April i, 1904.] 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



229 



BANYAN TREE, CEYLON. 



Where the heat is so great, it seems almost absurd to talk of 

 chills, but when the sun goes down, and it still remains so hot 

 that collars wilt, and the whole body is wet with perspiration, 

 there comes that danger. The breath of the northeast mon- 

 soon, the regular wind of the winter months, while not cold, 

 has brought on many a fatal chill, and resulted in fever and 

 death. Hence most of the Europeans wear flannel bands about 

 the abdomen (cholera belts they are called ), and are very care- 

 ful not to sleep in a draught, or to cool off too suddenly when 

 very warm. 



The natives, on the other hand, seem to be almost invulner- 

 able both to the sun and to the " 'soon." They go about bare- 

 headed, and almost barebodied, and sleep when and where they 

 will, and rarely suffer from such exposure. 



Equipped though I was to stand the heat, I was not proof 

 against surprise, nor the delight that I felt when I saw stand- 

 ing in the hotel lobby my good friend, Henry M. Rogers, of 

 Boston, one of the directors of the Revere Rubber Co. He 

 did not see me, and as my sun helmet would be a sort of dis- 

 guise, I went up to him, and said : 



" Do you wish a guide, sir ? " 



" No, I thank you." he responded politely. 



" But you do ! " I insisted ; " You are lost now, and don't sus- 

 pect it. I will not only guide you for nothing, but be glad to 

 pay for the privilege." 



I siw a gleam of recognition come into his eyes, as he said : 

 " My dear boy, the rubber trade of the United States sent me 

 over here to watch over and guide you. It is you who are lost, 

 and I am delighted to find you." 



Then we had a love feast, and instead of feeling far from 

 home, kindred, and friends, it seemed as if the miles between 

 Ceylon and the States were few, and most easily annihilated. 

 At the same time, it did seem a bit unusual that we two, start- 

 ing from the same city, and circling the globe in opposite di- 

 rections, without any knowledge of the other's absence from 

 home, should meet as we did. It was also very jjlly. 



After proving to a score of Mohammedan merchants who 

 haunt the hotel that I desired to buy no jewelry, silks, curios, 

 or unset stones, and threatening the native tailor and shoe- 

 maker with my umbrella, I had a chance to look about. The 

 hotel is beautifully situated on the seashore, its courtyard 

 crowded with cocoanut palms, its broad verandahs, latticed 

 blinds, and high ceilings making it as cool as one could expect 

 in so torrid a clime. It was impossible for me to communicate 

 with any of the planters that day, so I gave myself up to the 



PLANTAINS, CEYLON. 



pleasant task of watching the strange people that surrounded 

 me. For example, a Hindu juggler, with the inevitable native 

 flute, and basket of cobras, invited me out upon the lawn to 

 view his magic. I thought it worth a rupee to see the " mango 

 trick "and was not able to detect any fraud in the sleight of 

 hand by which he apparently planted the seed, made it sprout, 

 and within two or three minutes grew a pretty shrub more than 

 two feet high. By encouraging a rival of his, I also saw a 

 lively little mongoose attack and kill a huge ratsnake, but no 

 inducement was effective in getting him to trust his cobra with- 

 in reach of its traditional enemy. 



Just as the exhibition ended, along came a steamer friend, 

 with the information that he had engaged a gharry to take us 

 out to Mount Lavinia, a favorite shore house some three miles 

 away. As it promised to give me, a view of the country I gladly 

 consented, and we were soon bowling along over the fine roads, 

 drawn by a very diminutive but energetic pony. On the way 

 we stopped at a Buddhist temple, and, under the guidance of a 

 priest who spoke excellent English, saw the great image of 

 Buddha, in the forehead of which is set a sapphire as big as a 

 teacup, which glows and sparkles with a most uncanny luster 

 when the room is darkened. 



We also saw the small temple, where securely sealed forever 

 from human sight are the sacred books engraved on plates of 

 gold and silver. The doors to this little building, by the way, were 

 walled up some 1 loa years ago. As a special favor, the priest 

 showed us a footprint of the god in solid rock. To my mind 

 it didn't do Bud justice, as the pedal extremity was exceeding 

 flat, and the toes looked as if they might have been whittled out 

 of soft pine by a very poor whittler. The size of the foot, how- 

 ever, was all that could be desired by any believer. 



He also showed us a series of striking pictures, illustrating 

 the various types of torture in the hereafter for those who kill- 

 ed any living thing here on earth, even to the insects that make 

 the fine toothed comb a necessity. I was surprised to find 

 among them special tortures for those who fish and hunt. 



In the temple enclosure we were at peace, but once outside a 

 half hundred beggars, big and little, crowded about us, follow- 

 ing closely down the narrow lane towards our carriage. I was 

 afraid some of them would give me of their various skin dis- 

 eases, so I hired the priest for a rupee to keep them all at a 

 distance until we were on our way out, which he did. 



The drive to Mount Lavinia was so full of novel scenes that it 

 is almost impossible to select even a few that are typical. 

 Through the narrow streets, crowded with native houses, from 



