170 ABOUND THE WOULD VIA INDIA. 



7,000 feet, the forests are rapidly making way for the 

 tea industry up to an altitude of G,000 feet. As an 

 important protection against deforestation from this 

 and the timber industry the government has wisely 

 stopped the sale of timber land above an altitude of 

 more than 6,000 feet. Ceylon is the paradise for the 

 hunter, as large herds of elephants still inhabit the 

 jungles at. a safe distance from human habitations and 

 buffalo, elk, deer, bear and wild boar, as well as a great 

 variety of birds, are quite plentiful and furnish the 

 best opportunities for most interesting sport. The 

 scientist finds here an endless field for study and inves- 

 tigation. The great fertility of the soil, the copious 

 rains and the variations in the climatic conditions on 

 different parts of the island have created a vegetation 

 noted for its luxuriance and endless variety. The for- 

 est trees alone are a great attraction. We find here the 

 satin, sandal and ebony trees, from which the most 

 valuable timber is obtained. It may not be generally 

 known that less than one-third of the wood of the 

 ebony tree (Diospyros ebenum) is black, and this is 

 found in the center of the stem; the outer two-thirds of 

 the wood is white and without value. In the botanical 

 garden at Kandy I saw an India rubber tree (Ficus 

 elastica). planted by the Dutch in 1833, which has 

 reached a height of 130 feet, and the multiple stems 

 and their colossal branches cover a circular area where 

 several hundred people could find protection against 

 rain and sunshine at the same time and be much less 

 crowded than in the streets of Kandy at a Buddhist 

 celebration. In the same place I saw a mix vomica tree 

 more than 50 feet high with a graceful crown of small 

 elongated deep green leaves in a state of budding for 

 the next year's crop of disc-like nuts so familiar to the 

 physician as the source of strychnin. The bo-tree (Fiat* 

 religiosa) is one of the giants of the forests. Its broad 

 acuminate leaves tremble in the breeze like the leaves 

 of our aspen. The trunk is very short and from the top 



