CHAP. I.] 



THE GAUE. 



159 



unknown in Ceylon ; and, on the other hand, some spe- 

 cies discovered there are altogether peculiar to the island. 

 A deer 1 as large as the Axis, but differing from it in the 

 number and arrangement of its spots, has been de- 

 scribed by Dr. Kelaart, to whose vigilance the natural 

 history of Ceylon is indebted, amongst others, for the 

 identification of two new species of monkeys 2 , a number 

 of curious shrews 3 , and an orange-coloured ichneumon 4 , 

 before unknown. There are also two descriptions of 

 squirrels 5 that have not as yet been discovered elsewhere, 

 one of them belonging to those equipped with a para- 

 chute 6 , as well as some local varieties of the palm squirrel 

 (Sciurus penicillatus, Leach). 7 



But the Ceylon Mammalia, besides wanting a num- 

 ber of minor animals found in the Indian peninsula, 

 cannot boast such a ruminant as the majestic Gaur 8 , . 

 which inhabits the great forests from Cape Comorin to 

 the Himalaya ; and, providentially, the island is - equally 

 free of the formidable tiger and the ferocious wolf of 

 Hindustan. 



The Hyena and Cheetah 9 , common in Southern India, 

 are unknown in Ceylon ; and though abundant in deer, 

 the island possesses no example of the Antelope or the 

 GazeUe. 



List of Ceylon Mammalia. 



A list of the Mammalia of Ceylon is subjoined. In framing it, 

 as well as the lists appended to other chapters on the Fauna of 

 the island, the principal object in view has been to exhibit the 

 extent to which the natural history of the island had been investi- 



1 Cervus orizus, KELAART, Prod. 

 F. Zeyl, p. 83. 



2 Presbytes ursinus, Blyth, and P. 

 Thersites, Ettiot. 



3 Sorex montanus, S. ferruginous, 

 and Feroculus macropus. 



4 Herpestes fulvescena, KELAABT, 

 Prod. Faun. Zeylan., App. p. 42. 



5 Sciurus Tennentii, Lmjard. 



6 Sciuropterus Layardi, Kelaart. 



7 There is a rat found only in the 

 Cinnamon Gardens at Colombo, Mus 



Ceylonus, Kelaart ; and a mouse 

 which Dr. Kelaart discovered at Trin- 

 comalie, M. fulvidi-ventris, Jilyth, 

 both peculiar to Ceylon. Dr. TEM- 

 FLETON has noticed a little shrew 

 (Corsira purpurascens, Mag. Nat. 

 Hist. 1855, p. 238) at Neuera-ellia, 

 not as yet observed elsewhere. 



8 Bos cavifrons, Hodys. ; B. fron- 

 talis, Lamb. 



9 Felis jubata, Schreb. 



