MARSEILLES TO SINGAPORE 15 



to the bottom, which only the continual exercise of 

 their hazardous profession, day in and day out, year 

 by year, could develop hazardous because the 

 harbor of Colombo is infested with sharks, and 

 many an unfortunate urchin is levied as toll for the 

 plying of their trade. But judging from the interest 

 of the passengers and the prodigality with which 

 the contents of their pockets are cast into the harbor, 

 the calling must be a lucrative one. 



To come to Colombo from the West is like being 

 dropped from a dusty road into a luxuriant garden. 

 There have been no intermediate steps to accus- 

 tom you to the sudden transformation. You left the 

 staid grays and browns, the familiar sights and pro- 

 saic smells of the Occident: you find yourself pre- 

 cipitated unprepared among unknown scenes and 

 surroundings, brilliant colors and strange aromas, 

 which from the first hour leave upon your senses 

 indelible impressions. From the landing-stage you 

 are whirled off in rickshaws through the town, over 

 clean wide roads of dark red earth, reducing to a 

 minimum the dazzling reflection of the tropic sun, 

 and sheltered by a regular canopy of luxuriant 

 growth. Once past the bazaar, the fascination of 

 whose booths must tempt even the most hardened 

 traveller, the buildings run no longer in monotonous 

 blocks, but are separated by little gardens of ferns 



