Ellsworth American., 1892-04-07

deatn neid revel under kandy's kings, has
. now become bower of lovelness and
p beauty--a spot whereon loves tale Is whis.
: pered into willing ears under the reign OF
England's gracious Queen.
J On the shore, about 700 feet from this
; little island, stands an sncent temple,
, called the Temple of the Tooth. In this
| temple is deposited what Is said to be one
: of Buddha's sacred teeth would not
!, head According TO Cingalese history
this sacred tooth was brought to Ceylon,
A. D. 3ll. The tooth is kept in a vault in
the temple having three keys; those keys
are held by the three highest officials on
the island and all must be present at the
opening of the vault which only takes
place upon special occasions was
shown over this and other temples, saw
idols and ancient carving on stone. was
shown the imprint Of Adams foot left on
Adams peak (now Kept 10 a vault In the
temple with other sacred relics was
shown through the golden temple wherein
are kept the sacred booi> of Bnddha,
written in sanscrit on palm leaves more
than 900 years ago and bound in gold
and silver. The people bring offerings Of
flowers TO different sections of the temple
every day To the golden temple, where
the sacred books are. the offerings are
brought three times day. and must be
either golden-hued. or white flowers with
golden hued borders
1t Is well known that Edwin Arnold Is
held In great respect by all Buddhists, and
iu this temple was shown by the chief
priest, (who was personally acquainted
with Arnold a beautiful silver leaf,
the leaf Of the botree, (India's sacred
tree incased between Two natural leaves
Of the bp, on one of which Arnold had
written his name. BY telling the priest
that had in my possession and had read
Edwin Arnold's Light Of Asia" and by a
/ judlcious use Of few small coins. got
! into the good graces Of the aged priest at
| once; and il is probable that | saw many
| things that otherwise | would not have
| seen. A part of the Temple Of the Tooth
il more than , .o00 years Old 1t having been
taken from an Old temple nearly three hun
I drcd years ago, and used In the construc-
! ton Of the present temple
Near this temple stand the palace Of
\ kandy'- kings. and many mocrrn buildings.
/ Lovely drives and walks border the lake,
and every fine day after -four = NJ kandy's
/ aristncracy can be seen walking, driving
! ami lounging In the shade OF those grand
| old Trees took stroll In the evening
| partially TO study human nature and other
| things under the magical Z. twinkle of
| stars In the far eastern" hemisphere
| When my short lesson had been studied,
but not learned, went to the hotel and
went to bed in a room where scorpions,
centiped-, &c. claimed the right OF occu-
| patton also. Morning came and nv little
| friends hustled In holes and hy-places and
hustled into my clothes, after nearly
shaking the buttons OF, in making sure tina;
none Of this careless company had under
taken TO locate on my property for the day.
| descended to the regions a story lower.
l.
One Of them brought me cup OF bllge-
water, called coffee here, part Of which
put under my vest ana went out into the
cool. bright, fragrant morning. 10 see If |
could not find purer element
| walked for a distance around the lake
In the dewy shade of the hills for time,
then seated myself on stone seat, many
Of which are plsced In the shade of the
wide spreading banyan and other trees for
the accommodation Of lazy loafers like
myself. Though | have wandered amid
many different and strange scenes this is
au addition to them all This Il one OF
the few parts of earth in which nature
never rests, but is constantly producing
Even vegetation in its wonderful abund.
ance is sight strange to look upon 10
man that lately left the barren extreme on
the southeast coast of Africa; palms Of
many varieties, the stately mango, pride
Of India, the wide spreading banyan, the
| 'feathery bamboo" and many other trees
| bearing flowers of their own besides an
outside covering Of creepers, loaded with
beautiful flowers of brilliant hues which.
clngins to the wide spreading branches
and towering trunks, variegste the varied
shades Of green with dazzling beauty.
! The music Of birds mingles with the soft.
mellow sound Of bells and metal plate, in
the temples, that are calling the faithful
I TO prayers; the sweet music Of an English
/ built piano, probably drawn out by the
| soft touch of velvery little hand. comes
TO me across the ripping surface Of the
/ lovely lake, on gentle breeze from the
| surrounding country and the open doors
/ and windows of a bungalow, standing a
| hundred feet above the lake, opposite
where sit, and occupied by an English
family. Natives in their bright haed garbs
are passing in all directions, bullocks
| drawing carts loaded with the various pro
| ducts of the country, or with men and
| women, native and foreign, are also NOV
| ing in different directions, and thousand
! other Interesting objects meet my view.
And 1t seems that l, too, have become an
| object of interest to the native element as
l sit here in the shade making strange
marks on paper that are as much puzzle
| to them-and to some other people-as
were the sanscrit characters to me which
| looked upon yesterday that were traced
upon the palm leaves hundreds of years
| ago.
One is impressed by the humble and re-
| spectful manners of the natives of this
and other parts Of British India toward
foreigners. 1t is one item Of the Bud
dhist creed that those of lower class or
order shall not do or say anything disre-
spectful to any one above their station.
believe the landlady told me they were
in the habit of eating about nine A. NJ, 50
| | think had better be drifting toward
| port once more. After breakfast char
tered team to take me to Paradenya,
some five miles distant, it being my inten-
ton to look over the renowned Botanical
Gardens located at that place. Here, if
had not been aware of the fact before,
had ample chance 10 learn that knew
but little Of tropical botany, and tried to
add little to the small stock of knowledge
which | possessed. Surely there is no
| part of the world where nature has done
l moro tn aasisf or wharo ho poada laSo