . Anim. s . Vert .
di s torta , L inn . S vs t . Na t. 5
Solarium perd ix, H inds . Proc . Zool . Soc .
L ayardi , Adams . Pro c . Zoo l Soc . 1854 6
Rote lla ves tia ria , L inn . Sys t . Na t .Phoriis pa ll idulus , Reeve, Conch. I con. i.
T rochuselegantulus , Gray . Index T es. Suppl.Ni lo ticus , L mn . Sys t . Nat .
Monodonta la b io , L inn . Syst . Nat .cana liculata , L am . Anim . s . Vert.
T urbo vers ico lo r, Gm Syst. Na t.
princeps . Phil ipp a?
PlanaXis undula tus , L am . Anim . s . Vert. 8
L i tto rina anguli fera , L am . Anim . s . Vert .
m e lanOs toma , Gray , Zool. ,Beech. Voy.9
ChemnitZia
tril inea ta , Adams , Proc . Zoo l. Soc . 1853.lira ta , Adams , Proc . Zoo l . Soc . 1853.
Pha sianellalineo la ta , Gray , Index T est . Suppl . ‘
T urritel lab aCI llum , Kz
'
ener, Coqu il les Vivantes.co lumnari s , Kzener
,Co qui l les V ivantes .
dupl ica ta , L n . S) st . Na t .a ttenuata , Reeve, Sys t . Nat.
Cerithi um fluvia ti le , Potzez 8; Mz'
cha ud,Galerie D o ua i.
L ayardi ( Cerithidea), Adams , Proc .
Zoo l . Soc . 1854 .
pa lustre , L inn. Syst . Nat.a luco , Lm n . Syst . Nat .a sperum , L n Syst. Nat .telescop iurn, L inn . Syst . Nat .
pa lustre o beli scus , L inn . S5st . Nat .fa scia tum , Brug . Encyc l . Meth . Vers .
rub us , Sower . (a s o i C. i i .
1 Conch . Cab . f. 1926-7, and N . melan.
o stoma , L am . in part .2 Chemn . Conch . Cab . 1892-3.
3 N . glaucm a , L am no t L n .
4 A spec ies (pos sibly J a vanicus) is
known to have b een co llec ted. 1 have not
seen it .5 No t o f L ama rck . D . a traia
, Reeve.
5 Phi lippia L .
7 Zeit. Ma l. 1846 for T . argyrostoma ,L am no t L inn .
8 Bucc inum pyram idatum , Gm . in partB . sulca tum ,
va r . C . of Brag .
9 T este Guining .
Sowerbyi, K i'
ener , Coquilles Vivantes
(teste Sir E . T ennent ).Pleuro toma Indica , Deshayes , Voyage
Belanger.virgo , L am . Anim . s . Vert .
T urbine l la pyrum , L inn . Syst . Na t.
rapa , L am Anim . s Chank . )c ornigera , Lam . Anim . s . Vert .
spiri llus , L n . Syst . Na t.Cancelleriatrigonostoma
,L am . Anim . s . Vert. l o
sca la ta,Sowerby , T hesaur . Conch .
art icula ris,Sowerby ,
T hesaur. Conch .
L ittorini form is , Sowerby , T hes . Conch.
contabula ia , Sowerby ,T hes . Conch .
F ascmla riafi lamento sa , L am . Anim . s . Vert .
trape z ium , Lmn. Syst . Na t .F usus longissimus , L am . Anim . s Vert.co lus , L inn . Mus . L ud . Ulrice .
toreuma ,Deshages (as Mur.
la tico sta tus , Deshayes , Mag. Zoo l . 1831.Blosvrl lei , Deshayes , E . Meth . Vers . , i i .
Pyrula rapa , L n . Syst. Na t .12
c itrina , L am . Anim . s . Vert .
pugi lina , Born , T est . Mus. Vind.13
fi cus , L inn . Syst . Na t .
fiCO ides , L am . Anim . s . Vert .
Ranel la c rumena , L a m Anim . s . Vert.sp inosa , L am . Anim . s . Vert .rana , L inn . Syst. Na t . 14
margari tula , Deshayes , Voy. Belanger.
Murex haustel lum , L inn . Syst. Na t.adus tus , L am . Anim . s Ve rt .
m icrophyllus , L am . Anim . s . Vert.
angu li lerus , L am . Anim . s . Vert .
pa lma ro se , L am . Anim . s . Vert .ternispina, K zener (a s o f Coquil les V ivantes .
tenuiSp ina , L am . Anim . s . Vert .
ferrugo , Mawe, Index. T est. Supp1.15
Reeveanus , Shuttleworth ( teste Cum tng)T ri ton a nus , L inn . Syst . Na t
16
mulus , D illwyn , D escript . Ca t . Shells .
retusus, L am . Anim . s . Vert .
pyrum , L inn . Syst . Nat .c lavator, Chemn . Conch . Cab .
CeylonenSis , Sowerby , Proc . Zool . Soc .
Ioto riuin, L am . (not L inn . )An. 8 . Vert .
Iampa s , L n . Syst . Na t .
Pterocera lambis , L inn . Syst . Nat .m il lepede , L inn . Syst. Na t .
Strombus canarium , L n. Syst. Nat. ”
succm t tus , L n . Syst . Nat .
fa SCiatus , Born, T est . Mus . Ce s . Vind .
1° As Delphinulat .11 Ed. L am . Anim . s . Vert .P. pa pyra cea , L am . In m ixed collee
tions 1 have seen the Chinese P. b ez oar ofL ama rck a s from Ceylon.
13 P . vespert i lio , Gm .
14 R . a lb iva ricosa . Reeve.15 M. anguliferus var . L am .
“5 T . cyno cepha lus of L ama rck is also
met with in Ceylon co l lec t ions .
17 S . inc isus o f the Index T e staceologi
cus (urceus , var . Sow . T hesaur.) is foundin mixed Ceylon col lections .
394 SHELLS. [CH AP . XI .
Sibbaldii, Sowerby , T hesaur. Conch . t .
lentigino sus , L inn. Syst. Nat .marginatus , L inn. Syst . Na t.
L amarckii , Sowerby ,T hesa ur. Conch .
Cassis glauca . L inn. Syst . Na t .l
cana licula te , L am . Anim . s . Vert .Zeylanica , L a/m . Anim . s. Vert.
areo la,L inn . Syst . Na t .
Ricmula a lbo lab ris , Bla inv. Nouv. Ann.
Mus . H . N .
horrida , L am . Anim . s . Vert.
mom s , L am . An im . s . Vert .
Purpura fi scella , Chemn. Conch. Cab .
-Pers ica , L inn . Syst . Nat.
hystrix. L am . (no t L inn An. s . Vert .
g rana tina , Deshayes , Voy Belanger.
manc inella , L am . (a s o fL inn .)An . s .V .
b ufo , L am . Anim . s . Vert.
carinifera , L am . Anim . s . Vert .
H arpa conOida lis , L am . Anim , s. Vert .
m inor, L am . Anim . s . Vert .
D o l ium pomum , L inn . Syst . Na t
o learium , L inn . Syst . Nat .
perdix, L inn . Sys t . Na t .macula tum , Lam . Anim . s . Vert.
Nassa orna ta , Kiener , Coq . Vivantes .3
verruco sa , Brag . Encyc l. Meth. Vers.
crenulata , Brag . Encyc l . Meth . Vers .
o livacea , Bra g . Encyc l . Meth. Vet's.
g lans, L inn . Syst . Nat .
a rcularia , L inn . Syst Nat .
papillosa . L inn . Syst . Na t.
Phos Virgatus, H inds , Zoo l . Sul . Moll .
reteco sus , H inds , Zoo l . Sulphur, Moll .
sentico sus , Lmn . Syst . Na t .
Buccinum me lano stoma , Sowerby , App .
to T ankerv. Ca t .
erythro stoma, Reeve, Conch . Icon.
Pro teus , Reeve , Conch . Icon.
rub iginosuni , Reeve, Conch . Icon.
Eburna spirata , L n . Syst . Nat.4
cana liculata , Schama cher , S . A . s . V .5
Ceylanica , Bruga zere, En. Meth. Vers .
Bullia vittata , L inn . Syst . Nat.liiieola ta , Sowerby , T ankerv. Cat .6
MelanOides , Deshayes , Voy. Belan .
T ereb ra chlo rate , Lam . Anim . s . Vert.
muscaria, L am . Anim . s. Vert.
le viga ta , Gray , Proc . Zool . Soc .
macula ta, L inn . Syst. Na t.subula ta , L inn . Syst . Nat .
concmna , Deshayes , ed. L am . A. s .V .
myurus , L am A nim . s . Vert .
t igrina , Gm Syst . Nat.
cerithina , L a m Anim . s . Vert.
Columb el la flavida , L am . Anim . s. Vert.fulgurans , L am . Anim . s . Vert.
mendicaria , L inn . Syst. Nat .
scripta , L am . Anim . s. Vert . ( T este J ay).Mitra
episc0 palis , Dzllwyn , Des. Cat. Shells .cardina lis , L am . Anim . s . Vert.
crebrilirata , Reeve, Conch. Icon .
1 C. plicaria o f L ama rck, and C . coro 5 E . spirata , L am . not L inn.
h ula ta of Sowerby , are a lso said to b e found 5 B. Be langeri , Kiener .
in Ceylon .7 A s T urricula L .
2 As Purpura .8 O . ii ti iculus , D illwyn.
3 N sutura lis , Reeve (as Of is 9 C . plano rb is , Bom ; C . vulpinus, Lam.
met W ith in m ixed Ceylon col lections. 1° Conus ermineus , Born, in pa rt .4 E . areolata , L am .
punctostriata ,Adams ,Proc ZOOI. SO . 1854
insculpta , Adams , Proc . Zoo l. Soc . 1854.
L ayardi , Adams , Proc . Zoo l. Soc .
Vo luta vexillum , Chemn . Conch. Cab .
L apponica , L inn . Syst . Na t .
Melo Indicus , Gm . Syst . Na t.
Marg inel la Sa rda , Kzener , C oq . Vivantes .
Ovulum ovum , L inn . Syst . Na tverrucosum ,
L inn . S5st . Na t .
pud icum , Adams , Proc . Zoo l . Soc . 1854 .
Cypre a Argus , L inn . Syst . Nat .Arabica , L inn . Syst. Na t .Ma urit iana . L inn . Syst . Nat .hirundo
,L inn . Syst . Nat.
Lynx, L inn . Syst. Nat .a sellus
,L inn . Syst . Nat .
ero sa, L inn . Syst. Nat .
Vi tellus , L inn . Syst. Na t.sto lida , L inn . Syst . Na t .mappa , L inn . Syst . Na t .
helvo la , L inn. Syst . Nat .errones , L inn . S) st . Nat.
cribraria , L inn . Syst. Nat
globulus , L inn . Sys t . Na t.
c landest ina , L inn. Syst . Natoce lla ta , L inn . Syst . Na t.cant ica , L inn . Syst . Na t .
ta bescens,Sola nd . inD illwynDes. C. Sh.
gangrenosa , Soland . in Di llw . D . C . Sh.
inte rrupta , Gray ,Zoo l . J ourn. i .
lent igino sa , Gray , Zoo l. Journ. i.
pyriform is , Gray ,Zoo l . J Oiirn. i.
nivosa . Broderzp ,Zoo l . J ourn . iii
poraria , L inn. Syst. Na t.testudinaria , L inn. Syst . Nat .
T ereb e llumsubula tum , L am . Anim . s. Vert .
Ancillaria glab ra ta , L inn . Syst. Nat.cand ida , L am . Anim . s . Vert .
Oliva Maura , L am . Anim s . Vert .
erythrostoma, L am . Anim . s . Vert.
gibbosa , Born , T est . Mus . Ce s.8
nebulo sa , L am . Anim . s . Vert .
Mac leayana , Duclos , Monogr. of Oliva.
episcopa l is , L am . Anim . s . Vert .
elegans , L am . Anim . s. Vert .
isp id ii la , L inn . Syst . Na t . (pa rtly). 9Zei lanica , L am. Anim . s . Vert
nuda ta , L am . Anim . s . Vert .irisans , L am . Anim . s . Vert. (teste
Duclos ).Conus m iles , L inn . Syst . Na t.
genera lis, L inn . Sysr. Na t.,
b etulinus . L inn . Syst . Nat .
stercus -muscarum , L inn. Syst. Nat.H eb re us , L tnn . Syst . Nat .
virgo , L inn. Syst . Nat .
geographicus , L inn . Svst . Nat.aulicus, L n . Syst .
fi gulinus , L inn . Svst . Na t.striatus , Lmn . Syst. Nat .
sena to r, L inn. Syst . Nat .l o
literatus , L inn . Syst . Nat .
396 SHELLS . [CH AP. XI .
a few Of those which exhibit striking peculiarities, orwhich admit of the most common Observation .
Sta r Fish— Very large species of Ophiuridoe are to be
met with at T rincom alie, crawling busily about, and insinuating their long serpentine a rms into the irregularities and perforations in the rocks . T O these they atta chthemselves with such a firm grasp, especia lly when they
perceive that they have attra cted attention, that it isa lmost impossible to procure unmutilated specimenswithout previously depriving them Of life, or at lea stmodifying their muscular tenacity. T he upper surfa ceis Of a dark purple colour, and coarsely spined ; thea rms of the largest specimens are more than a foot inlength, and very fragile .
T he sta r fishes, with immovable rays 1, are by nomeans rare ; many kinds are brought up in the nets, orm ay be extra cted from the stomachs of the larger marketfish. One very large Species
2, figured by Joinville in
the manuscript volume in the libra ry at the India H ouse,is not uncommon ; it has thick a rms, from which and
the disc numerous large fleshy cirrhi of a bright crimsoncolour project downwards, giving the creature a remarkable a spect. N0 description Of it, so far as I am aware,has appeared in any systematic work on z oology.
Sea S lugs .— T here are a few species of H olothurioe,
of which the trepang is the best known example . I t is
largely collected in the Gulf Of Manaar, and dried in thesun to prepare it for export to China . A good description and figures of its va rieties are still desiderata .
Pa ra sitic Worms . Of these entoz oa , the Fila riamedinensis, or Guinea -worm , which burrows in the
1 Asterias , Linn.
2 Pentaceros ?
CH AP. x1.] PARASIT IC WORMS. 397
cellular tissue under the skin, is well known in the northof the island, but rarely found in the damper districts ofthe south and west. In Ceylon, as elsewhere, the nativesattribute its occurrence to drinking the waters Of par
ticular wells ; but this belief is inconsistent with thefa ct that its lodgment in the human body is almosta lways effected just above the ankle . T his shows that
the minute paras ites are transferred to the skin of the
leg from the moist vegetation bordering the footpathsleading to wells . At this period the creatures are verysmall
,and the process Of insinuation is painless and
imperceptible . I t is only when they a ttain to considerable siz e, a foot or more in length, that the operation of
extracting them is resorted to, when exercise m ay havegiven rise to inconvenience and inflammation .
T hese pests in a ll probability received their popula rname of Guinea -worm s
,from the narrative of Bruno
or Braun, a citiz en and surgeon of Basle, who about theyear 1611 made several voyages to that part of the
African coa st, and on his return published, amongstother things, an a ccount Of the loca l disea ses . 1 ButLinschoten, the Dutch navigator, had previously Ob
served the same worms at Ormus in 1584 , and they are
thus described, together with the method Of removingthem,
in the English version Of his voyage .
T here is in Ormus a sickenesse or common plagueof worm es, which growe in their legges, it is thoughtthat they proceede of the water that they drink . T hesewormes are like unto lute strings, and about two or
three fadom es longe, which they must plucke out and
winde them aboute a straw or a feather, everie day some
1 In DE BRY’
s Collect , vol. i. p . 49 .
398 SHELLS . [CH AP. XI .
part thereof, so longe as they feele them creepe ; and
when they hold still, letting it rest in that sort till thenext daye, they bind it fast and annoynt the hole, and
the swelling from whence it comm eth foorth, with freshbutter, and so in ten or twelve dayes, they winde themout without any let, in the m eanetime they must sit stillwith their legges, for if it should breake, they should not
without great paine get it out of their legge, as I haveseen some men doe.
” 1
T he worm is Of a whitish colour, sometimes incliningto brown. Its thickness is from a half to two- thirds ofa line, and its length has sometimes reached to ten ortwelve feet. Small specimens have been found beneaththe tunica conjunctiva of the eye ; and one species of thesame genus of Nema toidea infests the cavity of the eye
itself.2
Planaria .—In the j ournal a lready mentioned, Dr. Ke
laart has given descriptions of fifteen species of planaria,and four of a new genus, instituted by him for the
reception of those differing from the normal kinds bysome peculiarities which they exhibit in common. At
Point Pedro, Mr. Edgar Layard m et with one on thebark of trees, after heavy rain, which would appear tobelong to the subgenus geop lanot.
3
Aca lephoe.—Acalephae
4 are plentiful, so much SO,
indeed, that they occa sionally tempt the larger cetaceainto the Gulf ofManaar. In the calmer months of theyear, when the sea is gla ssy, and for hours together
1 JOHN H UIGHEN VAN LIN of a light brown above, white nuSCH OT EN his Discours of Voyages derneath ; very broad and thin
,
into the Ea ste and West Indies . and has a peculiarly shaped tail ,London, 1599, p . 16 . half-moon-shaped in fact, like a
2 OWEN’
S Lectures on the Inver grocer’
s cheese knife.
tebra ta , p . 96 .
4 J elly-fish.
3 “A curious Species, which is
400 SHELLS. [CH AP. XI,
nearly a foot across, m ay b e seen in the Gulf ofManaa r,where no doubt, others of still larger growth are to befound.
Occasionally a fter storms, the beach at Colombo isstrewn with the thin transparent globes of the
“ Portu
gueseMan ofWar,”Physa lus urticu lus, which are piled
upon the lines left by the waves, like globules Of gla ssdelicately tinted with purple and blue . T hey sting
, as
their trivial name indicates, like a nettle when in
cautiously touched.
Red infusoria .— On both sides of the island (but
most frequently on the west), during the south-westmonsoon, a broad expanse of the sea a ssumes a red
tinge, considerably brighter than brick- dust ; and thisis confined to a Space so distinct that a line seems toseparate it from the green water which flows on eitherside . Observing at Colombo that the whole area sotinged changed its position without parting with any
portion of its colour ing, I had some of the water broughton shore, and, on examination with the microscope,found it to be filled with infusoria , probably similar tothose which have been noticed near the shores Of SouthAmerica , and whose abundance has impa rted a name tothe Vermilion Sea ”
Off the coa st of California .
1
T he remaining orders, including the cora ls, madre
1 T he late Dr . BUI ST , Of Bom giving us the seas of milk a s wellbay, in commenting on this state a s those of blood. T he coloured
ment,writes to the Athene um that : water at times is to b e seen all
“ T he red colour with which the along the coa st north toKurrachee,sea is tinged, round the shores Of and far out
, and Of a much more in
Ceylon, during a part of the SW. tense tint in the Arabian Sea .
monsoon is due to the Proto- coccus T he frequency of its appearance in
niva lis , or the H imatta - coccus, the Red Sea has conferred on it its
which presents different colours at name.
”
different periods of the year
CH AP. XL ] TRITONIA ARBORESCENS . 40 1
pores, and other polypi, have yet to find a naturalist toundertake their investigation, but in a ll probability thenew species are not very numerous.
NOT E .
TRITONIA ARBORESOENS.
T HE following is the letter Of Dr . Grant,referred to at page
Sir,— I have perused, with much interest , your rem arkable
communication received yesterday, respecting the mu sica l
sounds which you heard proc eeding from under water,on the
ea st coast Of Ceylon . I cannot parallel the phenom enon you
witnessed at Batticaloa,a s produced by marine animals
,with
anything with which my pa st experience has m ade m e a c
quainted in marine z oology. Excepting the faint clink of the
T ritonia a rborescens,repeated only once every minute or two
,
and apparently produced by the mouth arm ed with two dense
horny lam inae,I am not aware of any sounds produced in the
sea by branchia ted invertebrata . It is to b e regretted that in
the m em orandum you have not m entioned your ob servationson the living specim ens brought you bythe sailors a s the
anima ls which produced the sounds . Y our authentication of
the hitherto unknown fa ct,woul d prob ab ly lead to the disco
very Of the sam e phenom enon in other common a ccessib le
paludine ,and other a llied branchiated anima ls
,and to the
solution of a prob lem ,which is still to m e a mystery, even
regarding the tritonia .
My two living tritonia , contained in a large clear colour less
gla ss cylinder,filled with pure sea water
,and placed on the
c entra l tab le Of the Wernerian Natural H istory Society of
Edinburgh, around which many memb ers were sitting, con
D D
402 SHELLS. [CHAP . XI .
tinued to clink audibly within the distance of twelve feet
during the whole m eeting. T hese sma ll animals were individua lly not half the siz e of the las t j oint of my little finger .What effect the m ellow sounds of millions Of these, coveringthe shallow bottom of a tranquil estuary, in the silence of
night, might produce, I can scarcely conj ecture.
In the ab sence of your authentication,and of all geological
explanation of the continuous sounds,and of all source of fal
lacy from the hum and buz z of living creatures in the a ir or
on the land, or swimming on the waters,I must say that I
should b e inclined to seek for the source Of sounds so audible
a s those you describ e rather among the pulmonated vertebra ta ,which swarm in the depths Of these seas— a s fishes
,serpents
(Of which my fi'iend Dr . Cantor ha s describ ed ab out twelve
species he found in the Bay of Bengal), turtles, palmated b irds ,
pinnipedous and ceta ceou s mamm alia, & c .
T he pub lication of your m em orandum in its present form ,
though not quite satisfa ctory,will
,I think
, b e eminently cal
culated to excite useful inquiry into a neglected and curious
part of the economy of nature.
I remain,Sir
,
Y ours most respectfully,ROBERT E . GRANT .
S ir J . Emerson Tennent, do. do.
404 INSECTS . [CH AP. XI I .
knows ; whither going no one can tell. 1 As day declines,the moths issue from their retreats, the crickets add
their shrill voices to swell the din and when darknessdescends, the eye is charmed with the millions Of
emerald lamps lighted up by the fire-flies amidst the
surrounding gloom .
As yet no attempt ha s been made to describe the
insects of Ceylon systematically, much less to enumerate
the prodigous number of species that abound in every
locality. Occa sional observers have, from time to time,contributed notices of pa rticular families to the Scientific
Associations of Europe, but their papers remain un
digested, and the time has not yet a rrived for the pre
paration Of an Entomology of the island .
What DARWIN remarks of the Coleoptera of Bra z il isnearly a s applicable to the same order of insects in
Ceylon : “ T he number Of minute and Obscurely co
loured beetles is exceedingly great ; the cabinets of
Europe can as yet, with partial exceptions, boas t only
of the la rger species from tropical climates, and it is
sufficient to disturb the composure Of an entomologi stto look forward to the future dimensions of a cataloguewith any pretensions to completeness .
” 2 M. Nietner, a
German entomologist, Who ha s spent some years inCeylon, has recently published, in one of the local
1 T he butterflies I have seen in
these wonderful migrations in Ceylonwerem ostly Ca llidrya s H ila rioe
,
C. Ale/neone, and C. Pyranthe, With
stragghng individuals of the genus
Eup loea , E . Cora s , and E . Prothoe.
T heir passage took place in April
and May, generally in a north
ea sterly direction . T he natives
have a superstitious belief that
their flight is ultimately directedto Adam
’
s Peak, and that their
pilgrini age ends on reaching the
sacred moun tain. A friend Of
mine travelling from Kandy to
Kornegalle, drove for nine milesthrough a cloud Of white butterflies , which were pa ssing a cross
the road by which he went .2 Na t. J ourna l, p . 39 .
CH AP. XI I .) GOLDEN BEET LES , ETC. 405
periodicals, a series of papers on the Coleoptera Of the
island,in which every species introduced is stated to be
previously undescribed.
1
COLEOPTERA.- Bup restidoe ; Golden Beetles
— In the
morning the herba ceous plants, especially on the ea sternSide of the island, are studded with these gorgeous beetles,Whose golden wing- ca ses 2 are used to enrich the em
broidery Of the Indian z enana , whilst the lustrous j ointOf the legs are strung on silken threads, and form necklaces and bracelets of singular brilliancy.
T hese exquisite colours are not confined to one order,and some of the Elateridae 3 and Lamellicorns exhibithues of green and blue, that rival the deepest tints Ofthe emerald and sapphire .
Scavenger Beetles— Scavenger beetles 4 are to be
seen wherever the presence of putrescent and offensive
matter affords Opportunity for the display of their re
pulsive but most curious instincts ; fa stening on it witheagerness, severing it into lumps proportionate to theirstrength, and rolling it a long in search Of some pla ce
sufficiently soft in which to bury it, after having de
posited their eggs in the centre . I had frequent opportunities, especially in traversing the sandy jungles inthe level pla ins to the north of the island, Of Observingthe unfailing appearance of these creatures instantly onthe dropping Of horse dung, or any other substance
1 Republished in the Ann. Na t. and figured by Mr. WESTWOOD in
H is t. his Cabinet of Orienta l Entomology,2 Sternocera Chrysis S. s terni pl . 35, f. In the same work is
cornis . figured another species of large3 Of the family Of Ela teridae, one siz e
,also from Ceylon,
this is the
of the finest is a Singhalese species , Alaus sordidus .— WE STWOOD , L c .
the Camp sos ternus T emp letonii, Of pl . 35, f. 9 .
an exquisite golden green colour ,
4 Ateuchus sacer ; Cop ris sagaa'
with blue reflections (described C. cap ucinus , & c . & c.
D D 3
406 INSECTS . CH AP. XII .
LONG ICORN BEE T LE (BAT OCERA RUBUS).
suitable for their pur
pose ; a lthough notone was visible buta moment before.
T heir approa ch onthewing is announcedby a loud and j oyousbooming sound
, as
they da sh in rapidcircles in search of
the desired Object,led by their sense Of
smell, and evidentlylittle assisted by theeye in shaping theircourse towards it . Inthese excursions theyexhibit a strength Of
wing and susta ined
power of flight, suchas is possessed by noother cla ss of beetleswith which I am a c
quainted, but which
is Obviously indis
408 INSECTS . [CH AP. XI I .
in the shape of a beetle is sent to the house of some
person or family whose destruction it is intended tocompass, andwho presently fa lls sick and dies. T he onlymeans of averting this cata strophe is, that some one,
himself an adept in necromancy, should perform a
counter- charm, the effect of which is to send back the
disguised beetle to destroy his original employer ; for
in such a conjuncture the death of one or the other is
essential to appeas e the demon Whose intervention hasbeen invoked. H ence the discomfort of a Singhaleseon finding a beetle in his house after sunset, and hisanxiety to expel but not to kill it.T ortoise Beetles — T here is one family of insects, the
members Of which cannot fail to strike the traveller bytheir singular beauty, the Ca ssididoe or tortoise beetles,in which the outer shell overlaps the body, and the
limbs are susceptible of being drawn entirely within it.
T he rim is frequently of a different tint from the centre,and one species which I is quite
'
startlingfrom the brilliancy of its colouring, which gives it theappearance of a ruby enclosed in a frame Of pearl ; butthis wonderful effect disappears immediately on the
death Of the insect.ORTH OPTERA. Leaf- insects .
- But in relation tothe insects of Ceylon the a dmiration of their colours isstill less exciting than the a stonishment created by theforms in which some Of the families present themselves ;especia lly the soothsayers (Ma ntidoe) and “ wa lkingleaves T he latter 1, exhibiting the most cunning of
a ll nature’s devices for the preservation Of her creatures,are found in the jungle in a ll varieties of ~hues, fromthe pale yellow of an Opening bud to the rich green of
1 Phyllium siccifolium.
CHAP . XI I .] LEAF—INSECTS . 409
blown
ST ICK INSECT A ND MAN T I S
withered tint Of
decay. SO per
fect is the imitation of a leaf in
structure and a rticulation, thatthis amaz ing insect when at restis a lmost un
d i s tin guishablefrom the foliagea round : not onlyare the wingsmodelled to re
semble ribbedand fibrous follicles, but everyj oint Of the legsis expanded intobroad plait like
a half- Openedleaflet.
