KANDY, ANCIENT CAPITAL OF CEYLON. 171 



to judoi-e by the Ijright moonlight. Twihght does 

 not exist in the tropics, and had it not been for 

 Selene riding the heavens, we should have reached 

 our destination in utter darkness. At the Queen's 

 hotel I ai'rived just in time for dinner ; there were 

 many visitors, chiefly planters, and in the course of 

 the evening I was able to collect all the information 

 I required for further exploration of the island. 



On the morning a beautiful sight presented itself 

 from my windows ; in front, a very large artificial lake 

 surrounded, as far as the eye could reach, by mountain 

 ranges of undulating outline, with huts and villas- 

 scattered about along the water's edge and in the 

 recesses of the lower slope ; to the left the native 

 town running backw^ards, consisting almost entirely 

 of one long street, and parallel with it on the 

 other side, an excellent road lined with fruit trees, 

 which leads to the Botanical Garden. Skirting the 

 lake beyond the town is a handsome drive encircl- 

 ing a large grass-plot ; here a crowd of natives in 

 picturesque costumes was already moving about ; 

 amongst them one or two Kandian chiefs in white 

 pantaloons, a gorgeous jacket with balloon-shaped 

 sleeves, and a large flat hat surmounted by a point of 

 curious shape, — all waiting the sound of the gong 

 calling them to the famous Dalada temple, situated 



