PART II.— CEYLON, 



CHAPTER XXL 



COLOMBO. 



Madras to Colombo. — Farewell to Jungle Fever. — The Queen of the Tropics. 

 — The Singhalese. — The Native Shops. — Exorbitant Duty on Methylated 

 Spirits — An Appeal, and its Result. — Public Opinion. — A Protest. — Leg- 

 islation for the "Odd Man." — The Sea View Hotel. — Natives as Collect- 

 ors — A Morning's Work. — How to Clean and Preserve Echini. — The 

 Gatherings of one Day — The Fish Market. — The Colombo Museum and 

 its Director. — Native Taxidermists. — Need of European Preparateurs in 

 the East Indies.— An Obliging Firm. 



The next day after leaving Madras, our steamer called at Pondi- 

 cherrj', a little corner of only one hundred and seven square miles, 

 but the largest of the French possessions in India, which all told, 

 amount to only one hundred and eighty six square miles of territory. 

 The city of Pondicherry is a pretty little place, cleaner and whiter 

 than Madras and with the additional advantage over the latter city 

 of having no "harbor works." "We lay at anchor in the open sea 

 a mile from shore, and discharged a portion of our cargo into 

 the heavy masulah surf-boats common along the shelterless Coro- 

 mandel coast. 



The following day we called at Negapatam and went through 

 the same programme. The sea was very rough and landing pas- 

 sengers was no joke. It is not an easy matter for any one except 

 an athlete to step from a ship's ladder into a boat which is rising 

 and falling seven feet, three or four times a minute, and if a man 

 is inchned to be clumsy he had best decide before starting whether 

 he prefers to fall on his back or his stomach. 



The morning after leaving Negapatam found us on the coast of 

 Ceylon, the pearl of the East Indies. AU day we were in sight of 



