CEYLON. 119 





 tons can reach it. It derives its name from Kali Ghatta, the ghaut or landing-place of 



the goddess Kali. Terrible cyclones have often devastated it; that in 1867 destroyed 

 30,000 native houses, and a very large amount of human life. 



The sailor's route would, however, take him, if bound to China or Australia, round 

 the island of Ceylon, in which there are two harbours, Point de Galle, used as a stopping- 

 place, a kind of "junction" for the great steamship lines, of which the splendid Peninsular 

 and Oriental (the " P. & O "} Company, is the principal. Point de Galle is the most 

 convenient point, but it does not possess a first-class harbour. At Trincomalee, however, 

 there is a magnificent harbour. 



Ceylon is one of the most interesting islands in the world. It is the Serendib of the 

 "Arabian Nights/'' rich in glorious scenery, equable climate, tropical vegetation, unknown 

 quantities of gems and pearls, and many minerals. The sapphire, ruby, topaz, garnet, 

 and amethyst abound. A sapphire was found in 1853 worth 4,000. Its coffee 

 plantations are a source of great wealth. Palms, flowering shrubs, tree ferns, rhododendrons, 

 as big as timber trees, clothe the island in perennial verdure. The elephant, wild boar, 

 leopard, bear, buffalo, humped ox, deer, palm-cat and civet are common, but there are few 

 dangerous or venomous animals. The Singhalese population, really Hindoo colonists, 

 are effeminate and cowardly. The Kandyans, Ceylonese Highlanders, who dwell in the 

 mountains, are a more creditable race, sturdy and manly. Then there are the Malabars, 

 early Portuguese and Dutch settlers, with a sprinkling of all nationalities. 



There, too, are the outcast Veddahs, the real wild men of the woods. With them 

 there is no God no worship. The Rock Veddahs live in the jungle, follow the chase, 

 sleep in caves or in the woods, eat lizards, and consider roast monkey a prime dish. The 

 Village Veddahs are a shade more civilised. 



One reads constantly in the daily journals of the India, China, or Australian Stations, and 

 the reader may think that they are very intelligible titles. He may be surprised to learn that 

 the East India Station not merely includes the ports of India and Ceylon, but the whole 

 Indian Ocean, as far south as Madagascar, and the east coast of Africa, including Zanzibar 

 and Mozambique, where there are dockyards. The China Station includes Japan, Borneo, 

 Sumatra, the Philippine Islands, and the coast of Kamchatka and Eastern Siberia to 

 Bering Sea. The Australian Station includes New Zealand and New Guinea. The leading 

 stations in China are Hong Kong, Canton, and Shanghai. Vessels bound to the 

 port of Canton have to enter the delta of the Pearl River, the area of which is largely 

 occupied with isles and sandbanks. There are some thirty forts on the banks. When 

 the ship has passed the mouth of this embouchure, which forms, in general terms, a kind 

 of triangle, the sides of which are 100 miles each in length, you can proceed either to 

 the island of Hong Kong, an English colony, or to the old Portuguese settlement of 

 Macao. 



The name Hong Kong is a corruption of Hiang Kiang,* which is by interpretation 

 " Scented Stream.'''' Properly, the designation belongs to a small stream on the southern 

 siue of the island, where ships' boats have long been in the habit of obtaining- fine pure 



* "Life in China," by William C. Milne, M.A. 



