rade
carried on in precious stones. Some of the dealers in this article have
found their way to our lower deck, and proceed to pull little parcels,
containing sparkling and pellucid gems from their inner garments. There,
before us, in their downy nest, lie rubies, sapphires, opals, and many
more real or fictitious stones, seven-eighths of which are probably
manufactured at Birmingham, though Ceylon abounds in real gems. It may,
I think, be safely conceded that "Jack" very rarely drops in for one
such. The dealers ask most fabulous prices for their wares--so many
thousand rupees; but after haggling with you for about an hour or so are
glad enough to part with them at your own price--a proof, should you
need it, of the _genuineness_ of your purchase.

We are rather dubious at first about entering the canoes, for they are
so narrow as scarcely to admit of our broad hams being comfortably
stowed. However, by dint of a little lateral pressure in that quarter,
we at length manage to wedge ourselves in. We find the motion pleasant
enough--a sense of security growing with experience.

I suppose we are not the first, nor, unless some sudden calamity
undertake the place, are we likely to be the last, who have remarked how
exceeding annoying the "boys" at the landing-place are. Guides they call
themselves; sailors, in their excellently-terse and rotund way, call
them by another name, which certainly does not commence with a "G."
These wasps know just sufficient of English to make you disgusted with
your mother tongue. The ordinary and generally conclusive argument of
applying the toe of one's boot to the region of their quarter galleries
does not seem to be effective here. It is one of those things one has
to put up with.

The town follows the sinuous windings of the shore for upwards of a mile
and a half, under an arcade of cocoa palms, which forms one of the
finest promenades imaginable. Under this quivering canopy the fierce
rays of the outside sun filter through--a soft, sheeny, mellow
light--making his tropic rays deliciously cool, at the same time
imparting to them a mystic coloring of gold and emerald green in all
their wonderful combinations and capabilities of tone, impossible to set
down in writing.

A noticeable thing about all this wonderful profusion, is the number of
beautiful shrubs, principally spice or perfume bearing, and the grand
harmonies and contrasts of colour they present. Here, for example, is
the nut