468 



THE NORTHERN FORESTS. 



[rAET TX. 



devoid of tlie sagacity and courage which characterise 

 other animals of prey. 



On the occasion of another visit which I made to 

 Batticaloa, in September, 1848, 1 made some inquiries 

 relative to a story which had reached me of musical 

 sounds, said to be heard issuing from the bottom of the 

 lake, at several places, both above and below the ferry 

 opposite the old Dutch Fort ; and which the natives 

 supposed to proceed from some fish pecuhar to the 

 locality. The report was confirmed to me in all its 

 particulars, and one of the spots whence the sounds 

 proceed was pointed out between the pier and a rock 

 which intersects the channel, two or three hundi^ed 

 yards to the eastward. They were said to be heard 

 at night, and most distinctly when the moon was nearest 

 the full, and they were described as resembling the 

 faint sweet notes of an ^Eolian harp. I sent for some 

 of the fishermen, who said they were perfectly aware 

 of the fact, and that their lathers had always knowTi 

 of the existence of the musical sounds heard, they 

 said, at the spot aUuded to, but only dmdng the diy 

 season, and they cease when the lake is swoUen by the 

 freshes after the rain. They believed them to proceed 

 from a shell, which is known by the Tamil name of 

 (oorie coolooroo cradoo, or) the " crying shell," a name in 

 which the sound seems to have been adopted as an echo 

 of the sense. I sent them in search of the shell, and 

 they returned bringing me some li\ing specimens of 

 different shells, chiefly littorina and ceritliium} 



^ Littorina Icevis. Cerithium pa- 

 iKstre. Of the latter the specimens 

 brought to me were dw.irfod and 

 solid, exhibitinty in this particiilai* 

 the usual peculiarities that distin- 

 guish (1.) shells inhabiting a rocky 

 locality from {'2.) their congeners in 

 a sandy bottom. Their longitudinal 

 development was less, with greater 

 breadth, and increased slreng-th and 

 weight. 



i-UUHIUM PAI-OSTRE. 



