CEYLON COCOA ESTATE 235 



who were on duty in charge of an Inspector. 

 Being the only Europeans present, the police 

 kindly allowed my friend and me to leave the 

 throng, and go up the stair of egress instead of 

 ingress, which was densely packed, and so after 

 passing through an ancient archway and up a 

 flight of stone steps worn away by the feet of 

 many generations of pilgrims, we quickly found 

 ourselves in a kind of central hall, in which a 

 number of Burmese were lying prostrate on 

 their faces worshipping before the tooth. 



The interior of the hall had been profusely 

 decorated for the occasion, the design which 

 struck me most was an arch in white and red 

 cloth folded into shapes intended to resemble 

 stucco mouldings, very effective and quaint, 

 seen in the artificial light which alone penetrates 

 this sanctum, and a typical Kandyan form of 

 decoration. At one end of the hall, on a raised 

 platform, which was protected by a strong 

 wooden barrier, on a gold stand covered with a 

 glass shade we beheld the sacred tooth. A 

 long black tusk supported in a light framework 

 of precious metal. Anything more ugly it 

 would be difficult to imagine, and it passes 

 comprehension how such a thing can be the 

 object of adoration of millions of our fellow 

 subjects. 



We quickly saw enough, the Temple interior 

 being familiar both to myself and my friend, we 



