Sketches of Natural History of Ceylon | Page 5

pit-falls
By means of decoys
Panickeas--their courage and address
Their sagacity in following the elephant
Mode of capture by the noose
Mode of taming
Method of leading the elephants to the coast
Process of embarking them at Manaar
Method of capturing a whole herd
The "keddah" in Bengal described
Process of enclosing a herd
Process of capture in Ceylon
An elephant corral and its construction

An elephant hunt in Ceylon, 1847
The town and district of Kornegalle
The rock of Ætagalla
Forced labour of the corral in former times
Now given voluntarily
Form of the enclosure
Method of securing a wild herd
Scene when driving them into the corral
A failure
An elephant drove by night
Singular scene in the corral
Excitement of the tame elephants
CHAP. VI.
THE ELEPHANT.
* * * * *
The Captives.
A night scene
Morning in the corral
Preparations for securing the captives
The "cooroowe," or noosers

The tame decoys
First captive tied up
Singular conduct of the wild elephants
Furious attempts of the herd to escape
Courageous conduct of the natives
Variety of disposition exhibited by the herd
Extraordinary contortions of the captives
Water withdrawn from the stomach
Instinct of the decoys
Conduct of the noosers
The young ones and their actions
Noosing a "rogue." and his death
Instinct of flies in search of carrion (_note_)
Strange scene
A second herd captured
Their treatment of a solitary elephant
A magnificent female elephant
Her extraordinary attitudes
Wonderful contortions
Taking the captives out of the corral

Their subsequent treatment and training
Grandeur of the scene
Story of young pet elephant
CHAP. VII.
THE ELEPHANT.
* * * * *
Conduct in Captivity.
Alleged superiority of the Indian to the African elephant--not true
Ditto of Ceylon elephant to Indian
Process of training in Ceylon
Allowed to bathe
Difference of disposition
Sudden death of "broken heart"
First employment treading clay
Drawing a waggon
Dragging timber
Sagacity in labour
Mode of raising stones
Strength in throwing down trees exaggerated
Piling timber

Not uniform in habits of work
Lazy if not watched
Obedience to keeper from affection, not fear
Change of keeper--story of child
Ear for sounds and music
_Hurra! (note)_
Endurance of pain
Docility
Working elephants, delicate
Deaths in government stud
Diseases
Subject to tooth-ache
Question of the value of labour of an elephant
Food in captivity, and cost
Breed in captivity
Age
Theory of M. Fleurens
No dead elephants found
Sindbad's story
Passage from Ælian

CHAP. VIII.
BIRDS.
Their numbers
Songsters
Hornbills, the "bird with two heads"
Pea fowl
Sea birds, their number
I. Accipitres.--Eagles Falcons and hawks Owls--the devil bird
II. Passeres.--Swallows Kingfishers--sunbirds The cotton-thief
Bul-bul--tailor bird--and weaver The mountain jay Crows, anecdotes of
III. Scansores.--Parroquets
IV. _Columbidæ_.--Pigeons
V. _Gallinæ_.--Jungle-fowl
VI. _Grallæ_.--Ibis, stork, &c.
VII. Anseres.--Flamingoes Pelicans Strange scene Game--Partridges,
&c.
List of Ceylon birds
List of birds peculiar to Ceylon
CHAP. IX.
REPTILES.
Lizards.--Iguana Kabara-goya, barbarous custom in preparing the

kabara-tel poison Blood-suckers The green calotes The lyre-headed
lizard Chameleon Ceratophora Geckoes,--their power of reproducing
limbs
Crocodiles Their sensitiveness to tickling Anecdotes of crocodiles
Their power of burying themselves in the mud
Tortoises.--Curious parasite Terrapins Edible turtle Cruel mode of
cutting it up alive Huge Indian tortoises (_note_) Hawk's-bill turtle,
barbarous mode of stripping it of the tortoise-shell
Serpents.--Venomous species rare Tic polonga and carawala Cobra de
capello Tame snakes (_note_) Anecdotes of the cobra de capello
Legends concerning it Instance of land snakes found at sea Singular
tradition regarding the robra de capello Uropeltidæ.--New species
discovered in Ceylon Buddhist veneration for the cobra de capello The
Python Tree snakes Water snakes Sea snakes Snake stones Analysis of
one Cæcilia Frogs Tree frogs
List of Ceylon reptiles
CHAP. X.
FISHES.
Ichthyology of Ceylon, little known
Fish for table, seir fish
Sardines, poisonous?
Sharks
Saw-fish
Fish of brilliant colours
The ray

The sword-fish
Curious fish described by Ælian
Salarias alticus Beautifully coloured fishes
Fresh-water fish, little known,--not much eaten
Fresh-water fish in Colombo Lake
Perches
Eels
Immense profusion of fish in the rivers and lakes
Their re-appearance after rain
Mode of fishing in the ponds
Showers of fish
Conjecture that the ova are preserved, not tenable
Fish moving on dry land Ancient authorities, Greek and Roman
Aristotle and Theophrastus Athenæus and Polybius Livy, Pompomus,
Mela, and Juvenal Seneca and Pliny Georgius Agricola, Gesner, &c.
Instances in Guiana (_note_) _Perca Scandens_, ascends trees Doubts
as to the story of Daldorf
Fishes burying themselves daring the dry season The protopterus of the
Gambia Instances in the fish of the Nile Instances in the fish of South
America Living fish dug out of the ground in the dry tanks in Ceylon
Molluscs that bury themselves The animals that so bury themselves in
India Analogous case of Theory of æstivation and hybernation
Fish in hot water in Ceylon
List of Ceylon fishes

Instances of fishes falling from the