1 64 EVERYDAY LIFE ON A 



Natives appear incapable of reading to them- 

 selves. It is a common sight in the streets of 

 Kandy to see, and more especially to hear, a 

 native reading aloud a news sheet, surrounded 

 by a crowd of open-mouthed gaping listeners. 



Besides cinnamon, we grow a good deal 

 of vanilla— the pods are dried and oiled and 

 tied up into little half pound bundles, looking 

 very much like packets of cigars. The pods in 

 their green state on the vanilla vine are curious 

 looking things, they grow in clusters, and to-day 

 I saw a cluster of five, which resembled five 

 limp fingers. 



Vanilla is, as most people know, an orchid of 

 a creeping type, throwing out little feelers like 

 ivy, by which it attaches itself to any tree with 

 rough bark which may grow near enough for 

 its support. It is a native of Mexico, and other 

 warm moist regions of Central America, but 

 some years ago was introduced into Mauritius, 

 Reunion, and the Seychelles, in all of which 

 places it has become an article of commerce. 

 Lately Indian and Ceylon planters have turned 

 their attention to its cultivation, which is both 

 pleasant and easy, but curing the pod requires 

 great attention and delicate manipulation. 



In Reunion, ladies are said to grow vanilla in 

 their gardens, and to superintend its preparation 

 for the market themselves, as a way of 

 increasing their pocket-money. Vanilla pods 



