Himalaya; and, providentially, the island is equally free of the
formidable tiger and the ferocious wolf of Hindustan.

[Footnote 1: Bos cavifrons, _Hodgs_, B. frontalis, _Lamb_.]

The Hyena and Cheetah[1], common in Southern India, are unknown in
Ceylon; and though abundant in deer, the island possesses no example of
the Antelope or the Gazelle.

[Footnote 1: Felis jubata, _Schreb_.]

_List of Ceylon Mammalia._

A list of the Mammalia of Ceylon is subjoined. In framing it, as well as
the lists appended to other chapters on the Fauna of the island, the
principal object in view has been to exhibit the extent to which its
natural history had been investigated, and collections made up to the
period of my leaving the colony in 1850. It has been considered
expedient to exclude a few individuals which have not had the advantage
of a direct comparison with authentic specimens, either at Calcutta or
in England. This will account for the omission of a number which have
appeared in other catalogues, but of which many, though ascertained to
exist, have not been submitted to this rigorous process of
identification.

The greater portion of the species of mammals and birds contained in
these lists will be found, with suitable references to the most accurate
descriptions, in the admirable catalogue of the collection at the India
House, now in course of publication under the care of Dr. Horsfield.
This work cannot be too highly extolled, not alone for the scrupulous