Evening star., 1954-06-04
Army Of Tiny Leeehes
Soved Ancient Kingdom
Portuguese und Dutch
Invaders 'Bled to Deuth'

Portuguese ond Dutch
Invaders 'Bled to Deuth'
By Thomos R. Henry
Armies Of countless billions of fero-
cious green worms protected fabulous
1,000-year-old Arabian Nights kingdom
for three centuries.
The kingdom was tempted Handy in
the center Of Ceylon. encircled by low,
denSely foreSted mountains. It was the
site Of one Of the most picturesque
ancient civilizations of the Orient
which had degenerated into q brutal
despotism when the first European in
vaderS, the Portuguese, came to the
island early in the 17th century.
The newcomers with their argue
buses established their missions and
trading posts on the coast with little
difficulty. The forested mountains, how
ever. proved fatal to the European SOL
diers. who pitched their camps in dense
jungle grass and among marshy pools.
The grass and bushes swarmed with
the little green wormS-the hirudinae,
or leecheS, extremely nimble little crea-
lures about an inch long that subSist
on the blood Of warm-blooded animals,
preferably man. They swarmed over
the Portuguese soldiers by day and
night. Clothes were no protection. The
worms dropped in streams of blood
from the eyelids and ears. They
swarmed on all sides in increasing
numbers as the invading force pene-
trated farther into the jungle. With
no defense against this unexpected
enemy the Europeans were forced to re-
treat long before the temples of Handy
were in sight. They made no further
effort to conquer the ancient kingdom.
Dutch Also Fail.
The Portuguese were followed by the
Dutch, who were content to remain in
their barricaded coastal trading posts.
A century later came the British East
India Company with small army OF
Sepoys commanded by English officers.
The ruler of Handy, quite secure with
his green worm defenses, was Raja
Sinha, one of the most cruel deSpotS
of all oriental potentates. He spurned
all efforts at negotiation with officials
of the trading company.
Once again an effort was made to
invade his kingdom. During the march
into the mountains the Sepoy soldiers
suffered so badly from the attacks of the
worms that many died and others
deserted until the force was SO badly
depleted that further advance was i'm
possible. Only when British regulars
took over the invasion years later was
an armed force of white men able to
reach Randy. Previously only indi-
viduals. chiefly Portuguese Franciscans
with freedom of movement and action
impossible for soldiers, had been able to
cross the terrible green worm barrier.
Worms Described.
Sir Emerson Tennent, British hiSto-
rian of Ceylon, described these worms
as normally about an inch long. slender
as needles, and able to stretch their
bodies to double the ordinary length.
CeyloneSe natives were able to protect
themselves to some extent by smearing
their bodies with tobacco ashes and
lemon juice.
"On deserving their prey" says Sir
Emerson. the worms advance rapidly
by Semicircular strides, fixing one end
firmly and arching the other forward
until by successive advances they can
lay hold of the travellers foot, when
they disengage from. the ground In
ascending his dress in search of an
aperture. The wound they make is SO
Sklllfully punctured that the first init
nation is the trickling of blood or the
chill feeling of the leech as 1t begins to
hang heavily on the skin"
The green worms are as much a ter
ror as ever to travellers in Asian jungles.
A species closely akin to that of the
Randy defenses guards the thickly for
ested approaches to the Himalayas in
Nepal. They are described by the
United States Public Health Service
physician, DR.. George Moore, chief of
the United Nations medical mission to
Nepal:
"The leeches, little segmented worms
about two inches long. were particularly
provoking and troublesome until our
team reached an altitude of $4,000 feet.
Along the trails, on each ledge leading
to the pass, leecheS would lie in the
shade and moisture until nearby foot
steps vibrated their sense organs. Then
they would inch from rock to rock at
incredible speed, travelling their entire
length toward the sound in about q
second and then stopping to perch on
rock with their anterior end sticking
in the air. Immediately they touched
human body they would fasten them
selves to 1t and search for warm skin,
Often they would drop from trees.
They could penetrate eyelets of shoes
and pores Of socks by lengthening the
entire body. Huge clots of dried blood
would be found on the skin where the
greedy worms had filled themselves to
a fragile bursting point"
Related to Earthworms.
The leeches are true worms, remotely
related to the earthworms and with a
quite similar internal structure. Most
OF them are highly specialized for an
exclusive diet of warm blood which
they take from any mammal that comes
within reach. The blood-Sucking species
have a triangular mouth with three
jaws and extremely sharp teeth in each
jaw.
The bite. so rapid and skillfully ad.
ministered that it seldom is felt has
been described as like the movement
OF circular saw. The Ceylon species
Is described by Sir Emerson as having
five pairs Of keen eyes and as many
as 100 body segments. All have one
or two suckers m koth the front ooA