Chap. I.] 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. 



