, 1876-09-30
STRANGELY l,ETR0THED.

|
uc,trc M, Ella, or. ,o,,, ;, ,o,a w., ,o+ho-
~ s ,,.s..', e"s '' 49,, % e ~. ~, l"."'
as nc .'gnteneu 'ne rem OF h's stufay i''i.pony.
"Welt. my dear, hare to facc the heat, too,
and shall envy you tho Aliatlo Of your favorite
trees tcsido thr liz tank. Tint 1tolnhar head
man snni.o ~ ,ho In. s,..vr,t oro, !, ronc
~ oa,ip. s,o ,no n,"dni"en r". ~, s"e y
meet me In front Of thu tosa.ho,,so In tho Mi
Tantce village, TO sec II we ran cotne 10 torms,
| / shall be back before t,0lu.t,,pe. hone"
Ani ,s,,, a t,n.,t, ,,o, orn .tniIo =. roa.
| W., ,',', ""1 ~ ~, a"n a'"e' NC 4ouo
OH at oflsk tfot,-hle hofseRcepcr' naee-
| footed ttngnlcso lad, easily keeping pacc with
! the pony, anil running swift and silent, like Is
brown aiatlow, beside Ills n,nstcr's stirrup.
Times had changed and for the worse since
ar. lfhScra haa bccn rcckohcu among the most
thriving coffee. planters in Ccylou, Our onco
family Tint had po.sesscI Il for two generations.
1 ~. ."a. 'a, "'.i 49,. e0"s ~, ~. ... T..
was not now Inc sou9ec OF pfoit lhas, III ny
erandlathcrs time, 1t had hceu. The fich soi',
tenpcr vfc1dcJ its hrarv hm1vcat of rrft.brnun
horT,na: Wills ~ rsso,n, frcst Lam, fro1n ,nn
,,,an,a ,.as h,., .,,,ss,a 10 an.,,n rho
luns'c was ooth tollsomo anu Costly lug
estnts gave ia the meals Of maintenance, nul
little more.
Twas m only child. and nv fother vas a wild.
,u.,r. ~ t,,nt a'r ."t,,,, 3..as.,,,as T., t,st
| cheap md frugal country, were easily provided
for. Nor should have had care In the world,
% rhcj, ~ ,ar1 M cr1nstorc:. @ w @ won,n % mt sufTsr "
run smooth. onr nearest nelehoor-ana cnr,s-
tan ne1SH1ors, #lt'l white faces anu Engilsa-
speaking tongues, were scarce In Northern
| Ceylon--was MIR. Forster planter, by far
| vcotthfer than W. wcrr. Nov. Oswo1', Forstcr
s 49,, ,a.o., Nv. w.. y,
ahu "ese p4'snteu loVcfsi put thc very laea VI
an engagement between Ills only son and the
! daughter Of his embarrassed neighbor was gall
strong.wi|led man, who managed his thriving
| property 80 rs to extract from every bcrenh ii
arn6lc lnnd its utmost Yield In silver rupees.
DESTROYS to eifacc from Oswald's mind the
Forster, witt; Ills wiIe's concurrence, proposed
to send his son to Europe, confident that foreign
travel and change OF sccne would soon oi,litGr-
little girl beside tho great Tank Of M!nAry.
| Aid now word CONCERNING tho tunk itself,
the name OF which, fcus, conveys to European
renders but very Inadequate conception Of tic
Justly rcckoned among the marycls which tho lis
aud of Ccyl0n hus still to show Is perhaps the
grandcst Of artificial akcs ever planned by NOR
tal opgi,leer. More than two thousand years
have passed since, before tho Christian ora,
Buddhist King badc his subjects toll to erect tho
| massive waIla Ut lewn stone aud tough chit
nam that environ that yaet sheet OF water,
twsnty'siye mi|cs , II, cisc;.mterenge: ,,. ,u,.,
I
! closo to my own home, lad been from child
hood famillnr; and dearly loved thu mirror
like c1panso Of It's calm waters, studded with
| floating Islands Of tho er1tns0n-lpsspncd lotus
Of India, tho red tlowers and green leavcs Of
wlicl, covered mauy thousand acres OF thu sur
iaee. Strange fish of brilliant co1ors gllded In
glttering slsoals through the deep, clear water,
| rarely disturbed by PROV or plddlc, Bright
birds Of every Bzc, from, tho scarlet danlugo to
tlse tiny oriolu or tho towering utljutnnt,
hauntedft; and uil around grew in dcnse pro-
fusion the mighty trees and Towering crcepcrs
| of tue virgin forest, whence camc, at times,
4 tho com blaintng rry Of tho mountain-cat, tho
bclllmg II tic deer the pa,tlyr's sllnr,, OF the
crashing Of cane and sapllng as Wild elephants
forced their way through tho trackcss reccsses
! OF the Jungle.
IN, butind to admit TINT there wero other
tenants Of the lake antl forest less ATTRACTIVE
tt,an the brigl,t-piunaged birds and the pretty
little lizards basking in the patches Of yellow
| sunshine. Allgators were very comtuon,
snakes plentiful, and the SCORPION, the reutt-
/ pcue, and tho tree-lcccll were often to he met
| with IN tho u10rs swa1unr md tnnref trafta of