eight.

Broad verandas, so characteristic a feature of oriental houses, ran
round each floor, and there tea was served daily by 20 Cingalese
servants. These tea servers dressed in spotless white, and with long
hair fastened with big tortoise shell combs, made a most picturesque
appearance and gave a touch of reality to the Cingalese pavilion.

From the center of the building sprang an octagon 75 feet high,
reproducing the building where the kings of Ceylon used to show
themselves to their subjects at their ancient capital of Kandy. Smaller
octagons rose from the four corners. The ornamentation was
characteristically Cingalese. Broad friezes painted by native artists
represented the various birth stories of the Buddha. The door panels and
quaint capitals were such as may be seen at many a temple in Ceylon and
formed an appropriate setting for the impassive images of the Buddha.
The building was constructed by Messrs. Broderick & Wind, contractors of
New York, under the general supervision of Mr. Russell Stanhope,
representative at St. Louis of the commissioner-general, at a total cost
of $30,000.

Downstairs were the offices of the commission, while on the upper floor
the greater portion of the fine art exhibit of Ceylon was situated. The
native artist was seen at his best in the magnificent jeweled caskets of
carved ivory and the exquisite reprousse work in silver, representing an
art which has been handed down from father to son for twenty-five
centuries in the caste of Cingalese silversmiths.

The department of manufactures was represented by massive furniture in
calamander, ebony, and satinwood, carved with the most elaborate
devices, dainty laces made by the nimble fingers of village women,
beautiful productions on tortoise shell and gold, heavily embroidered
cloths of gold, and a large collection of the various curios for which
the East is famous, besides a display of tanned hides and jewelry of
exceptional merit. There was a further display of art work in the
international room of the Palace of Fine Arts. More than 100 exhibitors
were represented in this building, the total value of their exhibits
exceeding $50,000. Outside on the lake was an outrigger canoe of full
size, such as is still in use among the fishermen of Ceylon.

The chief commercial exhibit of the country was to be found in the
Palace of Agriculture, where a space of 2,000 square feet had been
allotted to it. First and foremost was the great in