Oct. 12, 1882] 



NA TURE 



575 



somewhat of the nature of a religious ceremony. The ! water-hens, herons, ibis, flamingoes, pelicans &c. Thev 

 principal performers are fantastically adorned with ,' came flying over the lagoon in large flocks towards sun- 

 coloured feathers and decked with horns and a long tail, down, seeking their nightly quarters • I once brought 

 to the immense delight of the youthful portion of their [ down half a dozen in a quarter of an' hour. The th?ck 

 audience. Whole troops of these demons parade the brushwood of the banks, with its lovely golden cup- 

 village with musical accompaniments throughout the day, ' shaped cassia-flowers and purple melastoma harbours 

 the nightly revels being sometimes extended into some- many smaller birds. . . . Besides birds apes bats 

 what unseemly orgies. • J lizards, &c, I once shot a great porcupine more than 



'The chief of the neighbouring village, Dena-Pitya, three feet long {Hystrix leuaira). Butterflies and beetles 

 organised a special Buddhist festival on December 19, to I also abound in great varieties. The marshy meadows 



which I was invited as the guest of honour, and escorted 

 in gr2nd procession. Ten or twelve old close-shaven 

 priests of Buddha in yellow robes received me under the 

 shade of a gigantic sacred fig tree, and led me to the 

 sound of marvellous singing within the flower-decked 

 temple. Here I was shown the great image of Buddha 

 and the wall-paintings (scenes from the life of the God) 

 were explained to me. Then I was conducted to a chair 

 of state placed under the shade of a banana in front of 

 the temple, and the actual performance began. A band 

 of five tom-tom beaters and as many pipers set up a noise 

 which would have wakened the dead. Then two dancers 

 upon stilts executed a series of wonderful evolutions. 

 While they were proceeding, the chief's daughters, well- 

 grown, black-haired girls of from 12 to 20 years of 

 age, offered cocoa-nut shells filled with toddy or palm 

 wine, and sweetmeats and fruits for refreshment. A 

 long speech was addressed to me by the priest of which, 

 unfortunately, I did not understand a word ; but I ima- 

 gined the subject of it to be the honour which I had done 

 him by my visit. The same idea was pantomimically 

 expressed by a band of ten naked, painted, and bedizened 

 devil-dancers, jumping and whirling round my throne 

 like madmen. When I was at last permitted to break 

 up the sitting and return to my bullock-cart, I found it 

 full of the finest bananas and cocoa-nuts placed there as I 

 a parting present from my friendly entertainers. . . . 



. . . "One of the most lovely of the coast lagoons (or 

 gobbs) within an easy distance of Belligam, is that called 

 Boralu- We wa. I am indebted for the pleasant days I 

 spent there to my good friend the Arachy, or second 

 headman of Belligam. He owned a large tract of land 

 close to the lake, planted partly with different fruits, 

 partly with lemon grass, on which he employed from 30 to 

 40 labourers. The road to Boralu turns off before Dena 

 Pitya, in a north-easterly direction, now passing through 

 lovely palm woods or luxuriant jungle, then across 

 light green paddy fields or marshy meadows, where black 

 buffaloes lie in the mud, and pretty white herons seek 

 their prey. After several miles of this, we come to the 

 lovely lagoon of Boralu, the road sometimes skirting its 

 shores, sometimes making wide detours. The banks are 

 covered with the most luxuriant vegetation, and the back- 

 ground is composed of thickly-wooded hills. A little 

 island covered with trees lies solitary in the midst of the 

 lake. The numerous tongues of land projecting from the 

 shore far into the water give a peculiarly varied charm to 

 the scene ; but its principal attraction lies in its intense 

 loneliness and the entire absence of human cultivation. 

