NO. 41. — 1890.] REBELION DB CEYLAN. ±79 



it "the snake-root"* (Raiz de culebra), and it is a great 

 antidote for all kinds of evils. This plague is not confined 

 to the rivers : the land is also infested. 



Snakes abound ; amongst them that called de Capilla 

 is not the least noxious : although none come up to what the 

 bears and aleas\ do. These last are elephants without tusks, 

 who are so savage and inimical to man, that they go out and 

 lie in wait for him on the high roads. The tuskers, although 

 less numerous in this Island, so productive of wild beasts, 

 are reputed the best in all India for generosity and courage. 



They (elephants) are acknowledged to be most obedient, 

 governed only by natural instinct, which is wonderfully deve- 

 loped in these animals, and wonderful are the tricks that are 

 told of them; by which they are of great service, and estimated 

 at high prices in the East. They are the principal sinews of 

 their armies, and always placed in the van, because of the 

 impetus and ferocity of their charge ; and for this reason His 

 Majesty will not allow them to be taken out of the Island 

 without his license, and the hunting of them is considered 

 royal patrimony. They enjoy the privilege of being allowed 

 to run free, and no one is allowed to kill them, unless they 

 come and destroy the crops ; so that among the wild beasts 

 they have the ambition of being the lords and masters. 



Notwithstanding all this vigilance, many are killed for the 

 profit to be got from the ivory, out of which the Zingalas 

 make very curious and clever things ; for their genius, 

 industry, and application at this sort of work have made 

 them singularly clever and marvellous workmen. 



Panthers (tig res) abound in the Island, but do not much 

 harm. There are also civet cats, buffaloes, cows, which are used 

 in cultivating the land, and are worth about a pardao each. 



* It is in the town of Dm where the famed snake stones, or Pier res de 

 cobra, are made. They are composed of roots which are burnt to ashes ; 

 the cinders are collected and mixed with a kind of earth. They are again 

 burnt with the earth, and after that a paste is made, out of which the 

 stones are moulded. A little blood must be let from the wound with a 

 needle, and the stone applied to it until it drops off itself. — Thevenot. 



f Sin. aliya. — B., Hon. See. 



