392 RICE SEASON. 



a species of Senecio, with a number of others, 

 wild and cultivated, some of which exhaled fra- 

 grant odours ; and a multitude of butterflies and 

 other insects, vieing with one another in bril- 

 liancy and harmony of colours, flew about in 

 apparent enjoyment of the fervent tropical sun, 

 among the profusion of flowers which strewed 

 the ground. The Jatropha curcas, or Banawa 

 of the natives, was planted, as well as the bamboo, 

 for fences ; rice-fields were numerous, but this 

 being the dry season, the fields were dry, and 

 the harvest collected, the variety of succulent 

 and other plants that sprung up about them, 

 afforded excellent feeding for the numerous 

 herds of cattle rambling about. 



During the rainy season, which occurs from 

 about November to nearly the termination of 

 the month of February, the planting of rice 

 takes place ; the fields, for the most part dry at 

 the present time, are then overflown ; the season 

 of the rice harvest usually occurs in April. The 

 country, although flat, had a pleasing fertile 

 aspect, and when the vivid green or. golden 

 yellow of the rice plantation was added, its 

 beauty must be still further increased. 



The rajah, his followers, and the merchants, 

 appear to be all Moormen, either natives of, or 

 descendants from, those born in Hindostan. The 



