300 



REPTILES. 



[Chap. IX. 



killed in a bath of the Government House at Colombo, 

 its mate was found in the same spot the day after ; and 

 again, at my own stables, a cobra of five feet long, 

 having fallen into the well, which was too deep to permit 

 its escape, its companion of the same size was found the 

 same morning in an adjoining drain. 1 On this occasion 

 the snake, which had been several hours in the well, 

 swam with ease, raising its head and hood above water ; 

 and instances have repeatedly occurred of the cobra de 

 capello voluntarily taking considerable excursions by 

 sea. When the 66 Wellington," a government vessel 

 employed in the conservancy of the pearl banks, was 

 anchored about a quarter of a mile from the land, in 

 the bay of Koodremale, a cobra was seen, about an 

 hour before sunset, swimming vigorously towards the 

 ship. It came within twelve yards, when the sailors 

 assailed it with billets of wood and other missiles, and 

 forced it to return to land. The following morning 

 they discovered the track which it had left on the 

 shore, and traced it along the sand till it was lost in 

 the jungle. On a later occasion, in the vicinity of the 

 same spot, when the " Wellington " was lying at some 

 distance from the shore, a cobra was found and killed 

 on board, where it could only have gained access by 

 climbing up the cable. It was first discovered by a 

 sailor, who felt the chill as it glided over his foot. 



One curious tradition in Ceylon embodies the popular 

 legend, that the stomach of the cobra de capello occa- 

 sionally contains a precious stone of such unapproachable 



1 Pliny notices the affection them happens to be killed, the 

 that subsists between the male and other seeks to avenge its death. — 

 female asp ; and that if one of Lib. viii. c. 37. 



