. Sketches of the natural history of Ceylon : with narratives and anecdotes illustrative of the habits and instincts of the mammalia, birds, reptiles, fishes, insects, &c. : including a monograph of the elephant and a description of the modes of capturing and training it with engravings from original drawings . te creature, which, Manis pentadactyla, Linn. me, in connexion with the state-^ I am assured that there is a ment, that its favourite dwelling ishedge-hog in Ceylon; but as I in the same biu-row with the pen-have never seen it, I cannot tell golin. The popular belief in thiswhether it b
. Sketches of the natural history of Ceylon : with narratives and anecdotes illustrative of the habits and instincts of the mammalia, birds, reptiles, fishes, insects, &c. : including a monograph of the elephant and a description of the modes of capturing and training it with engravings from original drawings . te creature, which, Manis pentadactyla, Linn. me, in connexion with the state-^ I am assured that there is a ment, that its favourite dwelling ishedge-hog in Ceylon; but as I in the same biu-row with the pen-have never seen it, I cannot tell golin. The popular belief in thiswhether it belongs to either of the is attested by a Singhalese proverb,two species known in India (Eri- in relation to an intrusive )—nor age; the import of which is thatcan I vouch for its existence there he is like a hedge-hog in the denat all. But the fact was told to of a pengolinj* CHAr. I.] THE PENGOLIN. 47 after wandering over the house in search of ants, wouldattract attention to its wants by climbing up my knee,laying hold of my leg with its prehensile tail. Theother, more than double that length, was caught in thejungle near Chilaw, and brought to me in Colombo. Ihad always understood that the pengolin was unable toclimb trees; but the one last mentioned frequently as-. THE PENGOLIN, cended a tree in my garden, in search of ants; and thisit effected by means of its hooked feet, aided by anoblique grasp of the tail. The ants it seized by ex-tending its round and glutinous tongue along theirtracks; and in the stomach of one which was openedafter death, I found a quantity of small stones andgravel, which had been taken to facilitate digestion. Inboth specimens in my possession the scales of the back 48 MAMMALIA. [Chap. I. were a cream-coloured white, with a tinge of red inthat which came from Chilaw, probably acquired by theinsinuation of the Cabook dust which abounds alongthe western coast of the island. Of the habits of the pengolin I found tha
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookde, booksubjectelephants, booksubjectzoology
