However loathsome-looking an animal an old
alligator may be, the young alligators are not so
very disgusting. In fact, the bright yellow bars
which alternate with the black ones, are rather
pretty than otherwise. I had one in a vivarium,
and the vicious little beast used to nip my
fingers when I tried to feed it. It got out one
night, and I don't know what became of it.

A moorman caught a young alligator in his
fishing kraal in the Matura River, and I went to
see it. It was alive, and to all appearances
there was no reason why, if left alone, it should
not grow up to alligator's estate—its length was
about three and a half feet. Thinking that this
would be a good opportunity for testing the
correctness of what I had heard in the north of
the island about the remarkable effect of lime
upon the alligator, I asked a man to bring me
some, on which he procured from a neighbouring
house a lump of the chunamb, or lime
prepared from shells, which the natives are in the
habit of chewing along with the nut of the arecapalm,
and the leaves of the betel-creeper. The
lime had previously been moistened with water.
Having opened the jaws of our unfortunate
victim: an operation to which it submitted
with exemplary resignation (when it found it
could not prevent it), we inserted, as far back
as the opening into the throat, a lump of
chunamb about as large as a pigeon's egg, after
which we put the animal into the water.
Immediately it turned over on its side and then
on its back, and appeared paralysed; soon its eyes
closed, and I thought it was dead. After about
five minutes it revived a little. I could not remain
longer to watch it, but in the evening I rode to
where it had been experimented on, when I found
that it was dead, and learnt that it had died
within two hours of my leaving. On examining
its mouth, I found that the lime had not been
swallowed, but was still in the throat, just where
it had been placed. I do not remember to have
read in any work on animals, of this antipathy
of the alligator to lime; and it still remains to
be explained how it is that a substance of that
nature, specially prepared for the use of man,
and by him daily chewed, should have so powerful
and instantaneous an effect upon an animal
otherwise so tenacious of life, when merely
placed in the mouth, without being swallowed.
The experiment may appear to have been a
cruel one, and yet, perhaps, it was the speediest
and easiest mode of killing the alligator. I
may now venture to state that the Tamuls
have an idea that if a bullet be filled with lime
before firing at an alligator, it will, wherever it
penetrates, cause a wound that will prove
mortal. I have, since making the experiment
related above, been told that it is not uncommon
for the Singhalese to fill the stomach of a bullock
with lime, and to place it near an alligator's
haunts; knowing that if he swallow the lime,
death will ensue.

Mullativoe (mentioned just now) is an
isolated station, where the magistrate is the only
European, and administers justice in a
patriarchal way. Close to the court is a tank full of
alligators, and as the magistrate sat on his
bench he could see them crawl out and bask
in the sunshine. So he used to take his rifle
with him to court, and keep it ready loaded
beside him. In the middle of the examination of
a witness, the clerk of the court would turn round
and say, "Sir! sir! there's an alligator." Down
would go the pen, up would go the rifle—Bang!
and out would rush the clerk and interpreter to
see what damage had been done. After a few
minutes they would come in again to report,
and then business would proceed as before.

A week or two ago, a Tamul man and woman
were travelling together at night, when they
met an elephant in the road. They tried to
avoid it, but in vain. The animal charged them
both, killed the woman, and very severely
injured the man. Most probably it was a
rogue.

Buffaloes are very formidable customers.
They charge with great fury, and it is not easy
to get a good shot when they are coming at one
with their hard heads, from which a ball is apt
to glance. The best way to shoot a buffalo
when there are two sportsmen, is for the two to
keep a hundred yards apart. One should then
fire. If the buffalo does not drop, he will
probably charge the man who fired, and in so doing
will give the other sportsman the chance of a
flank shot.

The natives catch the wild buffaloes, and
tame them. At certain seasons they are
employed in ploughing the paddy-fields; at other
times they are allowed to roam about, when
they often regather with the wild herds. A
half-tamed buffalo, though he yields a sullen
obedience to his master, will often prove a
dangerous customer to a stranger: in fact,
almost more so than a wild one. I was
travelling one day with a lady, on the sea road
between Trincomalie and Jaffna. I was riding
a small pony, when, in crossing a plain, a
buffalo charged me. I was unarmed, and as he
came at me with a will, I had no alternative
but to dash on as fast as I could, my assailant
charging from one side; but with a tired pony
escape was not easy, and I was getting the
worst of it, when, to my great satisfaction and
amusement, my friend went head over heels
in a mud-hole which lay between us. This
cooled his ardour, and he gave up the pursuit.

There is a place called Kokalai, in the northern
province, where wild buffaloes were almost
always to be seen. One of them was exceedingly
fierce, and killed several persons. The
magistrate went to the spot, and in the capacity
of coroner held an inquest. He had just
concluded, when the buffalo emerged from the
neighbouring forest, and charged down upon his party.
Fortunately he had with him a single-barrelled
rifle. He dropped on one knee, waited till the
buffalo was close on him, and fired. The ball
took effect in the buffalo's forehead, and ran far
into his body, and the brute dropped dead at
the gentleman's feet.

Bears often attack people, and are seemingly
the aggressors; but in all probability it is rather