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The
concise guide to the Anglo-Sri Lankan lexicon by Richard Boyle -
Part 13 Land-leech
(1713). Sinhala kudella. According to the OED2 it is: "A leech
of the genus Haemodipsa, abounding in Ceylon." The sole reference
given in the dictionary is by James Emerson Tennent from Ceylon
(1859:I.302): "Of all the plagues that beset the traveller
in the rising grounds of Ceylon, the most detested are land-leeches. However, an
earlier reference or antedating exists, for in Robert Knox's 'interleaved
copy' of An Historical Relation of Ceylon (1713[1989]:I.7) there
is the following: "Here are aboundance of pun-dels in thire
Language or small Land Leeches, which when they travill doe Continually
sucke blood out of thir feet and leggs, they being very numerous
and apt to stick to the skin; these I conceive do prevent the sicknesses
and diseases of thire neighbouring Countys from seasing one them." The first of
a number of references after Knox from English literature pertaining
to Sri Lanka is by Major Forbes from Eleven Years in Ceylon (1840:I.120):
"The Ceylon land-leech is incredibly numerous in the hills,
and such parts of the interior as are exempt from a long continuance
of dry weather: they are of a brown colour; their usual size is
about three-fourths of an inch in length, and one-tenth of an inch
in diameter; they can, however, stretch themselves to two inches
in length, and then are sufficiently small to be able to pass through
the stitches of a stocking. They move quickly, are difficult to
kill, and it is impossible to divert them from their bloody purpose;
for, in pulling them from your legs, they stick to your hands, and
fix immediately on touching the skin, as they are free from the
scruples and caprice which is sometimes so annoying in their medicinal
brethren. They draw a great deal of blood; and this, with considerable
itching, and sometimes slight inflammation, is the extent of annoyance
which their bites give to a man in good health; but animals suffer
more severely from their attacks, and sheep will not thrive in pastures
where there are leeches... Lime-juice, vinegar, most acids, or stimulants,
soon cause the itching of leech-bites to abate, and prevent their
ulceration; the best way to frustrate the attacks of these insects
on the nether man, is to case one's-self in nankeen pantaloons with
feet attached: this dress should be made with well-joined seams,
and to tie round the waist." Werner Hoffmeister
comments in Travels in Ceylon and Continental India (trans.1848:172):
"At one of these openings, which we reached after a toilsome
march through half-submerged fields of rice, - all swarming with
land-leeches, - lies the gem-fishery." William Dalton
provides a reference from fiction in Lost in Ceylon (1861:89): "How
charming, how delightful, to spend one's life in such a place, says
the reader. True, it would, if only there were no pestilential fevers;
no land leeches, which, despite all effort, cling to your legs,
and bleed you nigh to the weakness of death." Ernst Haeckel
writes of a visit to the Peradeniya Botanic Gardens in A Visit to
Ceylon (1883:138): "While I was wandering enchanted through
the tall grass by the river under the tall crown of an oil-palm,
and carefully tracing the convolutions of a climbing rattan, I suddenly
felt a sharp nip in my leg, and on baring it discovered a few small
leeches which had attached themselves firmly to the calf, and saw
at the same time half a dozen more of the nimble little wretches
mounting my boot with surprising rapidity, like so many caterpillars.
This was my first experience with the much-to-be-execrated land-leeches
of Ceylon, one of the intolerable curses of this beautiful island,
of all its plagues the worst, as I was afterwards to learn by much
suffering. This species of leech (Hirudo Ceylanica) is one of the
smallest of its family, but at the same time the most unpleasant.