4 10 INSECTS. [CHAP. XII .
I t rests on its abdomen, the legs serving to drag itslowly along
, and thus the flatness Of its attitude servesstill further to add to the appearance of a leaf. One Of
the most marvellous incidents connected with its organisation was exhibited by one which I kept under a gla ssshade on my table ; it laid a quantity of eggs, that, incolour and shape, were not to be disting uished from seeds .
T hey were brown and pentangular, with a Short stem,
and Slightly punctured at the intersections.
EGG S OF T H E LEA F-I NSEQT ,
The soothsayer, on the other hand (Mantis sup er
stitiosa , F ab .
1
), little justifies by its propensities theappearance Of gentleness, and the attitude s Of sanctity,which have Obta ined for it the title of the prayingmantis . ” Its habits are carnivorous, and degenerateinto cannibalism, as it preys on the weaker individualsof its own species . T wo which I enclosed in a boxwere both found dead a few hours after, literally severedlimb from limb in their encounter. T he formation of
the foreleg enables the tibia to be so closed on the
sharp edge Of the thigh a s to amputate any slendersubstance grasped within it .The Stick- insect.— T hePha smidce or spectres, another
class Of orthoptera , present as close a resemblance tosmall branches or leafless twigs as their congeners doto green leaves . T he wing- covers, where they exist,instead Of being expanded, are applied so closely to thebody as to detra ct nothing from its rounded form, and
1 M: aridifolia and M extensi like head, and dilatations on the
collis,a s well as E np us a gongy posterior thighs, are common in
lodes, remarkable for the long leaf the island.
4 12 INSECTS . [CH AP . XI I .
the climate is not too chilly,or the soil too sandy, for
them to construct their domed edifices .T hese they raise from a considerable depth under
ground, excavating the clay with their m andibles
,and
moistening it with tena cious sa liva 1 until it a ssume theappea rance, and a lmost the consistency, Of sandstone .
SO delicate is the trituration to which they subj ect thismateria l
,that the goldsmiths Of Ceylon employ the
powdered clay of the ant hills in preference to a ll othersubstances in the prepa ration Of crucibles and mouldsfor their finer ca stings ; and KNOX says, the peopleuse this finer clay to make their earthen gods Of
,it is so
pure and fine .
” 2'
T hese structures the termites erectwith such perseverance and durability that they frequently rise to the height Of ten or twelve feet from
1 I t becomes an interesting
questionwhence the termites derive
the large supplies Of moisturewith
which they not only temper the
clay for the construction of their
long covered-ways above ground,but for keeping their pa ssages uni
formly damp and cool below the
surface. Y et their habits in thisparticular are unvarying, in the
seasons Of droughts as well a s
after rain ; in the driest and least
promising positions , in situations
inaccessible to drainage from above,and cut off by rocks and imper
vions strata from springs from
below. Dr. Livingstone, struck
with this phenomenon in Southern
Afr ica , a sks : “ Can the White ants
possess the power Of combiningthe oxygen and hydrogen of their
vegetable food by vital force so as
to form water ?” — T ravels
, p . 22 .
And he describes at Angola , an
insect* resembling the Aphrophorasp uma ria seven or eight indi
viduals Of whi ch distil several pints
Of water every night— P. 4 14 .
I t is highly probable that the termites are endowed with som e such
fa culty : nor is it more remarkablethat an insect should combine thegases Of its food to produce water,than that a fi sh thould decompose
water in order to provide itself
with gas . F OURCROIX found the
contents of the air -bladder in a carpto b e pure nitrogen. Y a rrell, vol .
i. p . 42 . And the aquatic larva of
the dragon-fly extracts air for its
respiration from the water in which
it is submerged. A similarmystery
pervades the inquiry whence plantsunder peculiar circum stances derive
the water essential to vegetation.
2 KNOX’S Ceylon, Part I . ch. vi.
p. 24 .
A. goa dotti ? Bennett.
CHAP. X11 ] THE WH ITE ANT . 4 13
the ground, with a corresponding diameter. T hey areso firm in their texture that the weight of a horsemakes no apparent indentation on their solidity ; andeven the intense rains of the monsoon, which no cementor morta r can long resist, fail to penetrate the surfa ceor substance of an ant hil l. 1 In their earlier stages thetermites proceed with such energetic rapidity, that Ihave seen a pinn acle of moist clay, six inches in heightand twice a s la rge in diameter, constructed underneatha table between sitting down to dinner and the remova lof the cloth .
As these lofty mounds of earth have a ll been carriedup from beneath the surfa ce, a cave of correspondingdimensions is necessarily Scooped out below, and here,under the multitude of miniature cupola s and pinna cleswhich canopy it above, the termites hollow out the roya lchamber for their queen, with spacious nurseries surrounding it on a ll sides and a ll are connected by a rchedgalleries, long pa ssages, and doorways of the most intricate and elaborate construction . In the centre and
underneath the spa cious dome is the recess for the
queen a hideous creature, with the head and thorax of
an ordinary termite, but a body swollen to a hundred
Dr . H OOKER ,in his H ima layan on the closely cemented clay of the
J ourna l (vol . i. p . 20) is of opinionthat the nests of the termites are
not independent structures , but
that their nucleus is “ the debrisof clumps of bamboos or the trunksof large trees which these insects
have destroyed. H e supposes
that the dead tree falls leaving the
stump coated with sand, whzch the
a ction of thewea ther soon f a shionsinto a cone. But independently of
the fa ct that the“a ction of the
weather produces little or no effect
white ants’
nest,they may b e daily
seen c onstructing their edifi ces in
the very form of a cone,which
they ever after retain. Besideswhich
, they appear in the midst of
terraces and fields where no trees
are to b e seen ; and Dr. H ooker
seems to overlook the fa ct that the
termites rarely a ttack a living tree ;and although their nests m ay be
buil t against one,it continues to
flourish not the less for their pre
sence.
414 INSECTS. [Cnm XII .
times its usual and proportionate bulk, and presentingthe appearance of a mass of shapeless pulp . From thisgreat progenitrix proceed the myriads tha t people thesubterranean hive, consisting, like the communities of
the genuine ants, of labourers and soldiers
,which are
destined never to acquire a fuller development thanthat of la rvae
,and the perfect insects which in due time
become invested with wings and take their departingflight from the cave. But their new equipment seemsonly destined to facilitate their dispersion from the
parent nest, which takes place at dusk ; and a lmost asquickly as they leave it they divest themselves of theirineffectual wings, waving them impatiently and twistingthem in every direction till they become deta ched and
drop Off, and the swa rm , within a few hours of theiremancipation, become a prey to the night-ja rs and bats,which are instantly attra cted to them as they issue in a
cloud from the ground. I am not prepared to say thatthe other insectivorous birds would not gladly makea meal of the termites, but, seeing that in Ceylon theirnumbers are chiefly kept in check by the crepuscula rbirds
,it is observable, at least as a coincidence
,that
the dispersion of the swarm generally takes place at
twilight. Those that escape the cap rimu lgi fall a
prey to the crows, on the morning succeeding theirflight.T he strange peculiarity of the omnivorous ravages of
the white ants is that they shrink from the light ; in all
their expeditions for providing food they construct a
covered pathway of moistened clay, and their ga lleries
above ground extend to an incredible dista nce from the
central nest. NO timber, except ebony and ironwood,which are too hard, and those which are strongly im
4 16 INSECT S . [CH AP. XII .
morning in the vicinity of their nest, returning ladenwith the spoils collected during their foraging excursions .T hese consist of comminuted vegetable matter, derived,it m ay be, from a thatched roof, if one happens to bewithin reach, or from the decaying leaves of a coco -nut.Each little worker in the column carries its tiny load inits jaws ; and the number of individuals in one of theselines of march must be immense, for the column isgenerally about two inches ‘
in width, and very denselycrowded. One was measured which had most likelybeen in motion for hours, moving in the direction of thenest
,and was found to be upwards of sixty pa ces in
length . I f a ttention be directed to the ma ss in motion,
it will be observed that flanking it on each Side throughout its whole length are stationed a number of hornedsoldier termites, whose duty it is to protect thelabourers, and to give notice of any danger threateningthem . T his latter duty they perform by a peculia r quivering motion of the whole body, which is rapidly commu
nicated from one to the other for a considerable distance ;a portion of the column is then thrown into confusionfor a short time, but confidence soon returns, and the
progress of the little creatures goes on with steadinessand order as before . T he nest is of a black colour, andresembles a mass of scoriw the insects themselves areof a pitchy brown .
I
H YMENOPTERA. Ma son Wa sp — In Ceylon a s in a ll
other countries, the o rder of hym enOpterouS insectsa rrests us less by the beauty of their forms than themarvels of their saga city and the a chievements of their
1 F or these particul ars of the Mr. T hwaites , of the Roy. Botanic
termes monoceros, I am indebted to Garden at Kandy.
THE MASON WASP.
instinct. A fossorial5
wa sp of the family of Sphegioloe1,
which is distinguished by its meta llic lustre, enters bythe Open windows, and converts irritation a t its m ovements into admiration of the graceful industry withwhich it stops up the keyholes and Similar apertureswith clay in order to build in them a cell. Into this itthrusts the pupa of some other insect, within whosebody it has previously introduced its own eggs . T he
whole is surrounded with moistened ea rth, throughwhich the young para site, after undergoing its transformations, griaws its way into light, to emerge as a fourwinged fly.
2
A formidable species (Sphex ferruginea of St . F ar
gean), which is common to India and most of the
ea stern islands, is regarded with the utmost dread bythe unclad natives, who fly precipitately on finding them
CH AP . XII .] 4 17
1 I t belongs to the genus Pelopwus , P. Sp inolae, of St . F argeau .
T he Amp a lea'
comp resses, which
drags about the larvae of cock
roaches into which it has implanted
its eggs , belongs to the sam e family.
2 Mr. E . L . Layard has given an
interesting a ccount of this Mason
wa sp in the Anna ls and rll aga z ine
of Na t. H istory for May, 1853.
“ I have frequently,”
he says,“selected one of these flies for
observation,and have seen their
labours extend over a period of a
fortnight or twenty days ; some
times only half a cell was com
pleted in a day, at others as much
a s two . I never saw more than
twenty cells in one nest , seldom
indeed that number, and whence
the caterpill ars were procur ed wa s
always to me a mystery. I have
I had sought for in vain, although
I knew on what plant they fed.
T hen again how are they dis
abled by the wasp, and yet not ihjured so a s to cause their imme
di ate death ? Die they all do, at
least all that I have ever tried to
rear, after takingthem from thenest .
T he perfected fly never effects
its egress from the closed aperture,throughwhich the caterpill ars were
inserted, and when cells are placed
end to end, a s they are in m any in
stances, the outward end of each
is always selected I cannot de
teet any difference in the thickness
in the crust of the cell to cause
this uniformity of practice. I t is
often as much a s hal f an inch
through, of great hardness, and as
far a s I can see impervious to air
and light . H ow then does the en
seen thirty or forty brought in of a closedflyalways select theright end,Species which I knew to b e very and with what secretion is it suprare in the perfect state, andwhich plied to decompose this mortar ?
”
*E H
4 18 INSECTS . [CH AP . XII .
selves in the vicinity 1 of its nests . T hese are of suchample dimensions, that when suspended from a branch,they often mea sure upwa rds of six feet in length .
2
Bees . Bees of severa l Species and genera , some un
provided with stings, and some in Siz e scarcely exceed
ing a house-fly, deposit their honey in hollow trees, orsuspend their combs from a branch. T he Spoils of their
industry form one of the chief resources of the unc1V1lised Veddahs, who collect the wax in the upland forests,to be bartered for a rrow points and clothes in the low
lands. 3 I have never heard of an instance of personsbeing atta cked by the bees of Ceylon, and hence thenatives a ssert, that those most productive of honey are
destitute of stings .The Ca rp enter Bea
— T he operations of one of the
most interesting of the tribe, the Carpenter bee4, I have
watched with admiration from the window of the Colo
I t ought to b e rem embered in the ba ses of several together,travelling in the forests of Ceylon whereby they a ssume the hexagonal
that sal volatile applied imme
diately is a specific for the sting of
a wasp .
2 At the J anuary (1839) meet
ing of the Entomological Society,Mr . Whitehouse exhibited portionsof a wasps
’
nest from Ceylon,b e
tween seven and eight feet longandtwo feet in diameter
,and showed
that the construction Of the cell s
was perfectly analogous to thos e of
the hive b ee, and that when con
nected each ha s a tendency to
a ssume a circular outline. In one
specimen where there were three
cells united the outer part wa s cir
cul ar, whilst the portions common
to the three form ed straight walls .
F rom this Singhalese nest Mr.
Whitehouse demonstrated that the
shape, wherea s, l f constructed
separately, he thought each Single
cell woul d b e circul ar . See Proc.
Ent. Soc . vol . iii. p . 16.
3 A gentleman connected with
the department of the Surveyor
General writes to m e that he
m ea sured a honey- comb which he
found fastened to the overhangingbranch of a small tree in the forest
near Adam’
s Peak,and found it
nine links of his chain or aboutsix feet in length and a foot in
breadth where it wa s attached to
the branch, but tapering towardsthe other extremity. I t was a
single comb with a layer of cells
on either side, but so weighty that
the branch broke by the strain.
”
4 Xylocop a tena zscap a , Westw. ;
wasps at the comm encem ent of Another species found in Ceylon is
their comb proceed slowly, forming theX. la tzpes, Drury.
420 INSECTS . [CH AP. XII .
T hese when brought into operation cut out the woodin the same way a s a carpenter
’s double gouge, the teethbeing more or less hollowed out within . T he female a loneis furnished with these powerful instruments. In the
males the mandibles are slender a s compared with those
of the females . T he bores of some of these bees are described as being from twelve to fourteen inches in length .
Ants — As to ants,I apprehend that, notwithstand
ing their numbers and familiarity, information is veryimperfect relative to the varieties and habits of thesema rvellous insects in Ceylon .
1 In point of multitudeit is sca rcely an exaggeration to apply to them the
figure of “ the sands of the sea .
”
T hey are everywhere ; in the earth, in the houses, and on the trees ;they are to b e seen in every room and cupboard, and
a lmost on every plant in the jungle . T o some of the
latter they are, perhaps, attra cted by the sweet juicessecreted by the aphides and coccidae.
2
1 Mr. J erdan,in a series of
papers in the thirt eenth volume of
the Anna ls of Na tura l H istory,
has described forty- seven Species of
ants in Southern India . But M.
Nietner has recently forwarded to
the Berlin Museum upwards of
seventy species taken by him in
Ceylon,chiefly 1n the western pro
vince and the vicinity of Colombo .
Of these many are identical with
those noted by Mr. J erdan as b e
longing to the Indian continent .
One (probably Drep anoyna thns sa l
ta tor of J erdan) i s described byM.
Nietner as occasionally“moving by
jumps of several inches at a spring .
2 Dr. DAVY, in a paper on T 1 0
pical Plants, has introduced the
following passage relative to the
purification of sugar by ants“ I f the juice of the sugar
-cane
—the common syrup as expressed
Such is the pas
by the mill— b e exposed to the air ,
it gradually evaporates , yielding a
light-brown residue, like the ordi
nary muscovado sugar of the bestquality. If not protected, it is
presently a ttacked by ants,and in
a short tim e is , a s it were,con
verted into white crystalline sugar,the ants having refined it by re
m oving the darker portion, pro
bably preferring that part from its
containing az otiz ed m atter. T he
negroes , I may remark, prefer
brown sugar to white ; they sayits sweetening power is greater ;no doubt its nourishing quality isgrea ter, and therefore a s an article
of diet deserving of preference .
In refining sugar as in refining salt(coarse b ay sa lt containing a little
iodine), an error may b e committed
in abstracting m atter designed bynature for a useful purpose.
CHAP. XII ] ANTS. 421
sion of the ants for sugar, and their wonderful facultyof discovering it, that the smallest particle of a substance containing it is quickly covered with them,
though pla ced in the lea st conspicuous position, wherenot a Single one m ay have been visible a momentbefore. But it is not sweet substances a lone that theya tta ck ; no anima l or vegetable matter comes amiss tothem ; no aperture appears too sma ll to admit them ;
it is necessary to place everything which it m ay be de
sirable to keep free from their inva sion,under the
closest cover, or on tables with cups of water underevery foot. AS scavengers, they are inva luable ; and a s
ants never sleep, but work without cessation during thenight a s well as by day, every particle of decayingvegetable or putrid animal matter is removed with inconceiveab le speed and certainty. In collecting shells,I have been able to turn this propensity to goodaccount ; by pla cing them within their rea ch, the antsin a few days removed every vestige of the molluscfrom the innermost and otherwise ina ccessible whorls ;thus avoiding a ll risk Of injuring the enamel by any
mechanical process .But the a ssaults of the ants are not confined to dead
anima ls a lone, they atta ck equally such small insects asthey can overcome, or find disabled by a ccidents orwounds ; and it is not unusua l to see some hundreds ofthem surrounding a maimed beetle, or a bruised cockroach, and hurrying it a long in spite of its struggles. I
have, on more than one occa sion, seen a contest betweenthem and one of the viscous ophidians, Caecilia gla ti
nosa‘, a reptile resembling an enormous earthworm,
common in the Kandyan hills, of an inch in diameter,1 See ante
, p . 317.
E E 3
422 INSECTS. [CH AP. XII .
and nearly two feet in length . On these occa sions it
would seem a s if the whole community had been summ oned and turned out for such a prodigious effort ; theysurround their victim litera lly in tens of thousands,inflicting wounds on all parts, and forcing it a long towards their nest in spite of resistance . In one instanceto which I wa s a witness, the conflict lasted for the latter
part of a day, but towa rds evening the Coecilia wa s com
pletely exhausted, and in the morning it had totallydisappeared, having been carried away either whole or
piecemea l by its a ssailants .T he Species I here allude to is a very small ant, which
the Singhalese call by the generic name of Koombiya .
T here is a species still more minute, and evidently distinct, which frequents the caraffes and toilet vessels . A
third, probably the Formica nidifi can s of J erdan, isblack, of the same Siz e a s that la st mentioned
,and, from
its colour, ca lled the Ka la koom biya by the natives . In
the houses its propensities and habits are the same a s
those of the others ; but I have observed that it frsquents the trees more profusely, forming small papercells for its young
,like miniature wasps
’ nests, in whichit deposits its eggs, suspending them from a twig .
T he most formidable of a ll is the great red ant orDim a .
1 It is particularly abundant in gardens, andon fruit trees it constructs its dwellings by glueing theleaves of such species as are suitable from their Shapeand pliancy into hollow balls, and these it lines with a
kind of transparent paper, like that manufactured bythe wa sp . I have watched them at the interesting operation of forming these dwellings — a line of ants standing on the edge of one leaf bring another into contact
1 F ormica smaraydina , F ab .
424 INSECTS . [CH AP . X11.
and fiercely a ssaulted by the ants as to endanger theirstay on the estates .T he ants which burrow in the ground in Ceylon are
genera lly,but not invariably, black, and some of them
are of considerable siz e. One species, about the thirdof an inch in length, is abundant in the hills, and especially about the roots of trees, where they pile up the
earth in circula r heaps round the entrance to theirnests, and in doing this I have Observed a singula r
illustration of their instinct. T o carry up each particle
of sand by itself would b e an endless wa ste of labour,and to carry two or more loose ones securely would b eto them embarra ssing, if not impossible . T o overcome
the difficulty they glue together with their saliva so
much earth or sand a s is sufli cient for a burden, andeach ant may b e seen hurrying up from below with hisload
,carrying it to the top of the circula r heap outs ide,
and throwing it over, the mass being so strongly atta cheda s to roll to the bottom without breaking a sunder.T he ants I have been here describing are inoffensive,
differing in this particular from the Dim iya and another
of simila r siz e and ferocity, which is called by the Singb alese Ka ddiya . T hey have a legend illustrative of
their alarm for the bites of the latter, to the effect thatthe cobra de capello invested the Kaddiya with her ownvenom in admiration of the Singular courage displayedby these little creatures. 1
LEPIDOPTERA. Butterflies — In the interior of the
island butterflies are comparatively rare, and, contra ryto the ordinary belief, they are seldom to be seen in thesunshine . T hey frequent the neighbourhood of the
jungle,and especially the vicinity of the rivers and
1 KNox’s H is torica l Rela tion of Ceylon, pt . i. ch. vi. p . 23.
CHAP. XI I .] BUT TERFLIES . 425
waterfalls,living mainly in the Shade of the moist
foliage,and returning to it in ha ste after the Shortest
flights,as if their slender bodies were speedily dried up
and exhausted by exposure to the intense heat.
Among the largest and most gaudy of the CeylonLepidoptera is the great bla ck and yellow butterfly
(Ornithop tera cla rains , Gray ) ; the upper wings of
which mea sure Six inches a cross, and a re of deep velvetbla ck, the lower ornamented by large pa rticles of satinyyellow, through which the sunlight passes . F ew insectscan compa re with it in beauty, as it hovers over theflowers of the heliotrope, which furnish the favouritefood of the perfect fly, although the caterpilla r feeds onthe a ristolochia and the betel leaf, and suspends itschrysa lis from its drooping tendrils .Next in siz e a s to expanse of wing, though often
exceeding it in breadth, is the bla ck and blue Pap ilioPolymnestor , which darts rapidly through the air,
a lighting on the ruddy flowers of the hibiscus, or thedark green foliage of the citrus, on which it depositsits eggs . T he la rvae of this species are green withwhite bands, and have a hump on the fourth or fifthsegment . From this hump the caterpillar, on beingirritated, protrudes a Singula r horn of an orange colour,bifurcate at the extremity, and covered with a pungentmucilaginous secretion . T his is evidently intended as
a weapon of defence against the atta ck of the ichneumonflies, that deposit their eggs in its soft body, for whenthe grub is pricked, either by the ovipositor of the
ichneumon , or by any other Sharp instrument, the hornis at once protruded, and struck upon the offendingobject with unerring aim .
Amongst the more common of the larger butterflies
426 INSECTS . [ CH AP. XII .
is the P. H ector, with gorgeous crimson spots set in thebla ck velvet of the inferior wings ; these, when fresh ,a re shot with a purple blush, equalling in Splendour thea z ure of the European Emp eror .
The Sp ectre Butterfly.—Another butterfly, but be
longing to a widely different group , is the sylph”
(H estia J a sonia ), called by the Europeans by the
va rious names of Floa ter, Spectre, and Silver-
p ap er
fly, a s indi cative of its gra ceful flight. I t is foundonly in the deep shade of the damp forest, usuallyfrequenting the vicinity of pools of water and cas
cades,about which it sails heedless of the spray, the
moisture of which m ay even b e beneficial in preservingthe ela sticity of its thin and delica te wings
,that bend
and undulate in the a ct of flight.T he Lycoenioloe
1, a particularly a ttra ctive group,
abound near the enclosures of cultivated grounds, andamongst the low shrubs edging the patena s, flittingfrom flower to flower
,inspecting ea ch in turn, as if
attra cted by their beauty, in the full blaz e of sun- light ;and shunning exposure less sedulously than the otherdiurnals . Some of the more robust kinds 2 are m agnifi
cent in the bright light, from the splendour of theirmetallic blues and glowing purples , but they yield inelegance Of form and variety to their tinier and moredelicately- coloured congeners.Short a s is the ea stern twilight, it ha s its own peculiar
forms, and the naturalist marks with interest the small,but strong
, H esp eridoe3, hurrying, by abrupt and jerk
ing flights, to the scented blossoms of the champac or
1 Lyce na p olyomma tas , ya.
3 Pamphile hesperza go.2 Amblyp odia p seudocenta a rns ,
5c.
428 INSECTS . [CH AP . XII .
is ea sily distinguishable from the Atlas, which ha s a
triangular wing, whilst its is falcated, and the transparent spots are covered with a curious thread- like divisiondrawn a cross them .
T owards the northern portions of the island this valu
able species entirely displa ces the other, owing to thefa ct that the a lmond and p a lma Christi abound there.
T he latter plant springs up spontaneously on everymanure-heap or neglected Spot of ground ; and mightb e cultivated, a s in India , with great advantage
, the
leaf to be used a s food for the caterpillar, the stalk as
fodder for cattle,and the seed for the expression of
castor- oil. T he Dutch took advantage of this fa cility,and gave every encouragement to the cultivation of Silka t J affna l , but it never a ttained such a development asto become an article of commercia l importance. Ceylonnow cultivates no silkworms whatever, notwithstandingthis abundance of the favourite food of one species ; and
the rich silk en robes sometimes worn by the Buddhist
priesthood are imported from China and the continentof India .
In addition to the Atla s moth and the Mylitt-a, thereare many other Bombycidce in Ceylon ; and, though the
1 T he Portuguese had made the Palace a trial has been undertaken
attempt previous to the arr ival of to feed silkworm s,and to ascertain
the Dutch,and a strip of land on whether silk may b e reared at that
the banks of the Kal any river near station . I have planted a quantityColombo, still bears the nam e of of mulberry trees , which grow
Orta Seda , the silk garden . T he well there, and they ought to b e
attempt of the Dutch to introduce planted In other directions .-VA
the true silkworm, the Bombyx
'
L ENT YN, chap . xiii . T he growth of
mori,to ok place under the gover the mulberry trees is noticed the
norship of Ryklof Van Goens, year after in a report to the
who , on handing over the adminis governor-
general of India , but the
tration to his successor in am. 1663, subj ect afterwards ceased to be
thus apprises him of the initiation attended to .
of the experiment At J aflha
CHAP . XII ] ST INGING CATERPILLARS . 429
silk of some of them, were it susceptible of being unwound from the cocoon, would not bear a comparisonwith that of the Bombya: m ori, or even of the T ussehmoth
,it might still prove to be va luable when carded
and spun. I f the European residents in the colonywould rear the larvae of these Lepidoptera , and makedrawings of their various changes, they would render a
possible service to commerce, and a certain one to entom ologica l knowledge .
Stinging Ca terp illa rs— T he Dutch carried to their
Ea stern settlements two of their home propensities,which distinguish and embellish the towns of the L owCountries ; they indulged in the excavation of canals,and they planted long lines of trees to diffuse shadeover the sultry pa ssages in their Indian fortresses . Forthe latter purpose they employed the Suriya (H ibiscus
p op'
ulneus), whose broad umbrageous leaves and delicate yellow flowers impart a delicious coolness , and giveto the streets of Galle and Colombo the fresh and enlivening a spect of wa lks in a garden .
In the towns, however, the suriya trees are productive of one serious inconvenience. T hey are the resortof a hairy greenish caterpillar
1,longitudinally striped,
great numbers of which frequent them, and at a certa instage of growth descend by a silken thread to the groundand hurry away, probably in search of a suitablespot in which to pa ss through their metamorphoses .Should they happen to a light
,as they Often do
,upon
some lounger below, and find their way to his unprotected skin, they inflict, if molested, a sting as pungent,but far more la sting, than that of a nettle or a sta r- fish .
1 T he Species of mothwithwhich longs to a section of Boisduval’
s
it is identified.
has not yet been de genus Bombyx allied to Cnethocamtermined, but It most probably be p a , Stephens.
430 INSECTS . [CH AP . XII .
Attention being thus directed to the qua rter whencean a ssailant ha s lowered himself down, the caterpillarsabove will be found in clusters, sometimes amounting tohundreds, clinging to the branches and the bark, with a
few straggling over the leaves or suspended from themby lines . T hese pests are so annoying to children a s
well a s destructive to the foliage, that it is often necessary to singe them off the trees by a flambeau fixed onthe extremity of a pole ; and a s they fall to the groundthey are eagerly devoured by the crows and domesticfowls. 1
The Wood- ca rrying Moth. T here is another familyof insects, the singula r habits of which will not fail toattract the traveller in the cultivated tra cts of Ceylon— these are moths of the genus Oilceticus 2, of whichthe females are devoid of wings, and some possess noarticulated feet. T heir la rvae construct for themselvesca ses, which they suspend to a branch frequently of the
pomegranate3,surrounding them with the stems of
leaves, and thorns or pieces of twigs bound together bythreads, till the whole presents the appearance Of a
bundle of rods about an inch and a half long ; and,from the resemblance of this to a Roman fa sces, one
1 Another caterpillar which feeds traversed by a broad green band.
on the jasmine flowering Caris sa , I t is common in thewestern side of
T he larvae of the genus
Adolia are also hairy, and stingwith virulence.
