Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1906-10-18


all, for Us New Englanders, if we
go back a century or two, the mother
country" The bronze-hued natives
and the prettily- dressed European
women who had gone to meet the
governor waited until the soldiers had
passed. and upon the vivid, many
colored scene looked down, globe
and scepter in her hands, the efigy of
Queen Victoria, empress of India"
We drove one afternoon to Mt.
Lavinia, where the hotel, originally
built for governors residence,
stands on hight above the sea,
long stretch of sand beach on either
side. The palm trees grow down to
the waters edge and their trunks are
all but washed by the waves. The
road hither leads through native vii
lagos and great groves of cocoanut
palms, which cast shadows similar 20
those of our northern pine trees upon
a reddish soil that almost gives the
illusion of pine needles. The jour
ney to Randy, four hours by rail
from Colombo, is celebrated for its
beauty. Indeed, the scenery is SO
romantic as to be almost theatrical.
You see every tree you ever read about
in the biographies of your childhood,
every species of palm, banana, bread
fruit, banyan, cocoa, nutmeg, rubber
tree, the Towering hibiscus with its
exquisite plume-like blossom, and
others too numerous to mention
Handy is the garden of Ceylon. In
its midst lies small lake surrounded
by perfect roads almost overarched
by the branches of the trees and
everywhere there is profusion of
palms, flowers and all things beauti-
full. 1t is only somewhat too sleek,
too perfect and has too much the ap-
pearance of having been arranged
for foreigners. One object of inter
est is the temple of the Tooth, in
which is kept the so-called tooth of
Buddha, although the original tooth
is said to have been destroyed ages
ago and replaced by piece of ivory.
The temple is small and tawdry in it's
appointments and the tooth is jealous.
ly guarded from light. Near the
temple is the courthouse, an open
building with beautifully carved wood
en- columns and ceiling, once part of
the palace of the old Kandyan kings.
Here you may see the court sitting
and the trial proceeding beneath the
punkas in the open air. The favorite
drive in Handy Is to the Peradeniya
botanical gardens, which are truly
wonderful Here, fiourishing luxuri-
antly out Of doors, is every species of
tropical plant, shrub and marvelously-
colored leaf of which one has ever
hothouses. When, as one is allowed
to omit nothing, he is taken to see
the elephants bathe-five great
beasts, used for carriage in the morn
ing, which, in the afternoon are driv-
en- down to the river where they
wallow in the water with evident de-
light. Nor before leaving Handy
should / fail to mention the charming
Florence hotel, where we passed 10
days. 1t is like private bungalow,
indeed it was built as such, with all
the rooms on one floor, on the front
wide veranda overlooking the lake
and at the back other verandas round
little court or garden filed with
palms and flowers. We had an ex-
cellent bedroom boy" here, middle
IT,, fr.r oil &c
are boys here and answer to that APP
pellation All the work is done by
men.
Before coming to Ceylon one does
not realize that there are various
kinds of climate on the island, from
the extreme, moist heat of Colombo
| to a temperature hardly warmer than
a New England autumn, and practi-
cally unchanging. The hill stations
are invaluable for residents of Col
ombo and the plains, who resort to
them frequently to recruit their
| health. favorite place is Newark
Eliya pronounced Nuralia), 5000
| feet above the level of the sea. The
journey thither from Handy Is ro-
mantle and beautiful. After time
the palm trees disappear and the
purely tropical vegetation ceases;
you come into a region of forest trees
interpreted with frs, which give to
the English tea planters, Of whom
there are many scattered about up
country" the illusion of home" The
landscape becomes mountainous, you
pass through numbers of tea planta-
tons, and at certain junction you
change to a narrow-gauge road, over
which cars, with much putting and
steaming of the locomotive, jolt you
upward to your destination. On the
morning after our arrival we ascend
ed the highest point on the island, a
summit with a long Indian name,
called Pedro by the English, 1896
feet above the level Of the sea. When
we started at a. N. the ground was
white with boar frost. The natives
were all wearing rough brown
blankets. the upper part made into
hoods, which were drawn over their