Ceylon: An Account of the Island Physical, Volume 2

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Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1860 - Natural history
 

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Page 614 - IN Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round : And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; And here were forests ancient as the hills, Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.
Page 255 - Slow sinks, more lovely ere his race be run, Along Morea's hills the setting sun: Not, as in northern climes, obscurely bright, But one unclouded blaze of living light!
Page 617 - Soma, in Lombardy, is said to have been a tree in the time of Julius Caesar; yet, the Bo-tree is older than the oldest of these by a century, and would almost seem to verify the prophecy pronounced when it was planted, that it would "flourish and be green for ever.
Page 141 - Around it, to the north and east, the traveller looks down on the zone of lofty hills that encircle the Kandyan kingdom, 'whilst to the westward the eye is carried far over...
Page 276 - But it is a curious fact that, whilst in Africa and India both sexes have tusks, with some slight disproportion in the size of those of the females, not one elephant in a hundred is found with tusks in Ceylon, and the few that possess them are exclusively males.
Page 567 - Ceylon diver devotedly resorts is the mystic ceremony of the shark-charmer, whose power is believed to be hereditary. Nor is it supposed that the value of his incantations is at all dependent upon the religious faith professed by the operator, for the present head of the family happens to be a Roman Catholic. At the time of our visit, this mysterious functionary was ill, and unable to attend ; but he sent an accredited substitute, who assured me that, although he was himself ignorant of the grand...
Page 471 - It was not one sustained note, but a multitude of tiny sounds, each clear and distinct in itself; the sweetest treble mingling with the lowest bass. On applying the ear to the wood-work of the boat, the vibration was greatly increased in volume.
Page 354 - Suddenly the signal was made, and the stillness of the forest was broken by the shouts of the guard, the rolling of the drums and tom-toms, and the discharge of muskets ; and beginning at the most distant side of the area, the elephants were urged...
Page 311 - When the poor animals had gained possession of the tank (the leader being the last to enter), they seemed to abandon themselves to enjoyment without restraint or apprehension of danger. Such a mass of animal life I had never before seen huddled together in so narrow a space. It seemed to me as though they would have nearly drunk the tank dry. I watched them with great interest until they had satisfied themselves as well in bathing as in drinking, when 1 tried how small a noise would apprise them...
Page 341 - ... dah! a monosyllable, the sound of which the elephant peculiarly dislikes. Meanwhile the first assailant having secured one noose, comes up from behind with another, with which, amidst the vain rage and struggles of the victim, he entraps a fore-leg, the rope being as before secured to another tree in front, and the whole four feet having been thus entangled, the capture is completed.

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