Morris tribune., 1906-06-16

of boats. At Colombo we saw the
"dug- outsn, mentioned above and
then a peculiar fishing boat, called
also stcatamarann but we are told
that the dug -out is the real thing in
that line. This fishing boat, also used
for the conveyance of not moro than
two passengers, consists of long
and narrow hull, too narrow to ride
safely alone,a and then on out rigging
connecting with round log resting
in the water. The log keeps the
canoe upright. These boats will stand
all sorts of weather and when rugged
with little square sail, skim over the
water rapidly. Another type of boat
we found at Penang and Singapore;
it is called the "sampan". 1t is row
boat with very high and pointed prov
and with broad stern shaped after
the fashion of two fiat horns. The
rowers generally stand up and face
the prov. The most picturesque
boat we have seen however is the
Chinese "Junk.' Its low pointed
prov and broad high stern, it's ragged
and clumsy quintagonal said, present
a strange appearance. The sailor
man or woman handles the craft very
skillfully and it fills the need accept
ably.
At Colombo we saw our first really
tropical foliage. The air was heavy
and filed with a variety of odors.
The parks were beautifully laid out
and we'll kept. Here again we saw
evidence of the skill of the British as
colonizers. Everything they touch
seems to be transformed into beauty
SO far as externals go.
On Saturday we took an early train
for Randy, village in the high lands
of Ceylon. The line passed thru
dense jungle where one could readily
imagine he saw snakes and wild
animals-tho unfortunately we saw
neither. On every side were all sorts
Of palm trees, the cocoanut being es-
peciaLIy numerous. Fields of rice
81 Emerged in water and tea on dryer
grou nd: every conceivable form of
tropical growth could be seen from
the car window. At Handy the
ancient Sc a of government we drove
about the town, had another break
fast at quaint hotel and then went
to visit the Buddhist temple. If one
reads "The Light of Asia" by Arnold,
he gets a very high idea of Baddh
ism. And when one reads some of
the sayings Of this sage, he is impress
ed with their beauty. But here
where Buddhism grew and propered
and is strong today, it's place of wor-
ship-the chief place in India too
suggests nothing but grossness and
Idolatry is practiced most
Buddha is supposed to
have lived near Randy and hence we
were on sacred ground. Later we drove
to the famous Peradeniya botanical
gardens. Here we saw specimens of
coffee, tea, cocoa and rubber plants
as we'll as huge bamboos and i'm
mense ferns and beautiful orchids.
We did not see monkeys in the cocoa
nut trees and were disappointed.
Along the road we were shown bread
fruit and -"Jack fruit" trees. The
native huts were simple things, usu-
ally they are set up Or stills and are
topped with thatch roofs. We re-
turned to Colombo in the evening
and spent a quiet time aboard ship.
At Colombo we had our first ride in
the "Jinrickisha"- word is spell
ed variously but this is one spell
ing. The men who pull these vehi-
cles are sturdy and muscular. They
run 'fat-footed" instead of on the
ball Of the foot as we do.
Next morning after receiving about
fifty new passengers from the Austria
ian steamer, we sailed out of port
pound for Penang and Singapore. On
Monday a deck qoit to J n ment for
men, was held. My partner and I
in winning the finals. That
lay "sports committee" was APP
pointed to superintend deck games
etc. The games consisted of deck
luoits, bucket quoits and bull board
md the sports included a variety of
aces for both ladies and gentlemen.
Mrs. Hill won first prize in each of
he three tournaments for ladies and
ecretly [ was much pleased for there
we're certain ladies aboard who con-
idered themselves supreme in the
TT of quoits. In the mems tourna-
nents, [ managed to win two of the
he four frsts and so we considered |
hat America had done it's share. |
after leaving Singapore a prize was
ffered by three men for the winner
n &nT7