ort from Ceylon, and considerable quantities
are annually sent to the United Kingdom.

[Footnote 1: Rusa Aristotelis. Dr. GRAY has lately shown that this is
the great _axis_ of Cuvier.--_Oss. Foss._ 502, t. 39, f. 10. The
Singhalese, on following the elk, frequently effect their approaches by
so imitating the call of the animal as to induce them to respond. An
instance occurred during my residence in Ceylon, in which two natives,
whose mimicry had mutually deceived them, crept so close together in the
jungle that one shot the other, supposing the cry to proceed from the
game.]

[Footnote 2: Axis maculata, _H. Smith_.]

[Footnote 3: Stylocerus muntjac, _Horsf_.]

VII. PACHYDERMATA. _The Elephant._--The elephant and the wild boar, the
Singhalese "waloora," are the only representatives of the
_pachydermatous_ order. The latter, which differs in no respect from the
wild boar of India, is found in droves in all parts of the island where
vegetation and water are abundant. The elephant, the lord paramount of
the Ceylon forests, is to be met with in every district, on the confines
of the woods, in whose depths he finds concealment and shade during the
hours when the sun is high, and from which he emerges only at twilight
to wend his way towards the rivers and tanks, where he luxuriates till
dawn, when he again seeks the retirement of the deep forests. This noble
animal fills so dignified a place both in the zoology and oeconomy of
Ceylon, and his habits in a state of nature have been so much
misunderstood, that I shall devote a separate section to his defence
from misrepresentation, and to an exposition of what, from observation
and experience, I believe to be his genuine character when free in his
native domains.

VIII. CETACEA.--Among the Cetacea the occurrence of the Dugong[1] on
various points of the coast, and especially on the western side of the
island, will be noticed elsewhere; and whales are so frequently seen
that they have been captured within sight of Colombo, and more than once
their carcases, after having been flinched by the whalers, have floated
on shore near the light-house, tainting the atmosphere within the fort
by their rapid decomposition.

[Footnote 1: _Halicore dugong_, F. Cuv.]

From this sketch of the Mammalia it will be seen that, in its general
features, this branch of the Fauna bears a striking resemblance to that
of Southern India, although many of the larger animals of the latter are
unkn