Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals," for he urges his bullocks onward by violently twisting their tails.

This busy city is quite unlike any other we have thus far visited. In its very center is a beautiful lake, its shores fringed with banana and cocoa palms.

The English quarter, with its shops, banks, and modern houses, occupies but a small part of the city; and, while very pretty, it does not interest us as do the strange sights we see in the native quarter.

There are crowds of people passing to and fro, and, as their dress indicates, they belong to many nationalities; but the Cingalese and Tamils are the most

numerous. These two peoples came originally from southern India, and are to be found in all parts of Ceylon. They form two distinct castes, and differ in dress, language, and religion; for the Cingalese are Buddhists, while the Tamils are Hindus. One characteristic feature of the dress of a Cingalese man is the large, semicircular tortoise-shell comb which he wears on the top of his head, with the ends projecting to the front. The dress of the women is very much like that of the men, both wearing bright jackets and striped skirts.

The

The roads leading from Colombo are lined with cocoa palms, and beneath them are clustered the native huts. Groups of brown children, humped cows, donkeys, and poultry are everywhere to be seen. cocoa palms are carefully cultivated, as they do not grow wild in Ceylon. As the Chinese find uses without number for the bamboo, so do the natives of Ceylon find an endless variety of uses for the cocoa palm. They use the kernel for food; the shell serves for drinking cups; from the fiber is made strong rope and matting; the woody stems form the framework of cabins, and the great leaves thatch them. In the rude huts to be seen in some of these villages, Cingalese workmen are engaged in the manufacture of cocoanut oil. A native, on being told there were no cocoa palms in England, was greatly surprised and exclaimed, "How do the people live?"

Near Colombo are the famous cinnamon groves covering hundreds of acres. The cinnamon bush is a shrub of the laurel species, and when once planted

grows without much cultivation.

The well-known

The

cinnamon spice is obtained from the inner bark. preparation, sorting, and packing of cinnamon gives employment to many of the natives of Ceylon. There are two seasons for gathering cinnamon

one

in the month of April, the other in the month of November.

Because of the great quantity of cinnamon grown on the island the very air has been thought to be filled with its spicy fragrance; but this cannot be true, since the plant gives forth no odor until the leaves are crushed or the bark is peeled.

The railway journey from Colombo to Kandy, the old capital of Ceylon, affords a good opportunity to see more of the life of this beautiful island. The road passes first through rice fields, or, as they are here more correctly called, paddy fields, since rice in the husk is known as paddy, throughout India and Ceylon.

Rising to a higher level we see palms without number. The most interesting, the talipot palm, may perhaps be seen in bloom. This is a rare sight, as the tree never blooms until seventy or eighty years old, and after this it dies. The blossom is a great spike of yellowish-white flowers, twenty or more feet in height, rising above a crown of dark green, fan-shaped leaves. Some of these leaves are eight feet in diameter, and are used by the natives for umbrellas.

As the train ascends into the cooler regions, we pass tea gardens where once were coffee plantations. Coffee was, until within a few years, one of the chief products

of the island, but, owing to a blighting disease which attacked the coffee trees, the crop has failed and the cultivation of tea is fast taking its place.

Kandy is situated far up among the hills, on the shore of an artificial lake. It was the stronghold of the Kandyan, or Highland kings, who maintained their independence for more than three centuries after the lowlands had fallen into the hands of the English. The story of the construction of the artificial lake is of peculiar interest, since it gives a good idea of the ability and skill of these ancient kings.

It is related that one of the Kandyan kings, in order to cool the atmosphere of the mountain town, built an embankment at the end of a valley and so imprisoned the waters of a shallow river. The lake thus formed is encircled by a road, from which the view is one of ideal beauty. Here is still to be seen the palace of the kings, now occupied by government offices.

The object of greatest interest in Kandy is the Temple of the Tooth, the most famous of Buddhist shrines. Within its walls is the sacred tooth, believed, by his faithful followers, to be a relic of Buddha.

On rare occasions only is the sacred tooth exhibited, and at such times most imposing ceremonies are observed. It is described by the few privileged visitors who have seen it as an ivory fang at least three inches in length! It is kept in a casket of precious gems, which rests upon a table covered with richest draperies. It is held in reverence by Buddhists everywhere. Year after year priests from Burma and Siam come here with beautiful gifts, besides paying yearly