218 THE PHATAGIN.—THE BAFFERKEIT. 
jaws, which are powerful enough to drive a human being almost distracted 
with pain. The claws are not only employed in destroying the nest of the 
termite, but in digging burrows for its own residence, a task for which they 
are well adapted by reason of their great size and strength, and the vigour 
of the limbs to which they are attached. 
The Phatagin is a native of Western Africa, and is of considerable dimen- 
sions, reaching five feet in average length, of which the tail occupies three 
feet. From the great 
length of the tail, it is 
sometimes called the 
LONG-TAILED MANIS, 
THE BAJJERKEIT, or 
SHORT-TAILED MANIS, 
is a native of various 
parts of India, and is 
also found in Ceylon. 
Of this species Sir Emer- 
son Tennent gives the 
following short account : 
“Of the Edentates, the 
only example in Ceylon 
: is the scaly ant-eater, 
PHATAGIN. — (Manis tetradactyla.) called by the Singalese, 
Caballaya, but usually 
known by its Malay name of Pengolin, a word indicative of its faculty of 
‘rolling itself up’ into a compact ball, by bending its head towards its stomach, 
arching its back into a circle, and securing all by a powerful hold of its mail- 
covered tail. When at liberty, they burrow in the dry ground to a depth of 
seven or eight feet, where they reside in pairs, and produce annually two or 
three young. 
“Of two specimens which I kept alive at different times, one from the 
vicinity of Kandy, about two feet in length, was a gentle and affectionate 
creature, which, after wandering 
over the house in search of ants, 
would attract attention to its 
wants by climbing up my knee, 
laying hold of my leg by its pre- 
hensile tail. The other, more 
than double that length, was 
caught in the jungle near Chilaw, 
and brought to me in Colombo. 
I had always understood that 
the Pengolin was unable to climb 
trees, but the one last mentioned 
frequently ascended a tree in 
my garden in search of ants, 
and this is effected by means of 
its hooked feet, aided by an oblique grasp of the tail. The ants it seized by 
extending its round and glutinous tongue along their tracks. Generally 
_Speaking, they were quiet during the day, and grew restless as evening and 
night approached.” : 
The ARMADILLOS are inhabitants of Central and Southern America, and 
are tolerably common throughout the whole of the land in which they live. 
The general structure of the armour is similar in all the species, and consists 
of three large plates of horny covering ; one being placed on the head, another 
wAIc 
SN’ 
Wain 
Ww NY 
BAJJERKEIT.—(Mants pentadactyla.) 
