CiiAP. II.] ADAM'S FEAX. MI 



a draught from the sacred spring, whicli runs witliin a few 

 feet of the summit. 



The panorama from the summit of Adam's Peak is, 

 pei'haps, the grandest in the world, as no other mountain, 

 ahhough surpassing it in aUitude, presents the same unob- 

 structed view over land and sea.^ Around it^to the north 

 and east, the traveller looks down on the zone of lofty hills 

 that encircle the Kandyan kingdom, whilst to the westward 

 the eye is carried far over undulating plains, threaded by 

 rivers hke cords of silver, till in the purple distance the 

 glitter of the sunbeams on the sea marks the hue of the 

 Indian Ocean. ^ 



The descent of the Kalu-ganga from Eatnapoora to 

 Caltura is effected with great ease in the boats which 

 bring down rice and areca nuts to the coast, and the 

 scenery includes everything that is characteristic of the 

 western lowlands ; temples, reached by ghauts, rising from 

 the edge of the river ; and villages surrounded by groves 

 of tamarind and jak-trees, talipats, coco-nuts, and kitools. 

 Along the banks, the yellow stemmed bamboo waves its 

 feathery leaves, and on approaching the sea the screw jiines 

 and mangroves grow in dense clusters, and over-arch the 

 margin of the stream. 



Caltura has always been regarded as one of the sani- 

 taria of Ceylon, and as it faces the sea breeze from the 

 south-west, the freshness of its position, combined with 

 the beauty and grandeur of the surrounding scenery, ren- 

 dered it the favourite resort of the Dutch, and afterwards 

 of the British. A fort, built on a green eminence, com- 

 manded the entrance of the river, but this is now dis- 

 mantled, and forms a residence for one of the civil officers. 

 Game is abundant ; and within a very fcAV miles tlie in- 



' " Adam's Peak is not liifrlier tlian 

 the mountains wliirh travollers ascend 

 in Switzerland ; Ijut nowlnu'e in that 



" Tlie first Englishman who as- 

 cended Adam's Peak was Lient. Mal- 

 cohn, of the 1st Cevlon Hejjinicnt, 



land cati the ei/o mmmrc ihc hfif/ht hi/ wlio readied tlie suniniit on the :27tli 



compai'isou with a surroioidiiH/ plain 

 nearly on the level of the sea."- 

 IIoFFMKiSTEK, Tmveh, i)-c., p. 181. 



April, 1827. — Asiatic Journ., \o\. i. 

 p. 442. 



