Cuar. IX.} . SNAKES, 295 
one half have as yet been scientifically identified '; 
but so cautiously do serpents make their appearance, 
that the surprise of persons long resident is invariably 
expressed at the rarity with which they are to be seen; 
and from my own journeys through the jungle, often of 
from two to five hundred miles, I have frequently re- 
turned without observing a single snake. Mr. Bennett, 
who resided much in the south-east of the island, ascribes 
the rarity of serpents in the jungle to the abundance 
of the wild peafowl, whose partiality to young snakes 
renders them the chief destroyers of these reptiles. It 
is likely, too, that they are killed by the jungle-cocks ; 
for they are frequently eaten by the common barn-door 
fowl in Ceylon. This is rendered the more probable by 
the fact, that in those districts where the extension of 
cultivation, and the visits of sportsmen, have reduced the 
numbers of the jungle-cocks and pea-fowl, snakes have 
perceptibly increased. The deer also are enemies of the 
snakes, and the natives who have had opportunities of 
watching their encounters assert that they have seen 
deer rush upon a serpent and crush it by leaping on it 
with all its four feet. 
As to the venomous powers of snakes, Dr. Davy, whose 
' This is not likely to be true: 
in a very large collection of snakes 
made in Ceylon by Mr. C. R. 
Butler, and recently examined by 
Dr. Giinther, of the British Museum, 
only a single specimen proved to be 
new. 
There is, however, one venomous 
snake, of the existence of which 
I am assured by wu native corres- 
pondent in Ceylon, no mention has 
yet been made by European natu- 
ralists. It is called Mapila by the 
Singhalese ; it is described to me 
as being about four feet in length, 
of the diameter of the little finger, 
and of # uniform dark brown 
colour. It is said to be often seen 
in company with another snake 
called in Singhalese Lay Medilla, 
a name which implies its deep red 
hue. The latter is believed to be 
venomous. It would be well if 
some collector in Ceylon would 
send home for examination the 
species which respectively bear 
these names. 
u4 
