the mariners of Egypt under the Ptolemies. But still more interesting
is it from its being in all probability the Tarshish visited by the
ships of Solomon. They were built, we are told, at Ezion-geber, on the
shores of the Red Sea. The rowers coasted along the shores of Arabia
and the Persian Gulf, headed by an east wind. Tarshish, the port to
which they were bound, was in an island governed by kings, and carrying
on an extensive foreign trade. The voyage occupied three years in going
and returning, and the cargoes brought home consisted of gold and
silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks. Ophir is supposed to have been
Malacca, whence ships brought gold to Tarshish. The sacred books of the
Singhalese are even now inscribed on silver plates, particularised by
Jeremiah as an export of Tarshish. Apes and pea-fowls are still found
in great numbers, while ivory must at that time have been even more
abundant than at present.

"Hurrah! old fellow," shouted Nowell one day, rushing into my room,
where he found me just as I had returned from my morning ride, and was
preparing for breakfast, "I have got my leave, and we are to be off
to-morrow morning. Are you ready?"

"Of course I am, and could start this moment," I answered. "All right,"
said he. "We are to go as far as Kandy in a carriage, I find. It will
not be so romantic, but far more comfortable in the hot weather. After
that we shall get horses and tents, and then our fun will begin, I
hope."

Great was my pleasure to find that Mr Fordyce was going with us through
Kandy to Neura-Ellia, a station established as a sanatarium, 6000 feet
above the sea. The next morning we found ourselves seated in a
primitive-looking vehicle, denominated a mail coach, which ran daily
between Galle and Colombo. Nothing could be more beautiful than the
road. We were literally travelling under an avenue, seventy miles long,
of majestic palm-trees, with an undergrowth of tropical shrubs bearing
flowers of the most gorgeous hues, and orchids and climbers hanging in
graceful wreaths to all the branches. Birds of the gayest plumage,
gaudy butterflies, and insects with wings of metallic lustre, were seen
glancing in and out among the trees, while lizards of various hues ran
along the road, all adding to the brilliancy of the scene. Whenever
there was an opening, on the right side could be seen the white cottages
of the natives amid their gardens of cocoa-nuts and plantains, with the
pu