2 Hameta ,Wlk .
3 T he singul ar instincts of a
species Of T hecla , Dip sas I socra tes ,F ab ,
in connection with the fruit
of the pomegranate, were
scribed by Mr. Westwood, in a
paper read before the Entomo
stings with such
known a gentleman to shed tears
whil e the pain wa s at its height .
I t is short and broad, of a pale
green, with fleshy spines on the
upper surface, each of which seem s
to b e charged with the venom that
occasions thi s acute suffering. T he
moth which thi s caterpill ar pro
duces , Nee ra lepida , Cramer ;
I/ ima codes graciosa , Westw . ,has
dark brown wings, the primary
that I have Ceylon .
logical Society of London in 1835.
432 INSECT S . [CHAP . XII .
m eta Crameri i , Westw. ; E . T emp letoni i , Westw. ; and
Cryp tothelea consorta , T emp .
All the other tribes of minute Lep itop tera have abundant representatives in Ceylon ; some of them mostattractive from the great beauty of their markings andcolouring. T he curious little split-winged moth (Ptero
phora s) is frequently seen in the cinnamon gardens andin the vicinity of the fort, hid from the noon-day heatamong the cool gra ss shaded by the coco - nut topes.T hree species have been captured, a ll chara cterised bythe same singular feature of having the wings fan- like,separated nearly their entire length into deta ched sec
tions, resembling feathers in the pinions of a birdexpanded for flight.H OMOPTERA. Cicada é Of the H omoptera , the one
which will most frequently a rrest a ttention is the cicada ,which, resting high up on the bark of a tree, makes theforest re- echo with a long- sustained noise so curiouslyresembling that of a cutler’s wheel that the creature
producing it ha s acquired the highly- appropriate nameof the “ knife- grinder. ”
C ICADA T H E KN I FE GR INDER .
In the jungle which adjoined the grounds attachedto my offi cial residence a t Kandy, the shrubs were fre
quented by an insect covered profusely with a snow-white
powder, arranged in delicate filaments that curl like
CH AP . XII ] BUGS . FLEAS . 433
a head of dressed celery. T hese it moves without dis
persing the powder : but when dead they fall rapidly todust . I regret that I did not preserve Specimens, butI have rea son to think that they a re the larvae of the
Fla ta timha ta , or of some other closely a llied species1,
though I have not seen in Ceylon any of the wax pro
duced by thelé‘la ta .
H EMIPTERA. Ba gs . On the shrubs in his compoundthe newly- arrived traveller will be a ttra cted by an insectof a pa le green hue and delicately- thin configuration
,
which, resting from its recent flight, composes its scantywings, and m oves languidly a long the leaf. But ex
perience will tea ch him to limit his examin ation to arespectful view of its attitudes ; it is one of a numerousfamily of bugs
, (some of them most attractive 2 in theircolouring,) which are inoffensive if unmolested, but iftouched or irritated, exha le an odour that, once endured,is never a fterwa rds forgotten .
APHANIPTERA. Flea s . Flea s are equally numerous,
and m ay b e seen in myriads in the dust of the streets orskipping in the sunbeams which fa ll on the clay floors ofthe cottages . T he dogs, to escape them, select for theirsleeping pla ces spots where a wood fire ha s been previously kindled ; and here prone on the white a shes,
t o
1 Amongst the specimens of this
order which I brought from
Ceylon, two proved to b e new
and undescribed,[
and ave beennam ed byMnfi
. WH I Elidip tera
Emersoniana dbPazcilop tera T en V 4 F CE C I LOPT E RA T E NNE V T N A
nentina .
i L
2 Such as Cantao ocella tus,Lep
toscelis Ma rginalis , Ca lliclea Stoc
hcrius,& c . 850 . Of the aquatic
Species , the gigantic Belos toma Indicum cannot escape notice, attaining a siz e of nearly three inches .
EL ID IPT ERA EMER SON IANA .
INSECT S. [CH AP . XI I .4 34
their stomachs close to the earth, and their hind legs
extended behind, they repose in comparative coolness,and bid defiance to their persecutors .D IPTERA . Mosquitoes
— But of all the insect peststhat beset an unsea soned European the most provokingby far is the truculent mosquito . 1 Next to the torturewhich it inflicts, its most ann oying peculiarities are thebooming hum of its approa ch, its cunning, its audacity,and the perseverance with which it renews its atta ckshowever frequently repulsed . T hese chara cteristics areso remarkable as fully to justify the conjecture thatthe mosquito, and not the ordinary fly, constituted the
plague inflicted upon Phara oh and the Egyptians?
1 Ca lex laniger?Wied. InKandy
Mr. T hwaites finds C. fns canus ,C. circnmoolens , & c. , and one with
a most formidablehooked proboscis ,to which he has assigned the ap
propriate name C. Begins .
2 T he precise species of insect
by m eans of which the Almightysignalised the plague of flies , re
ma ins uncertain , as the H ebrewterm a rob or orov
,which ha s been
rendered in one place, Divers
sorts of flies,”
PS . cv. 31 ; and in
another, swarms of flies,Exod.
viii . 21, & c .,means m erely
“an
a ssemblage,”
a mixture, or a
swarm , and the expletive“of
flies”
is an interpolation of the
translators . T his , however, serves
to show that the fly implied wa s
one easily recognisable by its habitof swarming and the further fact
that it bites , or rather stings , is
elicited from the expression of the
Psalmist , Ps . lxxviii. 45, tha t the
insects by which the Egyptians
were tormented devoured them,
”
so that here are two peculiarities
inapplicable to the domestic fly,b ut strongly characteristic Of gnats
and mosquitoes.
Bruce thought that the fly of
the fourth plague wa s the z imbof Abyssinia which he so graphi
cally describes ; andWESTWOOD ,in
an ingenious pa ssage in his Ento
rno logis t’s T ext- book
, p . 17, combatsthe strange idea of one of the
bishops , that it wa s a cockroach !
and argues in favour of the m os
quito . T hi s view he sustains by a
reference to the habits of the crea
ture, the swarms inwhich it. invades
a locality, and the audacity with
which it enters the houses and he
accounts for the exemption of “ the
land of Go shen in which the I sra e
lites dwelt,”
by the fact of its beingsandy pasture above the level of theriver ; whilst the mosquitoes were
produced freely in the rest of Egypt,the soil of which was submerged bythe rising of the Nile.
In all the pa ssages in the Old
T estam ent in whichflies are a lludedto , otherwise than in connection
with the Egyptian infliction,the
word used in the H ebrew is z eooe,which the Septuagint renders bythe ordinary g
eneric term for fliesin general , “via ,
“ musca”
(Eccles .
1, I saiah vii. but in every
436 INSECTS . [CH AP. XII .
same considerations which restrained those of the Nile
under the successors of Cambyses .
TheCofiee-Bfag .
— Allusion has been made in a previous
pa ssage to the coccus known in Ceylon a s the CoffeeBug (Leca nium Cafieoe, which of late years hasmade such destructive ravages in the plantations in the
Mountain Zone.
1 T he first thing that attracts a ttentionon looking at a coffee tree infested by it, is the numberof brownish wart- like bodies tha t stud the young shootsand occa sionally the margins on the underside of the
leaves? Ea ch of these warts or scales is a transformedfemale, containing a large number of eggs which are
hatched within it.When the young ones come out from their nest, they
run about over the plant like diminutive wood- lice,and at this period there is no apparent distinction b etween male and female . Shortly after being hatchedthe males seek the underside of the leaves, while the
females prefer the young shoots a s a pla ce of abode . I f
the under surfa ce of a leaf be examined, it will b e foundto b e studded, particularly on its ba sil half, with minuteyellowish-white specks of an oblong form .
3 T hese are
the larvae of the males undergoing transformation into
pupae, beneath their own Skins ; some of these specksare a lways in a more advanced state than the others
,
the full- grown ones being whitish and scarcely a line
1 T he following notice of the
coffee-bug,”
and of the singularlydestructive effects produced by it
on the plants , ha s been preparedchiefly from a m emoir presented to
the Ceylon Government by the
l ate Dr. Gardner, in which he
traces the history of the insect
from its first appearance in the
coffee districts,until it had estab
lished itself more or less perma
nently in all the estates in full
cul tivation throughout the island.
2 See the annexeddrawing, F ig. 1.
3 F igs . 2,and 3 and 5 in the
engraving, where these and a ll the
other figures are considerably en
larged.
CH AP . XI I .] T HE COF FEE- BUG . 437
long . Some of this siz e are translucent, the insecthaving escaped ; the darker ones still reta in it within,of an Oblong form,
with the rudiment of a wing on ea chside attached to the lower part of the thorax and closelyapplied to the sides ; the legs are six in number, thefour hind ones being directed ba ckwards, the anteriorforwards (a peculiarity not common in other insects);the two antennae are a lso inclined ba ckwa rds, and fromthe tail protrude three short bristles, the middle one
thinner and longer than the rest.When the transformation is complete, the mature
insect makes its way from beneath the pellucid case1,
a ll its organs having then atta ined their full siz e : thehead is sub - globula r, with two . rather prominent bla ckeyes, and two antennae, ea ch with eleven joints, hairythroughout
,and a tuft of ra ther longer hairs at the
apices ; the legs are a lso covered with hairs, the wings
are horiz ontal, of an obovate Oblong shape, membranous,and extending a little farther than the bristles of the
tail. T hey have only two nerves, neither of w hichrea ches so far a s the tips ; one of them runs close to thecosta l margin, and is much thicker than the other,which branches off from its base and skirts a long theinner ma rgin ; behind the wings is atta ched a pair Of
minute ha lteres of peculia r form . T he possession of
wings would appear to b e the cause why the full-grownma le is more rarely seen on the coffee bushes than thefema le .
T he fema le, like the m a le, atta ches herself to thesurfa ce of the plant, the pla ce selected being usua lly
1 F ig. 4 . Mr. WESTWOOD,who backwards , the w1ngs being 6X1
observed the operation in one tended flatly over the head.
species, states that they escape
F P S
INSECTS . [CHAP . XII .438
the young shoots but she is also to be m et with on themargins of the undersides of the leaves (on the uppersurface neither the m ale nor female ever attach themselves); but, unlike the male, which derives no nourishment from the juices of the tree (the mouth beingobsolete in the perfect state), she punctures the cuticlewith a probosc is (a very short three-j ointed p rom uscis),springing a s it were from the brea st, but capable of
being greatly porrected, and inserted in the cuticle of
the plant, and through this She abstra cts her nutriment.
In the early pupa state the female is ea sily distinguishable from the ma le, by being more elliptica l and muchmore convex. As she increa ses in siz e her skin distendsand She becomes smooth and dry ; the rings of the
body become effaced ; and losing entirely the form of
an insect, she presents, for some time, a yellowish
pustula r shape, but ultimately a ssumes a roundishconica l form, of a dark brown colour. l
Until she has nea rly reached her full siz e, she still
possesses the power of locomotion, and her six legs areeasily distinguishable in the under surfa ce of her cor
pulent body ; but at no period of her existence has She
wings . It is about the time of her Obtaining full siz ethat impregnation takes pla ce
2; after which the scale
becomes somewhat more conical, assumes a darker
1 F igs . 6 and 7. T here are many and others with milky juicesother species of the Coccus tribein Ceylon,
some (Pseudococcusnever appearing a s a scale, the
female wrapping herself up in a
white cottony exudation ; m anySpecies nearly allied to the true
Coccus infest common plants aboutgardens , such as the Nerium
Oleander, Plumeria Acuminata,
another subgenus (CerOplastes P),the female of which produces a
protecting waxy material,infests
the Gendurassa Vulgaris , the F urreaea Gigantea , the J ak tree, Mango ,and other common trees .
2 REAUMUR has described thesingular m anner in which thisoccurs . Mem. tom . iv.
T H E COFFEE BUG
L ecanmm Cafi‘
eoe
CH AP . XII ] T HE COFFEE—BUG . 439
colour,and at length is permanently fixed to the surfa ce
of the plant, by means of a cottony substance interposedbetween it and the vegetable cuticle to which it adheres .T he sca le, when full grown, exa ctly resembles in miniature the hat of a Cornish miner 1, there being a narrowrim a t the base, which gives increased surfa ce of atta chment. I t is about
31
;inch in diameter, by about £ 5
deep, and it appears perfectly smooth to the naked eye ;
but it is in reality studded over with a multitudeof very minute warts, giving it a dotted appearance .
Except the ma rgin ,which is ciliated, it is entirely des
titute of hairs . T he number of eggs contained in one
of the sca les is enormous, amounting in a single one to
69 1 . T he eggs are of an oblong shape, of a pa le fleshcolour
, and perfectly smooth? In some of the sca les,
the eggs when laid on the field of the microscope re
semble those masses of life sometimes seen in decayedcheese ? A few small yellowish maggots are sometimesfound with them, and these are the la rvae 4 of insects,the eggs of which have been deposited in the female
while the scale was soft. T hey escape when mature bycutting a sma ll round hole in the dorsum of the sca le .
It is not till after this pest ha s been on an estate fortwo or three years that it shows itself to an alarmingextent. During the first year a few only of the ripescales are seen scattered over the bushes, genera lly onthe younger shoots ; but that year
’s crop does not suffermuch, and the appearance of the tree is little altered .
1 F ig. 8 . soft Coccus , viz . : Encystus , Cocco2 F ig. 9 . phagus , Pteromalus , Mesosela;3 F igs . 10 , l l . Agonioneurus ; besides Aphidius , a.4 Of the parasitic Chalcididiae, mmutely siz ed genus Of I chneu
m any genera of which are well monidae. Most, if not all, of these
known to deposit their eggs in the genera are Singhalese.
F F 4
INSECTS. [CH AP. XII .
T he second year, however, brings a change for the worse ;if the young shoots and the underside of the leaves benow examined, the scales will b e found to have becomemuch more numerous
,andwith them appear a multitude
of white specks, which are the young sca les in a more
or less forward state . T he clusters of berries now a ssume
a black sooty look, and a great number of them fall off
before coming to maturity ; the genera l hea lth of the
tree a lso begins to fail, and it acquires a blighted ap
pearance. A loss of crop is this year sustained, but tono great extent.T he third year brings about a more serious change,
the whole plant a cquires a black hue, appearing as if
soot had been thrown over it in great quantities ; th e
is caused by the growth of a para sitic fungus‘ over the
shoots and the upper surfa ce of the leaves, forminga fibrous coating, somewhat resembling velvet or felt.T his never makes its appearance till the insect has beena considerable time on the bush, and probably owes itsexistence there to an unhea lthy condition of the j uicesof the leaf, consequent on the irritation produced by thecoccus, since it never visits the upper surfa ce of the
leaf until the latter has fully established its elf on thelower. At this period the young shoots have an ex
ceedingly disgusting look from the dense mass of yellow
pustular bodies forming on them, the leaves get shr ivelled, and the infected trees become conspicuous in therow. The bla ck ants are a ssiduous in their visits to
1 Racodinm ? Species of this dense interla ced mesh of fibres ,genus are not confined to the coffee each made up of a Single series of
plant a lone in Ceylon, but follow minute Oblong vesicles applied end
the “ bugs in their attacks on to end.
other bushes . I t appears like a
4 42 INSECTS. [CHAP . XII .
List of Ceylon Insects .
For the following list of the insects of the island,
and the remarks prefixed to it, I am indebted to Mr. F.
Wa lker, by whom it has been prepared a fter a ca refulinspection of the collections made by Dr. T empleton,Mr. E . L . Layard, and others ; as well as of those in theBritish Museum and in the Museum of the East IndiaCompany.
1
A short notice of the a spect of the island will afford the
b est m eans of a ccounting, in som e degree, for its entomologica l
Fauna : first, a s it is an island, and ha s a m ountainous central
region , the tropica l chara cter of its produ ctions, a s in m ost
other ca ses,rather dim inishes
,and som ewhat approaches that
of higher latitudes .
T he coa st - region of Ceylon, and fully one - third of its
northern part , have a mu ch drier a tmo sphere than that of the
rest of its surfa ce ; and their c lim ate and vegeta tion are nearly
sim ilar to those Of the Carnatic,with which this island m ay
have b een connected a t no very remote period? But if
,on
the contrary,the land in Ceylon is gradua lly rising, the dif
ference of its Fauna fi om that of Central H industan is less
remarkab le . T he peninsula of the Dekkan m ight then b e
conjectured to have b een nearly or wholly separated from the
c entral part of H indu stan,and confined to the range of
m ounta ins along the ea stern coa st ; the insect—fauna of whichis a s yet alm ost unknown
,but will prob ab ly b e found to have
m ore resemb lance to that of Ceylon than to the insects of
1 T he entire of the new species scriptions have been taken, havecontained in this list have been been at his desire transferred to
described in a series of papers by the British Museum for future re
Mr. WALKER in successive numbers ference and comparison.
of the Anna ls of Na tura l H is tory2 On the subject of this conjee
(1858 those from Dr . T EM ture see ante, p. 60 .
PI ET ON’
S collection of which de
CH AP . XI I .] LIST OF CEYLON INSECTS. 443
northern and western India just a s the insect- fauna of
Ma laya appears m ore to resemb le the sim ilar produc tions of
Austra la sia than those of the more nor thern continent .
“ Mr . Layard’
s collection wa s partly form ed in the dry
nor thern province of Ceylon ; and am ong them m ore H in
dustan insects are to b e ob served than am ong those collected
by Dr . T empleton ,and found wholly in the distric t b etween
Colom b o and Kandy. According to this view the fauna s of
the Nilgherry Mountains,of Central Ceylon
,of the peninsul a
of Ma la cca,and of Au stra la sia woul d b e found to form one
group ;— while those of Northern Ceylon,of the western
Dekkan,and of the level parts of Centra l H industan would
form another of more recent origin . T he insect- fauna of the
Carnatic is a lso prob ab ly sim ilar to that of the lowlands of
Ceylon but it is still unexplored . T he regions of H indu stan
in which species have b een chiefly collected,such a s Benga l ,
Silbet,and the Punjaub , are a t the distance of from 139 0 to
1600 m iles from Ceylon,and therefo re the insects o f the la tter
are fully a s different from those of the ab ove regions a s they
are from those of Au stra la sia,to which Ceylon is a s near in
point of distance, and agrees m ore with regard to latitude .
Dr . H agen ha s rem arked that he b elieves the fauna of the
m ounta ins of Ceylon to b e quite different from that of the
plains and of the shores . T he sou th and west districts have a
very m oist clim ate,and a s their vegetation is like tha t of
Malab ar,their insect- fauna wi ll prob ab ly also resemb le tha t of
the la tter region .
T he insec ts m entioned in the following list are thus distributed
Order COLEOPT ERA.
T he recorded species of Cicindelitlce inhabit the plains or
the coast coun try of Ceylon,and several of them are a lso
found in H industan .
Many of the species of Ca ra bidce and of S taphylinidce,
especia lly those collected by Mr . T hwaites,near Kandy, and
by M. Nietner a t Colomb o,have much resemb lance to the
444 INSECTS . [CHAP . XI I .
insec ts of these two fam ilies in North Europe ; in the S cyd
mcenidce,Ptiliadce
,Pha la cridoe, N itidulidce, Colydia dce, and
L a thridiadaz the northern form is still m ore striking, and
strongly contra sts with the tropical form s Of the gigantic
Cop ridce, Bup res tidae, and Cerambycidae, and with the E la
teridae,L ampyridce , T enebrionidce, H elop idce, Meloidce
,Curcu
lionidae, Prionidce, Cerambycidce, L amiidee
,and E ndomychidae.
“ T he Cop ridoe, Dyna stidfe , Melolonthidce, Cetonia dce , and
Pa ssa lidae are well represented on the plains and on the coast,
and the species are m ostly of a tropical chara cter .
T he H ydrophilidce have a m ore northern a spect, a s is gene
rally the ca se with aqua tic species .
T he order S trep sip tera is here considered a s b elonging to
the Mordellidae, and is represented by the genus Myrmecolax,which is peculia r, a s yet, to Ceylon .
In the Curculionidce the single Species of Ap ion will recall
to mind the grea t abundance of tha t genus in North Europe .
T he Prionidce and the two following families have b eeninvestigated by Mr . Pa sco e
,and the H isp idce, with the five
following families , by Mr . Ba ly ; these two gen tlem en are well
a cquaintedwith the ab ove trib es of b eetles , and kindly suppliedm e with the names Of the Ceylon species .
Order ORT HOPT ERA .
T hese insects in Ceylon have m o stly a tropical a spect .
T he Physap oda , which will probab ly b e soon incorpora ted
with them,are likely to b e num erous
,though only one species
ha s a s yet b een noticed.
Order NEUROPTERA.
T he list here given is chiefly taken fr om the ca ta logue pub
lished by Dr . H agen , and c ontaining descriptions of the species
nam ed by him or by M. Nietner . T hey were found in the
m ost elevated parts of the island,near Rangb odde, and Dr .
H agen inform s me tha t no t less than 500 species have b een
noticed in Ceylon , but that they are not yet recorded, with
446 INSECTS. [CH AP. XI I .
Au stralasia seem to b e m ore Sim ilar than tho se of Ceylon and
of H industan . T he long intercourse b etween those two regions
m ay have b een the m eans of conveying som e species from one
to the other . Among the Pyra lz’
tes,H ymenz
’
a recurva lz’
s in
habits a lso the West Indies, South America,West Africa
,
H indu stan,China
,Au stra la sia
,Au stra lia
,and New Zealand ;
and its food—plant is prob ab ly some vegetab le which is cul tiva ted in a ll those regions ; so a lso D esmz
’
a afi z
’
cta lz’
s is found in
Sierra Leone,Abyssinia
,Ceylon , and China .
Order D IPT ERA .
About fifty species were ob served by Dr . T empleton , but
most of those here recorded were collec ted byMr . T hwa ites a tKandy, and have a grea t likeness to North European Species .
T he mosquitoes are very annoying on a ccount of their num
b ers,a s might b e expec ted from the moisture and heat of the
climate . Culex lanz'
ger is the coa st Species, and the other
kinds here m entioned are from Kandy . H umb oldt ob servedthat in some parts of Sou th America each stream had its
peculiar mosquitoes, and it yet rem ains to b e seen whetherthe gna ts in Ceylon are a lso thu s restricted in their habita tion .
T he genera S cz’
a ra, Cecz
'
domyz’
a,and S z
'
mulz'
um,which ab ound
so exceedingly in temperate countries,have ea ch one represen
ta tive species in the collec tion m ade by Mr . T hwaites . T hu s
an alm ost new field rem ains for the Entom ologist in the studyof the yet unknown Singhalese Diptera , which must b e verynumerous .
Order H EMIPTERA .
T he Species of this order in the list are too few and too
Sim ilar to those of H industan to need any particula r m ention .
L eca nz’
um cofi'
eae m ay b e noticed,on a ccount of its infesting
the coffee plant, a s its nam e indica tes,and the ravages of other
species of the genu s will b e rem emb ered,fi om the fa ct tha t
one of them,in o ther regions, ha s put a stop to the cul tiva tion
of the orange as an article of commerce .
CEYLON INSECTS .LIST OF 447CH AP . XI L]
In conclusion, it m ay b e ob served that the species of in
sects in Ceylon m ay b e estim a ted a s exceeding in
numb er , ofwhich ab out 2000 are enum erated in this volum e .
Cla ss ARACHNIDA .
Four or five species of spiders , of which the specim ens
cannot b e sa tisfactorily describ ed ; one f acades and one Che
lz'
fer have b een forwarded to England from Ceylon by Mr .
Thwaites .
”
NOT E. —T he a sterisk prefixed denotes the species discovered in Ceylon since Sir J . E .
T ennent’s depa rture from the Island In 1849 .
Order COLEOPT ERA,Ifl
'
nn.
F am . CICINDELIDE , Staph.
Cicmdela , L inn .
flavopunc ta ta , Aud .
d iscrepans , Wlk .
auro fa sciaca,Guér .
quadn lmeata , Fa br .
b iram o sa . Fa br .
catena , F a br .
a‘éirxs lgmfi cans , Dohrn.
T ric ond) la , L a ir .
femo ra ta, Wlk .
*tum idu la , Wlk.
*sc l tl scab ra , Wlk.
*concmna , Dohrn .
F am . CARABIDIE , L ea ch.
Casnom a , La tr .
*punc ta ta , Nzet .
*p l l | fera . Nzet .
Oph l onea , K lug .
*cyanocepha1a , Fa br.
Euplvnes , Neel .
Dohrnn , Niel .H eterog lossa , Niet .
*elegans , Nzet .
*rufi co lhs , A'
zet .*b imacu la ta , Nz
’
et.Zuphium , 1 a tr .
*pub escens , Nz
'
et .
Pheromophns , Soiz'
er.
Ca to iren, Dej .
b lm acula tus , Fabr .
Cymmdl s , L a tr .
rufi ventrl s , Wlk.
Anch l sm , Naet .*m odesta , Nz
'
et.
Dromius , Ban .
ma rglniter, Wlk .
repandens, Wlk.
L eb ia , La tr .
bxpars , Wlk.
Creagris , Niet.
la bro sa , Nzet.
Ell loua , Nzet
pa l lipe s, Nzet.
Maraga . Wlk .
p lanugera . PVIk .
Cata scopus , K i rby .
tac ia l ls , Wzrd .
reduc tus , 14 1k .
Scarltes , Fa br .
ob h terans . Wlk .
sub sngnans, “ 1k.
de sngnans , Wlk .
aemlno r, Nz'
et .
Cllvma , L a tr .
*rugo sxfrons , Nz’
et.*elo nga tula Nzet.*m a cula ta , Niel .rec ta , Wlk .
L eistus . F l wll llinea ris , Wlk
Iso ta rsus,L afer ie .
quadrlm a c ula tus, Olw .
Panagaeus , L a tr .
retra c tus , W'
lk.
Chleenlus , Ban .
b lma cu la tus , De’j .
diffi nls Retake .
*Ceylamc us,Nzet .
*quinque -maculatus ,Nzet .
pulcher, Nzet .cupn co llis , Nz
’
et.
rngu lo su s, Niet .Anchomenus , Ban .
il lm a tus , Wlk.
Agonum , Ban .
plamdulum , Wlk.
Co lpodes 9 Ma d .
m a rgmxco l ll s , Wlk.
Arguto r, Meg .
degener, Wlk .
relmquens , Wlk.
Simphyus . Nzet.*umco lo r, Nz
'
et .
Bradytus, Steph.
stolidus,Wlk .
Curtono tns , S tep/z .com po s ntus , Wlk .
H arpa lus , L a tr .
*advo |d ns , NIPt .
di spel lens . u lk .
Calodromus , N zet*exo rna tuS , Nz
'
et.
Megan sterus , Naet .*mand1b ula r | s . Ne
'
et .‘
*s teno loph0 1des , Nzet .
‘ Ind lcm . N zet .
Pla t) sma . Bun
ret lnens , Wlk .
Morio . L a tr .
trogo sntmdes . Wlk .
c ucmoxdes , Wlk .
Barysom us , Dej .
* Gyl |enha ln ,Dej .
Oodes , Bun .
*p1ceus , Niel .
Selenopho ru~, Dej .
Inhxus , Wlk .,
Orthogonius , DPj .
femo ra tus, Dej .
H elluodes,Wes /w .
T a pro banes , Wf‘
S lw.
Physo cro taphus , Pa r
Ceylom cns Pa rry .
*m1nax, West .
Physodera , E sch .
E schscho ll z xi, Pa n y .
Omphra , L a ir .
*ov1penn1s , Rez’
cke .
Planetes . Ma d .
b lmacula tus , Macleay .
Cardl aderus . D 67 .
seita s , Wlk .
D lstn gus , Dej .
*co s ta ta s, Niet .
*subme a llicus , Nz’
et .
rufopIceus . Nzet .Nzet .
*Dejean1,Nzet .
Drimo s toma , Dd .
