INTRODUCTION. 



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. Gardner, 

 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 



