£96 Quadrupeds of Ceylon. 
In consequence of this, mares are seldom or never used ; and 
in particular, on a line of march or where a number of horses 
are collected together, they are never suffered to come in the 
way, as they would render the horses outrageous. 
The oxen of Ceylon are remarkably small, generally of a 
black colour, and in size scarcely exceed our calves of a year 
old. They are far from being well-shaped, as they are thick 
and squat and have a hump on their shoulders. They are , 
as inferior in quality as in size to the cattle of Bengal and 
the Coromandel coast ; and are to be had for ten or twelve 
rupees, or rix-dollars, about one pound five shillings sterling. 
The beef is sometimes, however, fat and tolerably good, and 
forms the chief food of the European soldiers stationed on the 
island. 
These bullocks, though small, are very useful. They are 
employed in all sorts of work to which they are adapted, in 
drawing artillery, and conveying burthens which are too large 
for the coolies to carry. The want of proper roads however 
makes these people be employed to do much of the work 
which would otherwise be imposed on the oxen. Their com- 
mon method of carrying burthens is on their heads, or suspended 
to each end of some pieces of baraboe laid across their shoulders ; 
and it is really astonishing to see what loads they will bear 
in this manner, even under the fatiguing heat of noon. Though 
they may find considerable difficulty in lifting the load at first, 
yet when once set agoing, they will travel at the rate of four 
or five miles in the hour for a whole day. The spring in the 
pieces of bamboe, by yielding to their motions, greatly facilitates 
the carriage of the burthen. When the roads will admit of it, 
and the loads are too heavy for the coolies, the bullocks are 
