The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1893-05-19
AN ISLAND OF FLOWERS.
An English Artists Impressions OF Cey-

Ceylon at frst sight. Be careful. / i'm
plore you, to note the fact that 1 have
called myself a passenger" In India
when they desired to give me a polite
snubbing they limited that | wa a
globe trottcr,' bat mere in this island
of III and spices. of deposed coffee and
eXultant tea, Of fragrant cinnamon and
health-preserving quinine, here where
the foliage and the flowers are 50 dom
inant, assertive and irrepressible that
You seem to see them grow before your
eyes like Jacks beanstalk Of immortal
memory. here where they thrust upon
the meek and guileless visitor sapphires
~otf-cOlor, and Indifferent rubies and
melancholy moonstones and cats
eyes with cataracts on them, the trad
ers wink the other eye and call us
"p~asScngers."
And why did l fall in love with Cev-
Ion at first sight? you will ask. Wasi it
burning Colombo and it's picturesque
harbOr and breakwater baskinp in a
tropical sun? Was it the curious spec
taclc 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 li~ght-yellOw tortoise
she'll? Was it the first introduction to
a 'rickshaw,' alias child's go-cart,
aIIidGing along the damp, hot streets.
propelled by half-naked coolies with
backs as muscular as grey-hounds and
feet as hard as nails? Was it the low,
cOcOanut-planted shore. with its fringe
of deep green, its yellow sands and
purple waters. where stands the lovely
Mount Lavinia and its famous hotel,
dedicated to fish luncheons Saturday,
to Monday outings. and honeymOons?
Was it the Intoxicating scent of flowers
in every street. garden. lodge an plan
tatiOn. the trumpet-shaped lily blooms
starring the greenest and tallest trees,
the crimson hibiscus, Swarming over
every hedge. the "shot flower of
every imaginable shape and hue that
paradise? Was it the smiling faces of
the ~piccanniny Tamils who ride on their
mothers hips in preference to ''pick-a-
buckle Was it the sudden change from
solemn and ancient India to pleasant
ness, peace and prosperity? 1 know
not. Perhaps only a combination of
these new experiences.
/ should like to be able to describe to
you the curious damp, tropical heat of
Colombo as l 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
a forest Of all the grass land.
and gives d jungle for the rogue eIe-
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
assuaged by 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 CcylOn from north to south bud and
blossom and thrOb with vegetation and
animal life. 1t suits the flowers, which
are far l0velicr here than elsewhere in
the world, since CeylOn is a dollhouse
without a glass roof: it suits the birds
of gorgeous plulnage, and sublime con
fdence, who fly in at my bedroom win
dow every morning and share my
modest repast: it suits the spOrtSmen
who destroy, be it the ''tusklesS ele-
plant" in the dangerous Jungle, the
stag and antelope on the mountain
ridge or the jack snipe in the LOVELY
ing. irrigated paddy field. 1t suits the
~jovial, g~OOd-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 admirably
we'll the poor passenger who come out
to CeylOn in search of health and gen
eral information. For you must remem-
Der that Colombo is not all CeylOn. 1t
is very hOspitahle and pleasant. but you
must halt there for awhile. and not re-
main a fixture in this dollhouse. You
must come up the wonderful mountain
railway, into the pure fresh air. away
past Handy, with its sacred Buddhist
ltIAIS' hN ~ llIS my SdA'CA
Eliya. Were the scenery is as beautiful
as at the Engardine, where the air is
pure as at St. Moritz. and the hotel as
cozy as any at Pontresina.
| am not so sure that did not see a
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
e~ighty-foot heel dive" down a narrow
well, and. not content with that,
plunged off the topmost roof Ct a lofty
temple into a 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 a cocoa
nut from the tallest palm ever grown.
And so, if you care to do it, you can
select our own nut from Your particu-
lar tree, and under hat same tree
drink the milk. and at the risk of in
digestion masticate the contents Of the
shell. But since l have been in Ceylon