120 THE OUT-STATION ; OR, 



best I can, the distance between us is soon reduced to 

 within gun-shot, and then steadily sending into him 

 the contents of both barrels, I am furnished with a 

 hash for that day at least ! 



Christian reader ! do not imagine me an ecclesias- 

 tical homicide ! The " missionary" of Ceylon (known 

 by no other name than I am aware of) is a bird about 

 the size of a turkey, but rarely made use of at table, 

 except in case of dire necessity, as the present ; but 

 why it should not be generally eaten I do not know, 

 for it is excellent in my own case, the sauce it was 

 eaten with, namely, the condensed appetite of a dozen 

 wolves, may certainly have had something to do in 

 flattering the imagination during a trial of its quality 

 but after all, what necessity is there for any body 

 but the cook ever knowing of what hashes are com- 

 posed, provided there exists the third part of a bottle 

 of port, and the slightest dash of Worcestershire sauce 

 in their conformation ? 



But to digress for a while from the artificial to the 

 natural from the precincts of the frying-" pan" to 

 those of its sylvan namesake. 



Will nobody ever have the enterprise to indulge 

 the public with the " Illustrations of Ceylon," instead 

 of eternally immortalising, over and over again, every 

 ditch in Switzerland and pool in Westmoreland ? 



If there is such a public-spirited individual, let him 

 start at once for the heights of Hima-letta-wella be- 

 fore it is turned into a huge coffee garden for the 



