COLOMBO. 237 



of, and he must cure me on the spot. In five minutes he wrote a 

 prescription which proved the death-blow of my fever. It came 

 the next day and took leave of me forever, after having stuck to 

 me faithftillv for nearlv seven months and floored me sixteen times. 

 The Doctor advised me to keep out of the jungles for a month or 

 two, and remain close by the sea^ or upon it if jDossible for that 

 length of time. I followed his advice to the letter, mv fever was 

 effectually stamped out in four weeks, and my former energ}- re- 

 turned in full force. The prescription which wrought my salvation 

 I will record here for the benefit of suffering humanity in the East 

 Indies. It is as follows : 



]5 . Quin. sulpli. (Sulphate of quinine) 1 ]'• * 



Liq. strychn. (Liquor strychniae) 3 j. 



Tinct. card, co (Tincture of cardamom, compound) 3 iv. 



Acid, sulph. dil. (Dilute sulphuric acid) 3 ij. 



Aqua (Water in quantity sutScient to make) . = ad § xij. 



M. ft. Mist. 



Half js wine-glassful to be taken three times a day. 



Colombo is by all odds the most beautiful city I have ever seen 

 in the tropics. Of course, parts of the Pettah, or native quarter, 

 are wholly uninviting, as is the case with nearly every oriental city, 

 and I leave them out of consideration. But take first, if you 

 please, the aristocratic section called the Fort, perched by itself on 

 a little iDcninsula formed by Colombo Lake and the sea, standing 

 proudly aloof from the Pettah. Here cluster nearly all the Govern- 

 ment buildings, the banks, the hotels, all the European shops and 

 the high-class native ones. The streets are beautifully clean and 

 smooth, well shaded by tulip- trees (Tliespesia populnea), and at the 

 intersection of the two principal ones there stands a tall, square 

 tower, or campanile, in the top of which is the Colombo hght, and 

 directly under it the town clock. From the lower end of the Fort 

 there stretches away toward the south in a clear undulating sweep 

 of a mile and a quarter, the finest esplanade in the world. Why it 

 is stigmatized with such an abominable name as Galle Face, I have 

 been wholly unable to divine, and therefore, suppose that name was 

 given it for some strategic purpose. People will tell you it " faces 



* The above is the quantity of quinine called for in the druggist's copy of 

 the original prescription, but the amount (one ounce) is so great as to lead one 

 to believe that one drachm is the quantity intended. In making up the rem- 

 edy I would advise the substitution of the latter quantity, as the former '.a 

 palpably a copyist's error. W. T. H. 



