Chap. L] 
THE PORCUPINE, 
45 
Its nests, when rifled, are frequently found to contain 
considerable quantities of rice, stored up against the 
dry season. 
BANDICOOT 
Porcupine. — The Porcupine 1 is another of the ro- 
dentia which has drawn down upon itself the hostility 
of the planters, from its destruction of the young coco- 
nut palms, to which it is a pernicious and persevering, 
"but withal so crafty, a visitor, that it is with difficulty 
any trap can be so disguised, or any bait made so allur- 
ing, as to lead to its capture. The usual expedient in 
Ceylon is to place some of its favourite food at the ex- 
tremity of a trench, so narrow as to prevent the porcu- 
pine turning, whilst the direction of his quills effectually 
bars his retreat backwards. On a newly planted coco- 
nut tope, at Hang-welle, within a few miles of Colombo, 
1 Hystrix leucurus, Sykes, 
