e. They had not full lips or flat noses like the Singhalese
and Malays; so that although there was a similarity between them, yet
there was a strong difference when one came to sum up the
characteristics of each.

The architecture of the town is peculiar, and the few old public
buildings odd in the extreme. Tuticorin sends some cotton, rice, and
cocoanuts to market, but its business must be very limited. An hour's
walk took us all over the town without discovering any object of special
interest. Being connected by rail with northern India, if there were
depth of water sufficient for steamers to make a landing here, without
lying five miles off shore, Tuticorin would certainly become an
important Indian port. It was New Year's Day when we landed, and was
apparently being celebrated in an humble way by the few people whom we
saw. The children were displaying toys, playing games, and some bore
flowers aloft arranged upon poles as wreaths and hoops. Itinerant
peddlers were disposing of sweetmeats to eager boys and girls. Both the
articles sold and the money which was paid for them looked new and
strange. Some young maidens, in half-civilized attire, displayed
high-colored garments and small scarlet kerchiefs on their heads. The
passion for, and habit of wearing cheap jewelry, had been imported even
here, and some of the extravagances of Colombo were copied by the women
in ornamentation of ears, nose, and lips. Little babies were thus
bedecked, and the tender ears of some consequently hung distorted and
stretched three inches downward, both the upper rim and the lobe of the
infant's ear being perforated with rings. Brass bangles on arms, wrists,
and ankles were the rule, some of the men also wearing them. Here, on
the main-land, the tattooing of the body seemed to have ceased, and the
shining, naked skin of the men and women looked clean and healthy.

In the afternoon of the day on which we landed, the cars of the South
Indian Railway were taken to Madura, one hundred miles northward, where
we arrived late in the evening, and took lodging in a government
bungalow, unfurnished, except by a few temporary articles improvised for
the occasion, our meals being served at the railroad station not far
away. The bungalow was in the midst of a grove of cocoanut palms which
loomed high above our heads, laden with masses of the large brown fruit.
It was dark and shady even at noonday. Close by was an ancient stone
well, baths, and irri