KURTJNEGALA. 
such ail article. This used to be a good district for 
capturing elephants in kraals, and some were to be 
seen in course of training. The keepers seem to have 
acquired great power over them; on throwing down a 
rupee before one, alter sunclr^^ goadings and punchings 
from the rider, and some gro ming and grunting from 
the elephant, the coin was lifted and given over to 
the driver or rather rider. 
Remaining for a few days at Kurunegala, and n@ 
coolies to be seen, we determined to continue our - 
journey. Shortly after leaving the town, the road 
presented a dreary, de-ertdike appea' ance. There was 
little or no traffic ; we were getting beyond the bounds 
of the white man’s country. On ihrough flat wastes, 
with here and there rice-fields in the distance, scrub 
and low jungle on all sides, the road gradually loses 
itself, or dwiinlles into a mere track. My companion, 
however (a Sinhalese), was invaluable. He always 
managed to mike some conveuieit native hub for the 
night. Evidently this sort of work was not new, to 
him. After his holding a short conversation with the 
owner of the hut, I was always made welcome, a 
mat was spread, upon which we squatted, rice was 
boiled, with occasionally a little curry. There were no 
dishes or sjioons ; the leaf of a plantain tree served 
as a plate, but for a spoon, how could it be managed? 
After sevei-fd trials, during which more rice was lost 
than eaten, my^ Sinhalese friend, with a grim smile, 
pulls from under his cloth a horn spoon, Avith the 
remark, “ 1 knew master could not do it, therefore 
1 borrowed a spoon from my sister’s house in Kandy.’ 
Never was a spoon more acceptable, and I began to 
think aloud, “He’s as considerate as a white man.” 
“Yes, sir,” he says, “ plenty considerate, ” on which 
he pulled out froih his cloth a small bottle of brandy, 
of Avhich I partook of a spoonful, but nothing w'ouid 
induce him to touch it. “ It must be kept for master 
after a long journey.” After a few days’ tiaA^el, one 
evening, on rounding a corner, we saAV a column of 
smoke ascending out of some jungle, upon which my 
guide exclaimed, “ Here are coolies at last! ” This was 
the smoke arising from their encampment, where they 
were cooking their evening rice, and so it proved to 
be. On arriving at the spot, some 50 to 100 coolies 
were found, all at their evening meal. On asking them 
where they were going to, they said they did not 
know, or very likely, Scotch-like, they asked where 
I came from, and what was my business. So after 
explaining, and a great deal of talk and chatter got 
over, they agreed to go with me, and would be ready 
to start in half-an-hour. The backAvard journey was 
during the night. 
