Sketches of the Natural History of Ceylon

CHAPTER I.. Mammalia.

MAMMALIA.

Neglect of zoology in Ceylon

Labours of Dr. Davy

Followed by Dr. Templeton and others

Dr. Kelaart and Mr. E.L. Layard

Monkeys The Rilawa, Macacus pileatus Wanderoos Knox's account of them Error regarding the Silenus Veter (note) Presbytes Cephalopterus Fond of eating flowers A white monkey Method of the flight of monkeys P. Ursinus in the Hills P. Thersites in the Wanny P. Priamus, Jaffna and Trincomalie No dead monkey ever found

Loris

Bats Flying Fox, Pteropus Edwardsii Their numbers at Peradenia Singularity of their attitudes Food and mode of eating Horse-shoe bat, Rhinolophus Faculty of smell in bat A tiny bat, Scotophilus foromandelicus Extraordinary parasite of the bat, the Nycteribia

Carnivora.--Bears Their ferocity

Singhalese belief in the efficacy of charms (note)

Leopards Erroneously confounded with the Indian cheetah Curious belief Anecdotes of leopards Their attraction by the smallpox Native superstition Encounter with a leopard Monkeys killed by leopards Alleged peculiarity of the claws

Palm-cat

Civet

Dogs Cruel mode of destroying dogs Their republican instincts

Jackal Cunning, anecdotes of The horn of the jackal

Mungoos Its fights with serpents Theory of its antidote

Squirrels Flying squirrel

Tree-rat Story of a rat and a snake

Coffee-rat

Bandicoot

Porcupine

Pengolin Its habits and gentleness Its skeleton

Ruminantia.--The Gaur Oxen Humped cattle Encounter of a cow and a leopard Draft oxen Their treatment A Tavalam Attempt to introduce the camel (note) Buffaloes Sporting buffaloes Peculiar structure of the foot

Deer

Meminna

Elk

Wild-boar

Elephants Recent discovery of a new species Geological speculations as to the island of Ceylon Ancient tradition Opinion of Professor Ansted Peculiarities in Ceylon mammalia The same in Ceylon birds and insects Temminck's discovery of a new species of elephant in Sumatra Points of distinction between it and the elephant of India Professor Schlegel's description

Cetacea Whales The Dugong Origin of the fable of the mermaid Credulity of the Portuguese Belief of the Dutch

Testimony of Valentyn

List of Ceylon mammalia

CHAP. II

THE ELEPHANT

* * * * *

Its Structure.

Vast numbers in Ceylon

Derivation of the word "elephant" (note)

Antiquity of the trade in elephants

Numbers now diminishing

Mischief done by them to crops

Ivory scarce in Ceylon

Conjectures as to the absence of tusks

Elephant a harmless animal

Alleged antipathies to other animals

Fights with each other

The foot its chief weapon

Use of the tusks in a wild state doubtful

Anecdote of sagacity in an elephant at Kandy

Difference between African and Indian species

Native ideas of perfection in an elephant

Blotches on the skin

White elephants not unknown in Ceylon

CHAP. III.

THE ELEPHANT

* * * * *

Its Habits.

Water, but not heat, essential to elephants

Sight limited

Smell acute

Caution

Hearing, good

Cries of the elephant

Trumpeting

Booming noise

Height, exaggerated

Facility of stealthy motion

Ancient delusion as to the joints of the leg

Its exposure by Sir Thos. Browne

Its perpetuation by poets and others

Position of the elephant in sleep

An elephant killed on its feet

Mode of lying down

Its gait a shuffle

Power of climbing mountains

Facilitated by the joint of the knee

Mode of descending declivities

A "herd" is a family

Attachment to their young

Suckled indifferently by the females

A "rogue" elephant

Their cunning and vice

Injuries done by them

The leader of a herd a tusker

Bathing and nocturnal gambols, description of a scene by Major Skinner

Method of swimming

Internal anatomy imperfectly known

Faculty of storing water

Peculiarity of the stomach

The food of the elephant

Sagacity in search of it

Unexplained dread of fences

Its spirit of inquisitiveness

Anecdotes illustrative of its curiosity

Estimate of sagacity

Singular conduct of a herd during thunder

An elephant feigning death

Appendix.--Narratives of natives, as to encounters with rogue elephants

CHAP. IV.

THE ELEPHANT

* * * * *

Elephant Shooting.

Vast numbers shot in Ceylon

Revolting details of elephant killing in Africa

Fatal spots at which to aim

Structure of the bones of the head

Wounds which are certain to kill

Attitudes when surprised

Peculiar movements when reposing

Habits when attacked

Sagacity of native trackers

Courage and agility of the elephants in escape

Worthlessness of the carcass

Singular recovery from a wound

CHAP. V.

THE ELEPHANT.

* * * * *

An Elephant Corral.

