BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 395 
in the appearance of Madras, than in any of the towns 
of Ceylon. The turbaned natives, their loose flowing 
dresses, so well suited to a hot climate, the mosques with 
lofty minarets, and the flat-roofed houses, on the tops of 
Which parties of wild monkeys are not unfrequently to be 
seen gambolling, recall most vividly the pictures of Eastern 
scenes, which every boy has read with delight in the fasci- 
nating tales of the ‘Arabian Nights” That part of the 
suburbs where the greater number of Europeans reside, 
looks like one vast garden, each house being surrounded by 
a large piece of ground laid out with trees and shrubs. The 
roads which intersect them are wide, well kept, and planted 
. On either side with a row of trees, the commonest of which 
. are the beautiful golden-flowered Thespesia, the  ash- 
. like Odina Wodier, and different species of Wild Fig, the 
branches of the latter fantastically adorned with pendent 
_ masses of horse-tail-like roots. "The hedges which surround 
the enclosures are either formed of Opuntias, Inga dulcis, 
Lawsonia inermis, Euphorbia Tirucalli, or a small species of 
Bamboo, among which twine innumerable Convolvulacee, 
Asclepiadee, Leguminose, and Cucurbitacee. I visited 
the garden belonging to the Horticultural Society, which 
is of course principally intended as an experimental one for 
. Agricultural and Horticultural objects. The botanical col- 
lection is not large, but contains several plants not yet in- 
troduced to Ceylon, some of which I hope to obtain by 
exchange. It suffers from two almost irremediable evils— 
abad soil, and impossibility of extension. i 
Coimbatore, where Dr. Wight at present resides, is 
about 320 miles distant from Madras; in a south-westerly 
direction, and to save time I determined to travel post, 
mode in England. In place of a carriage, I had to pur- 
Chase a palankeen, and instead of horses, to have relays 
9f bearers placed at different stations along the road. To 
Set the latter part of this business arranged, required eight 
= aw. 
Which, however, is somewhat different from the so called - 
TE TO 
