ssfully grapple
with all human ailments, but hitherto that king of pestilence, the
"cholera," has reduced the highest medical skill to miserable
uncertainty.

Upon reconsidering the dangers of fevers, dysentery, etc., in the
swampy and confined districts described, the naturalist may become
somewhat less ardent in following his favorite pursuit. Of one fact I
can assure him that no matter how great the natural strength of his
constitution, the repeated exposure to the intense heat of the sun, the
unhealthy districts that he will visit, the nights redolent of malaria,
and the horrible water that he must occasionally drink, will gradually
undermine the power of the strongest man. Both sportsman and
naturalist in this must share alike.

No one who has not actually suffered from the effect can appreciate the
misery of bad water in a tropical country, or the blessings of a cool,
pure draught. I have been in districts of Ceylon where for sixteen or
twenty miles not a drop of water is to be obtained fit for an animal to
drink; not a tree to throw a few yards of shade upon the parching
ground; nothing but stunted, thorny jungles and sandy, barren plains as
far as the eye can reach; the yellow leaves crisp upon the withered
branches, the wild fruits hardened for want of sap, all moisture robbed
from vegetation by the pitiless drought of several months.

A day's work in such a country is hard indeed carrying a heavy rifle
for some five-and-twenty miles, sometimes in deep sand, sometimes on
good ground, but always exposed to the intensity of that blaze, added
to the reflection from the sandy soil, and the total want of fresh air
and water. All Nature seems stagnated; a distant pool is seen, and a
general rush takes place toward the cheering sight. The water is
thicker than pea soup, a green scum floats through the thickened mass,
and the temperature is upward of 130 Fahrenheit. All kinds of insects
are swarming in the putrid fluid, and a saltish bitter adds to its
nauseating flavor. I have seen the exhausted coolies spread their dirty
cloths on the surface, and form them into filters by sucking the water
through them. Oh for a glass of Newera Ellia water, the purest and
best that ever flows, as it sparkles out of the rocks on the
mountain-tops! what pleasure so perfect as a long, deep and undisturbed
draught of such cold, clear nectar when the throat is parched with
unquenchable thirst!

In some parts of Ceylon, especia