152 THE RIFLE AND HOUND IN CEYLON, chap. vii. 



descried a long line of noble forest in the distance, 

 and this I conjectured to be near the river, which 

 turned out to be the case ; we were soon relieved 

 from the burning sun by the shade of as splendid 

 a forest as I have ever seen. A few hundred yards 

 from the spot at which we had entered, Yalle river 

 rolled along in a clear stream. In the wet season this 

 is a rapid torrent of about 150 yards in width, but 

 at this time the bed of the river was dry, with the 

 exception of a stream of about thirty paces broad, 

 which ran directly beneath the bank we were des- 

 cending. 



An unexpected scene now presented itself. The 

 wide bed of the river was shaded on either side by 

 groves of immense trees, whose branches stretched far 

 over the channel ; and not only beneath their shade, 

 but in every direction, tents formed of talipot leaves 

 were pitched, and a thousand men, women, and chil- 

 dren lay grouped together ; some were bathing in the 

 river, some were sitting round their fires cooking a 

 scanty meal, others lay asleep upon the sand, but all 

 appeared to be congregated together for one purpose ; 

 and so various were the castes and costumes that 

 every nation of the East seemed to have sent a repre- 

 sentative. This was the season for the annual offer- 

 ings to the Kattregam god, to whose temple these 

 pilgrims were flocking, and they had made the dry 

 bed of Yall6 river their temporary halting-place. A 



