andy is the renowned and ancient
temple of Maligawa, where the sacred tooth of Buddha has been preserved
for more than fifteen hundred years. It is an indescribable old shrine
of irregular, low architecture, black and grimy with "the sacred rust of
twice ten hundred years," surrounded by a walled court and small stone
apartments. It is surmounted by a tower, manifestly European in design,
and which tells its own story as a modern addition. It is massive and
uncouth, so as hardly to admit of classification; though it must once
have been the central object of worship to a very large population, and
is held so sacred that the king and priests of Burmah and Siam still
send valuable presents to it annually. A sacred bo-tree was pointed out
to us in the grounds near the temple, believed to be the oldest
historical tree in the world. It is nearly allied to the banyan species,
and its record has been carefully kept since three hundred years
previous to the Christian era. The temple, though wearing a most
deserted and neglected aspect, is still in charge of a few yellow-robed
priests, who keep up an appearance daily of regular services, such as
they are, and more heathenish ones were never witnessed. The ceremonies
during our brief visit consisted of grotesque dancing, beating of drums,
and blowing upon a shrill fife before a rude altar, upon which incense
was burning. There was also marching, by these musicians, around the
altar, led by a dirty, blear-eyed priest. The scene was strongly
suggestive of a powwow as performed by the Digger Indians of California.
So great was the din, we were quite willing to take for granted the
presence, in another part of the temple, of the tooth of Buddha, without
personal inspection, and hastened to get away from the annoyance as soon
as possible. As we came out of the reeking, stuffy, infected building,
we expanded our lungs and umbrellas at one and the same time, for it was
"raining cats and dogs" just at that time, and when it rains near the
equator it does so in earnest; umbrellas become a fallacy: nothing less
than an india-rubber coat is of any avail. What an exhibition of mummery
it was in that time-begrimed temple! Ceylon is the classic ground of
Buddhism, as its ruined temples and monuments prove,--a faith which
still prevails so generally throughout Burmah, China, and Japan.

The house at which we stopped in Kandy, the only one designed for the
accommodation of travelers, is called the