*Ceylanicum , Nz'
et.
448
*marginale , W .
Cycl o somus , L a tr .
flexno sus , F a br.Ochthephl lus , Nz
‘
et.*Ceylam cus , Nz
’
et.
Spa thm us , Nz‘
et
m lgric eps , Ni'
et.
Acupa'
pus , L a ir .
dero ga tus , Wlk.
extrem US,Wlk .
Bemb id lum , L a ir .
fi nrt lmum . Wlk*opu lentam , Niet.fi m nca tnm , Niet.* tro pwum ,
'
zet.i“trian i nla re , Nl t
’f .
*Ceylam cum , Nzet.
K lneil . Nz‘
ef .
*ebeninum , Naet.*0 n enm le , Naet.a‘lfema rgm atnm , Nz
'
et.*o rnatum , Nzet .
*scydmaen0 1des , Nz'
et.
F am . PAUSS IDE ,Westw.
Cerapterus , Swed .
lanpes . Su'ed .
Pleum ptem s , Wes t .
W este rm mni,West.
Paussus,Lum .
pau ficus , West.
F am . DY T lSClDE, Ma cl .
Cybister, Curt.limb a tus , F a br .
Dytisc us , Lm n .
extenuans , Wlk .
Eunemes , E 7wk .
gniseus . F a br .
H ydancus , L each.
fest lvus , I ll .vu ta t '
s , F a br .
d is lo can S, Wlk .
Col)mb ete s , Cla i? v.
m terc lusu s , Wlk.H ydroporus, Cla v o .
interpulsus , Wlk .
Interm l xtus . Wlk.
lwta bms,Wlk .
ahnd fi cnens, Wlk .
F am . G r ammar, L ea ch.
D ineutes . Ma d .
spmo sus , F a br .
Porro rhynchUS , L ap .
Ind ic ans , Wlk .
Gyre te S , Brullé .
d 'scnfe r Wlk.Gyrmns
, Lmn
m tidulus , F a br .
o b l quns , Wlk .
Orec to cmlu s, E sch .
fl enocnnum , Dohrn.
F am . ST APH IL INIDE ,
Lea ch.
Ocypus , Kirby .
longipenm s . Wlk .
c ongruus , Wlk .
INSECTS.
F am . PSELAPHI DJE , L ea ch.
Pselaphanax,Wlk .
seto sus , Wlk.
[CH AP . XI I .
unc tilmea . Wlk.
Iineatus Wlk .
Philontt‘us, L ea
c h .
*pedestrl s . Wlk .
Xantho lmu s, Dahl .
cm c tus , Wlk*m c lmanS
, Wlk .
Sunius , L ea ch .
fi nb lxquus PVIk .
(Edl c hlrus , Er ich.
*a la tus Nzet .
Poederus F ahr .
a lternan s , Wlk.
Stenus . L a ir .
Nzet* la certo ides . Niet.
Osorius L ea ch.
*compactus , Wlk .
Progna tha , L ntr .
decusa , Wl/c.aletennis , "1k .
Lepto chirus Pertu.
* l»is nm us,E rich .
Oxytelus , Gra v.
rc d l s, W/k
produc tus , Wlk .
*b lCnlc r, Wlk.
T ro gophlwns , Ma nn .
* T a p ro banes , Wlk.
Oma lmm , Gra v.
fih lo rme . Wlk .
Aleo cha ra , Gr a v.
po stl c a ,Wlk .
*tran s la ta , Wlk .
*snhjec ta Wlk .
D ina rda , Lea ch
serricornl s , Wlk.
F am . c nmmmnm, L ea ch.
Erm vus , Wlk .
m onstro su s , PVlk.
Scydm aenus , L a tr .
*meg:ime la s , Wlk .
atmla tus,Niel .
fl ewm a l l s, Aiet .
aifCeylamc us , Niet .*m te rm edins , Niet .*psel aph0 1des , Niel .
h dvo lans , Naet .atepub escens Niet.
* nygm ze H S , Nzet .*g|andnl l ferus , Niet .
*g ram im c n la , Nzet .
aifpyn to rm l s
,Niet.
aleangnst lce ps , Niet .alfova tus , N zet.
F am . PT I LIADE , W0rnchopten x, Kirby .
*Cursnans , Nu t.* 1mmw ura , Nzet.
N zet .
Pt llmm Schiinp .
*sa nadra tum , Niet .
Ptenidium , Er zch .
*macrocepha lum, Niet .
F am . PHALACRIDE , L each.
Pha lacrus, Pay/.c onjnc lens , Wlk.
confec tus , Wlk .
Fam . N IT I DULIDE , L ea ch .
d ula , Fa hr
c o nt leens , Wlk.
intendens , Wlk .
Significa ns . Wlk .
toment l fera . Wlk .
*snhm aculata ,u 1h.
*glab n cula , Dohrn .
Nit ld l l lOpS lS “ 1k.
wqua l ls . Wlk.
Me lige thes . K irby .
Me t .
Wlk.
Rhiz onhagus , H erbst .
para l le lus , Wlk .
F »m COLYDIADE , Wall.
Lyctus . Fa hr
retra cm s,Wlk .
d i spntmxs , "1k .
D itoma, I llig .
rugico ll ls , Wlk.
F am . T ROGOS IT IDE,Kirby .
T rogosna . Olav.
Insmuans . Wlk.
*rh3z ophago ides , Wlk.
F am CUCUJ IDZE , Step /z .
Loemo phloeus , Dejferrugineus , Wlk .
Cuq us 9 F a in .
atmcomm odus , Wlk .
S ilvanns, L a lr
retrahen~, Wlk* scut lco lhs , PVlk.
*Do rrec tus , Wlk .
Bronte s , F a hr .
atorienta l l s , Dej .
F am . L AT HR IDIANE , Wall .
La thridlus , H eab et .
perpusxllus , Wlk .
Cort ica ria . Ma rsh.
resecta,Wlk
Mono tom a, H erbst.
eoncmnula , Wlk.
F am . DERMEST IDE, L ea ch .
Derm e s tes , L innvulpmus . Fa hr.
Attngenu s , La /r .
de fec tns . lV/k .
rufipes , Wlk .
T rinodeS . MeghIrtellus , Wlk.
F am . BY RRH IDAB, Lea ch.
Inc'
ic a , Wlk.
sohda , Wlk .
F am . H IST ERIDE , L ea ch.
H ister, L inn .
Benga lensis , Weld .
450
fi nconspicuus , Niet.
H ydroh l us ,Lea ch.
s tul tuS , Wlk.
Phil}drus , Solzer .
esun ens , Wlk .
Bero sus , Leach .
*dec rescens , PVIk.
H ydro chus . G e 'm .
fl acustris , Nie l .
Dastarcus .” 1k .
poro sus ,14 1h.
F am . BUPREST IDE , Steph .
Sternocera ,E sch.
Chrys l S , L inn .
sterm cornis , L inn .
Chrysochro a , Sol zer .
ignl ta , Lmn
Chlneusis , L ap .
Ra j ah , L ap .
*cyaneocepha la , F a br .
Chrysodem a ,L a p .
sulca ta , T hunb .
Bel lono ta , Esch.
scnte llan s, F a br.
*Petm , Gory .
Chrysob o thri s , Esch.
snturah s , Wlk .
Agrilu s , Meg .
snlcico lhs , Wlk .
a“cupre iceps , Wlk.
qlEcnpreic t i lhs ,Wlk .
*arma tus , F ahr .
F am . ELAT F RIDJE , L each.
Camp sosterno s , Latr .
T emp letonl i, Westw
aureu lus , H ope .
Bohem anm l , Ca nd
venuS Iu lus , Cand .
p a ll Id es,Ca nd .
Agrypnus , Esch .
fuse lpe s , F a hr .
Alans . Esch .
specm sus, L inn .
SOl’ d ldUS , Westw .
Card lo iihorus , Esch.
hum erifer, Wlk .
Corymb ites . L a tr .
l lden S , Wlk .
d1v1~a , Wlk .
‘ b IV I ttava , Wlk.
L acon , Lap .
“fob esns , Cand .
Athous , Esch .
pum to su s , Wlk .
m apertus , Wlk .
d e c retus , Wlk .
ine tfi c1ens , Wlk.
pedus , Meg . .
*a cut1fer , Wlk .
*di sc1coll is , W'
lk.
L egna , Wlk.
Idonea , Wlk .
F am . L AMPY RIDE , L each.
Lycus , F a br .
tnangularis. Hope .
INSECT S . [CH AP . XII .
F am . D IAPE RIDE , L each.
D iaperis , Geof .
velutma , W'
Ik .
fragihs , Dohrn .
fa llax,Wlk .
plan ico rm s , "71k .
m elanoptem s . Wlk .
pub i cornis , Wlk .
dup lex,” 1k .
co st l ier, Wlk .
revo c ans , Wlk .
di spellens,Wlk .
”‘pub ipenm s , Wllc
*humer1fer , Wlk .
exnansrc o rnis , I’Vlk
l l S ll S , Wlk _
D icty pterus. La ir .
m ternexus . Wlk .
L ampyn s . Geofi‘
tenebro s a ,Wlk .
d ltfi nis , Wlk .
lute scens , Wlk.
*v1tr1fera . Wlk .
Coloph o tl a ,Dej .
hum erah s , Wlk.
[vespert ina , F a br .
perplexa ,Wlk .
9 ]Intn ca ta , Wlk .
extn c ans , Wlk .
prom elas , Wlk .
H arm a te ll a , Wlk .
disca l is , Wlk .
b il inea ,Wlk .
F am . T ene p uomnm,
L ea ch.
T elephorns , Schafl'
d lm ld ld t l l s , Fa br .
m a lthmmdes , Wlk.
Eugeufl s , Westw .
pa lpa tor, Westw .
gn phns , H ope .
ohvaceus , H ope .
F am . CEBRI ONIDE ,Steph .
Call lrhipis , L a tr .
T empletonu ,W
'
estm.
Cham piomi, Westm .
F am MELvm nE , L ea ch.
Mala ch lus , Fa br .
p lagl a tus .Wlk .
Mal thm us , L a ir .
aFfo rt lcorn is , Wlk .
* retrac tus , Wlk.
fragi li s , Dohrn.
Enicnpus , Step /1.
profimens , Wlk.
H onosca ,Wlk .
nec rob rordes , Wlk .
F am . CLER‘DlE , Kirby .
Cl drus , L ap .
sob rm us , Dohrn .
Stigm a t ium Gray .
e laphro lde s , Westm.
Necroma , L a lr .
rufipes , F a hr.
a Spera , Wlk .
F am . Pr im ing , L ea ch.
Ptinus L inn .
a“mgerrimus, Boield.
F am . T ENEBRIONIDE ,
L ea ch .
ophob a s , Dej .
errans 9 Dej .
c lavipes , Wlk .
so l ldus , Wlk .
seudob la ps , Guer.
nigrl ta , Fa br .
T eneb rlo , L inn .
ruhrlp e s , H ope.
retenta . Wlk .
T rachyscelis , L a ir.
b runnea , Dohrn .
F am . OPAT RIDE ,Sha ck.
Opa trum , Fa hr.
contmhens , Wlk .
b ilinea tum , Wlk.
plana tum , Wlk .
serrIco lle Wlk.
Asl dd , L a tr .
hO l’ l lda , lVIk .
Cryptions , L a tr.
detersus , Wlk .
longl penm s, PVZk.
Pha lerl a , L a tr .
rufi pes . Wlk.
T oxicum , L a tr .
o ppugna ns , Wlk.
b l il lna , Wlk .
Boletophagus , I ll .*mo ro sus , Dohrn .
*exa spera tus , Dohrn.
Ulom a,Meg .
sorta. PVlk .
Alphl tophagus . Steph.
sub fa su a , Wlk.
F am . H ELOPID/E , Steph.
O sdara . Wlk .
pic ipes . Wlk .
Chohpus Dej .
b reVIco rm s , Dej .
pa rab o llcus , Wlk .
laevm sculus , Wlk .
H elup~, F a br .
eb emnus , Wlk .
Cama ria , L ep . g. Sew .
amethyst lna , L . (Sf S .
Ama rygmus , D a lm .
chrysomeloxdes, Dej .
F am . MELOIDE , Wall .
Ep l cauta . Dej .
mgn fim s , Wlk .
Cissrtes , L a t) .
testaceu s. Fa hr.
Mylabrl s , F a br .
humera l is , Wlk .
a lterna ,Wlk .
*recogn |ta , Wlk .
Atractocerus , Pal . , Eu.
debilis , Wlk .
reversus, Wlk.
CHAP . XI I .]
Pam . GZDEMERIDAZ, Step h.
C l ste la . Fa br .
c ongrua , Wlk .
* fa ISIfi ca , Wlk.
Allecula , Fa hr.
q Ifmmns , Wlk.
e legans , Wlk .
*fla v1femur, Wlk.
Sora , Wlk .
*ma rgmata, W
'
lk .
T hacc ona , Wlk .
d ime las , Wlk .
F am . MORDELLIDE , S teph.
Aco smus , Dej .
langmdus , lVlk .
Rhip ipho rus , F a hr .
* ir0 pieus , Niel .
Mordel la,L inn .
compo sna , Wlk .
a‘9de lec t1va,Wlk.
Myrm eco lax, Wes lw .
*N1etneri, Westw.
F am . ANT H ICIDE , Wlk .
Anthicus , Pay/r.
*qmsqm la rlus , Nzet.
*msul . irius, Niel .
*stict lcolll s , Wlk .
F am CI SS IDE,L each.
C Is , L a tr .
contendens , Wlk .
F am . T OMI CIDB , Sha ck .
Apate, F a hr .
subm edia . Wlk.
Bostn chuc , Geofi fmut i latus Wlk.
*vertens , Wlk .
*moderatus . Wlk .
*tes taceus. Wlk .
a“exnguus , Wlk .
Plat)pus , H erbst .
m inax , Wlk .
sondus , W k .
fl atifims , W'
lk.
H ylurgus . L a ir .
determmans , Wlk.
*concinnulus , Wlk .
H ylesmus , F a hr .
c urvifer , PVlk .
despectus , Wlk .
irresolutus , Wlk .
F am . CURCULIONID IB ,
L ea ch.
Bruchus , Lm n .
scutellan s,Fa hr .
Spermophagns , S teven .
convo lvul l , Thunb .
fi gura tus , Wlk.
C l st l , Fa hr .
incertus , Wile.
decre ta s , Wlk .
D endropemon , Schon .
*melanchol lc us,Dohrn .
Dendrotrogus . J ek .
D ohrnn , J ek .
discrepans, Dohrn.
LIST OF CEYLON INSECTS.
Bucor) nus . Schon .
co lhgendus . Wlk .
co l ligens , Wlk .
asuropis , J ek .
*d | scono ta tus , J ek.
L itocerus , Schon .
punctula rw , Dohrn .
T rOp Ideres, Sch .
punctul l fer, Dohrn .
tragflis Wlk .
Cedus, Wa lerh .
‘ cancella tus , Dohrn .
Xylmades , L a lr .
sobrmulus , Dohrn .
indignus , Wlk .
Xenocerns , Germ .
anguliferus , Wlk .
revocans , Wilt*ancho na ll s , Dohrn .
Callistu c erus , Dohrn .
a“N ietneri,D ohrn .
Anthn bus , Geqfi’f
longxcornis , Fahr .
apical l s . Wlk .
d I l lS , Wlk .
Ara cerus , Scho’
n .
co tfeae, F a br .
fi nS IdIosns . F a br .
*musculus , Dohrn .
* Intangens . Wlk .
*b ifovea, lVllc.
Dip iez a , Pa sc .
atm sngm s , Dohrn .
Apolecta , Pa sc .
*N 1etner1, Dohrn .
a"musc ulus , Dohrn .
Arrhenodes , Steven .
m i les , Sch .
pil tc o rm s , Sch .
dentirosm s, J ek .
a pproximans , W'
lk .
Venerl s , Dohrn .
Cerob a tes , Schon .
thra sc 0, Dohrn .
acicula tus, Wlk .
Ceocepha lus . Schon .
c a vus , Wlk .
*ret iculatus , F a br .
Nemo cepha lus , L a tr .
sulcxro stn s , De H a a n .
p lanlco l lis , Wlk .
Sp lne St l’
lS , Wlk .
Apooerus , Olzv.
Iongico lhs F a br .
T ranqueb a ric us , F ahr .
Cygneus , F a br .
scuulns , Wlk .
a“triangula ris , F a br .
*echmatu~,Sch .
Rhynchites , H erbs t .
suffundens , Wlk.
aifrestituens, Wlk
Apion , H e? bsi*Cmga |ense . Wlk .
Stropho somus , Bilbug .
*sutura l l s . Wlk.
Pia z om ia s , Sch'
o'
n.
acquahs , Wlk.
Astycus , Schb’
n .
la tera li s , Fa br.
ebeninus , Wlk .
G G 2
451
*immnni<, Wlk .
Cleonus, Schbn .
Inducens , Wlk.
Myl locerus , Scho'
n .
transmarm us , H e) bst.spurca tuS , Wlk .
*retrahens,Wlk.
alepo s tl cus , Wlk .
Phyl lob ius , Schon .
*m 1m icus , Wlk.
Episomus , Schon .
paupera tus , F a br .
l us , F a br .
neb uli fa sma , Wlk.
Aclees . Scho'
n .
crlb ra tus , Dej .
Alcides, D a lm .
s lgna tus , Boh.
ob liquus . Wlk .
transversus . Wlk .
*c la usus . Wlk.
A0 1cn em is , Fa irmCeylonicus , J eh.
Apotom orhinus Schon.
signa tus , Wlk .
a lb oa ter, Wlk .
Crypto rhynchus , I ll ig .
Inefi’
ec tus , Wlk .
a SS Im l lans, Wlk .
dec lara tus , Wlk .
notab i lis , Wlk .
vexatus , WlkCampto rhinu Schon
reve rsus ,
'
WZka"Indisc re tus , Wlk.
De sm ido phorus , Cheur .
hebes , F a br .
commumcans , Wlk.
strenuus , Wlk .
*dl scr1minans , Wlk .
inexpertus , "1k .
fa scxculico llis , Wlk .
Sipa lus , Scho'
n .
granula tus , F ahr .
poro sus , Wlk .
tinctus , Wlk .
Mecopus , Da lm .
*Wa terhousei, Dohrn.
Rhyncho phora s , H erbst.ferrug lneus , F a hr .
introducens Wlk .
Pro tocerus, Schon .
molo ssus OlivSpha nOpho rus , Schon.
glab ria iscus , Wlk .
exqm sntus,Wlk .
D ehaanl J ek.
c ribn colli s . Wlk .
?panops , Wlk .
Co ssonus , Claw .
ai‘q uadrlrnacula, W k.
hebes, lVlk .
am b iguus , SchScitOphl lus . Schon .
o riz ee , L inn .
dISCI fe rus , Wlk .
Mecmus , Germ .
?relic to s , Wlk.
F am. PRIONIDE , L ea ch.
T rictenotoma , G . B . Gray .
452
T empletoni, Weslw.
Prionomm a , Whornentah s , Olw .
Acanthophorus , Serv.
serra ticorm s , Olw .
Cnemopli tes , Newm .
Rhesus , Match.
JEgo soma , Sera .
Cm ga lense , White .
F am .
‘
CERAMBY C IDJE ,
Kirby .
Cerambyx, L inn .
induta s , Newm.
verm co sns . Pas c.
conso cm s , F a sc.
versutus , Pa sc .
m tldus , Pa sc .
m acxlentus , Pa sc .
venustus , Pa sc .
tort lcolhs , Dohrn .
Seba sm ia , Pa sc .
T empletoni, Pa sc.
Callichrom a , L a ir .
tro goninum , Pa co .
telepho rmdes , Wesiw.
H omalom ela s, White .
gracmpes , Pa rry .
z onatus‘
, Pa ge .
Colobus , Serv .
C inga lensis , White.
T hram us , Pa sc .
g ibb osus , Pa sc
D euteromma,Pa sc .
mutl ca , Pa sc .
Ob rium ,Meg
la tera le , Pa sc .
moes tum , Pa sc.
Psilom erus , Blanch.
m ac ilentus , Pa so.
Clytus , F a br.
Vicmus , H ope.
a scendens , Pa sa.
Wa lkeri , Pa sc .
annulan s , F a br .
at aurillnea , Dohrn .
Rhaphum a, Pa sc .
leuco scute llata , H ope.
Ceresmm ,Newm .
creta tum ,White .
Zeylamcum , While.
Stroma tlum ,Sew .
barb atum ,F a hr .
m acula tum ,Whi le .
H espherophanes . Ma ls.
S implex, Gy ll.
F am . L AMI IDlE ,Kirby .
yphona ,Muls .
cylmdra t ea , White.
Meso sa ,Serv.
columba , F a sc.CoptOps , Serv.
b idens , F a br.
Xylorhiz a , Dej .
adusta , e d.
CaCIa , Newm .
triloba . Pa sc .
Batocera , Blanch.
rubus , F a br .
ferrugmea , Blanch.
INSECTS . [CH AP . XII .
F am . CRY‘
PT OCEPH ALIDE ,
K irby .
Cryptocepha lus , Geofi .
‘
s ex- puncta tus , Fa hr .
W a lkeri, Ba ly .
Diapromorpha , L a c.
T urc Ica,F a hr .
Monohammus, Meg.
fi stul ator . Germ .
cruc ifer, F a br .
nivo sus , Whitecomm ixtus , Pa sc .
Cereopsm s , Dup .
pa tronus , Pa sc .
Pela rgoderus , Serv.
t ignnus , Che-ar .
eno c amp tus , Chevr .
b i lob us , F a br .
Praone tha , Dej .
annula ta , Chee r .
po st lcal is , Pa sc .
Apomecyna , Sew .
h istrlo , F a br. var.
Rop ica , F a sc.
praeu sta , Pa sc.
H athlm ,Sew .
procera , Pa sc .
Iolea , Pa sc .
proxima, Pa sc .
histrio , Pa sc .
G lenea , Newm .
sulphurel la , Whi te.
commissa , Pa sc .
scapi tera , Pa sc.
vexa to r, Pa sc .
S tibara , H op e .
nigricornl s , Fa br .
F am . H I SPIDlE , Kirby .
Oncocephala , Dohrn .
delto ides , D ohrn .
L epl l spa , Ba ly .
pygmaea , Ba ly .
Amp ll sb a , Ba ly .
Dohrnn , Ba ly .
E stigmena , H ope .
Chmensis , H op e.
H ispa , L inn .
hystrix,F a br.
erinacea , F a br.
m arina , Dohrn .
*Wa lker l , Ba ly .
Platypria , Ga ér .
echidna , G uér.
F am . CASSIDIDZE ,Wesiw .
Ep l St t la,Bah.
m atronu la , Boh.
H 0 p l ionota , H ope .
tetua sp ilo ta , Ba ly .
rub roma rgma ta , Bah.
hOt’ l‘ lfiCd , Bah.
Aspldom orpha , H ope.
St crucns , F a br .
m il iarl s F a hr .
palhdim arginata , Ba ly .
dorsa ta , F a hr .
c all lgera ,Bah.
m icans , F a hr .
Cassida , L inn .
c la thrata , Fa br .
t imefac ta , Bah.
farm osa,Bah.
Lac co pl era . Bah.
14-nota ta , Bah.
Coptcyc la , Cheur.
sex-notata , Fahr .
l 3- signata , Bah.
l B-notata . Bah.
o rnata ,F a br .
Ceylonica , Boh.
Ba lyi, Bah.
tn v1ttata , F a br .
15-punctuata , Boh.
catenata , Dej .
F am . SAGRIDZE ,Kirby.
Sagra , Fa hr .
mgn ta , Olw .
F am . DON 4 0mm, L acard.
Dona cm ,F a hr .
De le sserti , Guér .
Coptocephala , Chev.
T emple tonl , Ba ly.
F am . EUMOLPIDZE ,Ba ly .
Corynodes , H ope .
cyaneu s , H ope.
aeneus, Ba lz/Glypto sce l ls , Chevr .
T empletom , Ba ly .
pyrosp ilo tus , Ba ly .
m icans , Ba ly .
cupreus . Ba ly .
umo lpus , F a br .
lemmdes , Wlk.
F am . CHRY SOMELIDE ,
L ea ch .
halcolampa , Ba lq .
T empletonl , Ba ly.
ina , Meg .
convexa , Ba ly .
Chrysome la , L inn .
T empletoni, Ba ly .
F am. G ALERUCIDZE , S leph.
G aleruc a , Geafi f*pec tina ta , Dohrn.
G rap todera , Chevr.
cyanea , F a hr.
Mono lepta , Cheer .
pu lchel la , Ba ly .
T hyam is , Step h .
Ceylonicus , Ba ly .
F am . COCCINELLIDZE , L a ir.
Epilachna , Chevr .
28 - nunc tata , Fa br.
D elessortn,Guér .
pubescens , H ope.
innub a , Olw .
Coccm ella , L inn .
tn cmc ta , F a br.
*repanda , Mil ls .
tenni lmea , Wlk.
rej iciens , Wlk .
interrumpens, Wlk.
*T aprob anes , H agen.
*ob l l tus , H agen .
consitus , H agen.
trimaculatus , H agen‘*obtusus , H agen.
*elonga tus, H agen .
*chloro ticus . H agen .
*ar1dus , H agen*c o leop tra tus . H agen .
*do lab ra tus , H agen .
*Inie lix, H agen.
F am. T ERMI T IDIE ,L ea ch .
T ermes , L inn .
T a probanes , W k .
fa ta l l s , Kaen .
m onocero s , Keen .
*umb l licatus , H agen.
*n. 8 . J oa n.
”in . 5 . J am) .
F am . Emmnm, H agen.
Ol igo toma . Wes tw .
’*Saundersil , Weslw .
F am . EPHEMERIDE , L ea ch .
Baztis ,‘
L ea ch.
T a prob anes , Wlk.
Potam anthus , Pict .
*fa scxa tus , H agen .
*annulatus,H agen.
* fem orahs , H agen .
Cloe . Burns.*tristi s , H agen .
*consueta ,H agen.
* so lida , H agen.
*sigma ta , H agen.
*marginahs, H agen
C a mus , Sieph.
perpusilla , Wlk .
F am . L IBELLULIDHZ.
CaIOpteryx, L ea ch .
Chm ensxs, L inn .
Eupnoea , Selys .
splendens . H agen .
Micromerus , Ramb .
lmeatus, Bu rm .
T richocnemys , Selys .
fi erapica , H agen .
L estes , L ea ch*ela ta , H agen .
*gracnlis , H agen
Agrlon,F a br .
*Corom andelianum ,
a‘itenax, H a gen .
*h1]are, H agen.
*ve la re . H a g en .
*del ica tum , H agen .
Gynac antha , H amh.
sub lnterrupta , Ramb .
Epophtha lm ia , Bu?m .
vittata , Burm .
Zyxomma , Bamb .
petio la tum , Ramb .
Ac isoma , Ramb .
panorpmdes , Ramb .
L ibe llula , L inn .
Marma , Drury .
T il la rga , Fa hr .
variegata, L inn.
INSECTS . [CH AP. XII .
Earn. POMPIL IDZE , L ea ch.
Pomp ilus , F a hr .
ana lis F a br .
F am . CH RY SIDB , Wlk.
Stilbum ,Sp in .
splendidum , Dahl .
F ain . D onvu naz , Sha ck .
Enictus , Sha ck .
pon z onordes, Wlk .
flavescens , Fahr .
Sab ina , Orm y .
vin dula , Pa t. Bea uv.
congene r, Itamb .
so ror , Rama .
Aurora , Bu im .
V Iolacea , N iet.
p erla , H agen .
sangumea Burm .
tr1v1a hs , .Ramh.
contamm a ta , F a br .
equestn s , Fa hr .
nebulosa, F a hr .
Order H Y MENOPT ERA,
I/tan.
F am . F ORMICIDAZ, L ea ch.
F o rmica , L inn .
sm a ragdm a , F a br .
m il l s , Sm ith.
* T ap robane , Smith*variega ta , Smith.
*exerc 1ta , Wlk .
*exundans , Wlh.
*men taus , Wlk.
* la tebrosa , Wlk .
