[Footnote 3:  EDRISI, Geogr., sec. vii.  Jaubert’s translation, t. ii. p. 72.]

Dogs.—­There is no native wild dog in Ceylon, but every village and town is haunted by mongrels of European descent, which are known by the generic description of Pariahs.  They are a miserable race, acknowledged by no owners, living on the garbage of the streets and sewers, lean, wretched, and mangy, and if spoken to unexpectedly, shrinking with an almost involuntary cry.  Yet in these persecuted outcasts there survives that germ of instinctive affection which binds the dog to the human race, and a gentle word, even a look of compassionate kindness, is sufficient foundation for a lasting attachment.

The Singhalese, from their religious aversion to taking away life in any form, permit the increase of these desolate creatures till in the hot season they become so numerous as to be a nuisance; and the only expedient hitherto devised by the civil government to reduce their numbers, is once in each year to offer a reward for their destruction, when the Tamils and Malays pursue them in the streets with clubs (guns being forbidden by the police for fear of accidents), and the unresisting dogs are beaten to death on the side-paths and door steps, where they had been taught to resort for food.  Lord Torrington, during his tenure of office, attempted the more civilised experiment of putting some check on their numbers, by imposing a dog tax, the effect of which would have been to lead to the drowning of puppies; whereas there is reason to believe that dogs are at present bred by the horse-keepers to be killed for sake of the reward.

Jackal.—­The Jackal[1] in the low country hunts in packs, headed by a leader, and these audacious prowlers have been seen to assault and pull down a deer.  The small number of hares in the districts they infest is ascribed to their depredations.  An excrescence is sometimes found on the head of the jackal, consisting of a small horny cone about half an inch in length, and concealed by a tuft of hair.  This the natives call Narri-comboo, and they aver that this “Jackal’s Horn” only grows on the head of the leader of the pack.[2] The Singhalese and the Tamils alike regard it as a talisman, and believe that its fortunate possessor can command by its instrumentality the realisation of every wish, and that if stolen or lost by him, it will invariably return of its own accord.  Those who have jewels to conceal, rest in perfect security if along with them they can deposit a Narri-comboo, fully convinced that its presence is an effectual safeguard against robbers.

[Footnote 1:  Canis aureus. Linn.]

[Footnote 2:  In the Museum of the College of Surgeons, London (No. 4362 A), there is a cranium of a jackal which exhibits this strange osseous process on the super-occipital; and I have placed along with it a specimen of the horny sheath, which was presented to me by Mr. Lavalliere, the district judge of Kandy.]