From this sketch of the Mammalia it will be seen that, in its general features, this branch of the Fauna bears a striking resemblance to that of Southern India, although many of the larger animals of the latter are unknown in Ceylon; and, on the other hand, some species discovered there are altogether peculiar to the island. A deer[1] as large as the Axis, but differing from it in the number and arrangement of its spots, has been described by Dr. Kelaart, to whose vigilance the natural history of Ceylon is indebted, amongst others, for the identification of two new species of monkeys[2], a number of curious shrews[3], and an orange-coloured ichneumon[4], before unknown. There are also two descriptions of squirrels[5] that have not as yet been discovered elsewhere, one of them belonging to those equipped with a parachute[6], as well as some local varieties of the palm squirrel (Sciurus penicillatus, _Leach_).[7] [Footnote 1: Cervus orizus, KELAART, _Prod. F. Zeyl_., p. 83.] [Footnote 2: Presbytes ursinus, _Blyth_, and P. Thersites, _Elliot_.] [Footnote 3: Sorex montanus, S. ferrugineus, and Feroculus macropus.] [Footnote 4: Herpestes fulvescens, KELAART, _Prod. Fann. Zeylan_., App. p. 42.] [Footnote 5: Sciurus Tennentii, _Layard_.] [Footnote 6: Sciuropterus Layardi, _Kelaart_.] [Footnote 7: There is a rat found only in the Cinnamon Gardens at Colombo, Mus Ceylonus, _Kelaart_; and a mouse which Dr. Kelaart discovered at Trincomalie, M. fulvidi-ventris, _Blyth_, both peculiar to Ceylon. Dr. TEMPLETON has noticed a little shrew (Corsira purpurascens, _Mag. Nat. Hist_. 1855, p. 238) at Neuera-ellia, not as yet observed elsewhere.] But the Ceylon Mammalia, besides wanting a number of minor animals found in the Indian peninsula, cannot boast such a ruminant as the majestic Gaur[1], which inhabits the great forests from Cape Comorin to the 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.