Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-21
i'm CEYLON'S SPICY ISLE
ITI-THE SACRED SHRINE OF KANDY
BY Frederic j. Haskin

has restored the odd cement walls
erected by the Kandyan kings, and
when he has built anew he has fol-
lowed the ancient and native style OF
architecture.
Within a days ride of Handy wild
elephants still roam the jungle. In
its very suburbs there is herd of ele-
plants at work, piling timber for
saw mill. Still nearer to the city IS
the herd of elephants which are kept
sacred to the Temple of the Tooth.
One day in each year they are used
| in the procession of the Tooth, ana
on all other days they do cunning tricks
and eat bananas from the hands OF
timid tourists that their keepers may
get rich, comparatively speaking, from
tips.
Four miles away, back In the direc-
tion of Colombo, are the Peradeniya
| gardens. 1.-THE most beautiful gardens
in the world" say those who have seen
them all. Surely Peradeniya should
support the claim that Ceylon was the
Garden OF Eden. Every tree and plant
and flower of the tropical world has
been gathered here.
Just before one enters the garden he
sees a cultivated field in which tea,
coffee and chocolate are being grown In
/ happy family fashion for the delecta-
| tion of varying breakfast tastes ana
| the profit of the owner. Inside the
garden one walks through q grove of
nutmeg trees, from which come nut
megs and mace, to a garden In which
cinnamon, all-spice, cloves, cardamon
and pepper all grow contentedly. MOI
| far away Is q garden with various
| kinds of sugar producing plants' SO thaI
| 1t may be said that Peradeniya is made
of sugar and spice and all that's nice:
Here is an orchid house In which Is
| collected the most beautiful of the spe-
| cies of towering parasites from an
| around the equator, as well as tne
common varieties which grow wild IN
the neighboring jungles. Here is
! plant which has leaves like bronze, ana
| here is one with an odd metallic sheen
that is sometimes red, sometimes pur,
ple and sometimes gray, as 1t Is turned
| in the light. II.
One is driven through an avenue or
noble tallpot palms, and ls almost
fempted to doubt his senses. The tall
not is the siant of the palm family 1t
! looks exactly as IL an ordinary caopage
| nalmetto of the south Atlantic states
| of America had suddenly grown 10
J enormous proportions. Its fan-shapeu
leaves are more than twelve feet IN
| diameter one of them making sum
cieht roof for native mouse, mouse. tSn IN
these leaves have been inscriped the
history and sacred lore of Ceylon Tor
! thousands of years. The taltpot mas
ira gic history OF itself. 1t continues TO
grow until 1t is about 40 years oiu'
when 1t sends up an enormous staik,
capped by a graceful profuslon OF WHY Wnlte
| Aowers. Then follow the seeds. when
require a year to ripen. And then tne
old tree, its duty done, at once submits
to the death that Is inevitable
Here and there are groups OF pam
boos. every known variety being rep
resented. Some of them are small, pro-
ducinp stems At only for walking
| sticks. Not far away is the giant pam
! hoo Of Burma, whose stalks attain n
height of 120 feet and which grow at
the rate of a foot in twenty-four hours
after being refreshed by good RAIN
There is the deadly upas tree, which
one is told is not deadly at all. anu
hanging over garden gates like any
! harmless morning glory, are carnivor-
| ous vines with queer cup-shaped now
ers which lure insects by their sweet
| ness only to clasp them and kill them
when they alight. The purpose or the
gardens Is economic and the expert
mental work overshadows all else, put
nevertheless the landscape gardeners
who have searched the tropic belt or
the globe for beautiful things surely
have not labored in vain.
The four-mile drive to Handy Is
through a bower of native foliage
scarcely less wonderful than that of the
gardens. The road is lined by villages
which are as yet almost untouched by
western civilization, and 1t is interest
ing to see that nearly every house Is
almost hidden by banked ferns and
towering plants. while bamboo baskets
filed with orchids depend from the door
frames.
It is hard to believe that within such
surroundings as these live q tribe or
| people who are outcasts from human
| Fellowship and who are so low in the
human scale that they must beg even
the naked coolies for permission to pass
on the road They may not use a
bridge or ferry. but must wade and
swim the rivers. And all because,
thousand years ago, one Of their tribe
was accused of furnishing human fiesh
for the kings table instead of Venison.
But the sad plight of the outcast
Rodiyas is not borne in upon the senses
of the visitor, who sees only the smiling
faces Of the happy people in the Kand-
van streets and is himself transported
bv the beauty of mountain and valley,
! lake and stream, palace wall and tenn
ple tower of this earthly paradise
-
| Tomorrow-In CeylOn's Spicy ISle. "
| The Jewels of Ophlr.