efforts, and though the troops and pioneers had been employed
two days in bearing away the stumps ofi trees and pieces of
rock, which obstructed., the passage, we .were obliged after
all to leave the guns five miles in. th e rear, with a - covering
p ^ rty 'o f two companies of SGp0y4 $ while the Europeans and
the rest of the native tro o p marched op to a very extenr
sive tope of.- cocoa-trees near Ruanelli-, called Resue Orti Par
lagomby Watty, or • the; King’s Royal Gardens, where we ei> •
damped. The leeches infested-us in t h i s inarch to a .most
alarming degree; most of the soldiers had their legs, apd dif?
ferent parts e ff th e ir bodies streaming with blood, Qn taking
off my gloves and boots T found that I had not escaped, for
what I had taken to bo nothing more than .cxcessive^-perspira*
tion, now-Jarned out to be Jh e^ ffeets :of these leeches* sf|e:
officers and, men employed in clearing the jungles, presented, an
appearance absolutely shocking, as they seemed to be complete?
ly covered with blood. Nor was it possible by any prepaur
tion to prevent the attacks of the leech«®* owing to. the
immense ^multitudes of them which swarmed among the -bushes
and the,glass'; The Butch always said they were.,ape of ;the
worsterienifes they had to encounter. The only, serious accident
which occurred to us on this day’s march was png: of. the
Europeans being struck with a coup de soleJl, which^rendered
him for some hours delirious. I t was impossible to avoid the heat
by marching before sun-rise, as the. rain, which fell the preceding
day, had so completely drenched our tents, that we were
«Mjbei: to remain till fthe morning sun. had, sufficiently dried
them. The. guns besides could not be conveyed without daylight
through the shocking roads which we were obliged to
pass. •
to the Court o f Candy* 389
Oil our march-’w’C had several beautiful and picturesque views
of the country*,' which presented a- charming: variety p i thickly
wooded hills, intersected «with^dglightful- - valleys* \Tke grove
where* vwe encamped Wnsffabout ‘-two millss un circumference,
being, hounded'oii; the west bysa** large,' d©dp#amd rapid branch
ofr-the Malkagonga^ while in front toward* Ruanelli, another
• btftwch raft in a south-east ^ e b t id t , winding in a manner,
th|#jf (three sides of the grove were encompassed by
wafer,,* while dh‘e fourth Was enclosed by thick'hedges of- bam-
and betel- treesj o This eaitensive cocoahtree gardenflies im-
mediately tjnder ^y.sfce^p and fefty dfth%i which command a
'most romantic view of the surrounding, cduritryi I t 'foilms part
of the king* s: own domains, end is the place: w h d e7 his elephants
were usually' kept -and' trained. -
.Hitherto 'th e river was navigable .by our bmtsr>. ;and fienabled
,us|||*havfe a large proportion of' our «stores and provisions’edrs*
yey|drjby .water, as it run in;such a direct line with our march
that we encamped close to it banks. From Ruanelli up to
Gandy i t is shallow, roeky, and much narrower, so that boats
cannot proceed along at' without "great difficulty, arid those' only
the «mall-; canoes bfirifihe natives. < From Ruanelli to'Columk/,
the distance by water is »about sixty miles; and such was thfe
papidityp-of -the' current occasioned by the dreadfully heavy-falls
of rain which happened durmg*our stay 'here, that a boatcPuld
goj^oWn to Columbo in eight HPues; 1 and for' most part of ttb d
way the.wnly exertion required of the boatmen was- to keep
c le a r pf*' the rocks, * stumps - of kees, cand.'.sand-ibatiksj which
happened to obstruct their course; 'White’ in' returning to Rua-
■fielpfe it- ‘usually tookyhixie pi* ten days o f excessive kibo’uri
;5ihe facility of the^ conveyance from hence to Columbo by