THE GAMPOLA BRIDGE. 
the interior. We used to send on our horsekeepers 
in advance, a few miles before reaching the ford, to 
tell the boatmen that master was coming, and wait, 
not to start until he came, which they generally did, 
and if coming from the Kandy side, before starting 
from the resthouse, he would take the horse's bridle 
in hand, and send the horsekeeper to have a peep, 
if the ferry boat was on this side. If it was not, 
we just waited until news came it was crossing, or 
had crossed. This ferry used to be a great pest if 
a cooly or coolies with supplies were late, or long of 
coming. We had no hold upon them : it was the 
Gampola ferry ; but, whether it was or not, there 
can be no doubt but the ferry men frequently ex- 
torted money from and oppressed the coolies, espe- 
cially the new immigrant gangs, who were ignorant 
of the rules of ferries and customs of the country. 
What hosts of old memories rise up, when we recol- 
lect of these days of the Gampola ferry* and of the 
time we used to sit on the banks of the river wait* 
ing for the ferry boat? 
The ferry boat is now a matter of history, if any 
one likes to write a history about it. The Gampola 
bridge was completed at the end of December 1858 ; 
no accident has ever befallen it, and having seen 
so many floods, and been so well tried, we hope nothing 
will go wrong with it now. We may now ride over 
the Gampola river, without drawing rein, and not 
give the subject a thought, but when you cross that 
beautiful bridge, and look down on the swollen river 
rolling below, think of the many weary coolies and 
indignant planters who have waited on its banks for 
the old ferry boat. Both sides of the river, more 
especially the one next Gampola, were, or was, a fa- 
vourite halting-place for bullock carts, either, from 
choice or against their will : in the former case water 
was abundant, for either cart drivers or cattle. The 
former might frequently be seen, standing up to their 
middle in the river, beside their cattle, scrubbing 
and washing them ; they would catch hold of them 
by the horns and rub off all the dirt and dust 
from their bodies, washing and cleaning even their 
eyes, ears, and nostrils ; most of the cattle would 
make a sudden bolt and start, as if they had an 
objection to being cleaned, and preferred a dirtjr 
dusty skin, up the bank of the river towards Gam- 
pola at full speed. The driver, tightening his thin 
strip of cloth round his middle, his long wet hair 
hanging and flying over his shoulders, would dart 
* Of which a view may be seen m Tennent’s book. — Ed. 
