JAUNTS IN THE JUNGLE. 125 



in trowsers making themselves agreeable " dots" to 

 "dots" in petticoats whilst various industrious 

 " dots" were hard at work writing magazine articles 

 for other more favoured " dots" to read ! 



The idea may appear ridiculous enough on paper, 

 but if the reader has ever surveyed his species through 

 a " minifying" glass, and allowed his imagination (if 

 he has any) to run riot for a while, I have no doubt 

 he has. moreover, been rewarded by a spontaneous 

 and hearty " guffaw" at its ludicrous conjurations. 



How much altered the scenery may have been, since 

 the importation of a herd of coffee-planters, I luckily 

 did not stay long enough to observe ; but I can fancy 

 what the ineffable ecstasy of the monkeys will be, 

 when they find themselves enveloped in a wilderness 

 of red coffee berries ! 



Our near approach to civilisation is invariably indi- 

 cated by the appearance of the Cingalese pedlars, 

 known by the appellation of " moormen," a fine, 

 handsome race of copper-coloured fellows in appear- 

 ance half Arab, half Parsee, who spend their whole 

 existence in hawking about for sale precious stones, 

 such as sapphires, rubies, garnets, rnoon-stones, cin- 

 namon-stones, &c. ; and remarkably cheap they sell 

 them ; where they obtain them from, I was never 

 inquisitive enough to ascertain, always concluding, as 

 a matter of fact, that they stole them ; if, however, 

 I libelled the worthies by the supposition, they have 



