Eight Years Wanderings in Ceylon | Page 4

at War - Wanderoo Monkeys - Habits of Elephants - Elephants in the Lake - Herd of Elephants Bathing - Elephant-shooting - The Rencontre - The Charge - Caught by the Tail - Horse Gored by a Buffalo - Sagacity of Dogs - "Bluebeard" - His Hunt - A True Hound.
CHAPTER X.
Wild Fruits - Ingredients for a "Soupe Maigre" - Orchidaceous Plants - Wild Nutmegs - Native Oils - Cinnamon - Primeval Forests - Valuable Woods - The Mahawelli River - Variety of Palms - Cocoa-nut Toddy - Arrack - Cocoa-nut Oil - Cocoa-nut-planting - The Talipot Palm - The Areca Palm - Betel Chewing - Sago Nuts - Varicty of Bees - Waste of Beeswax - Edible Fungi - Narcotic Puff-ball - Intoxicating Drugs - Poisoned Cakes - The "Sack Tree" - No Gum Trees of Value in Ceylon.
CHAPTER XI.
Indigenous Productions - Botanical Gardens - Suggested Experiments - Lack of Encouragement to Gold-diggers - Prospects of Gold-digging - We want "Nuggets" - Who is to Blame? - Governor's Salary - Fallacies of a Five Years' Reign - Neglected Education of the People - Responsibilities of Conquest - Progress of Christianity.
CHAPTER XII.
The Pearl Fishery - Desolation of the Coast - Harbor of Trincomalee - Fatal Attack by a Shark - Ferocious Crocodiles - Salt Monopoly - Salt Lakes - Method of Collection - Neglect of Ceylon Hides - Fish and Fishing - Primitive Tackle - Oysters and Penknives - A Night Bivouac for a Novice - No Dinner, but a Good Fire - Wild Yams and Consequences -The Elephants' Duel - A Hunting Hermitage - Bluebeard's last Hunt - The Leopard - Bluebeard's Death - Leopard Shot.
CHAPTER XIII.
Wild Denizens of Forest and Lake - Destroyers of Reptiles - The Tree Duck - The Mysteries of Night in the Forest - The Devil-Bird - The Iguanodon in Miniature - Outrigger Canoes - The Last Glimpse of Ceylon - A Glance at Old Times.

EIGHT YEARS' WANDERINGS
CHAPTER I.
Colombo - Dullness of the Town - Cinnamon Garden - A Cingalese Appo - Ceylon Sport - Jungle Fever - Newera Ellia - Energy of Sir E. Barnes - Influence of the Governor - Projected Improvements.
It was in the year 1845 that the spirit of wandering allured me toward Ceylon: little did I imagine at that time that I should eventually become a settler.
The descriptions of its sports, and the tales of hairbreadth escapes from elephants, which I had read in various publications, were sources of attraction against which I strove in vain; and I at length determined upon the very wild idea of spending twelve months in Ceylon jungles.
It is said that the delights of pleasures in anticipation exceed the pleasures themselves: in this case doubtless some months of great enjoyment passed in making plans of every description, until I at length arrived in Colombo, Ceylon's seaport capital.
I never experienced greater disappointment in an expectation than on my first view of Colombo. I had spent some time at Mauritius and Bourbon previous to my arrival, and I soon perceived that the far-famed Ceylon was nearly a century behind either of those small islands.
Instead of the bustling activity of the Port Louis harbor in Mauritius, there were a few vessels rolling about in the roadstead, and some forty or fifty fishing canoes hauled up on the sandy beach. There was a peculiar dullness throughout the town - a sort of something which seemed to say, "Coffee does not pay." There was a want of spirit in everything. The ill-conditioned guns upon the fort looked as though not intended to defend it; the sentinels looked parboiled; the very natives sauntered rather than walked; the very bullocks crawled along in the midday sun, listlessly dragging the native carts. Everything and everybody seemed enervated, except those frightfully active people in all countries and climates, "the custom-house officers:" these necessary plagues to society gave their usual amount of annoyance.
What struck me the most forcibly in Colombo was the want of shops. In Port Louis the wide and well-paved streets were lined with excellent "magasins" of every description; here, on the contrary, it was difficult to find anything in the shape of a shop until I was introduced to a soi-disant store, where everything was to be purchased from a needle to a crowbar, and from satin to sail-cloth; the useful predominating over the ornamental in all cases. It was all on a poor scale and after several inquiries respecting the best hotel, I located myself at that termed the Royal or Seager's Hotel. This was airy, white and clean throughout; but there was a barn-like appearance, as there is throughout most private dwellings in Colombo, which banished all idea of comfort.
A good tiffin concluded, which produced a happier state of mind, I ordered a carriage for a drive to the