Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-11-07
LAND OF K FISH
AND THE SPORTIVE CRAB
Island of Ceylon Unusual Place
in Unique Corner of the
World

A land where fishes walk along
the roads and climb rocks and trees.
where crabs fling sand into the air
and elephants play tricks like sport
i've children-such, sGys a bulletin
from the National Geographic So
ciety, is Ceylon, where Great Brit
ain is negotiating with the natives
concerning important government
reforms.
Colombo, the present capital"
continues the bulletin, has a mag
nifcent artificial harbor built by the
British. That city supercedes the
former principal seaport, Gale. In
the new port city the native quar-
ter, with its beautiful Sinhalese girls,
its jewel-grinders and lace makers,
contrasts sharply with stately gov
eminent buildinss and European
customs of the English section.
THE famous Cinnamon gard S,
where the Dutch formerly cultivated
that spice in enormous quantities,
today are given owe mainly to a
park and bungalow and here hous-5
of well-to-do residents nestle in b :
ers Of %wondrous beauty and Sweet
perfume.
oCdlly lGlldl1lS VI thO ohSASAb
capital, Anaradhapura, lie in lofty
groWths. Glowing descriptions of
this ancient wonderfully by Arab,
Persian and Green voyagers led to
the excavation work, now going on,
which has been slo : because of its
vast size.
Nearby is the sacred mountain of
Mihintale, with it's huge irrigation
tank, one of them begun five cen
turtles before the Christian Era. This
tank covered 40 square niles with
its waters when it was new.
"Kandy, the last native capital,
sets picturesquely above the blue
waters of a little lake, also artificial.
I'm making 1t the native ruler ruth
lessly drowned out cores of his sub
iects' rice fields. Hidden in gold
and ruby-encrusted bell shrines a
mythical tooth of Buddha' is pre-
served.
''The present tooth obviously
could not have grown in any hui
man mouth-it is two inches long
and half an inch thick at the base.
The visitor forgives the fiction for
the sake of the August night cele-
bration, when the tooth is carried
about the town accompanied by a
procession of, devil dancers in their
grotesque masks.
adams Peak, a strange mountain
top where a huge natural depres-
sion resembles an enormous human
foot, also is an object of veneration.
From this mountain Buddha is sup
posed to have assembled to Heaven.
Millions of devout pilgrims worship
there. Even the non-believer is i l.
pressed by the scene at dawn, when
the sun first tints a sea of clouds,
| and projects slender shadows upon
the countryside.
"When the civilization of the Sim
halese was at its height, more than
1000 years ago, the capital, Anal d.
| hapura, was a marvellous city extend
ing over some $50 square miles. 1t
was clustered with magnificent pal
aces, dagobas and monster relic
shrines of delicate designs. This CIV
tlization was overthrow by Tamil
mercenaries whom the Sinhalese i'm
ported from India; subsequently the
island was held successfully by the
Portuguese, Dutch and now by the
English.
1.-The walking fish perform its ter
restrial antics when ponds dry up
In the not season. Inen II ellHel
burrows into the soft mud to wait
for rain, or, by night, crawls out
Of the last shallow depresSions and
goes writhing off through dripping
grass on the hunt for other pools
The natives then literally catch
ilsh.' sometimes gathering them ur
by the bushel.
1.-THE islands area is about thai
of West Virginia and on 1T live
more people than there are In
Tpxas"