ave been turned up by them in search of some favourite root. They
feed also on the termites and ants. A friend of mine traversing the
forest near Jaffna, at early dawn, had his attention attracted by the
growling of a bear, which was seated upon a lofty branch thrusting
portions of a red-ant's nest into its mouth with one paw, whilst with
the other he endeavoured to clear his eyebrows and lips of the angry
inmates which bit and tortured him in their rage. The Ceylon bear is
found only in the low and dry districts of the northern and
south-eastern coast, and is seldom met with on the mountains or the
moist and damp plains of the west. It is furnished with a bushy tuft of
hair on the back, between the shoulders, to which the young are
accustomed to cling till sufficiently strong to provide for their own
safety. During a severe drought which prevailed in the northern province
in 1850, the district of Caretchy was so infested by bears that the
Oriental custom of the women resorting to the wells was altogether
suspended, as it was a common occurrence to find one of these animals in
the water, unable to climb up the yielding and slippery soil, down which
his thirst had impelled him to slide during the night.

[Footnote 1: Prochilus labiatus, _Blainville_.]

Although the structure of the bear shows him to be naturally omnivorous,
he rarely preys upon flesh in Ceylon, and his solitary habits whilst in
search of honey and fruits, render him timid and retiring. Hence he
evinces alarm on the approach of man or other animals, and, unable to
make a rapid retreat, his panic rather than any vicious disposition
leads him to become an assailant in self-defence. But so furious are his
assaults under such circumstances that the Singhalese have a terror of
his attack greater than that created by any other beast of the forest.
If not armed with a gun, a native, in the places where bears abound,
usually carries a light axe, called "kodelly," with which to strike them
on the head. The bear, on the other hand, always aims, at the face, and,
if successful in prostrating his victim, usually commences by assailing
the eyes. I have met numerous individuals on our journeys who exhibited
frightful scars from these encounters, the white seams of their wounds
contrasting hideously with the dark colour of the rest of their bodies.

The Veddahs in Bintenne, whose chief stores consist of honey, live in
dread of the bears, because, attracted by its perfu