INTBODUCTION. 
vii 
the inquiry, since Ceylon, instead of presenting, as is 
generally assumed, an identity between its fauna and 
that of Southern India, exhibits a remarkable diversity, 
taken in connection with the limited area over which 
the animals included in it are distributed. The island, 
in fact, may be regarded as the centre of a geographical 
circle, possessing within itself forms, whose allied species 
radiate far into the temperate regions of the north, as 
well as into Africa, Australia, and the isles of the Eastern 
Archipelago. 
" In the chapters that I have devoted to its eluci- 
dation, I have endeavoured to interest others in the 
subject, by describing my own observations and impres- 
sions, with fidelity, and with as much accuracy as may 
be expected from a person possessing, as I do, no greater 
knowledge of zoology and the other physical sciences 
than is ordinarily possessed by any educated gentleman. 
It was my good fortune, however, in my journeys to 
have the companionship of friends familiar with many 
branches of natural science : the late Dr. Gardnek, 
Mr. Edgar L. Layard, an accomplished zoologist, 
Dr. Templeton, and others; and I was thus enabled 
to collect on the spot many interesting facts relative 
to the structure and habits of the numerous tribes. 
These, chastened by the corrections of my fellow-tra- 
vellers, and established by the examination of collec- 
tions made in the colony, and by subsequent comparison 
with specimens contained in museums at home, I have 
ventured to submit as faithful outlines of the fauna of 
Ceylon. 
A 4 
