concealed; and Buchanan
observes that "it is, perhaps, owing to this fear of ill-luck that no
native will acknowledge his having seen a dead hanuman."[1]

[Footnote 1: BUCHANAN'S _Survey of Bhagulpoor_, p. 142. At
Gibraltar it is believed that the body of a _dead monkey_ has
never been found on the rock.]

The only other quadrumanous animal found in Ceylon is the little
loris[1], which, from its sluggish movements, nocturnal habits, and
consequent inaction during the day, has acquired the name of the
"Ceylon Sloth."

[Footnote 1: Loris graeilis, _Geof_.]

[Illustration: THE LORIS.]

There are two varieties in the island; one of the ordinary fulvous
brown, and another larger, whose fur is entirely black. A specimen of
the former was sent to me from Chilaw, on the western coast, and lived
for some time at Colombo, feeding on rice, fruit, and vegetables. It was
partial to ants and, other insects, and was always eager for milk or the
bone of a fowl. The naturally slow motion of its limbs enables the loris
to approach its prey so stealthily that it seizes birds before they can
be alarmed by its presence. The natives assert that it has been known to
strangle the pea-fowl at night, to feast on the brain. During the day
the one which I kept was usually asleep in the strange position
represented on the last page; its perch firmly grasped with both hands,
its back curved into a ball of soft fur, and its head hidden deep
between its legs. The singularly-large and intense eyes of the loris
have attracted the attention, of the Singhalese, who capture the
creature for the purpose of extracting them as charms and love-potions,
and this they are said to effect by holding the little animal to the
fire till its eyeballs burst. Its Tamil name is _thaxangu_, or
"thin-bodied;" and hence a deformed child or an emaciated person has
acquired in the Tamil districts the same epithet. The light-coloured
variety of the loris in Ceylon has a spot on its forehead, somewhat
resembling the _namam_, or mark worn by the worshippers of Vishnu; and,
from this peculiarity, it is distinguished as the _Nama-thavangu_.[1]

[Footnote 1: There is an interesting notice of the Loris of Ceylon by
Dr. TEMPLETON, in the _Mag. Nat. Hist._ 1844, ch. xiv. p. 362.]

II. CHEIROPTERA. _Bats_.--The multitude of _bats_ is one of the features
of the evening landscape; they abound in every cave and subterranean
passage, in the tunnels on the highways, in the galleries