14 TEA 



edge of a steep precipice. Looking out of the window 

 — peering cautiously, for there may be rocks close 

 ahead — we see the train waved throughout its entire 

 length, or swung into a semicircle ; and lo and behold ! 

 landmarks which we first espied perched on hills far 

 above our head, are now away down in a valley, their 

 sites having been dwarfed into hummocks by the height 

 we have climbed above them, and by the loftiness of 

 the mountains among which we are now travelling. 



But there are still more wondrous sights to be seen 

 from the window than those which proclaim this rail- 

 way a fine engineering feat. Those terraces, looking 

 from this distance curiously like the ruins of an ancient 

 Greek theatre, are " paddy " or rice fields ; now we are 

 passing close alongside a grove of cocoanut palms ; a 

 few minutes later, and we are feasting our eyes on 

 banks ablaze with orange-hued jungle flower ; we run 

 through yet another wayside station, where prominent 

 among fancy-dressed loiterers are chocolate-coloured 

 toddlers, clad in silver bangles, silver anklets, and a 

 string girdle hung with charms ; and just beyond this 

 hill-station we come upon a tea-plantation dotted with 

 workers in vivid-hued draperies. Having struck the 

 tea-lands, we very soon become accustomed to seeing 

 the hillsides, to right and left, occupied by tea-bushes ; 

 in orderly array the trim shrubs stand on terraces, 

 inducing us to think of them as well-trained armies 

 of dwarfs marshalled for inspection. 



Kandy, our halting-place, is a thoroughly Oriental 

 little town. It was the last capital and stronghold of 

 the ancient Sinhalese dynasty, and less than a hundred 

 years ago it was being ruled by native kings. As we 

 drive up to the hotel, we pass many picturesque folk, 



