300 
REPTILES. 
[Chap. IX. 
killed in a bath of the Government House at Colombo, 
its mate was found in the same spot the day after ; and 
again, at my own stables, a cobra of five feet long, 
having fallen into the well, which was too deep to permit 
its escape, its companion of the same size was found the 
same morning in an adjoining drain. 1 On this occasion 
the snake, which had been several hours in the well, 
swam with ease, raising its head and hood above water ; 
and instances have repeatedly occurred of the cobra de 
capello voluntarily taking considerable excursions by 
sea. When the "Wellington," a government vessel 
employed in the conservancy of the pearl banks, was 
anchored about a quarter of a mile from the land, in 
the bay of Koodremale, a cobra was seen, about an 
hour before sunset, swimming vigorously towards the 
ship. It came within twelve yards, when the sailors 
assailed it with billets of wood and other missiles, and 
forced it to return to land. The following morning 
they discovered the track which it had left on the 
shore, and traced it along the sand till it was lost in 
the jungle. On a later occasion, in the vicinity of the 
same spot, when the " Wellington " was lying at some 
distance from the shore, a cobra was found and killed 
on board, where it could only have gained access by 
climbing up the cable. It was first discovered by a 
sailor, who felt the chill as it glided over his foot. 
One curious tradition in Ceylon embodies the popular 
legend, that the stomach of the cobra de capello occa- 
sionally contains a precious stone of such unapproachable 
1 Puny notices the affection them happens to be killed, the 
that subsists between the male and other seeks to avenge its death. — 
female asp ; and that if one of Lib. viii. c. 37. 
