194 



ZOOLOGY. 



[PART .11: 



ment vessel employed in the conservancy of the pearl 

 banks, was anchored about a quarter of a mile from 

 land, in the bay of Koodremale, a cobra was seen, about 

 an hour before sunset, swimming vigorously towards 

 the ship. It came within twelve yards, when the 

 sailors assailed it with billets of wood and other 

 missiles, and forced it to return to land. The follow- 

 ing morning they discovered the track which it had 

 left on the shore, and traced it along the sand till it 

 was lost in the jungle. 1 On a later occasion, in the 

 vicinity of the same spot, when the " Wellington " was 

 lying at some distance from the shore, a cobra was 

 found and killed on board, where it could only have 

 gained access by climbing up the cable. It was first 

 discovered by a sailor, who felt the chill as it glided 

 over his foot. 2 



In BENNETT'S account of " Ceylon and its Capabilities" 

 there is a curious piece of Singhalese folk-lore, to the 

 effect, that the cobra de capello every time it expends 

 its poison loses a joint of its tail, and eventually acquires 

 a head resembling that of a toad. A recent dis- 

 covery of Dr. Kelaart has thrown light on the origin 

 of this popular fallacy. The family of " false snakes " 

 (pseudo-typhlops), as Schlegel names the group, have 

 till lately consisted of but three species, of which only 

 one was known to inhabit Ceylon. They belong to 

 a family intermediate between the lizards and serpents 

 with the body of the latter, and the head of the former, 

 with which they are moreover identified by having the 



1 STEWART'S Account, oftlie Pearl 

 Fisheries of Ceylon, p. 9 : Colombo, 

 1843. 



The Python reticulatus (the "rock- 

 snake") has been known, like the 

 cobra de capello, to make short voy- 

 ages at sea. One was taken on 

 board II.M.S. "Hastings," when oft' 

 the coast of Burmah, in 1853 ; it is 

 now in the possession of the surgeon, 

 Dr. Scott. 



2 SWAINSON, in his Habits ami 

 Instincts of Animals, c. iv. p. 187, 

 says that instances are well attested 

 of the common English snake having 

 been met with in the open channel, 

 between the coast of Wales and the 

 island of Anglesea, as if they had 

 taken their departure from the one 

 and were bound for the other. 



