The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-06-09

AN ISLAND OF FLOWERS.
An English Artists Impressions of Cey-

Following IN the wake OF ali pas
eengers,' fell desperately in love with
Ceylon at first sight. Be careful i'm
plore YOU to note the fact that [ have
called myself passenger. In India
when they desired to give me polite
,nubbing they limited that ! was a
"globe trotter." but here in this island
of sun and spices, of deposed coffee and
.exultant tea, of fragrant cinnamon and
health-preserving quinine, here where
The foliage and the flowers are so DOM
fnant, assertive and irrepressible that
you seem to see them grow before your
owes like Jacks beanstalk of immortal
memory, here where they thrust upon
the meek and guileiess visitor sapphires
off-colOr, and indifferent rubles and
melancholy moonstones and eats"
eyes with cataracts on them, the trad
ers wink the other eye" and call us
passengers
And why did l fall in love with Cey-
Ion at first sight? you will ask. Was 1t
burning Colombo and its picturesque
harbor and breakwater basking in a
tropical sun? Was il the curious spec
tacle of the men with long hair twisted
into knots at the back of the head like
women and proud of their baby top
knot combs of light-yellow tortoise
shell? Was it the first introduction to-
\ .'ricl1shaw.' alias child's go-cart,
zllidding along the damp, hot streets,
propelled by half-nalled coolies with
BACKS as muscular as greyhounds and
Feet as hard as nails? Was If the low,
cocoanut- planted shore. with its fringe
of deep green. its yellow sands and
purple waters. where stands the lovely
Mount Lavinia ana its famous hotel,
dedicated 10, fish iuncheons Saturday,
10 Monday outings. and Homogeneous?
Was it the intoxicating scent of flowers
in every street. garden. lodge an plan
tation. the trumpet-shaped lily blooms
starring the greencst and taklest trees,
-Zhe crimson hibiscus. swarming over
every hedge. the shot flower of
every imaginable shape and hue that
makes the humblest of bungalows a
paradise? Was it the smiling faces of
the piccauniny Tamils who ride on their
mothers hips in preference to ''pick-a-
bucko" Was it the sudden change from
SpIfblI dHCltHb W plcdSdht-
ness. peace and prosperity? / know
not. Perhaps only a combination of
these new experiences.
should like to he able to describe to
you-4he curious damp. tropical heat of
Colombo as | felt it that first evening
in search of friendship by the summer
lake. You can experience it yourself
if you take the trouble to go to the hot
house of the botanical gardens or to
the palm house at Kew. 1t is a moist.
dew drippy, eXhausting heat that half
stiles and does not wholly depress.
This is the heat that makes the cocoa
nut flourish and the banana bloom:
this is the heat that makes
forest of all the grass land.
and gives a Jungle for the rogue ele-
plant and the cat-like leopard. This
is the heat that makes the tea bush
flush" and the coffee plant burst
into berry. This is the heat that is only
sssuaged ny a daily downpour of
tropical rain that turns the courses into
cataracts: moisture as persistent and
sun as powerful as this make the whole
of Ceylon from north to south bud and
blossom and throb with vegetation and
animal life. 1t suits the flowers. which
are far lovelier here than elsewhere in
the world. since Ceylon is a dollhouse
without glass roof; il suits the birds
of gorgeous plumage. and sublime con-
fidence. who fly in at my bedroom win
dow every morning and share my
modest repast; IL suits the sportsmen
who destroy, be ii the ''tuskless ele-
plant" in the dangerous jungle. the
stag and antelope on the mountain
ridge or the jack silipe in the LOVELY
ing. irrigated paddy field. II suits the
jovisl, good-natured planter. who has
taken heart of grace after the failure
of the coffee crop. and is making a little
fortune out of his Ceylon tea. backed up
with sugar and spice and all that's
nice for the storehouse cupboard: and,
on the whole it suits admira bly,
well the poor passenger who comes out
10 Ceylon in search of health ana gen
eral information. For You must remau-
Der that Colon be is not all Ceylon. 1t
Is very hospital bic and pleasant. but you
must halt there for awhile. and not re-
ihbult III lltS itoGilpuSS. on
must comeup the wonderful mountain
railway. into the pure fresh air, away
past Handy, with its sacred Buddhist
relics: away to the lily garden of Newra
Eliys. where the scenery is as beautiful
as,at the Engardine. where the air is
pure as at St Moritz. and the hotel as
coy as any at Pontresina.
am NOT On c,,r.. l,l co -
few miles out of Delhi the other day
one of the most extraordinary diving
feats ever accomplished. native, at
the imminent risk of his life. made an
eightyfoot heel dive" down a narrow
well, and, not content with that.
plunged off the topmost roof of lofty
temple into tank of water The
amusements at Lavinia are not of SO
hazardous a kind as that, but only
consist of the marvellous hand-over-
hand swarming of the native BOYS.
who will go up and pluck you cocoa.
nut from the tallest palm ever grown.
And so. If you care to do il. YOU can
select your own nut from Your particu-
lar tree. and under that same tree
drink the milk. and at the risk of in
digestion masticate the contents of the
shell. But since have been in Ceylon
have experienced far more wonder
full sensation than that. have plucked
fresh green tea leaf in the early
morning on one of the up-country tea
estate of mountainous Ceylon. | have
seen it deposited in a bag. and stood at
the edge ofs lofty precipice as the tea
bag with my leaf in it went whizzing
down on wire thousands of feet into
space, 10 arrive eventually at the facto.
~, there 10 be dried, curled. pressed. and