A NATUEALIST IIST CEYLON WOOD 531 



to attack the Kandyan king,^ " were encamped in the midst of rank 

 grass and marshy pools infested with myriads of leeches. Clothes 

 afforded no protection against their needlelike bodies; satiated, they 

 dropped in streams of blood from the eyelids and ears of the men, 

 and had to be plucked out of their very gums as they ate their food. 

 Eest was out of the question, for the voracious animals swarmed on 

 all sides in ever-increasing numbers." The expedition failed of its 

 objective. 



I have alwaj^s had a salutary fear of herds of water buffalo, 

 even of those individuals who have not made something more than a 

 passing acquaintance with Europeans. The Sinhalese form does not 

 differ from the other oriental carabaos. They delight in immersing 

 themselves in any of the thousands of tanks that constitute the 

 wonderful irrigation system of ancient Ceylon; or to lie for hours 

 covered with mud and, while thus protected from stinging insects, 

 the helpful crow picks from their smooth, leathery backs the ticks 

 that burrow in their skin. 



This buffalo hates the smell of the stranger, especially of the white 

 " outlander," and tJiay attack him head-on unless he is abje to escape, 

 preferably by climbing some friendly tree. Seventy years ago 

 Tennent painted a vivid picture of the habits of this dangerous brute, 

 particularly when he was encountered in the unfrequented solitudes 

 of Ceylon. He speaks of the temper of the wild (let me add that 

 some domesticated animals should be included) buffalo of Ceylon 

 as morose and uncertain and said that " it is never quite safe to 

 approach them if disturbed in their pasture or alarmed from their 

 repose in the shallow lakes.- On such occasions they hurry into line, 

 draw up in defensive array with a few of the oldest bulls in 

 advance, and, wheeling in circles, their horns clashing in a loud 

 sound as they clank them together in their rapid evolutions, they pre- 

 pare for attack, but generally after a menacing display the herd 

 betakes itself to flight. Then forming again at a safer distance they 

 halt as before, elevating their nostrils, and throwing back their 

 heads to take a defiant survey of the intruders." 



There remains the " rogue " elephant as a reaj danger to the 

 tourist in Ceylon, but before recounting my experience of this rather 

 curious animal anomaly, let me say something about the interesting 

 Sinhalese elepliantine race, which differs in many respects from 

 their cousins, the Indian and African species. 



Before visiting Ceylon I, in common with most naturalists, be- 

 lieved that I knew something of Ehphas nnaximus max'mvus of 

 Linnaeus, but more or less intimate contact with that animal proved 

 how ignorant I reajiy was. A few of these observations may interest 

 the reader. 



= PiEBis, P. E. Ceylon and the Portuguese, p. 72. 



