New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-02-07
CEYLON'S ISLE.
A PARADISE WITH THE SERPENT.

Cumming. Illustrated by the author III wv vVi
umes svo. DID. 43o-442 Charles Scrlbhcfs oohs'
The island of Ccylon has long been icrule
source OF literature. The world has been furnished
with so many elaborate works upon us history
antiouities. religions. scenery, and the manners
and customs Of the Cnghalese, that so far as IN
formation is concerned the subject might he
Thought well-nigh exhausted. But there is al
WAYS room for new books of tue kind Miss Ouni-
ming has produced in these two volumes, Tor so
ACCOMPLISHED and veteran traveller has at COM
n.and not only an Unsurpassed faculty OF ooser-
walton, but a range OF experience in seml-ciVil-
lied regions which enables her to institute very
suggestive and illuminating comparisons MISS
Cumming made two visits TO Ceylon the hfst
some three Years before the second when she
stayed two years, the guest. during the grca'ef
part of the time, of the Bishop of COLOMBO. she
lourneycd all over the island, now III ooa'S, no"
OH horseback, or by carriage Everywhere one
sketchcd, and from her accumulation oil drawings
and paintings She has had prepared series Oh
excellent photographs admirably showing forth
the beauties of the scenery and the picturesque
ness of the ancient ruins, to illustrate her DOCK
TO show that the isle "where all in Nature
peases! and only Man is vile, was not altogether
libelled by the hymn-wrter, Miss Cumming re-
lates as one Of her first experiences in Ceylon The
appearance of swarms OF dealers IN bogus gems
steamboat Jewels as they are called in the trade'
being in fact, prepared expressly for The victim
ling of globe trotters" and other tenderieet,
who have heard of the Ceylon gems, but not
Of the fakirs" who deal in fraudulent limitations
Of them. These steamboat jewels are mostly
made in the isle Of Murano, near Venice, and are
thence sent to England, where they set in
purest gold from the mines OF Birmingham. ana
then forwarded to Ceyon, amongst other Christian
,zin If ciy
scrbng tie travellers first drive on the island VIII
give a good idea of the BEAUTIES of Nature 50 abound
ing there
Our road lay through groves OF graceful
and iuXuisnt palms nread pd ,H nma fr yak " and
thckcts of Towering shrubs, whose delicious Ira,
GRANGE scented the air Here and there we passed
named The Flame of the Forest. Gorgeous are
the masses Of scarlet and gold blossoms, which IN
May and June rest on delicate teathery foliage OIL
dazzling green. Especially fascinating 70 Us was
the Hibiscus mutabilis, a shrub whose masses Of
rose-like blossoms daily change from white to
crimson. Each morning sees s the , bush
ing like freshly fallen snow. and ere the
sun sets all have assumed "a lovely rosecolor
Exquisite living creatures. gossamer-winecd.
skinned through the blossOming forest IN this
sweet summer world. Amid the flame colored and
golden blossoms fitted splendid butterflies, some
pale blue. some yellow. others velvcty black with
crimson spots and brilliant metallic-looking dragon
flies Flowers familiar TO only in stoves and
lighthouses were there in wild luXuriance- pomeas,
convolvuli orchids, the quaint pitcher-plant and
many another blossom while ferns which we deem
rare and precious formed a rich underground OF
gOdcn-green the lOveiest of all being the Climb
Ing ferns. which. creeping On delicate hair Like
stems. form tangle Of exquisltel dainty foIage
yelling trees and shrubs. In some districts have
secn them growing 10 such height. and hanging
from the trees in such masses that the natives cut
them as would brackcn. and use them Tor
thatch the long black stems reaching down TO the
a.
there clumps of graceful bamboo waved their teath-
cry branches aud broad: shining leayes OF nc yam,
resembling huge caladiums, and the still larger
and more glossy plaintain, clustered round the
picturesque native huts. whence pleasant, CHEEKY
looking people. or curious small. brown children
came 10 offer MS flowers or wonderful toys ma llc
OF strips of palm-eaf, twisted into stars wheels:
FORMS suspended on long thin grasses. as TO
trcmblc and Quiyer with breath-most ingenious
creations
On her second and longer visit 10 Ccylon Miss
Cumming made acquaintance with the drawbacks
10 all these beauties of scenery and vegetation
She found that il is never safe 10 drink the water
Of the country until it has been twice boiled and
filtered She found that the lovely flowers which
tempt the hand 10 pick them are almost invariably
defended by cruel thorns She also found that
where thorns and bricrs were absent, almost every
branch of every Towering shrub the home
Of colony of large red ants. vino rush out upon
tie sleeve inlctng painful bites. As to mos
quitoes and sand-fies, they everywhere, and
there is besides minute pest called the eyc-ny.
which hovers perpetually close possible TO
the human eye, and Of course often gets into IL.
Prickly heat, too, as in India and China, is a
fruitful cause of suffering. One evening Miss
Cumming sitting the deck of the primitive
houseboat in which an excursion along The coast
was being made when she discovered "a gruesome
centpede, fully seven inches long," cooled up in
her lap. Snakes are plentiful and generally ven
omous but they usually get of the way of white
men, being able 10 hear their approach. and re-
serve their bites for the barefooted natives whose
tread makes no sound.
Besides snakes there are scorpions and great
spiders of the "mygale' species: and besides
these there are and-leeches. and these last have
tendency TO fly from man. On the contrary"
says Miss Cumming, the football of man or beast
is as welcome dinner-bell, at sound of which the
hungry little creatures hurry from all sides; and
as each is furnished with five pair of eyes they
keep sharp lookout for their prey which they do
by resting on the tip of the tall and raising them
selves perpcndicuary to look around. Thus arch
in- their body head-foremost and bringing up the
tail. they rapidly make for their victim Being
only about an inch long, and no thicker than
stout pin. they coptrive TO wrggle through stock
lngs, and commence their attack gently that
several may he fcastng without attracting atten-
tion. till being gorged, and distendcd TO about a
couple of inches in length and the size of quill
pen. they cease sucking; but blood sometimes con-
tinucs to flow till checked by Il squeeze of lemon
Juice" This is pleasant, and there is larger and
(iercer lccch which infests the tanks and attacks
all animals coming to drink, fastening itself on the
muzzlc and thence passing 10 the nostrs
and throat Sometimes these ecches cause the
death of the animals upon which they fasten.
Speaking of the tanks which supply the Cinghalese
of much of the interior with water, they are nfest
ed not only with leechcs but with crocodiles,
which also inhabit the rivers, and which cause many
deaths every year. In the around the island
there are plenty of sharks and these also find their
way some distance up several Of the rivers. and