142 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
quite close to me. Presently one of them lit on my wrist, and 
began sipping the moisture as it came from my skin. The 
second insect quickly followed exactly the same procedure 
on my slowly extending my arm. 
At a small puddle, measuring about 2 ft. by 18 in., I found 
the whole of the damp ground covered with wasps sipping the 
moisture. 
Some idea of the dryness of the locality can be judged from 
these instances, and I submit that animal distribution must be 
affected thereby. 
The distribution of plants, not of direct value to man, 
moreover shows certain erratic conditions. The most striking 
instance of this is in the distribution of the Dipterocarps. At 
Monaragala, and a little to the eastward, our common Hora 
(Dipterocarpus zeylanicus) is moderately plentiful. From 
Liyangalla onwards towards the east it is absent, but to the 
north-east of Siyambala-anduwa, near the village of Newgalla, 
one finds fringes of Vatica obscura on the banks of the dry 
streams ; in other words, there is an enormous belt of country 
the opposite sides of which have representations of this 
important order of trees, with no examples in the intermediate 
area. 
On the other hand I found no examples of Vatica obscura to 
the south of Siyambala-anduwa on any of thestreams I crossed. 
Of the Dilleniaceze, I found Dillenia indica on the higher 
reaches of the Heda-oya, and a few individual examples— 
probably introduced—towards Waragoda in the north and at 
Kumuna in the south-east. 
Of the Anonacez, the usual dry-zone Polyalthias are very 
abundant. Both Anamirta paniculata and Tinospora eordi- 
folia are abundant representations of the Menispermacez. 
In the tanks where there was water, both Nymphea lotus 
and Nelumbium speciosum are common Lotuses. Both roots 
and bulbs of these plants are eaten. 
In some of the chenas I found Brassica juncea grown with 
the other crops, but I could get no definite explanation why it 
was cultivated. 
Of the Capparidee, the typical Capparis zeylanica is plentiful. 
Its fruits are eaten by the Veddas as well as the Tamils. IL 
