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MRS COL. WALKER'S TOUR IN CEYLON. ^ 248 
difficulties on this day's journey, some of the people asserting 
that it would be quite impossible to get the poney along : but, 
as is generally the case when the expectation is raised, the 
reality seldom comes up to it; and having pictured to our- 
selves something tremendous, we were agreeably surprised 
to meet with little or no difficulty, and to get to the summit 
of our most formidable ascent, by a little after 9. Here 
we had breakfast, and allowed our people a few hours' 
rest, 
* The top of this mountain, called Koombooroogaméhella, . 
seems to be flat for a considerable extent, and cultivated. 
Convolvulaceg again appeared in this day's journey; I re- 
.. marked at least six different species—and on the summit of 
_ the mountain, where the ground had been cultivated, saw a 
ES very handsome rose-coloured Urena, which I had before 
noticed in similar situations, on the tops of hills, which had 
been under cultivation ; the scenery as we-ascended was ex- 
ceedingly varied and beautiful. We were preceded this 
morning by our Musicians. This custom, though it seems 
ridiculous to us, has its origin in reason, and expediency— 
having an opposite effect from the strains of Orpheus, alarm- 
Ing, and scaring away, instead of attracting, the ‘savage 
beast”—proving that the elephants have a good musical ear, 
and cannot bear the approach of Cingalese tomtoms and 
Pipes, the most discordant of all noises. | 
“The descent of Koombooroogaméhella we found much | a 
longer, more difficult, and fatiguing than the ascent. It was 
near 2 p, M., before we arrived at Tambegamowe a very short — 
distance from the bottom of the mountain, where we were to — 
halt for the rest of the day. Soon after commencing the de- 
scent we had a most splendid. view of Adam's Peak and the 
surrounding country. 
* Tambegamowe affords the most disagreeable quarters we 
have yet met with, small, dark, hot, and dirty. ‘The head- 
man’s wife requested permission to pay her respects to me, —— 
or, in other words, to gratify her curiosity, never having seen 
a European female before. She came with a crowd of other 
