[1784.—"We all followed in fly-palanquins."—Sir J. Day, in Forbes, Or. Mem. ii. 88.]
1810.—"The main part of the operation of pitching the tent, consisting of raising the flies, may be performed, and shelter afforded, without the walls, &c., being present."—Williamson, V. M. ii. 452.
1816.—
"The cavalcade drew up in line,
Pitch'd the marquee, and went to dine.
The bearers and the servants lie
Under the shelter of the fly."
The Grand Master, or Adventures of Qui Hi, p. 152.
1885.—"After I had changed my riding-habit for my one other gown, I came out to join the general under the tent-fly...."—Boots and Saddles, by Mrs. Custer, p. 42 (American work).
FLYING-FOX, s. Popular name of the great bat (Pteropus Edwardsi, Geoff). In the daytime these bats roost in large colonies, hundreds or thousands of them pendent from the branches of some great ficus. Jerdon says of these bats: "If water is at hand, a tank, or river, or the sea, they fly cautiously down and touch the water, but I could not ascertain if they took a sip, or merely dipped part of their bodies in" (Mammals of India, p. 18). The truth is, as Sir George Yule has told us from his own observation, that the bat in its skimming flight dips its breast in the water, and then imbibes the moisture from its own wet fur. Probably this is the first record of a curious fact in natural history. "I have been positively assured by natives that on the Odeypore lake in Rajputana, the crocodiles rise to catch these bats, as they follow in line, touching the water. Fancy fly-fishing for crocodile with such a fly!" (Communication from M.-Gen. R. H. Keatinge.) [On the other hand Mr. Blanford says: "I have often observed this habit: the head is lowered, the animal pauses in its flight, and the water is just touched, I believe, by the tongue or lower jaw. I have no doubt that some water is drunk, and this is the opinion of both Tickell and M‘Master. The former says that flying-foxes in confinement drink at all hours, lapping with their tongues. The latter has noticed many other bats drink in the evening as well as the flying-foxes." (Mammalia of India, 258).]