Mt!i nE. L. Layai^'s Rambles in ■ Ceylon,. 3W. 



for walk we will, in spite of the rain. Our friend G. is on the other 

 side of it, and cannot get to us, as the very natives dare not cross the 

 rope bridge : the flood has reached it, and is about a foot deep over it. 

 A dry suit of clothes would, indeed, be a luxury : I have not had one 

 on since I left Damboul. As to drying anything, it is in vain to 

 think of it. All my birds are spread on boards about the room, and 

 at the least gleam of sunshine out they go to keep them from moult- 

 ing. In this state of confinement I cannot do better than resume 

 my letter, and inflict on you an account of my doings since I left 

 Damboul. 



Well, then, on Sunday morning the 27th, I drove to Koodakaker- 

 awe, twelve miles ; the road was as changeable as the nature of the 

 country — sometimes hilly and sometimes swampy. Over the hills 

 I was bothered with the loose rolling stones, and on the low lands 

 the road was often 18 inches deep in mud. In some of these places 

 the natives had cut watercourses across the road to lead the water 

 from field to field. In these gullies the buffaloes had wallowed and 

 dug up the ground with their horns, and in several instances my gig 

 sunk in up to the axle. Muttu and I had then to jump out and 

 give the vehicle a lift, and by the united and repeated efforts of 

 horse and man we pushed through. However, the road-maker is 

 abroad, and all these will soon be mended. At Koodakakerawe 

 there was no rest-house or Ambelam of any sort ; I, therefore, 

 begged shelter in the house of a native, who gave me a half-finished 

 shed to sleep in. Chair and table were luxuries quite unknown 

 here, and as it rained the whole day, I passed most of it in bed. I, 

 however, did one deed of mercy — I shot two pariah dogs. The 

 wretched animals had been both wounded by some passing CooUes, 

 and exhibited dreadful sores, full of maggots. This is a horrible 

 and frequent consequence of wounds in this country, particularly 

 with animals, owing to the apathy of the native to the misery of his 

 dependent brutes. In this instance a great part of the head of one 

 of the dogs was cleared of skin, and in the other I could see the 

 bowels from a large hole in the poor beast's flank. I asked the 

 owner why he had not put some kind of medicine on it. He simply 

 smiled, and asked what was the use? I then proposed kilUng them. 

 At this he, like all his race, was horrified. "What! kill the poor 

 brutes ! they have a right to live : how cruel I was ! " I had him 

 here. " Did he think they could live ? " " No, certainly, they could 

 not." I, therefore, obtained permission to shoot, and terminated 

 their miseries and their lives together, with a rifle-ball — a merciful 

 and instantaneous death. It is a fact, that rather than destroj"- the 

 life of an animal whose existence is a burden to itself, the Cingalese 

 will see it perish by degrees in agony. 



I passed in this morning's drive the tomb of some native, but as 

 I have only once before seen one similar, I think the practice here 

 followed rare, and worth noting. The tomb was covered vdth a 

 standing clay top or roof, on which was painted the figure of the 

 deceased, with some kind of an inscription at the foot. The colours 

 seemed to be composed of claj^s and charcoal, and the foot of the 



