C E Y 
high, will be fold at the rate of 2000 dollars. The horfes 
of the ifland are defcended from the Arabian breeds 
Thefe are kept in a wild ftate, in the adjoining iflands, 
called ilhas de cavallos. They are at certain times forced 
into the ponds and rivers, and caught by people, who, 
in the molt dexterous manner, fling over any part they 
pleafe a ncofe. Thefe are fent to a fair, immediately fol¬ 
lowing the elephant fair, and fold for high prices. The 
peafants make no fort of ufe of horfes; but in their 
place employ the buffalo, which they catch and tame for. 
draught, and all their rural work. 
The fpecies of deer are very elegant; here are found 
the fpotted axis, and the great, called by the Dutch, 
elk, as tall as a horfe ; and the rib-faced, with a tufk 
front each upper jaw, pointing downwards. The little 
Indian mufk, called ntentinna, not larger than a hare, is 
a native of this ifle; it alfo has, like the lafl, its tufks. 
Buffaloes and wild-boars are very numerous, and very fierce. 
To fight an enemy, to hunt the elephant, and catch the 
wild-hog, are the three points of valour among the Cin- 
galefe. Monkies fwarm here ; the wanderow is a fpecies 
mentioned by Knox, with a great white beard from ear 
to ear, a black face, and dark grey body. There is a 
variety of the above quite white. The tail-lefs macauco, 
and the loris, are found here; alfo the jackal, and tiger, 
of the largeft fize. Thefe animals are fliot with crofs- 
bows, placed in their haunts. Pliny fays, that tigers and 
elephants were made by the people the executioners of 
their kings, whenever they had. offended them. They 
appointed a folemn hunting match, and expofed then- 
monarch to the fury of tliofe bealls. Bears are nume¬ 
rous even in this neighbourhood of the line. .Wolf fays, 
they are large and black, and feed on honey, as they do 
in Europe. The civet, and the mungo, or Indian ichneu¬ 
mon., are found here. This weefel is famous for its an¬ 
tipathy to the naja, or cobra de capello, and for its in- 
ftant recourfe to the antidote to the fatal bite, on its re¬ 
ceiving a wound from that dreadful ferpent. The plants 
it feeks relief from, are the ophiorrhiza mungos, ffrycli- 
nos colubrina, and ophioxylon ferpentinuin. The co¬ 
bra de capello grows to a vaft fize in this ifland, and its 
bite is initant death. See a figure and defcription of it 
tinder the article Coluber. 
The burning-ferpent, found in this ifland, feerns to 
pofleis the dreadful poifon of three fpecies : it gives by 
its bite the fymptoms' of raging fire, like.the torrida dip- 
fas. It caufes, at other times, the blood to flow through 
every pore, like the hosmorrhois; at other times, to caufe 
fwelling like the prefter, and to incite racking pains; 
at length, by a happy numbnefs, death brings kindly re¬ 
lief to the miferable fufferer. Our countryman Ray', enu¬ 
merates leveral of the Ceylonefe ferpents: one is the 
oelnetulla, i. e. oculis infeftus.. The ninypolonga, or 
afp, which kills the perfon it bites by flinging him into 
an endlefs fleep. The vaft boa, the anacandaia of the 
Ceylonefe, is common here, and is compared for fize to 
the maft of a ftiip. Quintus-Curtins mentions it among 
the monftrous ferpents which aftonifhed the army of 
Alexander in his march into India. This is common to 
Africa, and the greater fland of India. It is the fer¬ 
pent which Livy fuppofes to nave given Regulus fo much 
employ on the banks of the Bagrada. See a figure of it 
in vol. iii. under Boa. Crocodiles are alfo very nume¬ 
rous in Ceylon, and fometimes are found of the length of 
■eighteen feet. The lacerta calotes is a Angular lizard., 
with a ferrated back. The lacerta gekko is a lpecies juftl.y 
dreaded for the poifon which exudes from the ends of 
its toes, and which infefts to a degree of fatality every 
thing it pafles over; its urine and faliva are eo^aily dan¬ 
gerous ; its voice, which is acute, like that of a cricket, 
flings a whole company into confirmation. The natives 
obtain from it a deadly poifon for their arrows. They 
tie one of thefe animals pendent by the tail, and pro- 
• voke it till it emits its deadly ialiva on the point of the 
VqL; IV. No. i 7 g. ■ 
L O N. 6t 
weapons, which kill with the flighteft wound. This 
dreadful reptile feldom attains a foot in lengthy 
The infefts of Ceylon are of an uncommon fize : fcor- 
pions have been found here eight inches iong, exclufive 
of the legs; fcolopendrae fev.en inches; and of fpiders, 
the aranea avicularia, with legs four inches long, and 
the body covered with thick black hair, a fpecies that 
makes a web ftrong enough to entangle the fmaller fpe¬ 
cies of birds, on which it feeds. See this enormous fpi- 
der defcribed, and a figure of it, in vol. ii. under Aranea. 
