Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/375

Rh CEYLON 363 varieties, one similar to the Nilgiri plant, having its leaves broad and cordate, and of a rusty colour on the under side ; the other, peculiar to Ceylon, is found only in forests at the loftiest elevations ; it has narrow rounded leaves, silvery on the under side, and grows to enormous heights, frequently measuring three feet round the stem. At these altitudes English flowers, herbs, and vegetables have been cultivated with perfect success, as also wheat, oats, and barley. English fruit-trees grow, but rarely bear. Grapes are grown successfully in the north of the island. The vines were introduced by the Dutch, who overcame the difficulty of perpetual summer by exposing the roots, and thus giving the plants an artificial winter. Timber. The timber trees indigenous to Ceylon are met with at every altitude from the sea-beach to the loftiest moun tain peak. They vary much in their hardiness and dura bility, from the common cashew-nut tree, which when felled decays in a month, to the ebony and satinwood, which for many years resist the attacks of insects and climate. The known woods amount to 416 varieties, of which 33 are valuable for furniture, and house and shipbuilding, and are capable of standing long exposure to weather. The most beautiful woods adapted to furniture work are the cala- mander, ebony, flowered-satinwood, tamarind, nedun, dell, kadomberiya, kitul, cocoa-nut, &amp;lt;kc.; the sack yielding tree (Antiaris saccidora), for a long time confounded with the far-famed upas tree of Java (Antiaris toxicaria), grows in the Kurunegala district of the island. Palms. The Cocos nudjera, or cocoa-nut palm, is a native of the island, and may justly be considered the most valuable of its trees. It grows in vast abundance along the entire sea-coast of the west and south sides of the island, and furnishes almost all that a Sinhalese villager requires. Its fruit, when green, supplies food and drink ; when ripe, it yields oil. The juice of the unopened flower gives him toddy and arrack. The fibrous casing of the fruit when woven makes him ropes, nets, matting. The nut-shells form drinking-vessels, spoons, &c. The plaited leaves serve as plates and dishes, and as thatch for his cottage. The dried leaves are used as torches, the large leaf-stalks as garden fences. The trunk of the tree sawn up is employed for every possible purpose, from knife-handles to door posts; hollowed out it forms alike a canoe or coffin. There are four kinds of this palm, the common, the king, the dwarf, and the Maldive. The Palmyra and Areca palms grow luxuriantly and abundantly, the former in the northern, the latter in the western and central districts. The one is valuable chiefly for its timber, of which large quantities are exported to the Indian coasts ; the other supplies the betel-nut in common use amongst natives of the eastern tropics as a masticatory. The export trade in the latter to India and eastern ports is very considerable, amounting to 70,000 a year in value. Cinnamon. Xext in importance to the cocoa-nut palm amongst the indigenous products of Ceylon is the cinna mon plant, yielding the well-known spice of that name. Animals. Foremost among the animals of Ceylon is the elephant, which, though far inferior to those of Africa and the Indian continent, is nevertheless of considerable value when tamed, on account of its strength, sagacity, and docility. They are to be met with in greater or less numbers throughout most unfrequented parts of the interior. Occasionally they make inroads in herds upon the culti vated grounds and plantations, committing great damage. In order to protect these lands, and at the same time keep up the Government stud of draught elephants, &quot;kraals&quot; or traps on a large scale are erected in the forests, into which the wild herds are driven ; and once secured, they are soon tamed and fit for service. The oxen are of small size, but hardy, and capable of drawing heavy loads. Buffaloes exist in great numbers throughout the interior, where they are employed in a half -tame state for plough ing rice-fields and treading out the corn. They feed upon any coarse grass, and can therefore be maintained on the village pasture lands where oxen would not find support. Of deer, Ceylon possesses the spotted kind (Axismaculata), the muntjac (Stylocerus muntjac), a red deer (the Sambur of India), popularly called the Ceylon elk (Musa Aristutdis), and the small musk (Moschus meminna). There are five species of monkeys, one the small rilawa (Jfacacus pileatus], and four known in Ceylon by the name of &quot; wandaru &quot; (Presbytes ursinus, P. Thersites, P. cephalopterus, P. Pria- mus), and the small quadrumanous animal, the loris (Loris gracilis), known as the &quot;Ceylon sloth.&quot; Of the Cheiroptera sixteen species have been identified ; amongst them is the rousette or flying fox (Pteropus Edivardsii). Of the Carni- vora the only one dangerous to man is the small black bear (Prochilus labiatus). The tiger is not known in Ceylon, but the true panther (Felis pardus) is common, as is the jackal (Canis aureus) and the mongoos or ichneumon (Herpcstes vitticollis). Rats are numerous, as are the squirrel and the porcupine, and the pig-rat or bandicoot (Mus bandicota), while the scaly ant-eater (Jfanis pentedactyla], locally known by the Malay name of pengolin, is occasionally found. The dugong (Ilalicore dugong) is frequently seen on various points of the coast. Birds. Upwards of 320 species of birds have been found in Ceylon, and many of them have splendid plumage, but in this respect they are surpassed by the birds of South America and Northern India. The eagles are small and rare, but hawks and owls are numerous ; among the latter is a remarkable brown species, the cry of which has earned for it the name of the &quot; devil-bird.&quot; The esculent swift, which furnishes in its edible nest the celebrated Chinese dainty, builds in caves in Ceylon. Crows of various species are numerous, and in the wilder parts pea-fowl are abundant. There are also to be men tioned king-fishers, sun-birds, several beautiful fly-catchers and snatchers, the golden oriole, parroquets, and numerous pigeons, of which there are at least a dozen species. The Cey lon jungle-fowl (Gallus Lafayetti) is distinct from the Indian species. Ceylon is singularly rich in -wading and water birds. ibises, storks, egrets, spoonbills, and herons being frequently seen on the wet sands, while flamingoes line the beach in long files, and on the deeper waters inland are found teal and a countless variety of ducks and smaller fowl. Of the birds familiar to European sportsmen there are partridge, quail, and snipe in abundance, and the wood cock has been seen. Reptiles. The poisonous snakes of Ceylon are not nume rous. Four species have been enumerated, the ticpolonga (Daboia elegans), the cobra di capello (Naja tripudians}, the carawilla (Trigonocephalus hypnale), and the Trigono- cepkalus nigromarginatiis, which is so rare that it has no popular name. The largest snake in Ceylon is the &quot;boa,&quot; or &quot;anaconda&quot; of Eastern story (Python reticulatus); it is from 20 to 30 feet in length, and preys on hog-deer and other smaller animals. Crocodiles infest the rivers and estuaries, and the large fresh-water reservoirs which supply the rice- fields ; there are two species (C. biporcatus and C. palus- tris). Of lizards the most note-worthy are the iguana, several bloodsuckers, the chameleon, and the familiar geckoes, which are furnished with pads to each toe, by which they are enabled to ascend perpendicular walls and adhere to glass and ceilings. Insects. Insects exist in great numbers. The leaf and stick insects are of great variety and beauty. Ceylon has four species of the ant-lion, renowned for the predaceous ingenuity of its larvse ; and the white ants or termites, the