372 
CEYLON 
specimens of Mylabris orientalis, Dej., Telephones dimidiatus, and 
Ichthyurus inermis, Fairm., were netted on the wing, the latter has 
short yellow elytra; some Carabids of the genus Omphra, which 
were found under a stone, Mr. Arrow thinks may be ovipennis, 
Eeiche (in MS.). 
Hymenopterous society was almost equally select, being made 
up of single individuals of Icaria ferruginea, Fabr., the large 
steel-blue-winged Salius iridipennis, Smith, the black, yellow-legged 
Sceliphron intrudens, Smith, and the brilliant green Cuckoo-wasp 
Hexachrysis oculata, Fabr. 
Two specimens of the Bombyliid, Hyper alonia tantalus, Fabr., 
represented the great order Diptera, while two Plautia fimlriata did 
the same for the Hemiptera. 
Though Dragon-flies were abundant enough at Haragama, I never 
saw one catch, or even chase, a butterfly. 
One day a native brought me a fine specimen of that strange 
creature, a Phrynicus sp. It is allied to the Scorpions, but its 
chelae, or pincers, are so long and slender that they might easily 
pass for the first pair of legs, whereas in reality the first pair of legs 
are extremely long, attenuated, and flexible, and would appear to 
function as antennae. 
It was at Haragama that Mr. E. E. Green showed me the smallest 
of Snakes (one of the Uropeltidae), scarcely as thick as the pen-holder 
with which I write, and little if at all longer. The snake curled 
itself up in the palm of my hand, raised its head, and put out its 
tiny tongue. It lives in dead wood, pursuing in their burrows the 
beetle-larvae upon which it feeds. Truly, as Mr. Green said, the 
Tropics produce alike the largest and the smallest creatures. Another 
day, when splitting a rotten log with my hands, I disclosed another 
small snake (though somewhat larger than the first), but it got away. 
Again, the turning over of a sawn log exposed to view a Toad and 
a pretty little Mouse with a thin face and large ears. 
After my first experience of motoring in Ceylon I had many 
misgivings about undertaking a longer expedition to Anuradhapura 
and Trinkomali. However, I was assured that a somewhat dis¬ 
reputable-looking Wolseley car was the most enduring of any in the 
island. It was not precisely silent; it had evidently had no paint or 
varnish wasted upon it since it left the manufactory, and everything 
that need not shine was dull. Nevertheless, handsome is that 
handsome does, and that car took me, my wife, and Miss Poole, the 
whole journey successfully. It was a non-stop run, for a faulty 
electrical connection that was put right in two minutes could scarcely 
