INTEODUCTION. 



A considekaele portion of the contents of the present 

 volume formed the zoological section of a much more 

 comprehensive work recently published, on the history 

 and present condition of Ceylon. 1 But its inclusion 

 there was a matter of difficulty ; for to have altogether 

 omitted the chapters on Natural History would have 

 impaired the completeness of the plan on which I had 

 attempted to describe the island ; whilst to insert them 

 as they here appear, without curtailment, would have 

 encroached unduly on the space required for other 

 essential topics. In this dilemma, I was obliged to 

 adopt the alternative of so condensing the matter as to 

 bring the whole within the prescribed proportions. 



But this operation necessarily diminished the general 

 interest of the subjects treated, as well by the omission 

 of incidents which would otherwise have been retained, 

 as by the exclusion of anecdotes calculated to illustrate 

 the habits and instincts of the animals described. 



1 Ceylon: An Account of the son Tennent, K.C.S., LL.D., &c. 



Island, Physical, Historical, and Illustrated by Maps, Plans, and 



Topographical; with Notices of its Drawings. 2 vols. 8vo. Longman 



Natural History, Antiquities, and and Co., 1859. 

 Productions. By Sir James Emer- 



A 3 



