28 



MAMMALIA. 



[Chap. I, 



off a dog from the midst of its slumbering masters. 

 On one occasion being in the mountains near Kandy, a 

 messenger despatched to me through the jungle ex- 

 cused his delay by stating that a " cheetah " had seated 

 itself in the only practicable path, and remained 

 quietly licking its fore paws and rubbing them over 

 its face, till he was forced to drive it, with stones, into 

 the forest. 



Leopards are strongly attracted by the peculiar odour 

 which accompanies small-pox. The reluctance of the 

 natives to submit themselves or their children to vac- 

 cination exposes the island to frightful visitations of 

 this disease ; and in the villages in the interior it is 

 usual on such occasions to erect huts in the jungle to 

 serve as temporary hospitals. Towards these the leo- 

 pards are certain to be allured ; and the medical officers 

 are obliged to resort to increased precautions in con- 

 sequence. This fact is connected with a curious native 

 superstition. Amongst the avenging scourges sent direct 

 from the gods, the Singhalese regard both the ravages 

 of the leopard, and the visitation of the small-pox. The 

 latter they call par excellence " maha ledda" the great 

 " sickness ;" they look upon it as a special manifes- 

 tation of devidosay, " the displeasure of the gods ; " and 

 the attraction of the cheetahs to the bed of the sufferer 

 they attribute to the same indignant agency. A few 

 years ago, the capua, or demon-priest of a " dewale," 

 at Oggalbodda, a village near Caltura, when suffering 

 under small-pox, was devoured by a cheetah, and his 

 fate was regarded by those of an opposite faith as a 

 special judgment from heaven. 



Such is the awe inspired by this belief in connection 

 with the small-pox, that a person afflicted with it is 



