Chap. II.] CROSSING EIVEKS. 417 



generally out of a straight dried branch of the " welang 

 tree " ^ of which the Veddahs make their arroAvs. Tliis 

 is bruised into loose strips, some of which extend the 

 whole length of the branch, so that the bundle does not 

 require to be tied, and at the same time is rendered so 

 flexible and elastic that it biu"ns fi-eely and steadily. On 

 a journey, a " chule" of the latter description will last 

 for two hours : they are used everywhere in the north 

 by travellers and foot-runners to warn bears out of the 

 path, and by the watchers to drive away wild boars 

 and elephants from nocturnal visits to the rice lands. 

 A party in motion before sunrise forms a picturesque 

 object winding down a mountain pass by torchhght, 

 and still more so when the flames of the chules are re- 

 flected from the waters of an inland lake, as they skirt 

 along its margin. 



Instead of arriving at the Ooma-oya for breakfast as 

 we had expected, we found the road, which for a good 

 part of the way runs in the bed of a torrent, so much 

 injured by the rains and the flooded streams, that it was 

 nearly sunset before we reached our destination. In 

 descending from the hiUs we had to cross several tribu- 

 taries of the MahaweUi-ganga, the passage of wliich, 

 owing to the rocks, we found much more troublesome 

 than that of rivers of the same size in the low country, 

 ^vdiere the quiet depth of water enables horses to swam 

 with ease. But it is difficult to induce a horse to swim 

 the rapid rivers in the hill country, and nearly impossible 

 to ford them, broken up as they frequently are into 

 pools and obstructed by rocks. We crossed one stream 

 of great volume and tm^bulence, the Koorinda-oya, 

 or " Cinnamon river," on a tree adroitly felled, so 

 as to faU at right angles with the stream ; our horses 

 scrambling over the rocks and through the eddies 

 higher up. 



The Ooma-oya, which we reached at sunset, and near 

 which we halted for the night, is the deepest and largest 



^ rierosj}ermum mberifolium, 

 VOL. II. E E 



