This is a most destructive creature in
all gardens, particularly among potato crops, whole rows of which
he digs out and devours. He is a perfect rat in appearance, but
he would rather astonish one of our English tom-cats if
encountered during his rambles in search of rats, as the
"bandicoot" is about the same size as the cat.
There is an immense variety of vermin throughout Ceylon,
including many of that useful species the ichneumon, who in
courage and strength stands first of his tribe. The destruction
of snakes by this animal renders him particularly respected, and
no person ever thinks of destroying him. No matter how venomous
the snake, the ichneumon, or mongoose, goes straight at him, and
never gives up the contest until the snake is vanquished.
It is the popular belief that the mongoose eats some herb which
has the property of counteracting the effects of a venomous bite;
but this has been proved to be a fallacy, as pitched battles have
been witnessed between a mongoose and the most poisonous snakes
in a closed room, where there was no possibility of his procuring
the antidote. His power consists in his vigilance and activity;
he avoids the dart of the snake, and adroitly pins him by the
back of the neck. Here he maintains his hold, in spite of the
contortions and convulsive writhing of the snake, until he
succeeds in breaking the spine. A mongoose is about three feet
long from the nose to the tip of the tail, and is of the same
genus as the civet cat. Unfortunately, he does not confine his
destruction to vermin, but now and then pays a visit to a
hen-roost, and sometimes, poor fellow! he puts his foot in the
traps.
Ceylon can produce an enticing catalogue of attractions, from the
smallest to the largest of the enemies to the human race - ticks,
bugs, fleas, tarantulas, centipedes, scorpions, leeches, snakes,
lizards, crocodiles, etc., of which more hereafter.
CHAPTER VI. "Game Eyes" for Wild Sports - Enjoyments of Wild
Life - Cruelty of Sports - Native Hunters - Moormen Traders -
Their wretched Guns - Rifles and Smooth-bores - Heavy Balls and
Heavy Metal - Beattie's Rifles - Balls and Patches - Experiments
- The Double-groove - Power of Heavy Metal - Curious Shot at a
Bull Elephant - African and Ceylon Elephants - Structure of Skull
- Lack of Trophies - Boar-spears and Hunting-knives - " Bertram"
- A Boar Hunt - Fatal Cut.
In traveling through Ceylon, the remark is often made by the
tourist that "he sees so little game." From the accounts
generally written of its birds and beasts, a stranger would
naturally expect to come upon them at every turn, instead of
which it is a well-known fact that one hundred miles of the
wildest country may be traversed without seeing a single head of
game, and the uninitiated might become skeptical as to its
existence.
