milar
object. 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 may to some extent compensate for
the long indifference of the government officers.

[Footnote 1: _Prodromus Faunae Zeylanicae; being Contributions to the
Zoology of Ceylon_, by F. KELAART, Esq., M.D., F.L.S., &c. &c. 2 vols.
Colombo and London, 1852. Mr. DAVY, of the Medical Staff; brother to Sir
Humphry, published in 1821 his _Account of the Interior of Ceylon and
its Inhabitants_, which contains the earliest notices of the natural
history of the island, and especially of the Ophidian reptiles.]

I. QUADRUMANA. 1 _Monkeys_.--To a stranger in the tropics, among the
most attractive creatures in the forests are the troops of _monkeys_,
which 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.

[Footnote 1: _Macacus pileatus_, Shaw and Desmmarest. The "bonneted
Macaque" is common in the south and west; and 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 grows
there. And the Wanderoos, some as large as our English Spaniel dogs, of
a darkish grey colour, and black faces with great white beards round
from ear to ear, which makes them shew just like old men. This sort does
but little mischief, keeping in the woods, eating only leaves and buds
of trees, but when they are catched they will eat anything."[1]

[Footnote 1: KNOX, _Historical Relation of Ceylon, an Island in the East
Indies_.--P. i. ch. vi. p. 25. Fol. Lond. 1681.]

KNOX, whose experience was confined almost exclusively to the hill
country around Kandy, spoke in all probability of one large and
comparatively powerful species, _