138 ZOOLOGY. [PART II. 



thrusting portions of a red-ant's nest into his mouth with 

 one paw, whilst with the other he endeavoured to clear 

 his eyebrows and lips of the angry inmates which bit 

 and tortured him in their rage. The Ceylon bear is 

 found in the low and dry districts of the northern 

 and south-eastern coast, and is seldom met with on the 

 mountains or the moist and damp plains of the west. It 

 is furnished with a bushy tuft of hair on the back, be- 

 tween the shoulders, by which the young are accustomed 

 to cling till sufficiently strong to provide for their 

 own safety. During a severe drought that prevailed in 

 the northern province in 1850, the district of Caretchy 

 was so infested by bears that the Oriental custom of the 

 women resorting to the wells was altogether suspended, 

 as it was a common occurrence to find one of these 

 animals in the water, unable to climb up the yielding 

 and slippery soil, down which his thirst had impelled 

 him to slide during the night. 



Although the structure of the bear shows him to be 

 naturally omnivorous, he rarely preys upon flesh in 

 Ceylon, and his solitary habits whilst in search of honey 

 and fruits, render him timid and retiring. Hence he 

 evinces alarm on the approach of man or other animals, 

 and, unable to make a rapid retreat, his panic rather 

 than any vicious disposition leads him to become an 

 assailant in self-defence. But so furious are his assaults 

 under such circumstances that the Singhalese have a 

 terror of his attack greater than that created by any 

 other beast of the forest. If not armed with a gun, a 

 native, in the places where bears abound, usually carries 

 a light axe, called " kodelly," with which to strike them 

 on the head. The bear, on the other hand, always aims 

 at the face, and, if successful in prostrating his victim, 

 usually commences by assailing the eyes. I have met 

 numerous individuals on our journeys who exhibited 

 frightful scars from such encounters, the white seams 

 of their wounds contrasting hideously with the dark colour 

 of the rest of their bodies. 



