and enters the mountains. The trains make good speed across 

 the level coastal plain, but through the mountains travel at a 

 vexatiously slow rate, even though there are two engines and 

 a maximum grade of lOO feet per mile. 



Our train was an hour in covering the next thirteen miles, 

 winding around the sides of mountains and through a dozen 

 short tunnels. The mountain sides, although seldom over 2,000 

 feet high, are very steep and picturesque, while below the railway 

 lie innumerable rice terraces in the valleys, and more rugged 

 mountains beyond. The highest altitude reached is about 1,700 

 feet, and in the last few miles the line descends slightly to Pera- 

 deniya, at an altitude of 1,550 feet. 



The railway branches at Peradeniya junction, and it is less 

 than half a mile on to New Peradeniya. Neither place is a town, 

 or even a village, so far as can be seen from the railway. There 

 is a postofifice at New Peradeniya, chiefly for the convenience of 

 the garden staff, and the station itself is primarily for the con- 

 venience of the garden and the numerous tourists who visit it. 

 The nearest city is Kandy, four miles farther on, with probably 

 30,000 inhabitants. 



The Botanical Garden lies about three fourths of a mile north 

 of the station, and is reached by a beautifully macadamized road, 

 lined with huge Bombax trees and bordered by tea plantations. 



We secured quarters at the government rest-house, directly 

 across the street from the main (and only) entrance to the 

 garden. These rest-houses have been built throughout the 

 island where no hotel accommodations are available, and in this 

 one certain rooms are set apart for the free use of visiting botan- 

 ists. One must pay five rupees per day for meals, with small 

 extras for fees and baths. The meals can not be very highly 

 recommended, and an American misses ice, which seems to be 

 unknown. Unless it is desirable to spend all the time possible 

 at the garden, visitors will be much more comfortable in the 

 Kandy hotels, at only a rupee or two more per day. There is 

 frequent and convenient train service to Peradeniya, or one can 

 use carriage or rickshaw if he prefers. In the cool of the morning, 

 it is a pleasant walk. In Kandy there are good shops and attrac- 



