( 20 ) 
and (liove across the j)eiiii)sul;v to Jaffna, 
wliei-p the steamer was caught, and at Paani- 
hen, the object of their journey, tlie temple 
of Rameswaram, was reached. This was 
seen laider great dilYiculties; and when our 
autljor and his better-Iialf returned on l)oard, 
they were (jiiite exhausted with fatigue, 
heat-, hunger and thirst. However, they 
would not have missed the sight for any- 
thing. On returning to Colombo .M. Bruyas 
made ai-rangements at once tVa- a \ isit to 
Anuradhajmra, and went up to Kandy once 
more, staying there a cou|)le of days to allow 
of the Governor's return fiom the "buried 
cities." At the Queen's Hotel our author 
caiue across some files of the Pai-is Figaro 
and Vie Parisieiuie, a perusal of which 
gave him no pleasure, but proved to him 
W'hat utter rubbish forms the staphs of the 
French press. His strictures are decidedly 
candid ! 
The next chapter is devoted to Anuradha- 
Eura, with which M. Bruyas wa-s delighted ; 
ut he regretted the absence of IMr. Bell, 
not only because of the information he could 
have received from him, but also because 
he would have liked to testify to him his 
admii-ation of the results obtained with 
limited means. In his summary of Ceylon 
history there are some ei-i'ors ; but his re- 
marks on the aichitecture and details of the 
ruins are of great interest. He comes to 
the conclusion that the dagoba is of Ceylon 
origin ; and that any existing in India must 
be copies. Dambulla was visited on the 
return journey ; and Sigiri was seen fi'om 
afar. In Kandy and Colombo, thanks to 
abundance of money and the needs of some 
Kandyan family, M. Bruyas seems to have 
made a good collection of antique jewelry 
and objects of art. Alas, that Ceylon should 
be the poorer for these ! 
A short chapter contains a translation from 
the Mahavaiisa of the description of the 
founding of the Rnwanweli dagoba ; and the 
last chapter gives various statistics from our 
Handbook and a list of some of om- plant- 
ing manuals, &c., — all this forming the text 
of some remarks disparaging to France by 
way of contrast. There is jilain speak- 
ing:— 
All these little books cost two rupees, and from 
tlieir title alone one feels how practical they 
are and what help they must afford to the ne^v 
arrival, who besides is never isolated : he comes 
because he has relations or friends already 
settled, with whom he makes a stay, and under- 
goes an education wliile waiting until he has 
bought a suitable piece of land. And it is thus 
that prosperous colonies are made, that youn^ 
people, who, in Europe, would have vegetated 
for ever in narro\^' circumstances, are impelled 
towards a fair competence or even a for- 
tune. 
But it is not laborers, peasants that must be 
directed to the equatorial colonies : the white 
man cannot there carry on usefully manual 
labor. 
It is the man having a little capital insuffi- 
cient for the expensive life of Europe who will 
become the creator of an agricultural cultiva- 
tion of large returns which will quickly give 
him a life of ease and freedom. Still he must 
be helped, protected ; he must not have to create 
his industry from A to Z, he must profit by 
the experience made by his predecessors. He 
inu8t also be able to traaisport LIn produce and 
sell it and reinvest his profitii. 
When, tlien, on arriving at New Culedouia, (or 
Tongking, or Guyana, ov JVIailagatscar, or siiuplv 
iu Algeria or Tunis, will our colouist find (x)th 
a collection of practical and uncful ^tiinualh, and 
a Guide like the Cfijhin Dlnctory, which 1 have 
just run through. He would have a third of 
his succesh assured. Jlut, for heaven's .sake, do 
not let the practical manuals be compiled by 
members of the Institute or employees of the 
Minister for the Colonies. « ho lin\e iievcr goue 
beyond the fortifications of l'ari> ; tin- Ij<'k1 thiitK 
would be to translate tiie little English l«>ok(i, 
but that is too simple, no one would think 
of it. 
We notice one anmsing ei-ror, where our 
author is describing the couU>nt« of the 
ColomlKi newspajieis : he says thai they ad- 
vertise in II III mil ho.rrn which aiv paiut'iid 
boxes for tea ! " The Tiitp'uttI Agriniltnriid 
is referred to as "une revue ti-es iuiport- 
ante." 
The return voyage to JIarseilles is briefly 
sketched ; ;uid 5l. Bruyas concludes as fol- 
lows : — 
I shall be only too liappy if these few pages 
should decide some uitelligent Frenchman to 
quit the too well-known winter stations, iu 
order to make the journey that I have 
just described, which allows of many addi- 
tions. 
One is so persuaded that France is the lead- 
ing country in the world, that it is not bad to 
see a little the etlect that one produces from a 
distance. Everywhere one is certain to eujoy 
a civilized comfort, and not to witch auv illuct>s 
requiring on ones return years of care. The ex-' 
pense is very moderate: there is no roulette on 
the route; for two, during three months, paying 
all that can be paid, I estimate it at less than 
twelve thousand francs ; of course, purchases 
are separate. 
All the ancient trinkets that adorn this work 
I brought with me, and I believe that a collec- 
tor could still find some with a little patience, 
which is an additional attraction for 
tourists. 
It would be of gi-eat interest to studv this 
renascence of Buddhism, of which the "Theo- 
sophical Societies of Ceylon form the advance- 
guard : perhaps a great intellectual event is 
preparing over there, and I do not doubt that 
the French thinker, philosopher or literarv- man 
who wishes to learn would be heartilv welcomed 
and put in possession of all the new ideas, which 
have absolutely nothing occult and scarcely anv- 
thing religious about them. 
Much happier shall I be, if my information 
should decide some willing young man to go 
and try the occupation of planter, either in 
Ceylon or in a French colonj' where, it is to be 
hoped, some day perhaps a" colouist will cease 
to be considered as a disagreeable animal (to 
the officials), whom it is allowed to worry on 
every occasion. 
For myself, if I had no matter what to plants 
I should go to Ceylon by preference. I fre- 
quently read and re-read the Ramaj-ana on the 
Polynesien ; I am a little intoxicated with that 
beautiful poem so picturesque in its descriptions ; 
it seems to me impossible that Sita and Rama 
exist only in the brain of the poet, and I am 
quite disposed to return to Ceylon, to visit all 
the ruins and search for traces of the expedi- 
tion of Rama in quest of Sita with the charming 
form and graceful as a creeper in bloom in the 
month of May. 