Early method of catching elephants

Capture in pit-falls

By means of decoys

Panickeas--their courage and address

Their sagacity in following the elephant

Mode of capture by the noose

Mode of taming

Method of leading the elephants to the coast

Process of embarking them at Manaar

Method of capturing a whole herd

The "keddah" in Bengal described

Process of enclosing a herd

Process of capture in Ceylon

An elephant corral and its construction

An elephant hunt in Ceylon, 1847

The town and district of Kornegalle

The rock of Ætagalla

Forced labour of the corral in former times

Now given voluntarily

Form of the enclosure

Method of securing a wild herd

Scene when driving them into the corral

A failure

An elephant drove by night

Singular scene in the corral

Excitement of the tame elephants

CHAP. VI.

THE ELEPHANT.

* * * * *

The Captives.

A night scene

Morning in the corral

Preparations for securing the captives

The "cooroowe," or noosers

The tame decoys

First captive tied up

Singular conduct of the wild elephants

Furious attempts of the herd to escape

Courageous conduct of the natives

Variety of disposition exhibited by the herd

Extraordinary contortions of the captives

Water withdrawn from the stomach

Instinct of the decoys

Conduct of the noosers

The young ones and their actions

Noosing a "rogue." and his death

Instinct of flies in search of carrion (note)

Strange scene

A second herd captured

Their treatment of a solitary elephant

A magnificent female elephant

Her extraordinary attitudes

Wonderful contortions

Taking the captives out of the corral

Their subsequent treatment and training

Grandeur of the scene

Story of young pet elephant

CHAP. VII.

THE ELEPHANT.

* * * * *

Conduct in Captivity.

Alleged superiority of the Indian to the African elephant--not true

Ditto of Ceylon elephant to Indian

Process of training in Ceylon

Allowed to bathe

Difference of disposition

Sudden death of "broken heart"

First employment treading clay

Drawing a waggon

Dragging timber

Sagacity in labour

Mode of raising stones

Strength in throwing down trees exaggerated

Piling timber

Not uniform in habits of work

Lazy if not watched

Obedience to keeper from affection, not fear

Change of keeper--story of child

Ear for sounds and music

Hurra! (note)

Endurance of pain

Docility

Working elephants, delicate

Deaths in government stud

Diseases

Subject to tooth-ache

Question of the value of labour of an elephant

Food in captivity, and cost

Breed in captivity

Age

Theory of M. Fleurens

No dead elephants found

Sindbad's story

Passage from Ælian

CHAP. VIII.

BIRDS.

Their numbers

Songsters

Hornbills, the "bird with two heads"

Pea fowl

Sea birds, their number

I. Accipitres.--Eagles Falcons and hawks Owls--the devil bird

II. Passeres.--Swallows Kingfishers--sunbirds The cotton-thief Bul-bul--tailor bird--and weaver The mountain jay Crows, anecdotes of

III. Scansores.--Parroquets

IV. Columbidæ.--Pigeons

V. Gallinæ.--Jungle-fowl

VI. Grallæ.--Ibis, stork, &c.

VII. Anseres.--Flamingoes Pelicans Strange scene Game--Partridges, &c.

List of Ceylon birds

List of birds peculiar to Ceylon

CHAP. IX.

REPTILES.

Lizards.--Iguana Kabara-goya, barbarous custom in preparing the kabara-tel poison Blood-suckers The green calotes The lyre-headed lizard Chameleon Ceratophora Geckoes,--their power of reproducing limbs

Crocodiles Their sensitiveness to tickling Anecdotes of crocodiles Their power of burying themselves in the mud

Tortoises.--Curious parasite Terrapins Edible turtle Cruel mode of cutting it up alive Huge Indian tortoises (note) Hawk's-bill turtle, barbarous mode of stripping it of the tortoise-shell

Serpents.--Venomous species rare Tic polonga and carawala Cobra de capello Tame snakes (note) Anecdotes of the cobra de capello Legends concerning it Instance of land snakes found at sea Singular tradition regarding the robra de capello Uropeltidæ.--New species discovered in Ceylon Buddhist veneration for the cobra de capello The Python Tree snakes Water snakes Sea snakes Snake stones Analysis of one Cæcilia Frogs Tree frogs

List of Ceylon reptiles

CHAP. X.

FISHES.

Ichthyology of Ceylon, little known

Fish for table, seir fish

Sardines, poisonous?

Sharks

Saw-fish

Fish of brilliant colours

The ray

The sword-fish

Curious fish described by Ælian

Salarias alticus

Beautifully coloured fishes

Fresh-water fish, little known,--not much eaten

Fresh-water fish in Colombo Lake

Perches

Eels

Immense profusion of fish in the rivers and lakes

Their re-appearance after rain

Mode of fishing in the ponds

Showers of fish

Conjecture that the ova are preserved, not tenable

Fish moving on dry land Ancient authorities, Greek and Roman Aristotle and Theophrastus Athenæus and Polybius Livy, Pompomus, Mela, and Juvenal Seneca and Pliny Georgius Agricola, Gesner, &c. Instances in Guiana (note) Perca Scandens, ascends trees Doubts as to the story of Daldorf

Fishes burying themselves daring the dry season The protopterus of the Gambia Instances in the fish of the Nile Instances in the fish of South America Living fish dug out of the ground in the dry tanks in Ceylon Molluscs that bury themselves The animals that so bury themselves in India Analogous case of Theory of æstivation and hybernation

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