28 BERTHA'S VISIT TO HER 



with clay ; and round the walls are benches to 

 sit or to sleep on. 



Colonel Trayers took the opportunity of telling 

 us, that the cinnamon twigs are first scraped with 

 a peculiar kind of knife, convex at one side, and 

 concave opposite ; the bark is then slit with the 

 point, and the convex side of the knife is used 

 to loosen it, till it can be taken off entire ; it 

 appears like a tube in that state, and the pieces 

 are laid one within another, and spread to dry. 

 When quite dried they are tied up in bundles of 

 about thirty pounds weight, and are carried by 

 the choliahs to the cinnamon store-houses at 

 Columbo. 



Being no longer afraid of the pearl-gatherers, 

 he returned to Condatchy ; and as it is a usual 

 practice to search for pearls which may by 

 chance have dropped from the oysters while they 

 lie in the pits, he also went to see how far his 

 present good fortune would continue to befriend 

 him. Those pits are dug about two feet deep in 

 the ground, and lined with mats ; and the 

 oysters are left there to putrefy, as they are then 

 easily opened without injuring the pearls. His 

 search was successful beyond his hopes ; he found 

 a pearl of uncommon size, and joyfully carried it 

 to the collector, who rewarded him with a large 

 sum of money. 



It is easy, dear Mamma, to guess the^ rest of 

 the story. He bought cloth, axes, knives, and 



