Mr. E. L. Layard's Rambles in Ceylon. 329 



In both the spores are at first uniseptate, and the contents of the 

 two portions are then divided into two or three endochromes, in 

 which respect there is an essential difference between this species 

 and all forms of S. cuhnifraga. 



[To be continued.] 



XXVIII. — Rambles in Ceylon. By E. L. Layard. 



Mulletivoe, April 7> 1861. 

 My Dear Sir, — I promised to keep you informed of my wanderings 

 between Jaffna and Kandy; so here you have the first instalment. 

 Knowing your taste for my favourite pursuit, I have thrown in a few 

 notes thereon, the results of observations made at various times, which 

 have recurred to me, as the discovery of a new species, or a new trait 

 of character in an old one, have brought them to my remembrance. 



I left Jaffna in the royal mail on the 3 1 st March, having sent off 

 my baggage in a bullock bandy, to the back of which was attached a 

 light gig, in which I proposed to drive down the great central road 

 to Kandy, a distance of 184 miles through the jungle, and a feat 

 hitherto unaccomplished since the road was opened. 



Many were the prophecies of my failure. Mr. B., our civil 

 engineer, left me in the lurch on the banks of the Pie or Sitt-aars, 

 two rivers which I should have to cross. Mr. D., whose brother- 

 in-law was to accompany me, broke me down between Damboul and 

 Nalandy, at a rocky part of the road. Mr. D., our government 

 agent, stuck me up to the middle in mud between Nalandy and 

 Matelle. One person only encouraged me, — that was Mr. Q., who 

 had surveyed and cut the road and was going with me to Mulletivoe. 

 But to return : I started at 2 p.m. in the mail for Karandi, Mr. D.'s 

 cocoa-nut estate ; and oh! what a royal mail! The smart English vehicle 

 of that name and its four dashing horses was represented by an old 

 palanquin carriage (which you must know is like a palqui stuck on 

 wheels, having a well cut in the bottom to contain one's feet), and a 

 sorry broken-winded, broken-kneed horse. The substitute for a 

 coachman consisted in a nigger in undress, that is, with a thin slip of 

 cloth drawn between his legs, and fastened before and behind to a 

 string tied round his loins, who tugged at the horse's mouth ; while 

 the mail-guard or conductor sat inside with me, the letters being de- 

 posited in his coat-pockets ; a gridiron and tea-kettle belonging to 

 myself, swinging in front, complete the picture of the " royal mail." 

 After being relieved every five miles by a fresh horse, ivorse if possible 

 than the former, we reached our destination, — a cadjan shed at the 

 end of the macadamized road, and the beginning of the European 

 estates. Here I found a horse awaiting me, and after a dark and 

 tiresome ride of eight miles through sand up to the horse's fetlocks, my 

 nag came to halt at a gate. Concluding this to be the estate, I turned 

 in, and was soon welcomed by D., his wife, and her brother Mr. B. of 

 the Madras service. After discussing our plans over the dinner-table, 



Ann. tv May. X. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. ix. 22 



