CUAP. I.j 



THE MONGOOS. 



145 



for food. Lord Torrington, during his tenure of office, 

 attempted the more civiHsed experiment of putting some 

 check on theii^ numbers, by imposing a dog tax, the effect 

 of which would have been to lead to the drowning of 

 puppies ; whereas there is reason to beheve that dogs are 

 at present bred by the horse-keepers to be killed for sake 

 of the reward. 



Jackal. — The Jackal ^ in the low country hunts hi 

 packs, headed by a leader, and these audacious prowlers 

 have been seen to assault and pull down a deer. The 

 small number of hares in the districts they infest is 

 ascribed to their depredations. An excrescence is 

 sometimes found on the head of the jackal, con- 

 sisting of a small horny cone about half an inch in 

 length, and concealed by a tuft of hair. This the 

 natives call Narri-comhoo, and they aver that this 

 " Jackal's Horn " only grows on the head of the leader 

 of the pack.^ The Singhalese and the Tamils ahke 

 regard it as a talisman, and believe that its fortunate 

 possessor can command by its instrumentahty the reah- 

 sation of every wish, and that if stolen or lost by him, 

 it will invariably return of its own accord. Those who 

 have jewels to conceal, rest in perfect security if along 

 with them they can deposit a JSTarri-comboo, fidly con- 

 vinced that its presence is an effectual safeguard against 

 robbers. 



Jackals are subject to hydrophobia, and instances are 

 frequent of cattle being bitten by them and dying in con- 

 sequence. 



The Mongoos. — Of the Mongoos or Ichneumons five 

 species have been described ; and one which frequents 

 the hills near Neuera-elha^, is so remarkable from its 



* Canis aureus, Linn. 



'^ In the Museum of tlie College of 

 Surgeons, London (No. 43G2 a), there 

 is a cranium of a jackal which exhi- 

 bits this strange osseous process on 

 the super-occipital ; and I have placed 

 along with it a specimen of the horny 



VOL. I. 



sheath, which was presented to me 

 by Mr. Lavalliere, the district judge 

 of Kandy. 



^ Ho-pestes viiticoUis. Mr. W. 

 Elliott, in his CctUtloi/ue of 3Iain.- 

 maliafomul in the iSo/iihern 3Iahar(ita 

 Cuimtry, Madras, 1840, says, that 



