On the Wallaby

Kandy - An

e same barges, the same impulsive tongues jabbering all round us. The same boatmen shriek and quarrel in our honour, the same money-changers offer us a small but appreciative welcome; and when we leave the landing

something in the vernacular which causes him to flee and curse us in safety from afar; then some one playing with a mongoose in a

uttermost parts of the earth. Dining in the great saloon, or smoking in the verandah, one may meet and converse with yellow-skinned tea men from Hong Kong, grey-bearded squatters from Australia, keen-eyed merchants from Japan, pink and white tourists from England, pearlers

the East. Here, palms of seemingly endless variety, graceful ferns, brilliant yellow and purple hibiscus, tamarinds, and the fragrant champac, grow side by side in grandest luxuriance, while beneath their shelter thrive begonias, bromelias, fuchsias, petunia

, and dealers in precious stones. Immediately we appear, touts from all the shops surround us, imploring our patronage for their respective masters; but our friends suddenly sight us, and thoug

takes the shape of lemon - squash and sweetmeats, mixed u

e same kindly welcome greeting us. Before we have paid our l

g glass and silver, has a peculiar charm. We linger over each course, pay befitting attention to a dish of mangoes, and finall

ost as a relief to the general stillness. A man in a neighbouring chair says sleepily to his companion, 'My dear fellow! I know the whole facts of the case - he got into trouble with one of the rajahs, and shot himself for a Lucknow dancing girl.' Trying to

the sun appearing like a giant refreshed above the fluted tiles of the house-tops is to me a pleasure always new. And again I like the Indian and Cinghalese fashion of serving the Chota-hazare in one's bedroom verandah. To sit,' cat, and watch the crowds of natives

but it does not strike you as anything to be annoyed at, in fact you think it rather amusing than otherwise, and butter another. Then your next door neighbour appears in his verandah and wishes you good morning. You turn for a moment to reply to him, -- a flutter of wings, a caw of triumph, an

exactly what he wants. He has lured you from your guard, and when you return it is to find that the remainder of your breakfast has flown to a neighbouring house-top. N

w, caw! got

'Caw, caw, caw! We've got him, we've got h

and while wondering if you shall order some more bre

ng you (and this is shaving, not tomahawking), he recalls the fact that he had the honour of performing the same service for you ten years ago. Further than that, he may possibly be able to set you right as

after conjurors and cobra fights, is to wander past Slave Island, with its picturesque lagoon and groves

m

rrow streets: Arabs in flowing burnous; Mahommedans with baggy breeches and high conical hats; Cinghalese dandies in petticoats and European jackets (their glossy black hair neatly rolled up in feminine fashion behind the head, and surmounted with an enormous tortoi

s ago, we ourselves, unconscious in our innocence, entered the quarter on the one side, to leave it on the other with a blush that had soaked through our skin deep into our underclothing. But since

hionable bungalows are situated, are most worth seeing. It would be impossible for an amateur word-p

the passing wayfarer. Elegant bungalows, and Vandyke brown huts, peep out from gardens little short of heavenly, and now and again, through the open doors of these said huts, glimpses may be obtained of the litt

ndy, is sense; but to be in Ceylon, and see Colombo, Kandy, and the ancient ruins of Anuradhapura is complete wi

ieve it, and the inference that the railway authorities are not reckless in the speed of the trains is apt to be misleading. They (both the authorities and the trains) believe in going slow, and at least we can

gauge, and carriages like pill-boxes; the officials are elaborate indivi

ds, interspersed with lovely clumps of jungle. Now and again we cross roads where the native keeper, with all the fuss of an important government official, wave

idea of a thousandth part of its beauty. Waterfalls, ravines, forest vistas, ferns and creepers greet the eye in bewildering confusion at every turn. The nearest thing to a description would perhaps be the utterance of a fair young American, who, in

ts, only the next to leap out on to the bald face of mountains, we obtain views of the lo

been for the folk thrown over!) Here on one side, the masses of overhanging rock seem certain to fall upon and crush us; while on the other, we can look down, nigh upon two thousand feet, sheer drop, into the valley below. It

Ganga, having one span of something like seven hundred feet. These gardens are among the most celebrated in the world, and boast many and ex

st three hundred years. Before she came into being, the principal city and seat of government, was Polonarua. now a vast ruin, situated far away in the north, and famed in history as a city of marvellous beauty and splendour. Yet again, this wonderful place cannot claim to be the oldest, for going still further back, even as far as to

by the Portuguese, when they held the island in about the year sixteen hundred. It has, of course, long since lost its ancient use, and is now reserved only for government purposes. Standing on the edge

zine, which, in days gone by, had the honour of being the king's harem, and abou

eme. The dresses of the priests and pilgrims, and the never failing supply of flowers on the altars, are the only touches of colour in the scene. But when the visitor has penetrated fairly into the heart of the building, all this is changed. Suddenly, and without warning, he is brought face to face with a staggering fortune, in the shape of a solid silver d

sed to the gaze of the vulgar, but only for the space of a few seconds. For the rest of the time it reposes upon, what is of much more value, its lotus leaf of gold. In the temple is also treasured the sacred alms pot about which so many strange yarns

glittering, dark eyes, a shaven head, and an odour of his own. He wore a coarse yellow robe turned back over the

to practise celibacy, and it is one of the rules of their order that they shall carry a fan, in order that they may cover their eyes when passing such vanities as women. Their duties are to keep the temple spick and span (in w