The cerambyx, as large, or larger than the one figured in 
the preceding plate, is found inthisifland; andmany others 
of the coleoptera are in the fame frightful proportion. 
The Ceylonefe fquirrel is remarkable for being three 
times the fize of our fquirrel, and having a tail twice as 
long as its body. The perfuming fltrew is a native of 
this and other of the Indian ifles. Its mufky odour is fo 
fubtil, as to pervade every thing it runs over. It will to¬ 
tally fpoil the wine in a well-corked bottle, by barely 
pafiing over the furface. The cordated. bat, with its 
heart-fhaped appendage to the nofe;’ and the ftriped, or 
kiriwoula, inhabit Ceylon. The monftrous fpecies called 
the ternate is alfo very frequent here. Many of thefe ani¬ 
mals are, in all probability, common to the continent of 
India, and doubtlefs many more which have efcape(l 
the notice of travellers: there is all the appearance of 
Ceylon having been united with the Indian continent; 
and that the gulph of Manaar was once fblid land. The 
Maldives, and Laccadives, feem likewife to have been 
fragments of the once far extended continent. 
Birds in the greateft varieties, and of themoft elegar.t 
plumage, fwarm in Ceylon. That magnificent bird the 
peacock abounds in this ifland ; its legs are much longer, 
audits tail of far greater length and brilliancy, in its na¬ 
tive ftate, than they are with us. This moll elegant and 
fuperb of the feathered creation, is confined (in the ftate 
of nature) to India, and adds highly to the beauty of the 
rich forefts of that vaft country, and fome of its iflands. 
Among the aquatic birds is the great white-headed ibis, 
which makes a fnapping noiie with its bill; it lofes its 
fine rofeate colour in the rainy ftafon. The plotus, or 
anhinga, is the terror of paflengers; it lurks in thick 
bullies by the water fide, and, darting out its long and 
flender neck, terrifies them with the idea of fome ferpent 
going to inflidt a mortal wound. 
Ceylon is peculiarly happy in its vegetation; it abounds 
with all the choiceft fruits, and molt magnificent flowers; 
all the trees and plants of India feem crowded within its 
limits. Here we find the grand flowering Indian reed; 
tire various fpecies of amomum ; the flabelliformis or fan 
palm; the papaw-tree, with large luxuriant fruit, like a 
melon ; the zedoary, which retains its place in our difpen- 
fa.tory; the grandiflora or jafminum of Merian ; the me- 
locadlus or melon-thiftle; the moll beautiful creeping ce~ 
rufes; the prickly pear or Indian fig; the black and white 
pepper; and tamarind-tree; the arundo or bamboo-tree ; 
many fpecies of mimofa,the mirabilis, which has the quality 
of opening its flowers at four in thee veiling, and clofing them 
in the morning till the fame hour returns, when they again 
expand in the evening at the fame hour; the bromelia or 
pine-apple grows ipontaneoufly, amid the capficum and nux 
vomica; the anacardium or cafhew-nut tree ; the caflia or 
i’enna, euphorbia, gambouge, and dolichos or cow-itch, 
which the natives ufe for lafcivious purpofes; the fineft 
pomegranates, citrons, oranges, and myrtlesthe celebra¬ 
ted and Angular plant nepenthes; and the bread-fruit; the 
mufca paradifea, which the Jews believe to be the tree of 
knowledge of good and evil, placed in the midft of the 
garden of Eden ; the ficus indica, which throws out frefh 
trunks from every branch, and which, defending into 
the ground, take root, liill. enlarging their branches, un¬ 
til a vaft extent is.covered with the arched (hade. Thus 
it forms of itfelf a foreft of arched avenues, and a laby¬ 
rinth of alleys, which afford fhelter both to nun and ani- 
R mals 