 The impression is not destroyed by the carriage-road 

 along the shore, for this is quite concealed by a thick 

 growth of shrubs on either side. The lagoon and its 

 vicinity are rich in animal life. I never visited it without 

 finding the great green lizard {Hydrosaurus salvator) six 

 or seven feet long, sunning itself on the banks, and once 

 I was startled by a huge serpent twenty feet long {Python 

 moturus). Unfortunately the monster slipped off the 

 rocks into the water before I could take aim at him. A 

 more exciting chase was afforded by the apes, whose 

 chatter was to be heard on every side. I shot several 

 fine examples of the yellow-brown ' Rilawa ' (Macactts 

 sinicus) and of the great black 'Wanderu' (Presbytis 

 cephalopterus). But swimming birds were more enticing 

 still to the sportsman, and I secured many species of 



near the lagoon are often covered with gigantic examples 

 of insectivorous pitcher-plants {Nepenthes distillatoria). 

 The elegant pitchers, six inches long, covered with a 

 closely-fitting lid, were sometimes full of captive insects. 

 Brilliant-hued Ampelida and lovely honey-suckers (Nec- 

 tarinice) sport among the blossoms with the humming- 

 birds that they resemble. ... A saunter round the lake 

 leads through the most beautiful part of the forest. In 

 some places the tangle of creepers, Aristolochia, pi- 

 peraeea, wild vines and pepper plants, bauhiniee and 

 bignonia, are so intertwined among the branches of the 

 trees that only a few gleams of light can straggle through 

 them,and no progress is possible without the aid of the knife 

 at every step. 1 often sat for hours with my sketch-book 

 open before me trying to seize one of these forest views ; 

 but I scarcely ever succeeded, owing to the difficulty of 

 knowing where to begin ; or when I had begun, how to 

 reproduce such bewildering luxuriance of foliage. The 

 Arachy cultivated lemon grass upon the rounded hills 

 that surrounded his garden ; from this very dry grass a 

 simple process of distillation extracts a fragrant and much 

 prized perfume. The whole neighbourhood is penetrated 

 with the scent. The workmen who are occupied with the 

 distillation and with the cultivation of the bananas live in 

 about a dozen scattered huts clustered under the shade of 

 bread-fruit and jak trees ; groups of slender areca and 

 cocoa palms, with here and there kittuls and talipats spread- 

 ing their feathery crowns high over the level of the forest 

 mass, betray the hiding-place of the little bamboo huts. 

 My visits to them, and my intercourse with their friendly 

 inhabitants taught me almost to envy their simple and 

 natural mode of existence. They are all pure Singhalese, 

 cinnamon-coloured and delicately formed ; their clothing is 

 limited to a narrow white cloth round the loins. The bright 

 pretty boys were eagerly glad to help me in collecting 

 birds and insects, while the graceful black-eyed girls 

 twined garlands and adorned my ox cart with flowers. 

 At evening time, when the swift-footed bullocks had been 

 harnessed to the cart, and I had taken my place by the 

 Arachy, our rapid start was a special delight to the 

 children, and as we rolled along the lovely banks of the 

 lagoon we were usually followed by a swarm of twenty or 

 thirty gay little creatures, shouting and waving palm 

 leaves, or pelting us with flowers. . . . 



" The most distant excursion that I undertook from Bel- 

 ligam at the close of my stay there was to the southernmost 

 point of Ceylon, the far-famed Dondera Head. The town 

 of Matura lies a couple of miles to the west on the shores 

 of the Blue Sand river (Nilwella Ganga). The road from 

 Belligam to Matura is the continuation of the lovely 

 avenue of palm trees which leads from Galla to Belligam, 

 and affords the same variety of luxuriant and beautiful 

 scenery. Arrived at Matura, a town which has lost much 

 of its prosperity since the time of the Dutch dominion in 

 Ceylon, I refreshed myself with a cold bath and did 

 ample justice to the English luncheon provided by my 

 friends. Thus fortified I determined to lose no time in 

 setting off on the proposed expedition, in company with 

 the chief Ilaugakuhn, the most distinguished Singhalese 

 on the whole island. He is, in fact, the last male descen- 

 dant of the ancient line of Kings of Candy, and resides in a 

 handsome palace at Matura, near the mouth of the river. 

 A month previously he had paid me a visit at Belligam, 

 and presented me with several rare and beautiful birds. 