we set off, and duly landed at Matale, a straggling little town (once a royal residence), whence, at intervals, a coach runs to Damboola, another town of considerable importance. We found this latter place, after a lovely drive through mountain gorges, situated at the base of an immense dark red crag, of curious shape, rising to

e coach would leave Damboola precisely at sundown. Being of a garrulous nature, our informant went on to say, that should we desire it, we could, by payment of an extra fee, retain the whole coach for our own sp

temptation to resist, so accordingly, giving our friend the wherewithal, we bade him retain

corner of the four prancing bays. Five minutes went by, ten minutes, and even a quarter of an hour, and still no sign of our equipage. Visions of deception and appropriated m

corner a shabby old bullock bandy, drawn by a couple of trotti

satisfaction

'see, it is here. H

r pride like a

uppose we glorious Sahibs from a far country are going to ride all night in that old hearse? No, my anci

nly nodded his head like a mand

cart; very superb an

es in with the mailbags, feeling that there was every prospect of

ve for a loin cloth, made his appearance. Bound his neck was suspended a peculiar bugle, evidently his badge of office. While regarding it, we felt constrained to say to him: 'Sonny! we're grateful to you for your t

ashing down the jungle track at a comparatively furious pace. Dangling our legs over the tailboard we silently contemplated nature, and wondered what would happen if the bottom of the cart fell out, or a tiger should pounce upon us by the way. Bu

d despite the beauty of the fireflies flitting through the picturesque Mana grass, it needed very little imagination to conjure up the near presence of all sorts of horrib

entriloqual in its effect. I call it ventriloqual because there was no possible chance of locating it. It seemed to start from somewhere in the region of the axle, then to sneak off into the jungle, to finally come back upon us in q, caterwaulish moan from the trees overhead. Twice we bore it without complaint; then, encouraged perhaps by the fact that he was still alive, he attempted a single variation - only o

must be to have cramp in the stomach, liver disease, rheumatism, and lumbago, all at once and all in aggravated forms. Every time we stopped to change bullocks, we got down and stamped around in the hope of introducing a littl

ind two or three natives in deadly peril, or, at the very least, three children run over by the cart. Day was just breaking and we looked and looked, but only a few native huts peering out of the mist and a couple of bullocks placidly awaiting our arrival, were to be seen. Then we noticed our

sizes and in all stages of imbecility passed the time of day to us from the trees, while above all, not more than three miles distant, towered a mons

a thriving modern village, with a court-house, a government rest-house, and a population of 1,500 souls, s

, it is a matter of instant dismissal for the landlord if he be found guilty of either incivility or extortion. By his agreement he is

authorities, and, before starting on our voyage of discov

s in circumference, or, in other words, sixteen miles across from gate to gate, covering a space of 256 s

these ruins, and the result is that under the superintendence of an able archae

y gigantic masses of red brickwork, hemispherical in shape, intended originally to act as receptacles for sacred remains. Round these monster buildings, between the stones of wh

elic, and geha

d for the reception of Buddha's collar-bone; the Jaitawanarama, once three hundred and fifteen feet high, but now barely two hundred and sixty, erected a.d. 310; and the Abhayagiri (fortress of safety), B.C. 87. This latter, perhaps the finest of .all, was built t

k, giving evidence of having once been beautifully spaced and arranged. Two centuries before Christ they formed part of a palace beside which many of our great buildings of the present day would be as naught. Built in the form of a square, with sides two hundred and thirty feet long, it was, so the chronicles affirm, nine stories high, and contained no less than one hundred rooms on each floor. For a roof it possessed a solid sheet of burnished brass, an item in itself which must have been a winking wonder for miles around. Today its grandeur has departed,

ood been defiled by steel, and day after day and hour by hour the leaves, which must on no account be touched until they fall, are reverently gathered up by the everlasting stream of pilgrims visiting the shrine. According to the Buddhist belief, this tree was once part and parcel of the tree under which Gautama Buddha sat at the time of his death or apotheosis. Standing in the centre of the topmost of three platforms of masonry and surrounded by an iron railing

of its history. But it is impossible - the distance of time is too vast. As we look, the yellow-robed ministers of this ancient faith pass to and fro, their vestments contrasting artistically with the dull brickwork around

uments, and for this reason alone we will not criticise too closely. As we leave the building, a party of pilgrims approach the red-tiled gateway, and raising their h

till it seems to us that we are standing in the City of the Living Fire. An intense hush clasps everything, and this becomes even more marked when the sun sinks below the hor

ne's friends. But is this a place for merry-making, with the destruction of twenty-four dead centuries around us? No! a thousand times no! So after dinne

ht sails into the heavens, it is a ghostly scene t

und disturbs the stillness. A few lamps twinkle here and there, and while we watch, as if to add still further to the f

inlaid with gold, silver, and ivory. We know that it had its places of mart and of amusement, its crowded streets, barracks, alms-houses, and public baths; and last of all we are told that it contained a population amounting to something like three million souls. Kings' retinues marched along her public ways, religious processions were to be met with at every turn, and gorgeously caparisoned state elephants, with ponderous tread, swung through the crowds. Tradesmen cried

on the city in its grandeur, so many hundred years ago. Silent and cold the goddess of night watches over these ruins, as she watched over Babylon and stately Egypt

at Dagoba. A soft wind sighs among the palm trees. It is getting cold, let us to bed, before w