CllAP. VII.] 



THE DUGOXG. 



557 



and the preparation of the holothuria, which feed on 

 the coral polypi, and are captured to be dried in the snn, 

 and ex])orted to China under the name of '* tripang" and 

 bicho de mar} 



One of the most remarkable animals on the coast is 

 the dugong^, a phytophagous cetacean, numbers of 

 which are attracted to the inlets, from the bay of Cal- 

 pentyn to Adam's Bridge, by the still water and the 

 abundance of marine algie in these parts of the gulf. 

 The rude approach to the human outline, observed in 

 the shape of the head of this creature, and the attitude 



FEMALE DDGONG OF CEYLON. 



fislierinen in the natiu'al hi.stoiy of 

 the chank. "All sliells found to 

 the northward ot a line drawai from a 

 point about niidwaj- from jNIanaar to 

 the opposite coast (of India) are of 

 the kind called pattji, and are distin- 

 g'uished by a short flat head ; and all 

 those found to the southward of that 

 line are of the kind called pnjcl, and 

 are known from having- a lf)n<ier and 

 more pointed head than the former. 

 Nor is there ever an in.stance of 

 deviation from this singular law of 

 nature. The Wallainpory, or " right 

 hand clianks," are found of both 

 kinds. 



^ On placing one of these curious 

 creatures in a basin it discharged the 

 contents of its stomach : first, streams 



of water, and then quantities of sand, 

 small stones, and comminuted coral 

 and shells imtil it was reducetl to a 

 flaccid mass — again inflating itself to 

 its original size by re-imbibing the 

 water. Mr. Brodie, in a valuable 

 paper on the districts of Chilaw and 

 J'utlam, printed in the Joitrn. of the 

 Cci/loa Branch of the Asiufiv Society, 

 says of thetripangthatthe holothurias 

 are picked up at ebb tide, and after 

 being embowelled are boiled for two 

 hoiu-s till quite soft, and then dried 

 in the sun. The price, on the spot, 

 is about three shillings and ninep(>nce 

 for 1000, and "this quantity," he 

 says, " can be easily collected by two 

 men during one ebb tide." 

 ^ HnUcorc Diif/ioi;/. 



