Madison times. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1884-1???, 1886-02-20
After the feast the pain.
After the plaster the draw,
After the clouds the rain.
After the frccZr the thaw.
ADAMS PEAK.
Cey;on's Holy Mountain. to Which
Buddhists Make Pilgrimages.

Buddhists Make Pilgrimages.
Far away in the mystic east there
rises, high 10 the sun. Il great natural
altar. ut which. since the dawn of ares,
man has, without ceas ny. wOrshipcd
until now. Over the dark-cyed, impas-
sive people of that strange, unaterahle
east ages flow AMI leave no mark: hum
dreds of general ons are born and pass
away and no change is wrought among
them. There is an awfulneSs in their
steady immobility. Dynsstie, may rise
and fall. governments my come and 90.
the name of their belief may he changed
and little differences in ritual and SER
vice may spring up. but from aeon unto
ron the peopc are unchanged. Ii is
the same life that they lead and the
same things that they worship. Back.
far back into the night of time. so far
back that the memory of those then
living is o.ably lost in the void of
the forgotten past, the dark-Skinned
people. wandering naked and unshamei
in the forest depths of III, Island of
Ceylon, looked with wide eyes, in which
the freshness and the wonder of the
youth time of mankind still shown with
the brightness of the dawn. upon Adam $
peak. the great. solitary mOunia n. riS-
ing lonely in its grandeur and height
from the low hills around il and the sea
of forest at lis et. Clouds capped its
hOary summit, storms played around its
heights, the very lightnings themselves,
which they so dreaded and rcvcrcd.
seemed born among its great rocks and
deep ravines; and gazing upon its sub
Unity in storm and upon its majesty in
peace they innocentlv wondered until
wonder grew To worship. So slight
have been the changes wrought upon its
rocks by the wear and tear of four thou
sand years of storm that the very paths
to its sacred summit that were followed
centuries before the beginning of the
present era are worn by the feet of the
weaIy pilgrims of To-Day. There is 4
legend that the iron chains fastened to
the walls of rock to give the pilgrims
safety along the precipices of that las;
SKY league were placed there in the
time and by the order of AleNaHd, :.
The links. though worn. are sound even
vet. About q mountain such a. this.
beautiful in itself. long considare 10 We
the loftiest in all Ceylon, and holy. ii
only from the steady voice of four thou.
sand years of PRAYER, Legends are sure
to gather. cloudlike and thick. Adam
peak is clothed from base to summit
with one great rob of myth and tabled
story. Not rock bat has its hist Jrv.
not brook withou; it, lcgen l. of W ~
shipper or worshiped. Beneath this over
hanging cliff Gauiama Bu 'dIa Slrpl
upon tina. dizzy lac ght Blldha. in h.
second incarnation. PRAYED. Although
specially sacred ID Bd,ldlla. it is 10: only
Bud,lhists who regard this mountain as
a holy spot: Hindoos AMI Mohammei dams
respect and reverence il. rs. too. Il Il oul
own Christian people, in earlier and
simpler times than these. Bu, although
the whole mountain is regard ID as holy
by all Oriental people. is only the sa.
cred footprint on the bold crag at the
very summit that is actually wor>hipel
To perform pilgfimage to this and to
lay an Offering upon it is TO a Buddhist
what visit to Mecca is to Mohamme-
dan. The time for the gr attest number
Of pilgrims to visit the mountain is April
and May. but all the year round a
steady stream of deyotees flows to thi.
shrine of the most holy Of all the relics
of their great teacher.-CorRhW Mag.
dEtae.