*pangens , Wlk .
* 1ngruens , Wlk .
“*de torquens , Wlk .
*d1tfi dens , Wlk .
* ob scurans , PVIh.
a“Indeflexa , Wlk .
c onsultans , Wlk.
Polyrha chis , Sm ith.
’* I llaudatus , Wlk .
F am PONERIDJE , Smith.
Odontoma rhus , L a ir .
sim i ll lmus , Sm ith.
T yphlopone , Wes tw .
C urt isn ,Sha ck.
Myrm ic a , L a rr .
b asalts , Sm i th .
Cont igua , Sm ith .
g lycnphi la , Smith .
*consternens , Wlk .
Crema toga s ter , L a nd*pel lens , Wlk .
i‘fdeponens , Wlk .
a,Jortrculus , Wlk .
Pseudomyrm a , G uré.
*a tra ta , Sm ith .
a l lab orans , Wlk.
Atta , St . Fa rg .
d ld lta , Wlk.
Pheldo le, Westm.
J anus , Sm i th.
* T aprob anae, Smith.
*rugo sa , Sm i th .
Meranop lus , Sm i th.
Wlk.
Ca tau la cus , Sm ith .
T a probanae, Sm ith .
F am . MUT ILLIDE , L ea ch.
Mutl lla , L inn .
* S |b vlla , Smith.
T lphia , F a hr .
*decrescens, Wlk.
F am . EUMENIDE , Westw.
Odynerus L a ir .
* t1nc t1pennis , Wlk .
a"mtendens,Wlk .
atm tendens, Wlk .
Scol ia , F a b ;
aun collis , St . F a rg .
F am. CRABRONIDIE , L ea ch.
Philanthus,Fa br .
ba sal ts , Sm ith.
Stigmus, J a r .
- ongruus , With.
F am . SPH EG IDE,Steph.
Amm oplnla , Kirby .
atnpes , Sm ith.
Pelopaeus L ai r.
Sp ino lae, St. F a ig .
Sphex, Fa hr .
ferruglnea , St. Fa rg .
Ampulex, J a r .
compressa , F a hr .
F am . L ARRIDaz,Steph .
L arrada , Smith .
*extensa , Wih.
F am . APIDZE , L ea ch .
Andrena , F a br .
a‘fexagens , PVIk .
Nomia,L a ir
rustica , Wes iw.
*vmcta ,"1k .
Aflodap s . Smith*m a rgm a ta , Sm ith.
Cera tm a . L a ir .
vm dis , Guér .
p icta . s ih .
*snm | llima, Smith.
Cwl ioxys , L a ir .
c ap itata , Smith.
Croe lsa , J a r .
fi am o sa , Si . F a rg .
Stelis , Pa nz .
c a rhoua ria , Sm ith .
Anthopho ra , L a ir .
z ona ta , Sm ith.
Xylocopa , L a ir .
tenu isc ana , Westw.
la t ipes , D 1 a ry .
Apis . L inn
Indica , Smith.
rigona , J ur .
irldlpenm s , Smith .
a‘Epraaterita , Wlk.
CH AP. XII .] LIST OF CEYLON INSECTS.
Pam. ICH NBU momma ,
L each.
Cryptus, Fa br .
*onustus , Wlk .
H em l teles ? G i a v.
a"va ' ius , Wlk .
Porl z on, Fa ll .a‘fdom lnans , Wlk .
Pimp la ,
’
Fahr.
alb op icta , Wlk .
F am . BRAc oma , H a l .
Mic rogaster, L a ir .
*recus ans , Wlk .
*51gnificans , W'
lh.
*subducens , Wlk .
*detra c ta , Wlk .
Spathius , Nees .
* b | 5 1gna tus , Wlk .
* s tgn1penm s , Wlk.
H era tem ls , Wlk .
a‘ffi lo sa , Wlk .
Neb a rtha,Wik .
*ma c ro p0 1des , Wlk.
Psytta lia , Wlk .
* testacea , Wlk .
F am . CHALC IDIE , Sp in .
Chalets , F a br .
*l Ideus , Wlk.
*pandens, Wlk.
H aluce lla , Sp an .
*rufimauus,Wlk.
* l l lfiClenS , Wlk .
D IrrhInus D a l /n .
elfa nthra CIa, Wlk.
Eur) toma , I ll .a‘fcontraria
,Wlk.
indefensa , Wlk .
Buchan s . L a ir .
*convengens , PVIh.
*de prl vcita , Wlk .
Pteroma lus,Swed .
*m agmc eps , Wlk.
Encyrtus, La ir .
*ob structus , Wlk .
F am . D IAPRIDlE, H a l .
D iapria . L a ir .
ap ica l is , Wlk .
Order LEPIDOPTERA
Ia'
nn.
F am . PAPILIONIDAZ, L ea ch .
Ornithoptera , Bul Sd .
Da rs ius, G . B . Gray .
Pap il lo , L inn .
D iphl lus , Esp .
J ophon, G . B . GrayH ec t r
, L inn .
Romulus , Ci am .
Po lymnes to r, Cram .
C rino,F a br .
H e lenus , L inn.
Pammon, L inn .
Po lytes , L inn .
Eruhomus, Cram.
4 5
Antipathis , Cram .
Agamemnon, Lmn .
Eurypnlus , L inn .
Ba thyc les , c k- Som .
Sa rpedon, L inn .
d l Ss lm‘ll b , L inn .
Pontia, F a br .
Nina, F ahr .
Pieris , Schr .
Eu cha rl s, Drury .
CoronI s , Cra m .
E picha r ls , Goat .Nama , Doubt.
Remba , Moore.
Mesentma , Goat .S everlua , Ci am .
Nam ouna , D oubl.
Phryne, F a br .
Pa ulina , Goat .
T hestyll s , Doubl .
Ca llo sune, Doubt.
E ucha ris , F a hr .
Danae, F a br .
Etrida , Bau d .
Idmais , Bo isd .
Ca la is , C? am .
T hestia s , Bo zsd.
Ma rl amne , Cram .
Plrene , Lmn .
H ebomO Ia,H abn
G l auC Ippe , L inn.
Eronia , H a bu .
Va leria, Cl am .
Ca llidrya s , Ba zsd .
Ph l l lppma , Boisd.
P) rantue , L inn .
H ila ria , Cram .
Alcmeo ne ; Cram .
T hb o re l ld , Ba zsd .
T eria s , Swa in.
D rona , H orsf .
H ecabe,L i nn .
F am . NYMPHALIDE , Swa in.
E il plma , Fa b ) .
Prmhoe , Godt.Co re , Cra m .
A lc a thué, Godt.
Dana is , La ir .
C hrys ippus , L inn.
PlexIppuS . L inn .
Aglae , C1 am .
Me l i s sa , Cram .
L imma cae, Cl am.
J uventa , Cram .
H estl a , H tiba .
J a soma , Westw .
T elchlma . H ahn .
VIo laa, Fa br .
Cetho sxa , Fa hr .
ya ue , F a hr .
Messa rus , Doubt.
Erym anthl s, Drury .
Ate lla , Doubt.
Pha lauta , Drury .
Argy. n ls , l'a br .
Nl phe, L inn .
C lagia , Goat .E rgoh s , Bozsd .
T a pro bana , West .Vanessa , F a br .
G G 4
Charonia , Drury .
L ibythea , F a br .
Medhavma , Wlk .
Pushcara Wlk .
Pyram e is , H a bn .
Cha t om a,D rury.
‘
Ca rdin , L inn .
Ca lhrhoe , H a bn.
J unoma,H a hn .
L imum a s , L inn.
(E nnne , L i nn .
O rI thgl a , I inn.
L aomed l a,L inn .
A s te r le, L inn .
Prems , H a bn .
I phl ta , 0 ) am.
ynthia , Fa hr .
Arsmoe, Cram .
Pa rtheno s , H il bn .
G am b rlsm s,F a hr .
L imenms , F a br .
C a hdusa,Moore.
Nept l s, F a hr.
H ehodore, F a br .
Co lumel la , Cram .
a ce n s , Fa hr .
J a mb ah , Moore.
H o rdom a , S tall.
Diadem a , Bo zsd .
Ange . Cra m .
Bo lina , L mn .
Symphzedra , H ubn .
T hyel la , F a hr .
AdolIa s, Bo isd .
Eve lina , Sta ll .
L ub ent‘
m a,F a br .
Vasanta , Moore .
G a ruda , Moore .
Nympha lns , L a ir.
Psa phon, Westm.
Berna rdus , Fa br .
A thama s, Cram .
F ahl lh , F a br .
Ka lluna , Doubl .
Pmlarchus Westm.
Me lam t ls , F a br.Banks1a
,F a br .
L eda, L inn
Ca SIphone, G . B . Gray .
undu la rl s , Bo zsd .
t hthlma , H a bn .
Lys and ra , C) am .
Partha l l s , Wlk .
Cyllo . Botsd .
G urya , PVI/c.
Ca tha na ,Wlk .
Em bohma,Wlk.
Ne i lgherrlensis, Guér .
Purlma ta , H lh.
Pus hpam l tra , Wlk.Myca leSIS , H ii bn .
Pa tm a , Moore .
G ama lib a,Wlk .
D o ~a ron,Wlk .
S amb a , Moore .
aeno rum pha , H z’
t bn .
Eua spla, Wlk .
EmesIs , 1 a br .
Echerius , Stall .
F am . c mnmm , L each.
Anops, Baisd.
INSECTS . [CH AP . XI I .
Bul ls . Bozsd .
T hetys , D ru ry .
L oxura , H orsf .
Atymnus , Cram.
Myrma,Godi .
Sel lmnus , Doubled.
T rIOpa s , Cram.
Amb lypod ia , H a ) sf.L ongmus , F a br .
Na rada , H orsf .
p seudo centaurus , Do .
q uercetorum ,Bozsd.
Aphneeus , H ubn .
PIndarus , F abr .
E to lus , CramH ephaestos , Doubled.
Cro tus , Doubled .
D ipsa s , Doubled .
c hrys om a llus , H ubn.
Isoc ra tes,F a br .
Lyceena , F a b r .
Alexi s , Sta ll .
Boetica , L inn.
Cnejus , H 0 7 Sf.Rosxmon
, F a br .
T heophra s tus , F a br .
Pluto , F a br .
Pa rana,H araf.
Nyseus , Guér .
E thl ou , Bo zsd .
Celeno , Cram .
Kanda rpa , H orsf.E lp ls , Goat .Chimona s , Wlk .
G andara , Wlk .
Choriem s , Wlk.
G eria, Wlk .
B oana s , Wlk .
S unya , Wlk .
Andhra , Wlk.
Polyomma tus, L a ir .
Aka sa, H orsf .
Puspa , H orsj lL a ius
, Cram .
Ep lus , Westm.
Pithecops , H a ; sf .F am . ZY G IENIDJE , L ea ch.
H ylax, F a br . Syntom i s , OchsSc i oenherri , Boz
’
sd .
F am . H ESPERIDZE , Steph. C reusa , L inn .
G oniloba, Wes tm .
Imaon, Cram .
Iapetus , Cram .G laucop ls , F a hr .
Pyrgus , H a hn .sub aura ta , Wlk .
S uperna , Moore.Enchrom la , H il bn .
D anna , Moo re .Po lymena , Cram .
Genta , Wlk .d lmxnnta , Wlk.
Sydrus , H lk ,
Nisoniades , H ii bn .
D ioc les, Bo zsd .
Sa lsa la , Moore.
T O Ides , Wlk .
Pamphl la , Fa hr .
Aug ias , L inn
A chyI
lodes, H z
‘
l bn .,
ema la , Wlk .
H espen a , F a b ) .
F am. L IPARIDIE , Wlk
Indrani,Moore. Artaxa , Wlk
Chaya , Moore. guttata , Wlk.
Omuara , Moore .
grem lus , L a ir .
Cendocha tes , PVlk.
T iagara , Wlh.
C o tl a ris ,S lga la , Wlk .
F am . SPH ING IDZE,L ea ch.
Sesia , F a br .
H yla s , L inn .
Macroglo ssa , Ochs .
S te l la ta rum , L inn .
gyrans, Bozsd.
Cory thus, Bo zsd
dn ergens , Wilt .Calymnl a , Bozsd .
Panopus , Cram .
Chwro campa , Dup .
T hye lia , L inn .
Nyssus , D rury .
C lotho , Drury .
O ldenlandiee , Fahr.
L ycetus , Cram .
S i lhetenSIs, Bo zsd .
Perge sa , Wlk .
Acteus , Cl am .
Panac ra , Wlh.
vigi l, Guer .
Daphm s , H a bn .
Neru , L inn .
Zonilia , Ba zsd .
Mo rpheus , Cram .
Ma crosrla , Bo zsd.
o bl iqua , Wlh.
d ISCI strlga , Wlk.
Sphinx ,L inn .
convo lvuli, L inn.
Acheront ia , Ochs .Satanas , Bozsd .
Smerm thus,L a ir .
D ryas , Bozsd .
F am . CAST NI IDZE, Wlh.
Ensem l a , D a lm .
bel la trix, Westm.
E gocera , L a ir .
Venu lia , 0 7 am .
b lmacula , Wlk .
F am . L IT no snnzz,Steph.
Scaptesyle , Wlh.
b ico lo r, Wlh .
Nyc temera , H ubn.
lacucm ia, Cram .
l a ti s triga ,Wlk .
Co leta , Cram .
Euschem a , H il bn .
sub rep leta , Wlh .
transversa, Wlk .
Vili s , Wlh.
Chalcosra , H ubn .
T iberina , Cram .
veno sa , Anon .
E ternsra,H ope .
JEdea , L inn .
T rypanopho ra , Koll .T aprobanes , Wlk
H eteropan, Wlk .
scm trllans , W'
lh.
Hypsa , H ubn .
p lana , Wlh.
c aricae, F ahr .
fi cus , F a br .
Vitessa , Moor .
Zem l re , Cram .
L 1thos ra , F a hr .
antica , Wlk .
b revxpenm s, Wlk.
Setina, Sohr .
semrt‘
a scra , Wlk.
s onta , Wlk .
Boliche,Wlk .
hilarl s , lfVlh.
Pitane,Wlk . ]
conserta , Wlh.
E mene , Wlh .
’
l aprob anes, Wl/t .B irade ~, Wilf .
a tta cmdc s,Wlh.
Cyllene , Wlk .
transversa , Wlk.
‘
* spolia ta , Wlk.
Biz one , Wlh .
subornata , Wlk .
peregrma , Wlk .
Dei opeia , Steph.
pulce lla , L inn .
A s trea , Drury .
Argus , Kolla r .
F am . ARCT I IDJE , L each.
Alope, Wlk.o cel l ifera
, Wlk.
Sangarida , Cram .
T inol lus , Wlk .
eburneigutta , Wlh.
Creatonoto s , H ubn .
interrupta , L inn .
em ittens,Wlk .
Acmonia , Wlh.
I lthOSlOldeS , W'
lk.
Sp ilosoma , Steph.
sub fa sc ra , Wlh.
Cycnia , H ubn
rub lda , Wlk .
sparsigutta , Wlk.Anthena , Wlk .
disc a l l s , Wlk.
A loa , Wlh.
la ct lnea , Cram .
cand ldula , lVl/c.
ero sa , Wlh.
Amerila,Wlh .
Mel anthus , Cram.
Amm a tho , Wlh .
cumonotatus H’Ih.
retrahens , Wlk .
”
c onfundel
congressa
m pt l s triga , Wlk.
Ansa , Wlh.
fi hpa lpl s , Wilt .
F am . XY LINIDE , Guén.
Ragada , Wlk.
pyro rchroma , Wlk.
Crya ssa , Wlkb acie~, Wlk .
Egel l s ta , Wlh.
rudrvntta , Wlk.
Xylma , Ochs .
defi exa,Wlk.
inchoans , Wlk.
F am . H EL Iorm a , Guén .
H elIo thl s , Ochs .
armigera , H ubn.
F am . H /EMEROSIDE , Gue'n.
Ario l a , Wlk .
coeh srgna , W’
lh.
d l leCtISSlma . Wlk .
satura ta , Wlk .
F am . ACONT IDE , Guén.
Xanthodes , G uén.
Intersep ta , Guén.
Acont la , Ochs
tropica , Guén .
ol ivacea , Wlk.
fa scxculo sa , Wlk.
srgm tera , Wlk .
turpI s, Wlk .
rmano rdes , lVlk.
approx1mans . Wlh.
d ivulsa, Wlh.
*egens , Wlk .
plem co sta, Wlk .
determmata ,Wlh.
hypaetrordes , Wlk .
Chlum et la , Wlk .
multilinea, Wlk .
F am . An'
rno enm naa,Guén.
Micra , Guén .
desti tuta , Wlk .
de rogata , Wlk .
simp lex,lVlh.
F am . ERIOPI DE , Guén .
Callopis tria , H ubn .
exo tica,Gn e’n.
rivulan s , Wlk .
dup licans , Wlk .
F am . EURH IPIDE , Guén .
Pemc illaria , Gue'n.
nuga t rix, Guén .
reso luta . Wlk.
so l ida , Wlk .
luda t rix, Wlk.
Rhesala , Wlk .
impa ra ta , Wlk.
Eute lIa , H ahn.
favl llam x, Wlk.
thermesndes , Wlh.
INSECTS . [CH AP . XII .
F am . H YPOCALIDE , Guén .
H )poca la , Guén .
efliore scens , Guén.
sub sa tura , Guén.
F am . CAT OCALIDE . Boisd.
Blenina , Wlk.
F am PLUS IIDE , Bozsd.
Ab rosto la , Ochs
transfixa , Wlk .
Plusm , Ochs .
aun fera , H u‘
bn .
vert icillata , G uén .
agramma , Gwen .
o b tusrsigna , Wlk.
mgrl luna . Wlk .
s igna ta , Wlh .
d ispe l lens , Wlk .
p ropulsa , Wlk .
F am . CALPIDE , Guén .
Calpe, T reii .m inuticornrs, Guen .
O rce sra , Guén .
em a rgina ta , F a br .
Deva , Wlk .
conducens , Wlk.
F am . H EMICERIDE , Guén .
W esterm annia , H ahn .
superba , H iibn .
F am . H Y BLE IDE, Guén .
H yb laea , Guén .
Puera , Ci am.
constellma , Gue’n .
Nola sena , Wlkferrlfervens, Wlk .
F am . G onorr emnm, Guén.
Co sm ophila , Borsd .
Ind lc a,Guén .
xanthmdyma , Boisd.
Anom i s , H tiba .
fulvida , Guen.
I conica, Wlk .
Gonit is,Guén .
com bmans,PVlk.
a lh l tib la , Wlk .
mesogona , Wlh.
guttan lws , Wlk.
invo luta , Wlh.
b a sah s , Wlh.
Epored a , Wlk.
damm ' ennis , Wlk .
Rusrcada , Wlk .
nign tarsrs , Wlk .
Pas1peda , Wlk .
rufipalp l s , Wlk .
F a in . T OXOCAMPIDZE,Guen .
T oxocampa , Guén .
meta sp i la , Wlk .
sexl inea , Wlk .
q umq ue lma , Wl k.
Alb om ca , Wlk .
reversa , Wlk .
F am . POLY DESMIDE,Guén .
Po lydesma , Boisd .
b oa rmo rdes,Wlk .
erubescens , Wlh.
F am . H OMOPT ERIDE , Bais .
Alam is , Guén .
spo liata , Wlk.
H omoptera , Ba isd .
b as lpa llens , Wlk .
retra hens,H
'
lh‘ .co stifera , Wlk .
d lv1$is tr |ga , Wlh.
procumbens , Wlh .
Dra cmsta,Wlh .
homontero ides , Wlk .
aXa ta , Wlk .
b lj ungens , Wlk.
F am . H Y POGRAMMIDB ,
Briarda,Wlh.
precedens , WlhBrana
,Wlh.
c a IOpasa , Wlk .
rsa , Wlk .
ligm co lor, Wlh .
a tha , Wlk .
Inc ludens , Wlk .
Gadl rtha , Wlk .
decrescens,Wlk .
imp ingens , Wlk .
spurca ta , Wlk .
rec tlfera, Wlk .
dupll c'
ans , Wlk .
intrusa , Wlk .
Erche l a , Wlh.
drversrpennis , Wlk.
lotheia , Wlh.
- fronta lis, Wlk.
Iomea, Wlk .
ro tundata, Wlk .
chlorome la , W'
lk .
o rb rcularis , Wlk .
mu sco sa , Wlk .
Dmumm a, Wlh.
p lacens , Wlk.
Lusia , Wlk .
geometro ides , Wlk.
perfiCIta , Wlk .
repulsa , Wlk .
Abum s , Wlk .
tnmesa , W'
lk .
F am . CAT EPHIDIE,Guén .
Cocytodes , Guén .
coerula , Guén .
modesta , Wlk.
Catephia , Ochs .
l lnteo la, Guén.
AnOph la , Guén .
ac ronyctordes , Guén .
S teiria , Wlk .
suhob liqua , Wlk .
traJImens, Wlk.
Aucha , Wlk.
velans , Wlk .
ZEgIl la , Wlk .
describ ens , Wlk .
Maceda , Wlh.
mansueta , M k.
CH AP . XII . ] LIST
donans , Wlh.
a cc rp iens , Wlh.
F am . OPnInERiDm ,Guén .
Oph ldere s , Bo zsd.
Ma terna, L inn .
ful louica , L inn .
C a j eta , Cram .
A ncnlla , Cram .
Sa lamm ia , Cram .
H 3pe rmnestra . Cram .
mu lt lscrlp ta , Wlh.
b il ineo sa , Wlh.
PotamOphera , G uén.
Ma nh a , Cram .
Lygm odes , Guen .
reducens , Wlk .
d ispa rans , lV/k .
hypo leuca , Guen .
F am . F REBIDE,Guen.
Oxyodes, G uén.
Clytia , C? am .
F am . OMMAT OPHORIDEGuen .
Speiredonia , H libn .
retrahens , Wlk .
Serlcra , Guen .
ano ps , Guen .
pa rVIpennIs , Wlk .
Patu la , Guen .
ma c rops , L inn .
Argiva , H z’
l bn .
h ieroglyphica , Drury .
Beregra , Wlk .
rep lenens , Wlk .
F am . H Y POPY RIDZE ,Guen .
Spiram l a , Guén .
H el .con1a , H a bn .
Ht rilob a , G uén .
pop t a,Guen .y
VQS
ILGI'UI o , F a br .
OrtOSpana , Wlk .
connec teus . WlkEnrom ogramm a
, Guen .
fautn x, Guén .
F am . BENDIDE , Guen .
H am as a . Guen .
clathrum , Guén .
H ulode s , G uénca ranc a , Cram .
palumba , Guen .
F am . OPH IUSIDE , Guen .
Sphingom o rpha , G uén.
Chlo rea , Cram .
L agOptera , G uénhone sta t u .
m agica , H a bn .
do t a ta , F a br .
Ophlodes , G uén .
d i sc rim inans , Wlh.
b as1~t |gma , Wlk .
Cerb ia , Wiltfugi tiva , Wlh.
Ophlsma , Guén.
F am . F oc rt tmzn,Guen .
F ocrlla , Guen .
submemorans , Wlh.
F am . AMPHIGANIDE ,
(wuén .
L acera , Guen .
c apel la , Guen .
Amphlgom a , Guen.
hepa trz ans , Guen.
OF CEYLON INSECTS . 459
F am . T HERMI SIDZE , Guen.
Symp is , G uén .
rufiua Si s , Guen .
T he rm esia . H ubn .
fimpa lp i s . Wlk .
so luta , Wlk .
Az a z ra , Wlk .
rub rlc ans, Boisa.
Selem s , Gue’n .
m vrsapex, Wlk .
m ulugutta ta , Wlh.
sem ilux,Wlk .
Eph) rode s , G uén .
exmp i ens , Wlk.
cn st i s fera , Wlk .
lmeifera , Wlk.
Capnodes . Guén .
*macu lc sta , Wlh.
Ballatha ,Wllf .
at ro tumens, W
'
Ik.
Daram ssa . Wlh .
digramma, W
'
Ih.
Da r sa , Wlk .
defec t l ssima , Wlh.
F am . URAPT ERYDZE,Guéa .
Lagyra , if ih .
T a laca , Wlh.
F am . ENNOMIDE , Guen.
H yperythra , Guén .
limb o la rla , Guéa .
Orsonoba , Wlh .
Ra ja c a , Wlk.
F a scelhna , Wlk .
chroma tan a , Wlk .
L aglm a, Wlk.
bractlaria , Wlk.
Pam . GEOMET RIDE , Guen.
Geometra,L inn .
laetab ilis , Guen.
defi cnens , Wlk .
gravata , Wlk.
c rrcum terens, PVIk .
termm ans , Wlk.
A chaea , H ubn .
Me licerta . Drury.
Me z ent la , Cram .
Cyllo ta , Guén .
Cyllarla , Cram.
fus i lera , Wlk .
sigmvm a . Wlh .
reversa , Wlk .
comb inans , PVlh .
expectans , Wlh.
Serrodes, Gu e’n .
campana , Guen.
Naxia , G uen .
a b sentnna cula , Guén.
One lIa . Guen .
ca lefa c lens , Wlk .
ca lorifi ca,Wlk .
CaleS Ia , Guénhoemo rrhoda
,G uén.
H ypa tra , G uén .
t rig vm fera , Wlh.
curvifera , Wlk .
cond lra , Wlk .
c om placens , Wlk.
l I Sd , Wlk .
Ophiusa , Ochs .
myops , Guén.
a lb ivitta , Guén .
Achauna,Su l z .
fu l i o teema , G n én .
S lm l ll lm a , Guén .
fes tma ta, Wlk.
pa lhdrlmea , Wlh.
lutel pa lp ls , Wlk.
F odlna , G uén
sto la , Guén .
Garammodes , Guén .
Ammonia , Cram .
Mygdon, Cram .
s to l lda,Fa br .
mundico lor, Wlk .
:F am . Eucu nmm, Guen .
T rigonodes , Guéa .
H lppaSl a , Cram .
F am . REMIG IDB , Guen .
Remigia , G uén .
A rchesra , Cram .
fruga l l s , F a br .
pertendens , Wlh.
c ongrega ta . Wlk .
op tura ta , Wlk .
F am . BOARMIDE , Guen .
Amb lych l a , G uén .
angeroma , Guen .
po sts trigarla , Wlk.
Boarm l a, T reat .
sub lavar la , Guén .
admissaria . Guen.
raptan a , Wlk .
Meda sma ,Wlk.
Bhurm l tra , Wlk.
Sma sa sa . Wlk .
d iifluarla , Wlk .
ca rlta ru ,Wlk .
exc lusana , Wlk .
Hypochrom a , Guen .
mm rmarla, Guen.
G nOphos . T reat .
Pulmda , Wlh.
Ga la taria , Wlk .
H emeropnl la , S tep h .
vrdhisara , Wlk .
Aga lh ia , G uén .
b land l an a , Wilf .Bulonga , lVik .
Aj a la , Wlk .
Chac o ra ca , Wlh.
Chandubua , Wlk .
specul aria , Guén.
Nanda , Wlk.
Nemo ria , H a bn .
c audulan a , Gue’n .
so lldrm a,Gue’n .
T ha la ssodes , Guen .
quadraria,Guen.
ca tena ria , Wlh .
imm I SSarra , Wlh.
S rsunaga ,Wlk .
adorna tan a , Wlh.
m en tarla , Wlk.
cre la tarla , Wlk .
gra tula rl a , Wlh.chlo ro z onan a , Wlk.
la saria , Wlk .
s rmpIIc Ia rIa , Wilt .Imm l s san a
,Wlk.
Com ibaena , Wlk .
D ivapa la , Wlk .
impulsa ria , Wlk .
Celenna , Wiltsa tura turla ,
Wlh.
Pseudo terpna , WiltV IVI laca , Wlk.
Amaurlm a , Guen.
rub rohmbana , Wlk.
F am . PALY ADZE ,Guen .
Eumelea , Dunc .
ludov1cata , G’
uén .
aure lIata , G uén .
carnearla,Wlk .
F am . EPHY RlDlE,Guen.
