xvi 



CONTENTS. 



Page 



Attempt to introduce the camel 





(note) 



53 



Buffaloes .... 



54 



Sporting buffaloes . 



55 



Peculiar structure of the foot . 



56 



Deer ..... 



57 



Meminna ..... 



ib. 



Elk 



59 



Wild-boar .... 



ib. 



Elephants .... 



60 



Kecent discovery of a new species 



ib. 



Geological speculations as to 





the island of Ceylon . . 



61 



Ancient tradition . 



ib. 



Opinion of Professor Ansted 



ib. 



Peculiarities in Ceylon mam- 





malia .... 



63 



The same in Ceylon birds and 





insects .... 



ib. 



Temminck's discovery of a new 





species of elephant in Suma- 





tra ..... 



64 



Points of distinction between it 





and the elephant of India . 



65 



Professor Schlegel's description 



66 



Cetacea . 



68 



Whales . 



ib. 



The Dugong 



69 



Origin of the fable of the mer- 





maid . . . . 



70 



Credulity of the Portuguese . 



ib. 



Belief of the Dutch 



ib. 



Testimony of Valentyn 



71 



List of Ceylon mammalia . 



73 



CHAP. II. 





THE ELEPHANT. 





Its Structure. 





Vast numbers in Ceylon . . 75 

 Derivation of the word "elephant" 



(note) 76, 



Antiquity of the trade in elephants 77 



Numbers now diminishing . . ib. 



Mischief done by them to crops . ib. 

 Ivory scarce in Ceylon . .78 

 Conjectures as to the absence of 



tusks 79 



Elephant a harmless animal . 8 1 

 Alleged antipathies to other ani- 

 mals 82 



Fights with each other . .86 



Page 



The foot its chief weapon . .87 



Use of the tusks in a wild state 

 doubtful . . . .88 



Anecdote of sagacity in an ele- 

 phant at Kandy . . .89 



Difference between African and 

 Indian species . . .90 



Native ideas of perfection in an 

 elephant . . . .91 



Blotches on the skin . .92 



White elephants not unknown in 

 Ceylon .... 93 



CHAP. III. 



THE ELEPHANT. 



Its Habits. 

 Water, but not heat, essential to 



elephants . . . .94 

 Sight limited . . . .95 

 Smell acute . . . .96 



Caution ib. 



Hearing, good .... ib. 

 Cries of the elephant . .97 

 Trumpeting .... ib. 

 Booming noise . . . .98 

 Height, exaggerated . . .99 

 Facility of stealthy motion . 100 



Ancient delusion as to the joints 



of the leg . . . ib. 



Its exposure by Sir Thos. Browne ib. 

 Its perpetuation by poets and 



others 102 



Position of the elephant in sleep . 105 



An elephant killed on its feet . 107 

 Mode of lying down . . . ib. 

 Its gait a shuffle . . .108 

 Power of climbing mountains . 109 

 Facilitated by the joint of the knee 110 

 Mode of descending declivities . Ill 

 A "herd" is a family . .112 

 Attachment to their young . 113 

 Suckled indifferently by the fe- 

 males . . . . ib. 

 A "rogue" elephant . . .114 

 Their cunning and vice . .115 

 Injuries done by them . . ib. 

 The leader of a herd a tusker . 117 



Bathing and nocturnal gambols, 

 description of a scene by Major 

 Skinner . . . .118 



