istianity.

CHAPTER XII.

The Pearl Fishery--Desolation of the Coast--Harbor of
Trincomalee--Fatal Attack by a Shark--Ferocious Crocodiles--Salt
Monopoly--Salt Lakes--Method of Collection--Neglect of Ceylon
Hides--Fish and Fishing--Primitive Tackle--Oysters and Penknives--A
Night Bivouac for a Novice--No Dinner, but a Good Fire--Wild Yams and
Consequences--The Elephants' Duel--A Hunting Hermitage--Bluebeard's
last Hunt--The Leopard--Bluebeard's Death--Leopard Shot.

CHAPTER XIII.

Wild Denizens of Forest and Lake--Destroyers of Reptiles--The Tree
Duck--The Mysteries of Night in the Forest--The Devil-Bird--The
Iguanodon in Miniature--Outrigger Canoes--The Last Glimpse of Ceylon--A
Glance at Old Times.

EIGHT YEARS' WANDERINGS

CHAPTER I.

Colombo--Dullness of the Town--Cinnamon Garden--A Cingalese
Appo--Ceylon Sport--Jungle Fever--Newera Ellia--Energy of Sir E.
Barnes--Influence of the Governor--Projected Improvements.

It was in the year 1845 that the spirit of wandering allured me toward
Ceylon: little did I imagine at that time that I should eventually
become a settler.

The descriptions of its sports, and the tales of hairbreadth escapes
from elephants, which I had read in various publications, were sources
of attraction against which I strove in vain; and I at length
determined upon the very wild idea of spending twelve months in Ceylon
jungles.

It is said that the delights of pleasures in anticipation exceed the
pleasures themselves: in this case doubtless some months of great
enjoyment passed in making plans of every description, until I at
length arrived in Colombo, Ceylon's seaport capital.

I never experienced greater disappointment in an expectation than on my
first view of Colombo. I had spent some time at Mauritius and Bourbon
previous to my arrival, and I soon perceived that the far-famed Ceylon
was nearly a century behind either of those small islands.

Instead of the bustling activity of the Port Louis harbor in Mauritius,
there were a few vessels rolling about in the roadstead, and some forty
or fifty fishing canoes hauled up on the sandy beach. There was a
peculiar dullness throughout the town--a sort of something which seemed
to say, "Coffee does not pay." There was a want of spirit in
everything. The ill-conditioned guns upon the fort looked as though
not intended to defend it; the sentinels looked parboiled; the very
natives sauntered rather than walked; the very