2 THE IMAGE OF WAE 



as well own that I gained them in the great island 

 of Ceylon, and that the garrison referred to is the 

 capital, Colombo. Within reach of that, by road, 

 there was no real jungle, though there were quaint 

 and unsophisticated spots where the rice-fields and 

 cocoa-nut groves were interspersed with little clumps 

 of woodland. Of such was the rest-house of Watuwa, 

 if I remember the name right. These rest-houses 

 are the Ceylon equivalent of the Indian dawk- 

 bungalow, but generally they are more civilised. It 

 is not the rule in Ceylon, as it is in India, for the 

 traveller to carry about his own bedding. To be 

 sure, except in the hill-country, all he can want 

 in that way is a sheet to lie on. Generally, however, 

 the rest - house provides board and lodging. The 

 former is primitive, and the usual bill of fare is 

 spatchcock and egg-curry. The Indian dawk-bunga- 

 low fowl has been made the subject of numeroiis 

 articles by far abler pens ; still, I doubt if an experi- 

 ence of mine at a small rest-house on the east coast 

 of Ceylon has often been equalled. Soon after my 

 arrival there the usual sounds at the back had led me 

 to understand my dinner was being " chivied " round 

 the outbuildings. Enter presently, breathless, the 

 rest-house keeper : 



" Please, master — master got gun ? " 



"Yes." 



"Please, master shooting that coli^^ (fowl). 



The rooster in question had so positively declined 

 the invitation to "come and be killed" as to get 

 sufficiently far up a tree to baffle the pursuit of 

 mine host and his assistants. And shoot him I 

 did, seeing no probability of getting my dinner in 

 any other way. 



