All
suppositions on such a subject must, however, remain in
obscurity, as no proof can be adduced of their correctness. The
time may arrive when science may successfully grapple with all
human ailments, but hitherto that king of pestilence, the
"cholera," has reduced the highest medical skill to miserable
uncertainty.
Upon reconsidering the dangers of fevers, dysentery, etc., in the
swampy and confined districts described, the naturalist may
become somewhat less ardent in following his favorite pursuit.
Of one fact I can assure him that no matter how great the natural
strength of his constitution, the repeated exposure to the
intense heat of the sun, the unhealthy districts that he will
visit, the nights redolent of malaria, and the horrible water
that he must occasionally drink, will gradually undermine the
power of the strongest man. Both sportsman and naturalist in
this must share alike.
No one who has not actually suffered from the effect can
appreciate the misery of bad water in a tropical country, or the
blessings of a cool, pure draught. I have been in districts of
Ceylon where for sixteen or twenty miles not a drop of water is
to be obtained fit for an animal to drink; not a tree to throw a
few yards of shade upon the parching ground; nothing but stunted,
thorny jungles and sandy, barren plains as far as the eye can
reach; the yellow leaves crisp upon the withered branches, the
wild fruits hardened for want of sap, all moisture robbed from
vegetation by the pitiless drought of several months.
A day's work in such a country is hard indeed carrying a heavy
rifle for some five-and-twenty miles, sometimes in deep sand,
sometimes on good ground, but always exposed to the intensity of
that blaze, added to the reflection from the sandy soil, and the
total want of fresh air and water. All Nature seems stagnated; a
distant pool is seen, and a general rush takes place toward the
cheering sight. The water is thicker than pea soup, a green scum
floats through the thickened mass, and the temperature is upward
of 130 Fahrenheit. All kinds of insects are swarming in the
putrid fluid, and a saltish bitter adds to its nauseating flavor.
I have seen the exhausted coolies spread their dirty cloths on
the surface, and form them into filters by sucking the water
through them. Oh for a glass of Newera Ellia water, the purest
and best that ever flows, as it sparkles out of the rocks on the
mountain-tops! what pleasure so perfect as a long, deep and
undisturbed draught of such cold, clear nectar when the throat is
parched with unquenchable thirst!
In some parts of Ceylon, especially in the neighborhood of the
coast, where the land is flat and sandy, the water is always
brackish, even during the rainy season, and in the dry months it
is undrinkable.
The natives then make use of a berry for cleansing it and
precipitating the impurities. II know the shrub and the berry
well, but it has no English denomination. The berries are about
the size of a very large pea, and grow in clusters of from ten to
fifteen together, and one berry is said to be sufficient to
cleanse a gallon of water. The method of using them is curious,
although simple. The vessel which is intended to contain the
water, which is generally an earthen chatty, is well rubbed in
the inside with a berry until the latter, which is of a horny
consistency, like vegetable ivory, is completely worn away. The
chatty is then filled with the muddy water, and allowed to stand
for about an hour or more, until all the impurities have
precipitated to the bottom and the water remains clear.
I have constantly used this berry, but I certainly cannot say
that the water has ever been rendered perfectly clear; it has
been vastly improved, and what was totally undrinkable before has
been rendered fit for use; but it has at the best been only
comparatively good; and although the berry has produced a decided
effect, the native accounts of its properties are greatly
exaggerated.
During the prolonged droughts, many rivers of considerable
magnitude are completely exhausted, and nothing remains but a dry
bed of said between lofty banks. At these seasons the elephants,
being hard pressed for water, make use of their wonderful
instinct by digging holes in the dry sand of the river's bed;
this they perform with the horny toes of their fore feet, and
frequently work to a depth of three feet before they discover the
liquid treasure beneath. This process of well-digging almost
oversteps the boundaries of instinct and strongly, savors of
reason, the two powers being so nearly connected that it is
difficult in some cases to define the distinction. There are so
many interesting cases of the wonderful display of both these
attributes in animals, that I shall notice some features of this
subject in a separate chapter.
CHAPTER IX. Instinct and Reason - Tailor Birds and Grosbeaks -
The White Ant - Black Ants at War - Wanderoo Monkeys - Habits of
Elephants - Elephants in the Lake - Herd of Elephants Bathing -
Elephant-shooting - The Rencontre - The Charge - Caught by the
Tail - Horse Gored by a Buffalo - Sagacity of Dogs - " Bluebeard
" - His Hunt - A True Hound.
There can be no doubt that man is not the only animal endowed
with reasoning powers: he possesses that faculty to an immense
extent, but although the amount of the same power possessed by
animals may be infinitely small, nevertheless it is their share
of reason, which they occasionally use apart from mere instinct.
