TUE TICKS 251 



t lavellers, and gradually buries its whole head in the skin, which 

 tlie body, disgustingly distended w^th blood, is unable to follow. 

 ( )n being violently removed, the former remains in the wound, 

 and often produces painful sores. The Indians returning in the 

 evening from the forest or from their field labour generally 

 ])ring some of these creatures along with them, swollen to the 

 size of hazel-nuts. These ticks seem to have no predilection 

 for any particular animal, but indiscriminately fasten on all, 

 not even sparing the toad or the lizard. 



Though countless hosts of ticks infest the Ceylonese jungle, 

 though mosquitoes without number swarm over the lower country, 

 yet the land-leeches which beset the traveller in the rising grounds 

 are a still more detested plague. " They are not frequent in the 

 ])lains," says Sir E. Tennent, "which are too hot and dry for 

 1 liem ; but amongst the rank vegetation in the lower ranges of 

 tlie hill-country, which is kept damp by frequent showers, they 

 are found in tormenting profusion. They are terrestrial, never 

 visiting ponds or streams. In size they are about an inch in 

 length, and as fine as a common knitting needle, but capable of 

 distention till they equal a quill in thickness and attain a length 

 of nearly two inches. Their structure is so flexible that they can 

 insinuate themselves through the meshes of the finest stocking, 

 not only seizing on the feet and ankles, but ascending to the 

 back and throat, and fastening on the tenderest parts of the 

 body. The coffee planters who live amongst these pests are 

 obliged, in order to exclude them, to envelope their legs in 

 * leech gaiters,' made of closely woven cloth. 



" In moving, the land-leeches have the power of planting one 

 extremity on the earth and raising the other perpendicularly to 

 watch for their victim. Such is their vigilance and instinct that, 

 on the approach of a passer-by to a spot which they infest, they 

 may be seen amongst the grass and fallen leaves, on the edge of 

 a native path, poised erect, and preparing for their attack on 

 man and horse. On descrying their prey they advance rapidly 

 by semicircular strides, fixing one end firmly and arching the 

 other forwards, till by successive advances they can lay hold of 

 the traveller's foot, when they disengage themselves from the 

 ground and ascend his dress in search of an aperture to enter. 

 In these encounters the individuals in the rear of a party of 

 travellers in the jungle invariably fare worst, as the leeches 



