122 THE OUT-STATION ; OR, 



Unfortunately, there are no fish in the rivers ; or, 

 if there are, the water-fowl monopolise them (an ex- 

 ceedingly scaly proceeding on their part), for it never 

 fell to my lot to catch or cook one. 



The cocoa-nut trees are besieged night and morn- 

 ing by a party of Cingalese, who manage to extract 

 what they call " toddy" from the cocoa-nut, in large 

 earthenware pitchers which are hung up during the 

 night to catch the exuding fluid ; and this, after being 

 fermented, becomes arrack Ceylon arrack a most 

 miserable substitute for execrably bad whiskey, at the 

 very best. 



However, they manage to get drunk on it, so it 

 answers the desired end. 



The pine -apples are the greatest luxury of all the 

 indigenous wild fruit of the jungle, their flavour being 

 excellent, and the cost of the fruit only the trouble of 

 twisting it out of the ground. If they are bought out 

 of the bazaar (or market), however, they are of a 

 superior sort, and reach the price of two or three pice 

 (about a penny), their value being also materially en- 

 hanced by the additional advantage of a "polish" 

 from the vendor's head-gear, or petticoat, but never 

 even with this additional lustre do they rise higher in 

 the scale of worth than the unpresuming " murphy" 

 in the neighbouring basket. 



The roads through the interior of the island, where 

 they form the principal thorough-fare, are generally in 

 tolerable travelling order, except that every now and 



