es across his mind! he has no idea where he
is, except that he is quite certain that he is in some jungle in Ceylon.

Distraction! Ceylon is nearly all jungle, two hundred and eighty miles
long and he is in this--somewhere He tries to recollect by what route
he has come; impossible! He has been up one mountain, and then he
turned to the right, and got into a ravine; he recollects the ravine,
for he fell on his head with the end of a dead stick in his stomach
just as he got to the bottom; he forgets every other part of his route,
simply having an idea that he went down a great many ravines and up a
number of hills, and turned to the right and left several times. He
gives it up; he finds himself "lost," and, if he is sensible, he will
sit down and wait till some one comes to look for him, when he will
start with joy at the glad sound of the horn. But should he attempt to
find his way alone through those pathless jungles, he will only
increase his distance from the right course.

One great peculiarity in Newera Ellia is the comparative freedom from
poisonous vermin. There are three varieties of snakes, only one of
which is hurtful, and all are very minute. The venomous species is the
"carrawelle," whose bite is generally fatal; but this snake is not
often met with. There are no ticks, nor bugs, nor leeches, nor
scorpions, nor white ants, nor wasps, nor mosquitoes; in fact, there is
nothing venomous except the snake alluded to, and a small species of
centipede. Fleas there are certainly--indeed, a fair sprinkling of
fleas; but they are not troublesome, except in houses which are
unoccupied during a portion of the year. This is a great peculiarity
of a Ceylon flea--he is a great colonist; and should a house be
untenanted for a few months, so sure will it swarm with these
"settlers." Even a grass hut built for a night's bivouac in the jungle,
without a flea in the neighborhood, will literally swarm with them if
deserted for a couple of months. Fleas have a great fancy for settling
upon anything white; thus a person with white trowsers will be
blackened with them, while a man in darker colors will be comparatively
free. I at first supposed that they appeared in larger numbers on the
white ground because they were more easily distinguished; but I tried
the experiment of putting a sheet of writing-paper and a piece of brown
talipot leaf in the midst of fleas; the paper was covered with them,
while only two or three we