Excepting near the sea and in the highest mountains, they swarm
in myriads in every wood and bush; and in some of the forests, particularly
near the river banks, and in the marshy jungle of the highlands
and the lower hills, it is impossible to take a single step without
being attacked by them... Often the bite is felt at the time, but
as often it is not. Once at an evening party I first became aware
of a leech by seeing a red streak of blood running down my white
trousers. "To be
rid of the leech a drop of lemon-juice suffices, and for this purpose
when you walk out in Ceylon, you always put a small lemon in your
pocket. I often used instead a drop of the carbolic acid, or spirit
I carried about for preserving small animal specimens. The result
of the bite is very different with different persons. Those who
have a tender skin - and I am unfortunately one of them - feel a
painful throbbing in the wound for some days, and a more or less
disagreeable inflammation of the surrounding skin. As the leeches
always by preference attack these inflamed and irritated spots with
these fresh bites, the wound by constant aggravation often becomes
so serious as to be even dangerous. When the British seized Kandy
in 1815, they had to toil for weeks through the dense jungle of
the damp hill country, and they lost a great many men from the incessant
attacks of the swarms of leeches. I protected myself in the jungle
by painting a ring of carbolic acid round above my high hunting-boots,
and this line the leeches never crossed. In some parts of the island,
however, the swarms of leeches make any long stay almost impossible." Constance Gordon
Cumming writes in Two Happy Years in Ceylon (1892[1901].iv.83):
"The land leeches, which swarm in damp places and luxuriant
grass, have no tendency to fly from man. On the contrary, the footfall
of man or beast is as a welcome dinner-bell, at sound of which the
hungry little creatures hurry from all sides; and as each is furnished
with five pairs of eyes, they can keep a sharp look-out for their
prey, which they do by resting on the tip of the tail, and raising
themselves perpendicularly to look around. Then, arching their body
head-foremost, and bringing up the tail, they rapidly make for their
victim." Harry Williams
writes in Ceylon Pearl of the East (1950[1963]:238): "The land
leech, happily, dislikes the low country plains of the dry zone
and is found only in the damp vegetation and on the edges of swamps.
It never takes to the water at all, contrary to popular belief.
The land leech, the commonest variety, is about an inch in width
also. It has no legs but possesses a sucker at one end, on which
it can erect the whole length of its body which waves about, the
four eyes in the thin end searching for oncoming prey. When the
creature wishes to move, which it can do at considerable speed,
it progresses in a series of loops, using its nose to balance upon
while heaving its bulk forward. Having seen its victim, the advance
of a leech is a revolting sight. Their strength is that they are
not seen or heard - they advance under cover of vegetation and their
progress makes no noise at all - and having fastened themselves
to their victim, man woman, child or any kind of beast, they can
slip through any protective covering. Their initial bite is not
noticed, and indeed they often drink their fill of blood and roll
off, distended balls, without being noticed. But if one should see
them and strike them off, they leave their teeth behind and the
result is certain to be a poisoned bite. A lighted match applied
to them causes them to curl up, one hopes in agony, and depart,
taking their teeth with them." Leach-gaiter
(1850). "A kind of gaiter worn in Ceylon as a protection against
land-leeches." The sole reference
given in the dictionary is by Tennent (1859:I.303): "The coffee
planters who live among these pests are obliged... to envelop their
legs in leech-gaiters made of closely woven cloth." However,
an antedating exists, for Charles Sirr writes in Ceylon and the
Cingalese (1850:I.144): "Some sportsmen wear what are called
leech-gaiters, others boots, but we never yet knew, or heard of
any one, being able to exclude these blood-thirsty creatures." A second antedating
reference, in this instance from fiction, is by William Knighton
from Forest Life in Ceylon (1854:I.70): "'As fine a country
as there is under heaven, Sir,' was his reply; 'and if people will
only wear drawers and leech-gaiters, they need not fear either the
musquitoes or leeches much.'" A third antedating reference
is by Robert Binning from A Journal of Two Years Travel in Persia,
Ceylon, etc. (1857:II.64): "The planters and others frequenting
the woods and fields on foot, wear what are termed leech-gaiters,
to defend themselves from this insidious foe. A later reference
is by the anonymous officer [Horatio Suckling] who writes in Ceylon,
A General Description of the Island, Historical, Physical, Statistical
(1876:II.236): "Land leeches to sportsmen and persons who frequent
the damp jungles of the interior, are the greatest pests in Ceylon.
Leech-gaiters, which keep the others off, are of little avail against
them, as they climb up your body and get inside your clothes; besides,
they can spring on you from among the leaves." The postdating
reference is by Haeckel (trans.1883:138): "In neighbourhoods
which are most infested by them the Europeans wear leech-gaiters,
as they are called, as a protection - high overalls of indiarubber,
or of some very thick material, which cover the shoes and are secured
above the knees." |
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
unexpected
inclusion from the Anglo-Sri Lankan lexicon is leech-gaiter, the
name of the accessory worn by British planters and sportsmen to
counter such pests. Date of first use is provided in brackets.
