XIX.] DK. ALMQUIST'S EXCURSION. 717 



night through a forest of tall coco-nut trees whose dark tops 

 were visible far up in the air against the somewhat lighter sky. 

 It was peculiar to see the number of fire-flies flying in every 

 direction, and at every wing-stroke emiting a bright flash. The 

 night air had the warm moistness which is so agreeable in the 

 tropics. Now and then the sound of the sea penetrated to our 

 ears. For we followed the west coast in a northerly direction. 

 More could not be observed in the course of the night, and all 

 the passengers were soon sunk in deep sleep. 



" After seven hours' brisk trot we came to a railway station 

 and continued our journey by rail to Colombo, the capital of 

 Ceylon.' As there was nothing special to see or do there, I went 

 on without stopping by the railway, which here bends from the 

 coast to Kandy and other places. The landscape now soon 

 became grander and grander. We had indeed before seen 

 tropical vegetation at several places, but of the luxuriance which 

 here struck the eye we had no conception. The pity was that 

 men had come hither, had cleared and planted. 



" In the lowlands I saw some cinnamon plantations. Ceylon 

 cinnamon is very dear; in Europe cheaper and inferior sorts 

 are used almost exclusively, and most of the plantations in 

 Ceylon have been abandoned many years ago. Soon the train 

 leaves the lowland and begins to ascend rapidly. The patch of 

 coast country, where the coco-nut trees prevail, is exchanged for 

 a very mountainous landscape ; first hills with large open valleys 

 between, then higher continuous mountains with narrow, deep, 

 kettle-like valleys, or open hilly plateaus. In the valleys rice is 

 principally cultivated. The hills and mountain sides were pro- 

 bably originally covered with the most luxuriant primitive forest, 

 but now on all the slopes up to the mountain summits it is cut 

 down, and they are covered with coffee plantations. The coffee- 

 plant is indeed very pretty, but grows at such a distance apart 

 that the ground is everywhere visible between, and this is a 

 wretched covering for luxuriant Ceylon. 



"At two o'clock in the afternoon we arrived at the station, 

 Perideniya, the nearest one to Kandy. The famous botanical 

 garden lies in its neisjhbourhood, and there I had to visit the 

 superintendent of the garden. Dr. THwaites. This elderly, but 

 still active and enthusiastic naturalist is exceedingly interested 

 in botanical research, and very obliging to all who work in that 

 department. He received me in a very friendly manner, and 

 it was due to him that the programme of my visit there was 

 so full. 



"A botanic garden in Ceylon must naturally be something 

 extraordinary. Nowhere else can grander or more luxuriant 

 vegetation be seen than here. The gardeh has been especially 

 famous for the number of different varieties of trees of immense 



