beyond the lawn near the margin of the lake. A
peculiar contrast in that crowd a number of policemen
produced in strictly metropolitan garb.
The day was clear and not too hot, which decided
me to walk to the Botanical Garden at Peradeniya, now
under the direction of Dr. Henry Trimen, the successor
of the indefatigable Dr. Thwaites, the author of “ Flora
Zeylanica,” who had for 30 years been its head. The
distance is four miles, just a pleasant walk, giving one
a good opportunity of seeing the country as well as
the people. I was considerably stared at, as Europeans
in tropical climates invariably ride or drive, but I did
not mind that. The road led through a succession of
neat villages and forests, and on reaching those
beautiful gardens the first sight that greets the visitor
is a magnificent Taliput palm (Corypha umbrceulifera),
the king of palms, with large umbrella-shaped leaves ;
around it were other kinds, as the Palmyra (Borassus
jiabelliformis), valuable for its timber, the Areca
(Areca catechu), for its betel nut as a masticatory.
The Traveller’s palm (Ravenala madagascariensis), the
leaves of which are arranged like an open fan ; it is
noted for containing, even during the driest season, a
large quantity of pure water, supplying to the traveller
the place of a well. A knife is inserted into the thick
end of the leaf, near the trunk, and a stream of the clear
liquid at once gushes out. I tasted it and found it
cool and perfectly sweet. There also was the Cabbage
palm (Areca oleracia), its young leaves used as a
vegetable; and of course the Cocoa-nut (Cocos
nucifera), which supplies all the wants of the natives;
when green, food and drink; when ripe it yields oil;
its sap gives toddy and arrack; the fibrous casing of
the fruit, when woven, makes ropes, nets, and matting;
the nut-shells, drinking vessels, spoons, etc. ; the
plaited leaves serve as plates and dishes, and as
thatch for the cottage; the dried flower-stalks are
used as torches and the large leaf-stalks as garden
fences ; the trunk of the tree is used for every possible
purpose, from knife handles to door posts; and, hollowed
out, it forms a canoe or a coffin.
The garden is tastefully laid out, its beds bursting
with a display of brilliant flowers such as are seldom
seen together; then there are clumps of Bamboo,
yellow and green, from half an inch to twelve inches-
in diameter, and splendid Fern trees rising to a height
of ten and sometimes even twenty feet. Ebony,
Blackwood, Teak, and many other useful tre es; some
producing handsome flowers, as the Coral tree
(Eurythrina indica), already mentioned in the chapter
on Southern In d ia ; the Jarool or Bloodwood (Lager-
strcemia regince), a magnificent tree of red wood much