74 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
CHAPTER VII. 
COLUMBO. TALIPAT TREE. QUEEN OF CANDY. 
Quitting Dindigul, we crossed the country to Ra- 
miseram, with the intention of paying a short visit to 
Ceylon, and then of proceeding by water to Calcutta. 
The island of Ramiseram is connected with the con- 
tinent, and also with the larger island of Ceylon by a 
ridge of rocks which is broken in two or three place s, 
thus affording a passage to the water on either side. 
This ridge, on the side of the peninsula, is called 
Adam’s bridge ; but the larger opening between the 
two islands has received the less primitive appellation 
of Saint Andrew’s Passage, and is about thirty miles 
across, while that between Ramiseram and the con- 
tinent is a very narrow strait, especially at low 
water. We were carried over to Ceylon in a light 
sailing-boat in a few hours. 
The morning after our landing we made the best of 
our way to Columbo, though our spirit of adventure 
was somewhat checked by a circumstance which oc- 
curred on the very day after our arrival at this town. 
An English lady had sent a messenger a few miles 
into the interior with a letter, but, as he did not return 
at the time expected, she began to apprehend that 
some accident had befallen him; she consequently 