Ephyra , D up .
o brlna ria,Wlh.
decursaria,Wlh.
Cacavena , lV/k .
abhadraca,Wlh .
V a sudeva , Wlk .
Susarmana , Wlk .
Vutumana,Wlk .
inaequa ta , Wlk .
Pam . AC IDALIDE , Guen .
D rapetodes , Guen .
m itan a . G a én .
Poma sra , Gue’n .
Psylar la , Guén .
Sunandaria , Wlk.
ACIdaha , T reit .
ob lIVIarla , Wlk.
adeptarla , Wlk.
nexnarla , W'
lk .
add ic ta ria , Wlk.
a etl o s a rl a . lVik.
defama ta ria . Wlk.
nega tarl a , Wilt .a c tua ria , Wlh.
c acsan a , Wlk.
Cab era , Strphfa ls arla , Wlh.
decussaria, Wlk.
Iamula ria , Wlk.
mgra renana , PVl/c.H yria , S teph .
e latarla,
marcrdar
ob la taria
INSECTS.
F am . PLAT Y DIDIE , Guen.
T n gonia , Gue’n .
Cydonxa lis , Cram .
[CH AP . XII .
grataria , Wlk.
rhodrnarla , Wlk .
T imandra , Dup .
Ajma, Wlh.
V lj ll la , Wlk.
Agyrl s , G uénde lia ria , Guen .
Zanclopter) x, H err . Sch.
saponaria , H err. Sch.
F am . MI CRONIDE ,Guen .
Microma , Guen .
c a uda ta , F a br .
a culea ta , Guén .
F am MACARIDlE,Guen.
Macaria , Curt.E leono ra , Cram.
V arl sa ra , WllcRhagi va ta , Wl h.
Pa laca , Wilthonesta ria , PVlk.
Sanga ta , Wlh.
honoran a,Wlh.
c essan a , Wlk.
subc audaria, l
’Vlli'.Doava , Wlk.
adj utarla , Wlk.
figuraria ,Wlh.
F am. L ARENT IDZE , Guen.
SaurI s , Guen.
hirudma ta , Guen .
Camptogramma , S teph.
bacca ta , Guen.
Blemyia , Wlh.
Ba ta ca , Wlk.
b ll t l an a , Wilt .
Corem ia , Guen.
G om a tma , PVlk.
L obOpho ra , Curt.Sa ll suca , Wlh.
G ho sha , Wiltcontributaria , Wlh.
Mesogramma , Steph.
lactula rla , Wlk.
scita rl a , Wlk.
Eupithecxa , Cur t.recensrta rla ,
Wlk.
adm ixta ria , Wlh.
imm ixta rra,Wlk.
Gathyma . Wlh .
m iraria , Wlk.
F am . H Y PEN la , H err.
c hrom l a , Guén.
0 ro sra l i s, Cram.
H ypena , Sehr .
rhomb ahs ; Guen.
j ocosal ls , Wlk .
m anda ta l ls , Wlh.
q uae sna l is , Wlk.
lacerata l ls , Wlh.
icom ca ll s,Wlk.
labatalis, Wlk .
ob a cerralis , Wilt .pa cta li s , Wlk.
ra ra l ls , Wlkpa rita ll s . Wllcsurrepta ll s , Wlk.
de te rsa ll s, Wlk.
ineffec ta ll s , WiltIncongruah s , Wlh.
runrrpunc tum , Wlh.
G esonia,H lk .
*o bed | ta l ls , Wilt .duplex, Wlh.
F am. H ERMINIDE, Dup .
H erm ima , L a ir .
T imona lis , Wlk .
diflusa l is , Wlk.
interstans , Wlk.Adrapsa , Wilt
a b lua ll s , Wlh.
Bertula , Wilt.a bJud l ca lis , Wlh.
ra ptatahs, Wlk.
cont lgens , Wilt.Bocana , Wlkjuta l l s , Wllc.manl festa ll s
, Wl h.
Ophiusahs , Wlk.
vaga l l s , Wlh .
turpa ta ll s , Wl h .
hyperna l ls, lVlk.
grava ta l l s, Wlk.
tum ldahs , Wlk .
Orthaga , Wlk .
Euadrusa l ls , Wlk.
H ipoepa , Wlh.
lapsa l l s . Wlk.
Lamura , Wlk.
ob erra tahs , W .
Echana , Wlk.
ab ava li s, W
'
Zh.
D ragana , Wllrpansahs . Wlk.
n ra sa,Wlk.
accura l is , lVlk.
Egna s ia , Wlk.
ephgrada l ls , Wla ccmga li s , Wihpa rtrcrpa lrs , Wlk.
usurpa ra l is , Wlk.
Berresa , Wlkna ta l l s , Wlk.
Imma, Wlk
rugo sa ll s , Wlh.
Chusa rl s , Wlk.
retat ah s,Wlk.
Co rgatha , W'
ilt
z ona lis , Wlk.
Catada , Wlkglomera lis , Wlh.
captiosa l l s, Wlh.
F am . PY RAL IDJE , Guén.
Pyra li s , L inn .
Igmflua lis , W'
lk.
Pa lesa II S , Wiltrecond ita lis , Wi lt .Ida l ia lis , Wlk.
J ana ssal ls , Wlk.
Aglo s sa , L a ir .
Gmdusalrs, Wlk.
462
admotella , Wlh.
decusel la , Wlh.
ce lse lla , U lk.
adm igra tella , Wlk.caesel la ,
Wlk.
candida tel la , Wlh.
Catage la , ” lit .
adjure lla , Wilt .
a crl cuel la , Wlk.
lunulella , Wlk.
F am . CRAMBIDJE , Dup .
Crambus Fa br .
concm ellus , Wlh.
Darbhaca,Wlh.
Incep te l la . Wlk.
J arthez a , Wlh .
hono re l la , Wlk.
Bullna , Wlk.
so ll te lla . Wlk.
Bembma , Wlh.
Cya'usahs , Wlh.
Chilo , Z inck.
dodate lla, Wlk.
gra tio sella , Wlk.
ad ite lla ,Wilt .
b l irel la , Wlk.
Dan ausa , Wlh.
Eub usah s , Wlh.
Arrhade , Wlk.
Ema theonal is, Wlk.
D arnenS Is , Wlh.
S trephone lla , Wlk.
F am . CH LCEPH ORIDJE ,
Sta rni.
T hagora , Wllcfi gurans , Wlh.
Ban a s, H ahn .
chroma tana , Wlk.
F am . T ORT RICIDZE , Steph.
L oz otaenia , Stephretra cta na , Wlk.
Peronea, Curl .
d ivisana , Wlk.
L ithom‘
amma , Steph .
flexrlmeana , Wlh.
Dictyop te ryx . S leph.
punc tana . Wlk.
H om ona , Wiltfa scncula na , PVllt .
H emoma,Wilt
ob i ferana , Wlk.
Achro ra , H abn .
trlcmgulana , Wlh.
F am . Y PONOMEUT IDE,
Steph.
Atteva , Wiltnive igutta, Wlk .
F am . G EL ICH IDE , Sta int.
Depres saria , H aw .
obl iga te lla , Wlk.
fimbn e lla , Wlk.
Decuaria , Wlk.
mendice l la , Wlk.
G elech ia , H a’
bn .
nugatel la , Wlk.
INSECTS .
OrderDIPT ERA,In
'
nn.
F am . MY CET OPH ILIDE,
Sciara , Meig .
*va l ida , Wlk.
F am . CECIDOMY ZIDJE , H a l
Cecidomyl a , L a ir .
*prim arl a , Wlh.
F am . S IMUL IDE , H a l .
S imulium, L a ir .
*destmatum , Wlk.
F am . C H IRONOMIDE , H a l.
Cerato pogon , Mer*a lbocmc tus
,ili .
F am . CULICIDJE, Steph.
Culex, L inn.
[CH AP . XI I .
F am . ST RAT IOMIDE , L a ir.
Ptilocera , Wrea.
quadridentata , Fahr.
fa stuo sa , Gr ist.Pachyga ster, Merg .
rufi ta rsis , Ma cq .
Acanthina , e d
a z urea Geist.
F am . Dou cnoem zn, L ea ch.
PSIlopus , Mezg .
*procura tus , Wlk.
F am . NY CT ERIBIDE , L ea ch.
Nyc terlb l a , L a ir.
9 a spec ies
para snt lc onSca tophI
lus Coromandell cus ,Bl igh.
calatella , Wlk.
deduc tel la , Wlk.
Perionella , Wlh.
Giz am a, Wlh.
b land l ella , Wlk.
Em sml a , Wlll'
fa lse lla . Wlk.
Gapharia , Wlk.
rec l ta e lla , Wlk.
Coesa , Wlkdecuse l la , Wlk.
Cim itra ,Wlk .
sec luse l la , Wlh.
F ICuIea , Wiltb landu le lla , Wlk .
F res iha ,Wlk
neSCIa te lla , Wlh .
Gesontha . Wlh.
c a ptmsel la , Wilt .Agim s, Wlk
hilan el la , Wilt .Cadra , Will
defec tella , lVlk.
F am G LY PHY PT IDE , Sia lni.
G lyphyteryx,H a hn .
sc rtule l la , Wlk.
Hyb ele , Willmansuetella , Wlk.
F am . T INEIDZE , L ea ch.
T mea, L inn
tape tz ella , L inn .
recepte lla , Wlh.
pel Ione lla . L inn.
plagiferella , Wlk.
F am . L Y ONBT IDJE , Sta int.
Caehura , Wlh .
objec tella , Wlk.
F am . PT EROPH ORIDB , ZeilPteropho rus , G eoflr
leucada c tvlus , Wlh.
oxyda c tylus , Wiloanisoda c tylus , Wlk .
regius , Thwa ites .
fuscanus , Wred .
Circumvo lans . W'
lk.
c ontrahens , Wlk .
F am . T IPULIDzE, H a l .
Ctenophora ,F a br.
T aprobanes , Wlk.
Gymnophs tra" Westw .
hebes , Wlk.
3 ,
F am. T ABANlDiE , L ea ch.
Pa ugonia , L a ir .
T aprobanes , Wlk.
F am . ASILI DZE, L ea ch.
T rUpanea , Ma cq .
Ceylam ca , Ma cq .
Asilus , L inn
fiavrcorms . Ma cq .
Barium , Wlk.
Pam . MU SC IDE , L a ir.
T achlna F a br .
*teneb ro sa, Wlk.
Musca,L rnn .
dome s trca,L inn.
Dacus , F a hr .
*Inte rc lusus , Wilt .*n1groaeneus , Wlk.
*de tentus , Wlh.
Ortalis , F a l l.*confundens
, Wlk.
Scromyz a , Fa llfl euco telus , Wlk .
D ro sophila , Fa ll*rest1tuens , Wlk.
Order H EMIPT ERA,
Linn .
F am . Pa cnvcomnm, Da li.
Cantuo , Am i/ at Serb .
o ce l la tus , T hunb.
Callldea , L ap .
superba , Da li.
Stockerus , L inn.
CH AP. XII . ]
F am . EURY G AST ERIDzE,
T rigono som a , L ap .
D esfontain li, F a hr.
F am . PLAT ASPIDE, D a ll
Copto soma , L ap .
la ticeps , Da li.
F am . H ALYDIDE,Da li.
H a lys , F a hr .
denta ta , F a br.
F am . PENT AT OMIDE, Steph.
Penta tom a , Olw .
T lm o rensw, H op e.
T aprob anensrs , Da ll.Ca tacanthus
,Sp in.
incarna tus,Drury .
Rhaplnga ster, l ap .
congrua , Wlk.
F am . EDESS IDZE , Da li.
A8pongopus , L ap,anus
, F a hr .
T essera tom a , L ep . g Sepap illo sa , Drury .
CyCIOpe lta , Am . Serv.
sicu to lia, H op e.
F am. PH Y LLOCEPHAL IDE ,
Phyllocepha la , L ap .
E gypt laca , L efeb.
F am . MlCT IDlE, Da li.
Mictl s , L ea chca stanea , D a ll.va l ida , Da li .
punc tum , H op e.CrInocerus , Bnrm
pondero sus , Wlh.
F am . Al oscnu a, Da ll.
Leptoscelrs , L a p .
ventra li s , Da ll .turpi s , Wl/f .
ma rgina lis , l/Vllc.
Serine tha , Sp in .
T ap ro b anensis , Da ll.ab dom ina lis
, F a br.
F am . ALY DIDrE , Da li.
A lyda s , Fa hr.
l inearl s, F ahr.
F am. ST ENOCEPHALIDE ,
D a ll .
L eptocorisa , L a ir .
Chinensis , Da l l.
F am . Co ama ze, Steph.
RhOpa lus , Schrll .interruptus , Wlk.
F am. L Y GE IDE , Westw.
Lygaeus , F a hr.
lutescens Wlk.
LIST OF CEYLON INSECTS.
figuratus , Wlh.
d isenfer, Wlh.
Rhypa rochromus . Curt.testace lpes , Wlk.
F am . ARADIDIE, Wlk.
Piesto soma, L ap .
p 1c1pes , Wlk.
F am. T INGw as, Wlk.
Ca lloniana , Wlk .
flie legans , Wlk .
F am . ClMICIDlE , Wlk.
Cimex, L inn .
lectularlus, L inn 9
F am . REDUVI IDAE, Steph.
Pira tes,Burm .
ma rgm a tus , Wlh.
canthaspis , Am S; Serv.
sangunupes , Wilt .fulvrsp ina , Wlh.
F am . H Y DROMET RIDE ,
L ea ch.
Ptilomera , Am. g. Seru.
latica uda , H a rdw.
F am . NEPIDE, L each.
elo stoma, L a ir .
lndncum , Si . F a rg.
Nepa , L inn .
minor-{Wlh.
F am . Nbrorxccruun, Steph.
No tonec ta, L inn
ab brevia ta ,PVllc.
S imp lex, Wlh.
Co rixa , Geofi .
‘
*subj acens , Wlh.
463
Order H OMOPT ERA
L a tr.
F am . C ICAD IDE , Westw.
Dundub ia , Am .5' Serv.
st lpa ta , Wlk.
C loma , Wlk.
L arus , Wlk.
Cicada , L inn.
l lm l ta rl s , Wlk.
nub lfurca,Wlk.
F am . F ULGORIDE , Schaum.
H o tmus , Am. 6} Serv.
macula tus , Oiw .
fulvnro sm s , Wlk.
coccm eus , Wik.
Pyrops , Sp in.
puncta ta , Olw.
Aphzena , Guér .
sanguma lns , Westw.
Ehdiptera , s n.
Emersoniana, White.
F am . C IXI IDE , Wlk.
Eurybrachys , Guér.
tomentosa, F a br .
d ilata ta , Wlk.
c rudelns, Westw .
Cix1us, L a ir .
*nub 11us, Wlk .
Pam . Is sumz , Wlk.
H emisphaerxus , Scha um .
*Schaum 1, Sia l .
a"b lpustula tus , Wlk .
F am. DERBIDJE,Schaum .
T hrama , Westw.
p terophorldes , Westw.
Derbe , F a br .
*furca to -vittata,Sia i.
F am . F LAT T IDJE, Schaum .
F latmdes . Guér.
hya lmus, F ahr .
tenebro sa s . Wik.
Ricam a , G ermH emero b l i, PVl/f .
Poemloptera , L a ir .
pulverulenta . Guér.
ste llan s , Wlk.
T ennentma , Whiie.
F am . MEMBRACIDIE , Wlk.
Oxyrhach l s , Ge ;m .
aiemdxcans , Wlk .
Centrow s , F a hr*rep0 nens , M IC.
*ma l leus , Wlk .
sub stl tutus , Wlk.
*dec ip 1ens , Wl/i*relmq uens , Wlk.
*|m 1ta tor, Wlk.
*repressus . Wik.
aHermina l l s , Wlk.
F am . CE RCOPIDZE , L ea ch.
Cercopis , F a hr .
melusa , Wlk.
Ptyelus , L ep . 5» Serv.
costa l ls , Wlk .
F am. T ET T l GONnDzE , Wlk.
T ettxgoma, L a ir.
paulula , Wlk.
F am . SOARIDE , Wlk.
L edra , F a hr .
rugosa , Wlk .
comea , Wlk .
Gypona , Germprasma
, Wlk.
F am . “3 510 112, Wlk.
Acocepha lus , Germ .
porrec tus , Wlk .
d . PSY LLIDAZ, L a ir.
Psylla , GQfl‘I
*ma rgmahs , Wlk .
F am . C o c cmm, L ea ch.
Lecanium , I il lg .
Cofl’
eae , Wlk .
464 ART ICULATA. [CHAP. XI II .
CHAP . XIII .
ART ICULATA.
Ara chm’
da Myriop oda Crusta cea,elc .
WITH a few striking exceptions, the true sp iders of
Ceylon resemble in oeconomy and appearance those weare a ccustomed to see a t home ;— they frequent thehouses, the gardens, the rocks and the stems of trees,and along the sunny paths, where the forest meets theopen country, the Ep eira and her congeners, the true
net-weaving Spiders, extend their la cework, the gra ce of
the designs being even less attractive than the beauty
of the creatures that elaborate them .
Such of them as live in the woods select with sin
gular saga city the bridle-
paths and narrow passages for
expanding their nets ; perceiving no doubt that thelarger insects frequent these openings for fa cility of
movement through the jungle ; and that the sma llerones are carried towards them by currents of air. T heirnets are stretched a cross the path from four to eight
feet above the ground, suspended from proj ecting shoots,and atta ched, if possible, to thorny shrubs ; and theysometimes exhibit themost remarkable scenes of carnage
and destruction . I have taken down a ba ll as large a s a
man’s head consisting of successive layers rolled together,in the heart of which was the original den of the family,
CH AP . XIII ] SPIDERS . 465
whilst the envelope wa s formed, sheet after sheet, bycoils of the old web filled with the wings and limbs ofinsects of a ll descriptions, from large moths and butterflies to mosquitoes and m inute coleoptera . Ea ch layerappeared to have been origina lly hung a cross the passageto intercept the expected prey ; and, when it had be
come surcharged with ca rca ses, to have been loosened,tossed over by the wind or its own weight, and wrappedround the nucleus in the centre, the spider repla cing itby a fresh sheet, to be in turn deta ched and added tothe ma ss within .
Sepa rated by marked peculia rities both of structureand instinct
,from the spiders which live in the open
air, and busy themselves in providing food during theday, the Myga le fa scia ta is not only sluggish in its
habits,but disgusting in its form and dimensions . I ts
colour is a gloomy brown , interrupted by irregula rblotches and faint bands (whence its trivial name); it issparingly sprinkled with ha irs, and its limbs, when ex
panded, stretch over an area of six to eight inches indiameter. I t is familia r to Europeans in Ceylon, whohave given it the name
,and a scribed to it the fabulous
propensities, of the T arentula .
l
T he Mygale is found abundantly in the northern and
eastern parts of the island, and occasiona lly in darkfrequented apartments in the western province ; but
its inclinations are solitary, and it shuns the busy traffi cof towns .T he largest specimens I have seen were at Gampola ,
in the vicinity of Kandy, and one taken in the store
1 Species of the true T arenta la are all of very small siz e, and per
are not uncommon in Ceylon ; they'
fectly harmless .
E H
466 ART ICULATA. [CH AP . XI II .
room of the rest-house there, nearly covered with itslegs an ordinary- siz ed breakfa st plate.
l
T his hideous creature does not weave a broad web orspin a net like other spiders, but nevertheless it forms acomfortable mansion in the wall of a neglected building,the hollow of a tree, or under the eave of an overhanging stone. T his it lines throughout with a tapestry of
silk of a tubular form ; and of a texture so exquisitelyfine and closely woven, that no moisture can penetrateit. T he extremity of the tube is carried out to theentrance
,where it expands into a little platform,
stayedby bra ces to the nea rest obj ects that afford a firm hold.
In particular situations, where the entrance is exposedto the wind, the mygale, on the approach of the monsoon
,extends the strong tissue above it
'
so as to serveas an awning to prevent the a ccess of rain.
T he construction of this silken dwelling is exclusivelydesigned for the domestic luxury of the spider ; it servesno purpose in trapping or securing prey, and no externaldisturbance of the web tempts the creature to sally outto surprise an intruder, as the epeira and its congenerswould.
By day it remain s concealed in its den, whence itissues at night to feed on larvae and worms
,devouring
cockroa ches and their pupae, and atta cking themillepeds,gryllotalpas , and other fleshy insects.Mr. EDGAR L . LAYARD has described 2 an encounter
between a Mygale and a cockroach, which he witnessedin the madua of a temple at Alittane, between Anaraja
poora and Dambool . When about a yard apart , each
1 See Plate opposite,M
2 Ann. and Mac. Na t. H ist.ay, l 853.
ART ICULATA. [CH AP . XI I I .468
Some yeais later, however, the same writer felt itincumbent on him to qualify this ha sty conclusion 1,in consequence of having seen at Sydney an enormousspider, the Ep eira dia dema , in the act of sucking thejuices of a bird (the Zosterop s dorsa lis of Vigors and
H orsfield), which it had caught in the meshes of its
geometrical net . T his circumstance, however, did notin his Opinion a ffect the case of the Myga le ; and evena s regards the Ep eira , Mr. Ma cLeay, who witnessed theoccurrence, was inclined to believe the instance to bea ccidenta l and exceptiona l; an exception indeed so rare,that no other person had ever witnessed the fact. ”
Subsequent observation ha s, however, served to sustainthe story of Madame Merian .
2 Baron VVa lckenaer and
Latreille both corroborated it by other authorities ; andM. Moreau da .Ionnes, who studied the habits of the
Myga le in Martinique, says it hunts far and wide insearch of its prey, concea ls itself beneath leaves for the
purpose of surprising them, and climbs the branches oftrees to devour the young of the humming bird, and of
the Certhia flaveola . As to its mode of atta ck, M.
.Ionnes says that when it throws itself on its victim itclings to it by the double hooks of its tarsi, and strivesto reach the ba ck of the head, to insert its jaws betweenthe skull and the vertebrae.
3
by a curious movement of the
large grayish brown Mygale on the
trunk of a vast tree : it was close
1 See Ann. and Mag. of Na t.H ist. for 1842
, vol . viii. p . 324 .
2 See authorities quoted by Mr.
SH UCKARD in the Ann. and Mag.
of Na t. H ist. 1842, vol. viii. p .
436, & c .
3 At a meeting of the Entomo
logical Society, July 20 , 1855, a
paper was read by Mr. H . W.
BAT ES, who stated that in 1849 at
Cameta inBraz il,he “was attracted
beneath a deep crevice or chink in
the tree, across which this species
weaves a dense web , at one“
end
Open for its exit and entrance. In
the present instance the lower part
of the web was broken,and two
small finches were entangled in
its folds . T he finch wa s about
CH AP. XIII ] SPIDERS. 469
For my own part, no instance came to my knowledgein Ceylon of a mygale atta cking a bird ; but PERCIVAL ,who wrote his a ccount of the island in 1805, describesan enormous spider (possibly an Epeirid)thinly coveredwith hair which makes webs strong enough to entangleand hold even small birds that form its usual food.
” 1
T he fa ct of its living on millepeds, blattae, and
crickets, is universally known ; and a lady who lived atMarandahn, near Colombo, told m e that she had, on
one occa sion, seen a little house- liz ard (gecko) seiz edand devoured by one of these ugly Spiders .Walckenaer has described a spider of la rge siz e, under
the name of Olios T ap robanius, which is very common
in Ceylon, and conspicuous from the fiery hue of the
under surface, the remainder being covered with gray
hair so short and fine that the body seems almost
denuded. It spins a moderate- siz ed web , hung vertically between two sets of strong lines, stretched one
above the other athwa rt the pathways . Some of the
threads thus ca rried horiz ontally from tree to tree at a
considerable height from the ground are so strong a s tocause a painful check a cross the fa ce when movingquickly against them ; and more than once in riding Ihave had my hat lifted off my head by one of thesecords . 2
the siz e of the common Siskin of gray brown colour,
and clothed
Europe, and he judged the two to with coarse pile.
” “ If the Myb e male and fem ale ; one of them gales ,
”
he adds,“ did not prey
was quite dead, but secured in the upon vertebrated animals,I do not
broken web ; the other wa s under see how they could find sufficientthe body of the spider, not quite subsistence.
”- f[ 7ze Zoologzsi, vol.
dead, and was covered in parts xiii. p . 480 .
with a filthy liquor or saliva 1 PERCIVAL’S Ceylon, p . 313.
exuded by the monster . T he 2 Over the country generally are
species of spider,” Mr . Bates says , scattered species of Ga sieracantha ,
I cannot name ; it is wholly of a rem arkable for their firm shell
H H 3
470 ART ICULATA. [CH AP. XIII .
An officer in the Ea st India Company’s Service 1, in a
communication to the Asiatic Society ofBenga l, describesthe gigantic web of a bla ck and red spider six inches in
diameter, (his description of which, both in colour and
siz e, seems to point to some species closely a llied tothe Olios T ap robanius,) which he saw near Monghyron the Ganges ; in this web a bird wa s entangled, andthe young spiders, eight in number, and entirely of a
brick red colour, were feeding on the carcase.
2
T he voracious Ga leodes has not yet been noticed inCeylon ; but its carnivorous propensities are well knownin those parts of H industan, where it is found, and
where it lives upon crickets, coleoptera , and otherinsects, as well a s small liz ards and birds. T his tiger ofthe insect world
,
”a s it has aptly been designated by a
gentleman who wa s a witness to its ferocity 3,wa s seen
to attack a young sparrow ha lf grown, and seiz e it bythe thigh
,which fit sawed through. T he savage then
caught the bird by the throa t, and put an end to itssufferings by cutting off its head.
” On another occasion,
” says the same authority, Dr. Baddeley confinedone of these spiders under a glass wa ll - shade with twoyoung musk- rats (Sorex Indica s), both of which it
destroyed .
”I t must be added, however, that neither in
the instance of the bird, of the liz ard, or the rats, didthe galeodes devour its prey after killing it.
covered bodies , with projecting spines , arching obliquelyb ackwards .
knobs arranged in pair s . In habit T hese abnormal kinds are not SO
these anoma lous - looking Ep eir zclce handsomely coloured a s the smaller
appear to differ in no respect from species of typical form .
the rest of the family, waylaying1 Capt . Sherwill .
their prey in similar situations and 2 J oa r . As za t. Soc . Benga l, 1850,in the sam e manner. vol . xix. p . 475.
Another very singul ar subgenus, 3 Capt . H utton. See a papermet with in Ceylon,
is distinguished on the Ga leocles com a in theby the abdomen being dil ated b e J ourna l of the Asia tic Society ofbind
, and armed with two long Benga l, vol . xi. Part II . p . 860 .
472 ART ICULATA. (Cm . XIII .
plants by the two forelegs, lie in wait to catch at unwaryanimals as they pass . A shower of these diminutivevermin wil l sometimes drop from a branch, if unluckilyshaken, and disperse themselves over the body, eachfa stening on the neck, the ears, and eyelids, and inserting a barbed proboscis. T hey burrow, with their heads
pressed as far as pra cticable under the skin, causing a
sensation of sma rting, a s if pa rticles of red hot sandhad been scattered over the flesh . I f torn from theirhold, the suckers remain behind and form an ulcer.T he only safe expedient is to tolerate the agony of their
penetration till a drop of coco - nut oil or the juice Of a
lime can be applied, when these little furies drop Off
without further ill consequences . One very large species,dappled with grey, atta ches itself to the buffa loes .Mites . T he T rombiolium tinctorum of H ermann is
found about Aripo, and generally over the northern provinces, —where after a Shower of rain or heavy night’sdew,
they appear in countless myr iads . I t is about ha lfan inch long, like a tuft of crimson velvet, and impartsits colouring matter readily to any fluid in which it m ay
b e immersed . I t feeds on vegetable juices, and is perfectly innocuous . I ts European representative, Similarlytinted, and found in garden mould, is commonly ca lledthe “ Little red pillion .
”
MYRIAPODS. T he certainty with which an a ccidental
pressure or unguarded touch is resented and retorted bya bite, makes the centipede, when it has taken up itstemporary abode within a sleeve or the fold of a dress,by far the most unwelcome of all the Singhalese a ssailants . T he great siz e, too (little short of a foot in length),
benefactors, and stand quietly, mentors fromtheir flanks .
