The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-06-05
TIE ISLAND or CEYLoM

hoon eybausted, IL Is certainly the Island OF
CeyIon. Tne adhereuts OF Brahns ma R1d,bo Sa1' ~
nerceiye in it the pearl fallen from GnS cI0WI
pi India; to the Chinese 1t Is tne lsl"nu l n Ot
Jewels, Laou-tshouj to the SteeSs ~ Snsiosno Sro
home of precious stones, ana tne enInuslasIt enIt
81 a certain class of Biblical Commentators went
evpn so far as to place there the paradise Oh
I,enesis To the more prosaic sauOI wno NM
never loses sight of the interest OF hls sup,
this terrestrial paradise has a radlcal ue.eS' a
he 6nds there no safe anchoring ground
simple look on the map OF Jhe inHI@n nt
sea is sufficient 70 snow VLey rey1on M, is one of
those points which are naturally markeu 2uG .s as
n maritime centre. 1t may be Justly salu tlat
the port Of Point de GALE oyison oSi or ref1ge
nv all steamers which come from OF go 70
Calcutta and Singapore. Uniortunately' Wmle
Trncomae on the eastern supLe % W oHg5S Poin FeIg
Gole is narrow, inCommodiOus, even danger
ous when the Southeast trade winds prevail,
SO that ships are Obliged TO throw OUT an%Ghors %
ahead and astern, But while the sailor looks
with rather doubtful satisfaction on this, tue
tourist with unmixed admiration beholds the
snIendid panorama which Is presented before
his eyes Whether he came from Europe
ever Ignez where he saw nothing but the
sterile rocks OF Alden; or whether he LETT
behind the Sunda Straits with their hoWery
Islands, Ceylon will otter 70 ms we" ne%
objects of admiration. 1t IS true, the sea IS
of the same deep sapphire blue as at Penang,
and the shores, with their never iadlng Verdure,
are reflected from its brilliant surface as wen
there as here. But in Ceylon he Will ma tne
mountain scenery which is wanting IN the
somewhat eheminate landscape OF the Sunda
Islands. From the terrltery arise Che masslVe
heights of the Randy mountain range, over
topped by the Pic oil Adam, Wnlcn Co"els AiSu
up into the sky. . ~
One of the most enchanting roads in the
world is that along the western shores oil tne
sea which connects the capital, COLOMBO, with
Point de Gale. The colony is indebted to the
English administration for this road as well as
for all the other means OF communication on
the island. Similar to park alley between
Point de Gale and Colombo, for an uninter
rupted line of seventy miles, this road on both
sides is shaded by high palm trees, the intervals
between which are filled out as with curtain
by orchidaCeous plants and other creepers. On
his right hand the traveller perceives the mas
sive centre of the Randy Mountains, and on his
left the sea constantly animated by the move
ments of those fishing boats of an original con-
struction which are called cdtdndrdnS. The
villages are surrounded by clusters OF cocoa and
areca trees. When he approaches the capital,
the old Dutch villas are succeeded by more
modern constructions. AT last he arrives at the
charming village of Colpetty, which is sheltered
by dome OF gigantic tamarnd trees, and at
once he fnus himself before the fortified front
of the city, on the plain of Gale faas, covered
over with a thick carpet OF convolvulas and
their brilliant red flowers.
Neither Gale nor Colombo possess character
of remarkable originality; well-preserved fortl-
fications, in the interior some churches built in
the seventeenth century, large streets shaded
by hibiscus trees one hundred years DID, the
classic houses of one story OF the tropical eli
mates, with verandahs and plllared porticoes-
this is the general aspect OF the two cities, of
which the second IS much more important than
the first. The great charm OF Ceylon, to the
stranger lies in its natural beauty-much less,
however, on the sea shore, where nature has
been tanned and brought under culture, than in
the virgin forests where she is still in her pIi-
mitive state. Nothing is so beautiful as those
immense masses Of verdure which, when seen
4 thnf ton Of in 1nI @.
tions reach as far as the horizon. Nothing
can do full justice to the impression which is
produced on the traveller when he penetrates
under these secular canopies, high and solemn
like cathedTals, where, even at noon, the rays
of the sun only shed faint and doubtful light.
In the midst of these forests live the Veddas,
the last descendants of the natives, who are
still to-day as savage as they were two thousand
years ago, when their ancestors were driven
back into the interior of the island by the In
dian conqueTOr WijayO, five hundred and forty
three years before Christ. Here you find also
the imposing ruins of the ancient capitals Of
Ceylon, Polanarrua and Anuradhapura, which
testify of the splendor of q past civilization
The first OF these cities covered a space of thirty
miles in length and four iR breadth. The
place where the palaces stood is marked by walls
covered with rich sculptures, that of the tem-
pies or viharas by colossal statues of Buddha,
fifty feet high. The bronze palace built by the
King Gaimoonoo, reposed on 1900 pillars of
granite, erected in forty parallel lines, and
which contained not less than 900 apartments,
QlStrlDuted IN nine stories, one above the other.
The building received its name from the metallic
roof which covered the whole. In Anurad.
hapura, whole mountain, that of Mihintala,
had been cut out for a temple, while the re.
mains of another not less gigantic pagoda, that
OF Maha Stoopa, would actually furnish enough
bricks to construct q wal ten feet high and one
loot thick from London to Edinburgh. OF all
constructions the most remarkable, whose de-
structlon is the most to be regretted, were the
vast water reservoirs which formerly secured tc
the whole island an ineXhaustible fertility
These were real artificial lakes of ten, fifteen
and twenty miles in circumference, which fur
nlshed the water for the canals of irI1pation in
sufficient quantity to fertilize whole provinces
which India is to-day obliged to provide wifi
rice necessary to feed its inhabitants Their
were formerly distributed over the island tbirt,
OF these artificial lakes and six to seven hun
uIeo small reserVoirs-a complete system O
lrrlgalon. The Portuguese and Dutch alIowei
these indispensable and useful CONSTRUCTIONS 4
tal IN ruin, and the English Goyernnnent re-
colleu before the enormous expenses which fo
the re-edlhcatlon OF the dixie of PadivII waT
estlmated AT thlrty-two millions of francs: te
have been required for it. "N'
Ceylon and Maacca have been rndor ~,
same masters, and passed through Tho eonl
political phases since the epoch az thor Al
coVery. The Portuguese first took nossessio
OF them in the beginning of the sixteenth cor
tury. Towards the middle of the seyenteent
the Dutch expelled them, and finally the En-
lish profted by the wars of the French Rev
luton in 1896, to occupy them. The DutC
regimen left few traces in the island while nj
Portuguese have marked their passage by act
the remembrance OF which still lngers in 4
mind of the inhabitants. More preoccupi
with the propagation OF their religious ere
than with the interests of commerce, they M
boast of having founded there Catholics
which for 200 years Victorlously resisted I