nd
the pale.

British rule in Asia recognizes no caste distinctions, but it has been a
humane work of the wives of several English governors of Ceylon to seek
to improve the position of the women of the Rodiya caste, especially of
the young girls. Some benefit is claimed as a result of the efforts of
the English women--but the majesty and power of Great Britain are puny
institutions compared with the force of caste among native races. To
keep down the Rodiya population a certain Kandyan king, it is stated on
good authority, used to have a goodly number of them shot each year.

CHAPTER V

IN CEYLON'S HILL COUNTRY

When good Kandyans discourse in flowery vein, they say Kandy is only
forty miles from heaven. Visitors who have fallen under the charm of the
place are more likely to wonder at their moderation than question their
ability to measure celestial distances. If Gautama Buddha's "eternal
rest" were to be had on earth, Kandy would surely be the reward of
Nirvana promised those who have acquired merit.

The beauty of Kandy is based upon naturalness; it is not grand like
Taormina in Sicily, nor produced by nature and art in combination like
Monte Carlo. Everything connected with the spot is fascinating, even the
jungle that by day harbors the jackals which sometimes make night
hideous to sojourners. Everybody appears happy; even elephants hauling
timber in the suburbs toil cheerfully.

This inland province that formed the kingdom of Kandy preserved its
integrity throughout the Portuguese and Dutch invasions of the island;
and the English were in possession of the coast section full nineteen
years before the Kandyan monarchy succumbed to their power.

This beautiful city was a different place under the native kings. They
loved grandeur, apparently, but it was the grandeur of selfish
surroundings and luxury. The lake now the center of the city was
constructed by the last king, it is true; but its shore witnessed
atrocities never surpassed in savage excess. Near the spot where stands
a monastery of yellow robed monks of Buddha, the last king assembled his
people in 1814 to witness the punishment of the innocent wife and
children of a fleeing official accused of treason. By the blow of a
sword the head of each child was severed from its body in the mother's
presence, even that of the babe wrenched from her breast. The heads were
placed in a mortar, and the woman forced under threat of disgraceful
torture to