— Mag.
whil e the birds peck their tor Na t. H is t. p. 111, 1844 .
CH AP . XII I ] CERMAT IA. 473
to which it sometimes attains, renders it formidable, and,apart from the apprehension Of unplea sant consequencesfrom a wound, one shudders at the bare idea of sucha hideous creature crawling over the skin, beneath theinnermost folds of one’s garments .
At the head of the Myriap ods, and pre- eminent froma superiorly- developed organisation, stands the genusCerma tia singul ar- looking obj ects ; mounted upon
CERMA T IA
slender legs, of gradually increasing length from frontto rear, the hind ones in some species being ama z ingly
prolonged, and a ll handsomely marked with brown annuliin concentric a rches . T hese myriapods are harmless,excepting to woodlice, spiders, and young cockroa ches,which form their ordinary prey. T hey are rarely to beseen ; but occa sionally at daybreak, after a more thanusually abundant repast, they m ay be observed motionless, and resting with their regularly extended limbsnearly flat against the wa lls . On being disturbed theydart away with a surprising velocity, to concea l themselves in chinks until the return of night.But the species to be rea lly dreaded are the true
Scolop endres , which are a ctive and carnivorous, livingin holes in old wa lls and other gloomy dens. One
474 ARTICULATA. [CHAP . XII I .
specieslattains to nearly the length of a foot
, with corresponding breadth ; it is Of a dark purple colour, approaching black, with yellowish legs and antennae, andin its whole a spect repulsive and frightful. I t is strongand a ctive, and evinces an eager disposition to fightwhen molested . T he Scolop endroe are gifted by naturewith a rigid coriaceous armour, which does not yield tocommon pressure, or even to a moderate blow ; so thatthey often escape the most well- deserved and welldirected attempts to destroy them, seeking refuge inretreats which effectually conceal them from sight.T here is a smaller species
2, that frequents dwelling
houses ; it is about one quarter the siz e of the preceding,and of a dirty Olive colour . with pale ferruginous legs .I t is this species that generally inflicts the wound, when
persons complain of being bitten by a scorpion ; and it
has a mischievous propensity for insinuating itself intothe folds of dress . T he bite at first does not occasionmore suffering than would arise from the penetration oftwo coarsely-
poin ted needles ; but after a little time thewound swells, becomes a cutely painful, and if it be overa bone or any other resisting part, the sensation is sointolerable a s to produce fever. T he agony subsidesafter a few hours’ duration. In some cases the bite isunattended by any particular degree of annoyance, andin these instances it is to b e supposed that the contentsof the poison gland had become exhausted by previouseffort-s, since, if much tasked, the organ requires rest toenable it to resume its a ccustomed functions and tosecrete a supply of venom .
The F ish- insect. —T he chief inconvenience of a
Scolopendra crassa , T emp.
2 Scoiop encira p a llip es.
476 ART ICULATA. [CHAP . XI II .
little silvery creature (Lep isma), called by Europeansthe fi sh- insect. ” 1
T he latter, which is a familia r genus, comprisesseveral species, of which only two have a s yet beendescribed ; one is of a la rge siz e, most gra ceful in itsmovements, and singularly beautiful in appearance,owing to the whiteness of the pearly scales from whichits name is derived. T hese, contra sted with the darkhue of the other parts, and its tri-partite tail, attra ct
the eye a s the insect darts rapidly a long. Like thechelifer, it shuns the light, hiding in chinks till sunset,but is a ctively engaged throughout the night fea stingon the a cari and soft-bodied insects which a ssail booksand papers .Millep eols .
— In the hot dry sea son, and moreespecially in the northern portions of the island
, the
eye is attra cted along the edges of the sandy roads by
fragments of the dislocated rings of a huge species ofmillepede
2,lying in short curved tubes, the cavity ad
mitting the tip of the little finger. When perfect the
c reature is two - thirds of a foot long, of a brilliant jetbla ck, and with above a hundred yellow legs, which,when moving onward, present the appearance of a
series of undulations from rea r to front, bearing the
appearance of the latter species in central one. L INNJEUS states that
Ceylon,so far from its native
country, but it has most certainlybeen introduced from Europe, in
Dutch or Portuguese books .
1 Lep isma nieeo-fascia ta , T em
pleton, and L . niger , T emp . I t
was called “ L epism a by F abricius
,from its fi sh-lik e scales . I t
has six legs , fi liform antennm,and
the abdom en terminated by three
elongated setae, two of wh1ch are
placed nearly at right angles to the
the European species , with which
book collectors are fam iliar, wa s
first brought in sugar ships from
America . H ence, possibly, these
are more comm on in seaport towns
in the South of England and else
where, and it is almost certain that
,
like the chelifer,one of the Species
found on book- shelves in Ceylon,
has been brought thither from
Europe .
2 J ula s a ter .
CHAP . XIII .] THE CALLING CRAB. 477
animal gently forwards . T his J a lu s is harmless, andm ay be handled with perfect impunity. I ts food consists chiefly of fruits and the roots and stems of succulent vegetables, its jaws not being framed for any
more formidable purpose . Another and a very prettyspecies
1, quite a s bla ck, but with a bright crimson band
down the ba ck, and the legs similarly tinted, is commonin the gardens about Colombo and throughout thewestern province.
CRUSTAOEA.—T he sea s around Ceylon abound with
marine articulata ; but a knowledge of the crustacea of
the island is at present a desideratum ; and with t heexception of the few commoner species that frequentthe shores, or are Offered in the markets, we are literallywithout information, excepting the little that can b e
gleaned from a lready published systematic works.In the baz aars several species of edible crabs are ex
posed for sale ; and amongst the delicacies at the tablesof Europeans, curries made from prawns and lobsters arethe triumphs of the Ceylon cuisine . Of these latterthe fishermen sometimes exhibit specimens
2of extra
ordinary dimensions and of
a beautiful purple hue,
variegated with white.
Along the level shore northand south of Colombo
,and
in no less profusion elseCAI ‘L ING CRAB OF CEY LON ' where, the nimble little
Calling Crabs 3 scamper over the moist sands, carrying
aloft the enormous hand (sometimes larger than the
J a la s carnifex'
, F ab .
3 Gela simus tetragonon ? Edw. ;2 Pal inurus orna tus
,F ab . G . anna lip es ? Edw. ; G. Da ssu
P—n. s. mieri Edw.
4 78 ART ICULATA. [CH AP . XIII .
rest of the body), which is their peculiar chara cteristic,and which, from its beckoning gesture has suggestedtheir popular name. T hey hurry to conceal themselvesin the deep retreats which they hollow out in the bank sthat border the sea .
Sand Cra bs — In the same localities, or a little farther
inland, the Ocyp ode1 burrows in the dry soil
,making
deep excavations, brIngIng up literally armfulls of sand ;which with a spring in the air , and employing its otherlimbs, it jerks far from its burrows, distributing it ina circle to the distance of several feet. 2 So inconve
nient are the operations of these industrious pests thatm en are kept regularly employed at Colombo in fillingup the holes formed by them on the surfa ce of the
Galle face . T his, the only equestrian promenade of the
capital, is so infested by these a ctive little creaturesthat a ccidents often occur through horses stumbling intheir troublesome excavations.Pa inted Cra bs — On the reef of rocks which lies to
the south of the harbour at Colombo, the beautiful little
painted crabs3, distinguished by dark red markings on a .
yellow ground, may be seen all day long running nimblyin the spray, and a scending and descending in securitythe a lmost perpendicula r sides of the rocks which are
wa shed by the waves. Pa ddling Cra bs4, with the hind
pair of legs terminated by flattened plates to a ssist themin swimming, are brought up in the fi sherm en
’
s nets .H ermit Cra bs take possession of the deserted shells Ofthe univalves, and crawl in pursuit of garbage alongthe moist beach . Prawns and shrimps furnish deli
1c p ode cera tophtha lma s , Pall .
3 Grap sus s trigosus, H erbst.2 Ann. Na t. H ist. April, 1852. Nep tana s p elagicas , Linn. ; N.
Paper by Mr. EDGAR L . LAYARD . sanguinolenta s, H erbst, &c. &c.
4 80 ART ICULATA. [CH AP . XI II .
which are too hot and dry for them ; but amongst therank vegetation in the lower ranges of the hill country,
may b e a H . Boscii, distinct
from the H . Ceylanica . T hat
which is found in Ceylon is round,
E YE S A ND T EE T H OF T H E LAND
LEE CH OF CEYL ON
a little flattened on the inferior
surface,largest at the anal ex
tremity, thence gradually taperingforward
,and with the anal sucker
composed of four rings , and wider
in proportion than in other species .
I t is of a clear brown colour,with
a yellow stripe the entire length
of each side, and a greenish dorsal
one. T he body is form ed of 100
rings ; the eyes , of which there
are five pairs , are placed in an arch
on the dorsal surface ; the first fourpairs occupying contiguous rings
(thus differing from the water
leeches,which have an unoccupied
ring betwixt the third and fourth);the fifth pair,
are located on the
seventh ring , two vacant rings in
tervening. T o Mr. T hwaites , Di
rector Of the Botanic Garden at
Peradenia, who at my request ex
amined their structure minutely, I
am indebted for the following most
interesting particulars respectingthem.
“ I have been giving a
little tim e to the examination of
the land leech. I find it to have
very clearly seen .
and the aperture is shaped a s in
ordinary leeches . T he serratures
of the teeth, or rather the teeth
themselves,
are very beautiful .Each of the three ‘
teeth,
’
or cut
ting instruments , is principallymuscular
,the muscular body being
T he rounded
edge in which the teeth are set ap
pears to b e cartilaginous in struc
ture ; the teeth are very num erous,
(fig. B); but some near the ba sehave a curious appendage, appa
rently (I have not yet made this
out quite satisfa ctorily) set upon
one side. I have not yet beenable to detect the anal or sexual
pores . T he anal sucker seem s to
b e formed of four rings , and on
each side above is a sort of crenatedflesh- like appendage. T he tint of
the common species is yellowish
brown or snuff- coloured,streaked
with black,with a yellow
-
greenish
dorsal , and another lateral line
al ong its whole length . T here is
a larger species to b e found in this
garden with a broad green dorsalfascia ; but I have not been ableto procure one although I have
Offered a small reward to anycoolie who will bringme one.
”In
a subsequent communication Mr.
T hwaites rem arks that the dorsal
longitudinal fa scia is of the same
width as the lateral ones , and
differs only in being perhaps
slightly more green the colour of
the thr ee fasciae varies from
brownish-
yellow to bright green.
”
H e lik ewise states“ that the
five pairs of ocelli , the fir st four rings which compose the body are
seated on corresponding segments,just 100 , and the teeth 70 to 80
and the posterior pair on the in each set,in a s ingle row, except
seventh s egment or ring, the fif th to one where they are in a
and sixth rings being eyeless (fig . double row.
’
A). T he mouth 13 very retractile,
CH AP. XIIIJ LEECHES. 481
which is kept damp by frequent showers, they are foundin tormenting profusion. T hey are terrestrial
,never
visiting p onds or streams. In siz e they a re about an
inch in length, and a s fine a s a common knitting needle ;but they are capable of distension till they equal a quill
in thickness, and attain a length of nearly two inches .T heir structure is so flexible that they can insinuatethemselves through the meshes of the finest stocking,not only seiz ing on the feet and ankles, but a scendingto the ba ck and throat and fa stening on the tenderest
parts of the body. In order to exclude them, the coffee
planters, who live amongst these pests, are obliged to
LAND L E E CH E S IN P ZRSU IT .
envelope their legs in“ leech gaiters made of closely
woven cloth . T he natives smear their bodies with oil,
tobacco a shes, or lemon juice 1 ; the latter serving notonly to stop the flow of blood
,but to expedite the
healing Of the wounds . In moving,the land leeches
have the power of planting one extremity on the earthand raising the other perpendicula rly to watch for theirvictim . Such is their vigilance and instinct, that on
1 T he Minorite friar,ODOR IC of peel, anointing themselves with
Portenau , writing in AD 1320, the juice thereof, so that the
s ays that the gem-finders who leeches m ay not b e able to hurt
sought the jewels around Adam’
s them .
” —HAxL UYT, Voy. vol . ii.
Peak,
“ take lemons which they p . 58 .
I I
482 ART ICULATA. [CH AP . XIII .
the approa ch of a pa sser-by to a spot which they infest,they m ay be seen amongst the gra ss and fallen leaveson the edge of a native path, poised erect, and prepa ringfor their a tta ck on m an and horse. On descrying their
prey they advance rapidly by semi- circular strides,fixing one end fi rmly and a rching the other forwards
,
till by successive advances they can lay hold of the
traveller’s foot, when they disengage themselves fromthe ground and a scend his dress in search of an apertureto enter. In these encounters the individuals in the
rear of a party of travellers in the jungle inva riablyfare worst, a s the leeches, once warned of their approa ch,congregate with singula r celerity. T heir siz e is so insignificant, and the wound they make is so skilfully
punctured, that both are genera lly imperceptible, andthe first intimation of their onslaught is the trickling of
the blood or a chill feeling of the leech when it beginsto hang heavily on the skin from being distended byits repa st. H orses are driven wild by them,
and stampthe ground in fury to shake them from their fetlocks,to which they hang in bloody tassels. T he bare legsof the pa lankin bearers and coolies a re a favourite re
sort ; and, as their hands are too much engaged to b espared to pull them off, the leeches hang like bunchesof grapes round their ankles and I have seen the bloodlite ra lly flowing over the edge of a European
’s shoefrom their innumerable bites . In hea lthy constitutionsthe wounds, if not irritated, generally hea l, occa sioningno other inconvenience than a slight inflammation and
itching ; but in those with a bad state of body, the
punctures, if rubbed, are liable to degenerate intoulcers, which may lead to the loss of limb or evenof life . Both Marshall and Davy mention
,that during
484 ART ICULATA. [CH AP. XI II .
found in Ceylon, nearly double the siz e of the European
one, and with a prodigious faculty of engorging blood,there is another pest in the low country, which is a
source of considerable annoyance, and often of loss,to
the husbandman . T his is the cattle leech 1, which
infests the stagnant pools, chiefly in the a lluvial lands
a round the ba se of the mountain z one, whither thecattle resort by day, and the wild anima ls by night
,to
quench their thirst and to bathe. Lurking amongst
the rank vegetation that fringes these deep pools, and
hid by the broad leaves, or concea led among the stems
and roots covered by the water, there a re quantities ofthese pests in wait to atta ck the anima ls on their ap
proa ch to drink . T heir natura l food consists of the
juices of lumbrici and other invertebrata but they
two inches long, but reaching to
six inches when extended. Mr .
T hwaites , to whom I am indebtedfor these particulars , adds that he
saw in a tank at Kolona Korle
leeches which appeared to him
flatter and of a darker colour than
those described above, but that hehad not an opportunity of ex
amining them particul arly.
Mr. T hwaites sta tes that there
is a sma ller tank leech of an olive
green colour, with some indistinct
longitudinal striae on the upper
surface ; the crenated margin Of a
pale yellowish-
green ; ocelli a s in
the paddi-fi eld leech ; length, one
inch at rest, three inches when ex
tended.
Mr. E . L . LAYARD inform s us,
Mag. Na t. H is t. p . 225, 1853, that
a bubbling spring at the vill age of
T onniotoo , three m iles S . W . of
Moeletivoe, supplies most of the
leeches used in the island. T hose
in use at Colombo are obtained in
the immediate vicinity.
1 H e mOp s is p a la dam . In siz e
the cattle leech of Ceylon is som e
what larger than the medicina l
leech Of Europe ; in colour it is of a
uniform brown without bands,
less a rufous m argin may b e so con
sidered. I t ha s dark striae. T he
body is somewhat rounded,flat
when swimming, and composed of
rather more than ninety rings .
T he greatest dimension is a little
in advance of the anal sucker ; the
body thence tapers to the other
extremity, which ends in an upper
lip proj ecting considerably beyondthe mouth. T he eyes , ten in
number, are disposed as in the
common leech. T he mouth is oval ,the biting apparatus with diffi cul tyseen
, and the teeth not verynumerous . T he bite is so little
a cute that the mom ent Of attach
ment, and the incision of the mem
brane is scarcely perceived by the
sufferer from its attack .
CH AP . XIII .] LEECHES . 48 5
genera lly ava il themselves of the opportunity affordedby the dipping of the muz z les of the animals in the
water to fa sten on their nostrils,and by degrees to
make their way to the deeper recesses of the na sa l pa ssages
, and the mucous membranes of the throat and
gullet. As many as a doz en have been found a tta chedto the epiglottis and pharynx of a bullock, producingsuch irritation and submucous effusion that death haseventually ensued ; and so tena cious are the leeches tha teven after death they reta in their hold for some hours . 1
ART ICULATA.
T romb ldium tinctorum H erm .
Orlb a ta
T HYSANURA.
“Odesl
’
Podura a ibr‘
coll z'
s. MYRIAPODA.
a tmcollzs .
vzdua ta .
p ilosa .
Archo reutes coccz’
nea .
L ep isma mgrofascna ta , T emp .
mgra .
ARACIINIDA .
Buthus afer, L n
Ceylonicus , Koch.
Sco rp io Iznea ; rs .
Che lI fer Inb ro rum .
oblong a s .
Oh l sium cra ss zfemur .
Phryuns luna tus , Pa ll .
T he lyphonus c auda tus , L inn .
Pha langium b zs zgna ium .
Myga le fa sc la ta , Wa lck
Ohos taprobanius , Wa lck.
Nephlla
1 Even m en, when stooping to tur ed by their serrated jaws . Indrink at a pool, are not sa fe from stances have come to my knowledgethe assaul t of the cattle leeches . Of Europeans into whose nostrilsT hey cannot penetrate the hum an they had gained admission andskin, but the delicate membrane of caused serious disturbance.
the mucous passages is easily rup
1 1 3
Cermatia dispa r .
L i thob lus umbra tz’
l z’
s.
Sco lopendra c i a ssa .
spino sa , Newp .
p a ll zpesG rayiz Nemptub ercul ldens , Newp .
C e) lonens is , Newp .
fi ava . Newp .
o lma cea .
a bdom ina l ls .
Crypto ps sord zdus .
a su’
m zl z s .
Geoph l l l ls ieguia rzus .
speciosus .
Julus a /er .
c a rm fex,F ahr.
p a l/z'
pes .
fla mcep s .
p a lizaus .
4 86 ART ICULATA. [CH AP. XII I .
Cra spedosoma j a loz'
des . Pagurus aflinis, E dw .
p rwusia . p unciula ius , Oiw .
Polydesmus granuia ius . Porcella naCam b ala ca ienula ia .
Zephron la consp zcua .
DECAPODA BRACHYURA .
Polgbzus .
Neptunus pelagicus , Lmn .
T ha lam l ta
T helphusa Indica , L a ir. 9
Ca rdzsoma 2Ocypoda Ce ra tophtha lmus , Pa ll ST OMAT OPODA.
m a crocera Edw
G ela s imus ieira gonon,Edw.
Sqw lla
annuhpes Edw G onodac tylus chiragra , F a hr .
Ma c rophrha lmus ca ; znzmanus , L a ir .
G rapsus messor F o rsk .
s trigosus , H erbal
Plagusm d epressa , Fa br .
C a lappa ph i la rgus , Lmn .
tubercu la ta , I'
a hr. T ub lcolm.
Matuta V ic to r, F a br . Dorsnb nanchiata .
L euco sm fugax, Fa br . A b ranch la .
Dor zppe . H I rudo sangn zsorba .
Thwa ziew z .DECAPODA ANOMURA.
H a me ps ls p a ludumD rom za H aem ad ipsa Cej lana Bla inv.
H ippa Asxatl ca , Edw . L umb ricus
NOT E
ON T HE FACULT Y OF REPEAT ED RE—VIVIF ICAT ION POSSESSED BY
T HE ROT I FERA, ET C.
T he Rotifer, a singular crea ture,although it can only
tru ly live in wa ter,inhab its the m oss on house—tops , dying
ea ch time the sun dries up its place of retrea t,to revive a s
Often a s a shower of rain supplies it with the m oisture essential
to its existence ; thu s employing severa l years to exhaust the
eighteen days o f life which nature ha s a llo tted to it . T hese
creatures were discovered by LEUWENHOECK, and have b ecom e
the types of a cla ss a lready num erous,which undergo the
sam e conditions of life, and possess the sam e fa culty . Besides
the Rotifera , the T a rdigrades , (which b elong to the
and certain paste- eels , a ll exhibit a sim ilar phenomenon .
DECAPODA MACRURA .
Scyllarus or ienta lzs . F a br .
Pa lmurus o rna tus , F a brafi
‘lm s
, N . S .
Cra ngonAlpheu s
Po ntoma infla ta , Edw .
Pa laemon ca rcmus , Fa br .
S tenopus
Peneus
INDEX.
ABOU-ZEYD, his account of fish on dry land,
350 n.
Abyssinia , fishes of, 352.
Acal ephae, 398 . See Radiata.
A canthoptervgii, 360 .
A ccupl tres , 245.
Acherontia Sa thana s , 427.
Adam’
s Peak , elephants on the summit ,109 .
E han’s account of the merma id , 69 .
hl S S t a tement a s to the export of ele
phants from Ceylon, 77 n 209 n .
error as to the sheddmg Of the elephant’
s
tusks , 79 n
describes elephants killing criminals
with the ir knees 87 n.
error a s to elephants’
Jomts , 102 .
11 18 account o f Ceylon tortoises , 293.
his account of the superiority of the
elephants of Ceylon, 209 n.
his description o f the performances o f
the trained elephants a t Rome, 237.
his account of the sword-fi -h, 328 .
des cribes a. Chezronecies , 331.
A frican elephant , Its peculiarities , 65.
no t Inferior to the Indian In tractabi
l lty, 208 .
Albino buffa lo , 57 .
deer, 59 .
A lb yrouni, on the pearl oyster, 375 .
A lce , described by l y and Caesa r, 101 n .
Alexandria, sto ry o f the dogs a t , 34 .
A lliga tor 283 . See Crocod ile.
Alme ida , Manoel de, on burying fishes,353 n
Amb om a , merm a ids at, 70 .
Ampullar ia , its faculty of burying itself,
355.
Ana ba s , 354 .
D a ldorf’
s account of, doub ted, 349,
s ca dente from . 351 n.
A ngling bad In Ceylon, 335 341.
Annelzdce , leeches , 479 .
land- leech, its varieties, 482.
Annel z‘
dze , land leech , its teeth and eyes,480 .
its tormenting bite, 482.
list o f, 485.
Anseres , 260
A nsted, Prof. , on the geology of Ceylon,6 l .
hi s sta tement a s to the height o f Indian
elephant s, 100 n.
Antiochus , elepha nts used by, 208 .
Antipa ter, the first to bring the Indian ele
phant to Europe, 207 .
Ant-l ion, 4 11. See Insec ts.
Ants , 420 See Insec ts .
red , 420 ,white, 4 12. See T ermites .
the ir fa culty in d iscovering food ,
A rmand i’s wo rk on the use o f elephants in
wa r, 208 n .
Aphaniptera , 433 .
Am e/wide ,spiders , 464 .
extraordinary webs , a’
h.
Glzos T ap robamus , 470 .
Myga lefa scza l a , 465 .
erroneous ly c al led tarentula zb.
anecdote of, 466.
sp iders , the Myga le, 465 .
b irds k illed by it , 468 .
Ga leodes , 470 .
t icks , their multitude, 71.
m ites , 472 .
T rombzdzum tmctorum , 472 .
l ist o f, 485 .
A rgus cowrie, 369 .
A t ipo ,the sea - shore
, 373.
A ris totle , a ccount of fishes m igrating over
land , 344 .
sounds m ade b y elephants , 97 .
his e rror as to the elephant’s knees,
10 1.
Arm itage , Mr . , story of an elephant on his
esta te, 139 .
A rticula ta , l ist o f,
A thenwus, anecdotes o f fi shes on dry land,346.
490 INDEX.
Avicula , 373. See Pearl F ishery.
AV itchia , story o f, 244. See Jackdaw.
Ayeen Akb ery, elephant stom ach described
in, 128 .
Baker, Mr. ,h is theory of the passion for
sporting, 142 n .
its accura cy ques tionab le , 142 n .
Badger, the Ceylon, 38 . See Mongoos .
Band icoot rat , 44 .
Barbez ieux,on the elephant, 104.
Ba toce i a rubus , 406 .
Batrac li ia , 318 .
Ba ts, 13 . See Mamm alia and Cheiroptera.
orange-co loured ha ts , 14 .
b a ts do no t hyb ernate in Ceylon, 18.
horse- shoe ba t, 19.
sense o f smel l a nd touch, 19 .
sma l l b a t, Scotophzlus Coromandel zcus,
20 .
the ir para site (Nycterib ia), 20-22.
Battica loa,musica l fi sh , 380.
Bea rs , 22. See Mamma lia .
ferocity o f, 23 .
charm to protect from, 25 n .
Bea ters for elephants , 150 .
Beaver, on African elephant, 234 .
Beckman’
s a ccount of fishes on dry land,
346
Bees , 4 19 . See Insects.
Beetles,405. See Insects.
instincts of the scavenger b eetle, 405 .
coco -nut b eetle, 407.
torto ise b eetle, 408 .
Bell,Sir Cha rles, on the elephant
’
s shoulder,
108 .
Benary, his derivation of the Word ele
phant, 76 n.
Benga l mode of taking elephants, 164.
Bennett’
s account o f Ceylon , Introd .
work on its Ichthyology, 323.
Bernier,on the Ceylon elephant, 209 .
Bertolacci, on form o f chank shell , 372 .
Best ia ries , 104 .
Bicho de Mar . See H olothuria.
Birds o f Ceylon,241.
their number and character, zb .
few songs ters , 242.
pea - fowl , 244 .
eagles and hawks , 245.
owls , devl i bird , 246, 247.
swa l lows , 248
edib le birds ’ nests, 248 .
kingfi sher, sun b irds , 249 .
bulbul, ta ilor b ird , weaver b ird , 251.
crows , anecdotes of, 253 .
paroquets , 236.
p igeons, 257 .
j ungle-fowl , 259.gm llw, flam ingoes, 260 .
lis t of Ceylon b irds, 265 .
Bird-eating spiders , 468 .
Birds’nests , edible . 248.
Blda l l le, D e, on the age of the elepha nt ,
232.
Blair, on the anatomy of the elephant , 123 n
Bles , Ma rcellus, on the elephants of Cey
lon. 113 2 15 n .
Blood- suckers , 275
Blyth, Mr . , of Calcutta , his cul tiva tion o f
z oo logy, 4 .
h is rew sron o f this work , I ntrod.
Boa, 303 . See Python.
Boa r, W ild, 59.
Bochart,68 .
h is derivation of the word elephant,
76 n.
Bora . chung, a curious fi sh , 367 .
Bosquez , Dem a s,a cc ount o f a m erm a id
, 70 .
Bowring, Si r John, o n the fi shes of S iam , 348 .
Broderip, on the e lephant , 122.
Browne , Sir T homa s , vulga r errors , 100, 105 .
error a s to elepham s’
jom ts , 102 .
Brun, L e , a ccount of the elephants a t
Co lomb o , 77 n.
Bruno or Braun,his account of the Guinea
worm , 397 .
Buchanan,story o f buffa lo rogues , 115 73 .
Buffa lo , 54 . See Mamma lia .
its tem per, 54 .
spo rting buff‘
aloe, 55.
pecul iar structure of its foot, 56.
rogue b uffa lo , 1 15 n
b a d’
a lo’s stom ach and its water- ce lls ,
129 n .
Bufl‘b n , on the elephant, 113 215 .
Bugs , 433 . See Insects a nd Co ffee -bug
Buist , Dr. , a ccount o f fi sh fallen from
c louds , 362.
Bulbul , 25 1. See Birds .
Bulzm z , the ir vita lity, 357.
Kull za , curious property of, 370 .
Bullocks for draught, 50.
Burying fi shes , 351.
