176 



COLOMBO TO JL\NDY. 



[Part VII. 



of lionoiu", and introduced with his interpreters ; his pre- 

 sents are accepted and reciprocated by suitable equiva- 

 lents (one of which is a piece of scarlet cloth for the 

 Sultan) ; and on the conclusion of the ceremonial he re- 

 embarks with his little fleet, and proceeds on his voyage 

 to the Coromandel coast. 



To avoid the hot season in the low country, official re- 

 sidences have been provided at Kandy for the Governor 

 and the Colonial Secretary ; and early in March, 1846, 

 we left Colombo for the hills. ^ Already the luxuriant 

 verdm-e of the plains, which the south-west monsoon had 

 so recently caUed forth, was converted to yellow stubble ; 

 the lake was evaporated to partial diyness, and the 

 motionless leaves of the trees were powdered with red 

 dust from the cleft and arid earth. 



In driving through the native town to Grand Pass, 

 on the way to the bridge of boats, which there connects 

 the opposite banks of the Kalany-ganga, many of the 

 houses will be seen to have an earthen vase, painted 

 white, placed in a conspicuous position on the roof 

 These are evidences of the prevalence in Ceylon of 

 that most ancient of all superstitions, the belief in the 

 evil eye, which exists in every country in the universe, 

 from China to Peru. The Greeks of the present day 

 entertain the same horror of the ;<a«o yarx as their an- 

 cestors did of the ^da-xavog o^^SuXulos, and the mal occhio 

 of modern Italy is the traditional fascinatlo of the Eo- 

 mans. The Malabars and Hindus, hke the Arabians 

 and Turks, apologise for the profusion of jewels with 

 which they decorate their childi'en, on the plea that 



^ It is to be hoped that the journey 

 fi-om Colombo to Kandy, still per- 

 formed on the noble road made by 

 Sir lOdward Barnes, will shortly l)e 

 facilitated by the railway now in pro- 

 cess of formation, under the direction 

 of Mr. DoYXE. and wliich, if its con- 

 struction can be comi)leted througli- 

 out the entire distance for a moderate 

 surti; will be a signal advantage to 



tlie coffee districts. Butthe line that 

 I would gladly have seen adopted is 

 one which, skirting the Kandyan 

 zone, with a bi'anch to commimicate 

 with tlie coffee regions, woidd have 

 opened a communication from sea to 

 sea, from Colombo to Trincomalie, 

 thus extending tlie advantages of so 

 gi-aud a wurk to the native races as 

 well as, the Eiu'opean communities. 



