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Haeckel went to the tropics to work and not to play, and 

 work he did, with a vigour and pertinacity which, under 

 the circumstances described, can only be called astonish- 

 ing. To have gone out day after day and week after 

 week surface-fishing in an open boat beneath the almost 

 vertical rays of a tropical sun, is in itself to have per- 

 formed a feat of physical endurance which, so far as we 

 are aware, has never been performed by any other natu- 

 ralist ; and to have worked steadily for half a year from 

 daydawn to night, exploring, collecting, and investigating 

 as Haeckel investigates — feeling all the while, as he 

 expresses it, that euch day was costing him, as a mere 

 matter of money, somewhat over 5/. — to have worked 

 thus would have been to exhaust the strength of many a 

 younger man even in a much higher latitude than that of 

 Ceylon. The results attained by such a naturalist in such 

 a region, and working at such a pressure, of course con- 

 stitute an immense harvest — so much so, indeed, that he 

 thinks he has more material in his collections than the 

 term of his natural life will admit of his sufficiently inves- 

 tigating. But with all this, he has wisely avoided burden- 

 ing his account of "A Visit to Ceylon" with any details 

 of his scientific labours. The book is intended for general 

 readers, and while a sufficient number of scientific obser- 

 vations on the flora and fauna of the island are thrown in 

 here and there to complete the picture which he gives of 

 the place, these are always judiciously subordinated to 

 the main design of speeding an honest tale by telling it 

 plainly. 



After an entertaining account of his voyage and of a 

 week spent in Bombay, the traveller proceeds to give his 

 first impressions of Ceylon. He is most of all struck with 

 the magnificent luxuriance of the tropical vegetation, some 

 of his descriptions of which are admirable specimens of 

 word-painting. Everywhere he meets with the greatest 

 kindness and courtesy, of which he is lavish in his ac- 

 knowledgments. Having been a guest at various houses, 

 visited and studied botanical gardens, made sundry 

 excursions, &c, he eventually sets up a zoological labora- 

 tory upon the coast. This having constituted the main 

 object of his journey, he had taken with him sixteen large 

 packing cases filled with all the equipments required for 

 zoological and morphological research. The choice of 

 site lay between one or other of two sheltered bay s — Galle 

 and Belligam. At the former he would have the advan- 

 tage of living among civilised Europeans, and of being 

 the guest of the hospitable and cultivated English consul, 

 Mr. Scott, of whom he speaks in terms of high esteem ; 

 at the latter he would be the only European within a 

 radius of many miles, and require to take up his quarters 

 in a small government house. Such being the circum- 

 stances, he says : — 



"After much hesitation, and long debating the pros 

 and cons, I finally decided for Belligam, and I had no 

 reason to regret the choice. The six weeks I spent there 

 were full to overflowing of wonderful experiences, and 

 never to be forgotten as forming the crowning 'bouquet' 

 of my Indian journey, the sweetest and brightest flowers 

 in a garland of delightful memories. Though I might 

 perhaps have carried on my zoological studies better and 

 more conveniently in Galle, I gained infinitely more on 

 the side of general knowledge of nature and humanity in 

 the charming seclusion of Belligam." 



If the naturalist had no reason to regret this choice, 



assuredly his readers have not, for the account which 

 follows of his residence among the natives is the most 

 entertaining part of his narrative. On his first arrival he 

 is met by a general assembly of the inhabitants, his 

 advent having been expected in consequence of the 

 governor of the island, Sir James Longden, having written 

 to the native officials "to be in all respects civil and 

 serviceable." The civility in the first instance takes the 

 form of series of ceremonious addresses presented to him 

 by one native magnate after another, emphasis being 

 given to the close of each by "a grand rattle of drums 

 performed by a row of tom-tom beaters squatting in the 

 background." These high functionaries presented in 

 their dress a sort of hybrid between the European and 

 the Cinghalese. " Beginning at the top, a tall English 

 chimney-pot charmed the eye— of all head coverings 

 beyond a doubt the most hideous and inefficient. How- 

 ever, as the Cinghalese see Europeans wear this cylindrical 

 headpiece on all solemn occasions as the indispensable 

 symbol of birth and culture, never abandoning it even in 

 the greatest heat, they would regard it as a serious breach 

 of etiquette to appear without the singular decoration." 

 Below the hat there came "an enormously high and 

 pointed white shirt-collar, and a coloured silk scarf tied 

 in a bewitching bow." Then a swallow-tailed dress coat, 

 white waistcoat with jewelled buttons and gold chains. 

 But instead of trousers wherewith to complete this 

 grotesque imitation, each of the dignitaries ended off in a 

 red or party-coloured petticoat and bare feet. 



Having suitably acknowledged this unexpected cere- 

 mony, Prof. Haeckel sets to work unpacking and setting 

 up his laboratory in one of the rooms of the government 

 house. From that moment throughout his stay of six 

 weeks he is pestered by the insatiable curiosity of the 

 entire neighbourhood, and even by that of native visitors 

 from a distance, which on one occasion presented them- 

 selves in the form of four old maiden ladies of distinction, 

 "each more wrinkled and hideous than the last," who 

 desired to be instructed in science and to have their 

 photographs taken. The Professor is here ungallant 

 enough to remark, " If they had been but three, I could 

 have mistaken them for the three Phorcydes, the witches 

 of the classical Sabbat, and might have made myself 

 agreeable to them after the fashion of Mephistopheles." 

 Hoping to satisfy the universal curiosity in a collective 

 manner, he tried the experiment of giving lectures through 

 an interpreter ; but he found that there was no spark of 

 real scientific interest underlying the childish desire to 

 see something new. However, he managed to get on 

 admirably with all around him, gave away multitudes of 

 presents in the shape of coloured prints, &c, presided one 

 day over the grand Buddhist festival for the 19th of 

 December, and on the 20th filled the same office of presi- 

 dent at the annual festival of the Wesleyan mission. ,; 1 

 had done honour to the sublime Buddha yesterday, and 

 to-day I must pay tribute to worthy Mr. ^"esley. . . . 

 My friends in Galle and Colombo, who heard through the 

 papers of my extraordinary proceedings, laughed at me 

 ' consumedly.' " 



But we have no space to give any sketch of the strange 

 experience of these six weeks' sojourn among the primi- 

 tive natives, so curiously composed oi the instructive, the 

 aesthetic, the ludicrous, and the pathetic. We have said 



