Sketches of Natural History of Ceylon | Page 7

life under any circumstances. From the nature of their avocations, the
majority of the European residents, engaged in planting and commerce,
are discouraged by want of leisure from cultivating the taste; and it is to
be regretted that, with few exceptions, the civil servants of the
government, whose position and duties would have afforded them
influence and extended opportunities for successful investigation, have
never seen the importance of encouraging such studies.
The first effective impulse to the cultivation of natural science in
Ceylon, was communicated by Dr. Davy when connected with the
medical staff[1] of the army from 1816 to 1820, and his example
stimulated some of the assistant-surgeons of Her Majesty's forces to
make collections in illustration of the productions of the colony. Of
these the late Dr. Kinnis was one of the most energetic and successful.
He was seconded by Dr. Templeton of the Royal Artillery, who
engaged assiduously in the investigation of various orders, and
commenced an interchange of specimens with Mr. Blyth[2], the
distinguished naturalist and curator of the Calcutta Museum. The birds
and rarer vertebrata of the island were thus compared with their
peninsular congeners, and a tolerable knowledge of those belonging to
the island, so far as regards the higher classes of animals, has been the

result. The example so set was perseveringly followed by Mr. E.L.
Layard and the late Dr. Kelaart, and infinite credit is due to Mr. Blyth
for the zealous and untiring energy with which he has devoted his
attention and leisure to the identification of the specimens forwarded
from Ceylon, and to their description in the Calcutta Journal. To him,
and to the gentlemen I have named, we are mainly indebted for
whatever accurate knowledge we now possess of the zoology of the
colony.
[Footnote 1: Dr. DAVY, brother to the illustrious Sir Humphry Davy,
published, in 1821, his _Account of the Interior of Ceylon and its
Inhabitants_, which contains the earliest notice of the Natural History
of the island, and especially of its ophidian reptiles.]
[Footnote 2: _Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal_, vol. xv. p. 280, 314.]
The mammalia, birds, and reptiles received their first scientific
description in an able work published in 1852 by Dr. Kelaart of the
army medical staff[1], which is by far the most valuable that has yet
appeared on the Singhalese fauna. Co-operating with him, Mr. Layard
has supplied a fund of information especially in ornithology and
conchology. The zoophytes and Crustacea have I believe been partially
investigated by Professor Harvey, who visited Ceylon in 1852, and
more recently by Professor Schmarda, of the University of Prague.
From the united labours of these gentlemen and others interested in the
same pursuits, we may hope at an early day to obtain such a knowledge
of the zoology of Ceylon as will to some extent compensate for the
long indifference of the government officers.
[Footnote 1: _Prodromus Faunæ Zeylanicæ; being Contributions to the
Zoology of Ceylon_, by F. KELAART, Esq., M.D., F.L.S., &c. &c. 2
vols. Colombo and London, 1852.]
[Illustration: CEYLON MONKEYS.
1. _Presbytes cephalopterus._ 2. _P. thersites_ 3. _P. Priamus_ 4.
_Macacus pileatus_]
I. QUADRUMANA. 1. Monkeys.--To a stranger in the tropics, among
the most attractive creatures in the forests are the troops of monkeys
that career in ceaseless chase among the loftiest trees. In Ceylon there
are five species, four of which belong to one group, the Wanderoos,
and the other is the little graceful grimacing _rilawa_[1], which is the
universal pet and favourite of both natives and Europeans. The Tamil

conjurors teach it to dance, and in their wanderings carry it from village
to village, clad in a grotesque dress, to exhibit its lively performances.
It does not object to smoke tobacco. The Wanderoo is too grave and
melancholy to be trained to these drolleries.
[Footnote 1: _Macacus pileatus_, Shaw and Desmarest. The "bonneted
Macaque" is common in the south and west; it is replaced on the
neighbouring coast of the Peninsula of India by the Toque, _M.
radiatus_, which closely resembles it in size, habit, and form, and in the
peculiar appearance occasioned by the hairs radiating from the crown
of the head. A spectacled monkey is said to inhabit the low country
near to Bintenne; but I have never seen one brought thence. A paper by
Dr. TEMPLETON, in the _Mag. Nat. Hist._ n. s. xiv. p. 361, contains
some interesting facts relative to the Rilawa of Ceylon.]
KNOX, in his captivating account of the island, gives an accurate
description of both; the Rilawas, with "no beards, white faces, and long
hair on the top of their heads, which parteth and hangeth down like a
man's, and which do a deal of mischief to the corn, and are so impudent
that they will come into their gardens and eat such fruit as