Butterfl ies , 403, 425 . See Insects .
m igrat ion of, 403 n.
the spectre b utterfly, 426 .
Caecilia , 317. See Reptiles.
Caesa r’s description of the a loe,
” 100 n .
Cajan, 373 n .
Ca ldera , in Ch ili, musica l sounds under
wa ter, 383 .
Ca lo tes , the green, 276 .
Came l , attempt to domesticate in Ceylon,
53 n .
stom ach of, 128 .
antipathy to the horse, 83 n .
Camper, on the ana tomy of the elephant’
s
stomach,125 .
Carawala,296. See Reptiles .
Carnivora , 74.
492 INDEX.
Donne, on the elephant, 105.
Dora s, fi sh o f Guiana
, 347.
Dragon- d ies, 411. See Insects .
Dugong , 68 , 69 .
abundant a t Manaar, 69 .
origin o f the fable of the merma id,69
Dutch b elief in the mermaid, 70.
Eagles, 245 . See Birds.
Edenta ta , 46 , 74
EdI‘ISl , the A ra bian geographer, his accountof musk , 32 n .
Eels, 337. 347 n .
Eginhard , li fe o f Charlemagne, 103.
E lephant, 64 , 75
Suma tran species, 64 .
points of d is t inc t ion , 65 .
those o f Ceylon exto lled , 209 .
e lephants on A dam’s Peak , 109 .
numbers in Ceylon, 76 .
El se“ , deriva t ion of the word, 76 n.
antiquity of the trade in, 77.
numbers dim inishing , 77 .
mode o f po isoning, 77 n .
tusks and their uses , 78.
disposit ion gentle , 81.
acc idents from , 8 1.
ant ipa thy to o ther animals, 82 ; to the
horse, 83.
jea lousy of each other, 86.
mode o f attack ing man, 87.
anecdo te o f a tame elephant, 89 .
A frican elephant d iffers from that of
Ceylon, 64.
skin, 91.
wh ite elephant, 92.
love o f shade . 94 .
wa ter, not hea t , essentia l to them , 94.
sight l im i ted—smell a cute, 95 .
anatomy o f the bra in, 95.
power o f smell, 96 .
sounds ut tered by, 96 .
subjec t to dea fnes s , 98exaggera tion a s to siz e
, 98 .
source of this m is take , 98 n.
stea lthy mo tions , 100 .
error as to the elephant’s want o f joints,
100 .
prob ab le origin of this m istake, 106 .
mode of lying down 107.
ab i lity to c limb d CCllV l l les, 108 .
mode o f descend ing a mountain, 110 .
a herd is a fam ily, 1 11.
a ttachment to young, 112 .
young suck led by a ll the fema les in a
herd, 113
theory of this, according to White,113 72 .
a rogue, wlia t, 114 .
savage attacks of rogues, 116.
Elephants, character of the rogues , 116,
147 .
hab its of the herd, 117.anecdo te of, 118 .
elephant’s m ode o f drinking, 120.
their method o f swimm ing, 121.
wells sunk by, 122.
receptac le in the stomach , 122.
stom ach, ana tomy o f, 124.
food o f the e lephant , 129.
ins tinct in search o f food , 130 .
dread o f fences, 131.
their ca ution exaggerated , 132 .
Spirit o f curiosity in elephants, 132.
anecdote o f Col H ardy, 132 , 133 .
sagac ity in freedom over-estimated,134 .
leave the forests during thunder, 134 .
cunning , fe ign death, 135.
stories o f encounters with wild ele.
phants , 136 .
Spo rting , numbers shot, 142.
b utchery by expert sho ts, 142 n .
fa ta l spo ts in the head , 144, 145 .
peculia r act ions of elephants, 148 .
lo ve o f ret irement , 149 .
ele phant- trackers, 150 .
herd cha rging , 15 1.
carca se use less 153.
rema rkable recovery from a wound,
15 1. See L ieut . F retz
mode o f tak ing in Ind ia , 157-162 .
height measured by the Ci rcum ference
o f the foo t , 159 .
mode o f shipping elephants a t Manaar,162.
mode of shipping elephants at Galle, in
1701, 163 n .
keddalz for taking elephants in Benga l,
164 .
a corral (kraa l) describ ed , 165, 166 .
deriva t ion o f the word corra l , 165 n .
corra l, its c onstruction, 167, 172.
corra l , drivmg in the e lephants, 173.
the c a pture , 177.
mode o f securing, 181.
the cooroowe,"o r noosers, 181.
tam e elephants, their conduct, 182,
19 1.
—capt ives , their resistance and demea
nour, 184 .
dread o f white rods , 186 .
the ir contortions , 190
a young one , 206 .
conduc t in captivity, 207.
mode of training, 2 11.
the ir employment in ancient warfare,207 .
superiority o f Ceylon, a fallacy, 209 .
elephant d river’s cro i ik (hendoo), 212.
hairy elephants in Ceylon, 215 n.
INDEX.
E lephants ,'
capricious disposition of,215 .
fi rst labour intrus ted to them , 2 17 .
h is comprehension o f h is dut ies , 218 .
exaggera tion o f his strength in uproot
ing trees , 218 in
Mahouts and their duties, 221.
ti eir crv o i“
urre ! 222 n.
elephant’s sense o f muSic al notes, 223 .
its endurance o f pa in , 224 .
diseases in c apt ivity . 225 .
subj ec t to to oth-ache, 227
quest ionab le economy o f keeping
tra ined elephants for labour, 229 .
the ir cos t , 230.
the ir food ,230 n .
fa llacy o f thei r a lleged reluctance to
breed in c apt ivity, £ 31.
dura tion o f life in the e lephant , 23°
theory o f M. F leiirens ,
instances of very o ld elephants in
Ceylon, 233.
dead elephant never found , 234.
Sinbad’s story, 236.
passage from jElian regarding the, 237 .
E lk, 59 See Deer ; Mamm a lia .
Emydosauri , 32 1.
Emys triiuga , 290 .
Englishman, anonym ous,his story of a
fight between elephants and horses , 84 .
F alconer, Dr.,height of Indian elephant ,
99 n .
F alkland Islands , pecul iarity in the ca ttle
there, 372 n.
F auna o f Ceylon, not common to India ,I nti od . 62.
peculia r and independent, I ntrod . 62 .
ha t e received insutfi c ie iit a ttention, 3.
first studv due to Dr. Da vy, 3
subsequent , due to T empleton, Layard ,and Kelaart, 3 , 4.
F ishes o f Ceylon, li ttle known, 323 .
seir fish, and o thers for tab le, 324.
abundance of perch, so les , and sar
d ines , 324 .
explanat ion of Odoric’s sta tement, 324 n.
sa rdines , sa id to be pmsonous, 324 .
shark , and sawfi sh, 325 .
sawfi sh, 325.
ray , 326 .
swordfish, 328 .
cheironectes o f ZElian , 331.
fishes of rare forms, and o f beautiful
co lours, 332
fresh-wa ter fishes, their peculiarities,335.
freshw a ter, little known, zb . ; rea son,
335 n .
eels , 337.
reappearance of fishes after the dryseason, 340 .
493
F ishes , simi lar mysterious re- appearances
elsewhere , 342 n
method o f tak ing them b y hand , 340 .
a fi sh decoy, 342
fi sh f i lling from clouds, 342 n 362 .
— b uried a l ive in mud , 347.
Mr. Yarrell’
s theory controverted, 344 .
travelling overland, 345.
the fact wa s known to the Greeksand Romans
, 345 .
instances in Guiana and S iam , 347 .
fa culty o f a ll m igratory fi sh for disco
veriiig wa ter, 347 n .
on dry land in Ceylon, 348 .
fi sh ascend ing trees , 349 .
excerpt from letter b y i\1r .Morris,348 n.
Anaba s sc andens, 349 , 350
Da ldorf’s sta tem ent, ant icipa ted by
A liou- z eyd , 350 n.
acc idents when fi shing , 351 nb urying fishes and travelling fi sh , 351.
occurrence of s im ilar fish in Abys
sm ia a nd elsewhere , 352.
sta tement o f the pa triarch Mendes,553 n
__ knowledge o f hab its of Melania em
ploy ed Judicia lly b y E . L . L ayard ,
355 n .
illustra tions of a stivating fi sh and
anima ls, 356.
aest iva t ing shell-fi sh and water-b eetles ,351.
fi sh in hot wa ter, 358 .
list o f Ceylon fi shes , 359 .
Pro fessor H uxley’s m emorandum on
the fi shes of Ceylon, 364 .
Dr G ray’s memorandum , 366.
Note on the Bora
F ishing. na tive mode of, 340 .
F ish insec t, 475.
F lam ingo es , 261. See Birds.
F leas , 433 See Insec ts .
F leurens, on the duration of l ife in the ele.
phant, 232.
F lies , their instinct in discovering carrion,196 n .
mosquitoes, the plague o f, 434.
F lowers , fondness o fmonkeys for, 7 .
F lying F ox. Pteropus Edwa rdsn, 14. See
Mammalia .
its Si z es, 14 .
skeleton of, 15.
food, 16.
habits,16 .
numbers , 16 .
strange a ttitudes, 17 .
food a nd hab its , 18 .
drink ing toddy, 18 .
F ly ng squ irrels, 41.
F resh-wa ter fishes , 335.
F retz , Lieut. , his Singular wound, 154 .
494
F rogs, 318.
ea tree frogs, 319, 320.
Galle, elephants shipped in 1701, 163 n .
G a llinaa, 259 .
Ga lloperd ix b icalcaratus, 259.
Ga llwey, Capt . P. P. , great number of
elephants shot by him ,142.
Game birds , 265Gardner, Dr.
,his a ccount of the coffee
bug, 436 -441.
Gaur, 49 See Mammalia .
Knox’s a ccount of the gaur, 49 .
G eckoes, 281.
Gemma F ris ius , 68 .
Genette, 32.
Geologv o f Ceylon, errors a s to , 60.
previous accounts , 61.
trad itions o f anc ient submersion , 61, 67 .
Ceylon ha s a fauna distinc t from
India, 62.
Golden Meadows,G o lunda ra t , 43 .
Goondah, 114 . See Rogue.
G oonera tne, Mr In ti od .
his story o f the Jacka l , 35.
Gordon Cumm ing , h is b utchery of ele
phants in Africa , 146 n.
Gowra -el lia , 49 .
Gra llae, 260G ray, Dr J. E ,
Brit . Mi is . , Inlrod .
no t ice of Ceylon fishes , 366.Grea t fi re- fish, 332 .
G uinea worm , 397.
G u'
nther, Dr A . , on Ceylon reptiles, 275 n. ,
304 .
Gwillim’
s H eraldry, error as to elephants ,
105 n.
211 n . See Massonde.
H ambangtotte , elephants of, 99 .
H ardy, Co l . , anecdo te o f, when chased by
an elephant, 133 .
H ardy, Rev. Spence, describ es a White
monkey, 8
H aroun A lra schid, sends an elephant to
Charlem agne , 103 .
H arrison, Dr. , 95 .
hi s anatomy of the elephant, 123 126 .
his account o f e lephant’
s head, 142.
o f the elephant’
s ear, 223 .
H a stisdpe , a work on elephants, 87 n. , 91.
H awk ing . 246
H awks . See Birds, 246 .
H edge-hog , 46.
H el ix haema s tom a , its colouring, 372 .
H em iptera , 433, 462 .
H endoo , c rook for drivmg elephants , 212 .
H erd , a , o f elephants, is a fam i ly, 111
its mode of elect ing a leader, 117 .
H erodotus, on mosquitoes, 435 .
INDEX.
H urra ! 223 n .
H uxley, Prof. , Introd .
his mem orandum on the fi shes of
Ceylon, 364.
H ydrophob ia in Ja ckals , 36.
H ymenoptera , 416.
H erodotus , antipathy of the elephant to the
camel , 83 n .
H erpestes, 38 .
H erport , Albrecht, his work on India , 71 n.
H espen‘
dce , 426
H ill , S ir John , error a s to elephants , 98 .
H ippopotamus rogues , 115 n .
H is t iophorus , 330 . See Sword. fi sh .
H o lland , D r,his theory a s to the forma
tion o f tusks , 89 n
H ala l/aw ea ,sea -slug and T repang, 396 .
H om e, Sir Evera rd, on the elepha t‘
it’s
s tomach, 124.
error as to the elephant’
s ear. 223 .
H ome, Randa l, error a s to elephant, 105 n.
H omoptera , 432 , 463
H oney- com b , grea t s i z e o f, 418 .
H ooker, Dr. J . D on the e lephants of the
H im a laya , 110 n .
error a s to white ants’nests , 413.
on ticks in Nepa l, 471 n ., 472.
H ora , 115 . See Rogue .
H orace , a lludes to a white elephant, 92 n .
H ornbill , Buceros , 242 , 243 .
H orse, a lleged antipathy to the elephant ,
83.
to the camel , 83 n.
story o f, and an elephant , 89.
horses taught to fight W ith elephants ,
84 .
H otambeya ,40 . See Mongoos .
H ot-wa ter fi shes , 358 .
H unt, mode o f conduc ting an elephant
hunt, 157 .
H unter, Dr. John,his theory of aestiva tion,
I a nl/m za , 370 .
Ichneumon , 39 . See Mongoos.
Iguana , 271. See Reptiles .
I nfusor za , Red , in the Ceylon seas , 400 .
Insects o f Ceylon, 403.
their profusion a nd b eauty, 403 .
h itherto imperfec tly describ ed , 404 .
coleoptera , 405.
Beetles , scavengers , 405 .
coco -nut beetle, tortoise b eetle, 407.
torto ise beetle , 408 .
Orthoptera , 408 .
the soo thsayer, leafdnsect, 410.
Neuroptera , 411.
dragon- d ies , 411.
a nt- lion, 411.
white ant, termites , 411.
496 INDEX.
Mahout, alleged short l ife,222.
Ma la copterygn a bdomma les , 362
.
sub-branchia tz, 362 .
apoda , 362.
Mamma lia, 3 .
Monkeys , 5.
Rilawa ,5.
W anderoo , 6 .
error a s to the CeylonW anderoo , 6. n.
W anderoo ,mode of fl ight am ong trees, 9
monkeys never found dead , 11.
LOWS , 12.
tortures inflicted on it, 13.
Bat , flying fox, 14.
skeleton of, 14.
a ttra c ted by toddy to the coco -nut
pa lm s , 18
horse - shoe b at , 18 .
para si te of the b at, Nycteribia , 20 , 21.
bea rs , 22.
b ears dreaded in Ceylon, 24 .
leopards , 25.
a ttra cted by the odour o f small pox, 28 .
anecdo te of a leopard , 29.
lesser felines , 32.
dogs , Pa riah, 34.
j ack al , 34 .
the j a ckal ’s horn, 36 .
Mongoos, 37.
a ssaults of Mongoos on the serpent, 38.
squirrels , 41.the flying squirrel , 41.ra ts , the ra t snake, 42.
cofi'
ee ra t , 43, 44 .
b andicoot , 44 , 45.
porcupine , 45.
pengo lin, 46 -48 .
the gaur, 49.
the ox, 50 .
anecdote o f, 51.
dra ft oxen , 51-53.
the b uffa lo , 54 .
Sport ing buffa loes , 55.
peculiarity o f the bufi'
alo’s foot, 56.
deer, 57 .
mem inna , 57, 58.
Ceylon el k, 59 .
W ild boar , 59 .
elephant , 59 , 75.
wha le and dugong, 68 , 69. Narric-comboo , 37. See Jackal ’s H orn.
pecul ia rities o f Ceylon m ammalia , 73. Na tura l history neglec ted in Ceylon, 3 .
li st o f, 73. Neela - cob eya , p igeon, 258 .
Mana ar, merma id taken at,69 . Neuroptera , 4 11.
elephants shipped a t, 162. Nietner, on Ceylon insec ts , Introd .
pea rl fi shery. 373. Nycter zb za , para site of the b a t, 20 , 21.
Manis . See Pengolin, 46.
Mant is , 410.
its extraordinary structure, 22.
Massoudi, on the use of elephants in war, Odoric of Pot tenau, his cure for leech b ites,211 n. 481.
his account of pearl-diving, 377 n . his account of b irdswith two heads, 243 .
Mastacembelus, 338. See Eels. his account of fishes in Ceylon, 324 n .
Mega sthenes’account of the mermaid
, 69.
Mehemet Al i,story o f
, 34 .
Melama Pa ludz’
na , its hab it of butying its elf,
355.
its hybernation, 355.
Melania . story o f a law suit decided by, 355n .
Meleagrina , 373 n . See Pearl fishery.
Meminna deer,58.
Merca to r, 68.
Mercer, Mr. , his storyo f an elephant fight,86.
Merma id , 68 . See Dugong.
Merma ids, a t Manaar, 69 .
a t Amboina , 70.
a t Booro , 71.
a t Edam , 72 .
Millipeds , Julus , 477 .
Mi tes , 472 .
Mo llusca . See Shells.
Molyne iix, on the ana tomy of the elephant,122 n.
Mongoos , 38 . See Ichneumon.
species a t Neuera -ellia , H erpestes Vi tti
coll /s,38 .
story o f i ts antidote aga inst the b ite o f
serpents , 39.
its mode o f k illing snakes , 39 .
Monkeys , 5.
never found dead, 11.
a white monkey, 8 .
Moo rs o f Ga lle , make o rnaments of the ele
phant’
s teeth, 153.
Moors , a s ca ravan drivers , 53 .
Moose deer, 58 . See Mem inna .
Morris,M r. , account o f fi shes on land , 348 .
Mosqm toes , their cunning, 434.
H erodotus , ac count of, 436
probab ly the plague of fl ies, 434 n .
Moths , 42 7. See Insec ts .
Munster,Seba stian, 68 .
Musica l fi shes, 380 .
a ccount o f, a t Battica loa , 380.
sim i lar phenomena a t other places ,383 n .
fi shes known to utter sounds, 384 .
T ritom’
a a rborescens , 385.
Musk . 32 .
Myga le, spider, 465.
Myriapods, 472 .
INDEX.
Ozketz'
cus , 430 .
O il- b ird, 269 .
Ophidia , 321.
Ortelius , 68 .
Orthoiitera , 408.
Ouanderoo . See Wanderoo .
Owen, Professor, on the structure of the
elephant’s tusk , 228 .
on the Protopterus of the Gamb ia , 352 .
Owls. See Birds.
Oxen, their uses and disea ses, 50 .
anecdote of a cow and a leopard , 51.
white, eight feet high, seen by Wolf,52 n .
Oysters a t Bentotte, 371.
immense, a t Kottiar, 371 n.
Pachydermata , 59 , 74 .
Padivil , the grea t ta nk , 262.
Pa l legoix, on the elephants of Siam, 98 n.
on the fishes of Siam , 347.
Palm - c a t, 32 .
Panickea s , elephant catchers, 150 , 158 .
their sk i ll, 159 .
Pariah dogs, 33 .
Paris, Ma tthew, on the elephant, 103 .
Paroquets , their hab its anecdote of, 256.
Passeres , 248 .
Pa tterson, R Esq . , Introd .
Pea- fowl. 244. See Birds .
fab le o f the ja ckdaw, 244 .
Pearl fishery of Ceylon, its antiquity, 3 73 .
dreary scenery of Aripo ,
disappearances o f the pearLoyster,
374 .
capab le of transplanta tion, 376 .
opera tion of d iving, 377 .
endurance of the divers under water,377 .
growth of the pearl -oyster, 379.
pearls o f T amb legam , 380 .
Pelicans, 262 .
strange scene at their breeding place,263 .
Pengolin, 46 .
its hab its and food, 47.
skeleton o f, 48 .
Phile, his a ccount o f the elephant, 103.
error a s to its j oints , 107 .
describ es its drink ing, 121 it .
its d ispositions , 216 n.
on the elephant’s ea r, 224 .
on elephants burying their dead , 235.
Phillipe , on the elephant of Ceylon, 209 .
Phyllium , 410. See L ea f Insect.
Physa lus urticulus, 400. See Portuguese
Man-of-war.
Pictet, Mon . , his derivation of the word
elephant ,”76 n .
Pigeons, 257. See Birds .
Python, its great siz e , 303 .
497
Pigeons , Lady T orrington’s p igeon, 258
Pla cuna p la centa , pearls o f, 380 .
Planm za , 398 . See Ra dia ta .
Pliny’s nereids
, 72 n
error a s to elephants shedding theirtusks , 79 n .
error a s to their antipathy to otheranima ls
, 85.
error as to elephant’s joints, lOO.
account o f the ma ch/w,101 n.
h is knowledge of the vulnerability of
the elephant’
s head, 144 n.
o f fishes on dry land, 346 .
Ponnekella . See Mahout.Po lyb ius
’
a ccount o f fishes on dry land, 346 .
Pomponius, Mela , account of fishes on land,346.
Porcupine , 45 .
Portuguese b elief in the mermaid, 69 .
Man-of-war, 400 .
Pott, his derivation of the word elephant,76 n.
Presb ytes cepha lop terus , 7.
ursinus , 6, 9 .
Thersztes , 6 . 10 .
its fondness of attention, 10 .
Prz’
amus , lO.
its curios ity, l l .
Protopterus o f the Gambia, 352.Pseudophidia , 322.
Ptero is —volitans , 333.
Pferop horus , 430. See Insec ts .
Pteropus, 14. See F lying F ox.
Pyrard de Laval , on the Ceylon elephant ,
Quadrumana , 5, 74.
Quatrefage on the Rotifera , 487.
Radia ta , star- fi sh , 395.
sea - slugs. holothuria , 396.
pa ras it ic worms , 396 .
Gu inea wo rm, 397.
plana ria , 398 .
a ca lephae ,398 .
Portuguese Mam of-war, 400.
Red intusoria, 400.
Raja -kariya ,forced labour, in elephant
hunts, 170 .
Raja -we lle estate, story of an elephant a t,
133 n .
Rama yana , Ceylon elephants mentioned in,210 .
Ra ts, 42 .
eaten as food in Oovah and Bintenne,
43.
liable to hydrophob ia , 43 .
coffee ra t, 43 .
bandicoot , 44 .
Ra t -snake, anecdote of, 43.
498 INDEX.
’
Ra t- snake,domesticated, 299 11.
Ray, 326 , 327 .
Reinaud, on the ancient use of the ele
phant in Indian wars, 205 n .
Repti les o f Ceylon described by Dr. Davy,
I ntrod .
liz a rds, iguana , 271.
kab ara - tel, porson, 272.
b lood- suckers , 275 .
ca lotes , the green, 276.
lyre-headed l iz ard, 277.
chameleon, 278 .
cera topkom , 279.
gecko , anecdotes of, 281, 282.
c rocodile, anecdotes o f, 282, 283.
cro codile and a lliga tor, skulls of, 283 .
torto ises , 289 .
parasites o f the tortoise, 289 .
T errapins, 290 .
cruel mode of cutting up turtle, 291.
turtle, sa id to be ponsori ous, 292.
hawk’s- b i ll turtle, 293.
cruel mode of ta k ing tortoise . shell , 293 .
snakes, few pmsonous , 294.
tic-polonga , 296.
cob ra de capello , 297.legends of the cobra , 297—298uropeltzs ,
the python, 303.
haplocercus , 304 .
tree- snakes, 305.
wa ter snakes , 308.
sea snakes, 308.
the snake. stone and its composition,312—317.
cceczl za , 317.
frogs, 318 .
tree frogs , 319 .
l ist of Ceylon reptiles, 321.
snakes peculiar to Ceylon, 322.
Rhin0 10 phus, 19 . See H orse shoe Bat .
R ibeyro’
s acc ount of pearl-divmg , 878.
R ilawa monkey, 5.
Rodentia , 41, 74 .
Rogers , Major, story of his horse, 84.
his dea th by lightning , 84 n .
anecdote of an elephant k illed by him,
107.
great numbers of elephants shot byhim,
142.
A Rogue elephant. See Elephant, 114.
deriva tion of the term Rogue,”
114.
Ronkedor , 114 . See Rogue
Ronquedue, 114 . See Hogue.
d angerous encounters W ith, 136 .
Ro tifera,m arvel lous facu lty in, 486 .
Rousette See F lying-fox andPteropus, 14.
Ruminantia , 49, 74.
Sa larz'
a s Altz’
cus , 332.almas ius, 68 .
Sardines, sa id to be poisonous, 324.Saw fi sh
, 325. See F ishes.
Sc cil iger, Jul ius, 68 .
Scansores , 256.
Sca rus b an d. 335.
Schenck , 371. See Chank .
Schlege l’s essay on the elephant, 208 n.
Schlegel , Prof. , o f Leyden, his account of
the Suma tran elephant, 66 .
Schma rda , Prof 5 .
Schomburgk , S ir R. ,on the fishes of
Guiana , 347 .
Sc iurus T ennentii , 41 n .
Scolopendne , cent ipede, 474.
Scorp ions 474
Sea s lugs , bolotliuria , 397Sea snakes , 308 .
Seir- fi sh, 324 .
Seneca , a ccount o f fishes on dry land , 346 .
Septuagint, a llusion to elephants in, 87,210 n .
Serpents , 294. See Reptiles .
Shak s peare , on the elephant, 105 .
de scribes its capture in p it-fa lls, 157 n.
Sharks , 325.
Sha rk cha rmer, 378 .
Shaw, error a s to elephants shedding their
tusks, 79 n.
Shells of Ceylon, 369.
Ianthina , 370 .
Bullia Vi tta ta,370 .
chanks, T l .
oyste rs , immense,371 73 .
H elix haema stoma , 372.
Pearl fi shery, 373 .
MuSica l shells , 381.
Mr Henley’s memorandum , 386.
uncerta inty as to sp ec ies , 387.
list of Ceylon shells . 388 .
Siam ,fishes on dry land , 347 .
S ilk , cultiva ted by the Dutch, 429 .
Si lkworm. See Insects.
Sindbad’
s story of the elephants’burying.
place , 236.
Skinner, Major,knowledge of Ceylon. In
trod . n.
adventure W ith a leo pard , 30.
grea t number of elephants k illed byhim , 142.
descript ion of the Panickeas or ele
phant ca tchers , 158 , 159 n .
anecdotes o f elephants, 118.
c o llection of Ceylon fi sh, 339 .
Sma ll- pox a ttrac ts the leopard, 28.
na t ive superst it ion. 29 .
Snakes , 294. See Rept iles.
few venomous, 296.
tic -po lunga , 296.
cob ra de capello, 297.legends o f, 297 n.
stories o f, 298 .
500 INDEX.
T usks, Dr. H olland’
s theory of their forma
t ion, 88 n
T yt ler, Mr. , story of an elephant, 133 n.
Uropeltis. 301.
Urre1 cry o f the elephant drivers , 222.
Valentyn’s account of the merma id , 70.
Dutch mode o f tak ing elephants , 164.
Venloos Ba v, its profusion of shells, 369 .
Vossms,Isaa c , 68 .
Wa loora . See W ild-boar, 59 .
dreaded b y the S inghalese, 59 .
W anderoo monkey, 5.
W a sps , wasps’nest, 418.
ma son-wasp, 416.
W a ter- fowl ,
W a ter snakes , 308 .
W eaver-b ird , 251.
Whales , 68 . See Cetacea .
White , Adam, Esq . , Brit. Mus. , Introd .
THE END.
LONDON
PR I N T E D BY s r o 'r 'r i swo onn AND c o .
NEW-STREET SQUARE
White, of Selboum e, his theory of animals
suckled by strange mothers, 113 n .
White ants,411. See T erm ites .
Whiting, Mr. , account of buried fishes, 342n . , 354.
W ild-b oar, 59.
Wolf, J o . Christian, travels in Ceylon , 99 n
115 n.
his a ccount of elephants there , 99 .
describes pitfa lls for elephants , 157 n.
W ood-carrying moth, 430 . See Insects .
W orms, para site, 396. See Radia ta .
Wound when elephant shooting, 154 .
Wright, T homa s, Esq 104.
Y a rrell’
s theory of buried fi sh , 342 .
Y ule’s emb assy to A va , 216 n.
Zimb -fly, 434 .
Zoologyneglected in Ceylon, 3 . See Natural
H istory.
partia l extent to which it has been
cultivated, Introd.
