a very peculiar and pretty
effect. When the blossoms fall, the neighboring grounds are carpeted
in varied scarlet figures, giving a novel and lovely covering,
surpassing the finest product of the looms. After the blossoms are
gone, the bright green leaves burst quickly forth in prodigal
abundance.

If one chances to be amid these shadows of the forest after nightfall,
the scene is totally changed as well as the prevailing sounds that
greet the ear. It is then that one hears the short, sharp bark of the
jackals, the weird howl of migrating families of flying-foxes, the
ceaseless hooting of several species of owls,--one of which is known
as the devil-bird because of its uncanny scream,--the croaking of
tree-toads and mammoth crickets, mingled with the frequent,
distressful cry of some other night bird whose name is unknown,--it is
heard but not seen. Through the vistas of the trees flashes of soft
light as if from a small torch catch the eye; if it is low and marshy
these are like moving balls of fire, doubtless caused by some electric
combinations. The dance of the fireflies amid the thick undergrowth is
confusing as well as fascinating. One seems to be in fairyland, and
looks about for the figure of a sylphid floating upon a gossamer
cloud, or a group of fairy revelers tripping upon the blossom-covered
ground. Is it all reality, we ask ourselves, or a dream from which we
shall presently awake?

The large, brilliant flower of the rhododendron is familiar to New
Englanders as growing upon a bush eight or ten feet high. It is
annually made quite a feature when in bloom in the Boston Public
Garden, but in Ceylon it is much more ambitious, forming forests by
itself, and growing to the proportions of a large tree, averaging from
forty to fifty feet in height. In the vicinity of Adam's Peak this
tree abounds, covering the abrupt sides of that famous elevation
almost to its rocky summit, where it is crowned by the small,
iron-chained Buddhist temple, thus fastened to secure it against the
fierce winds that sometimes sweep these heights.

The prevailing color of the flowers is scarlet, but there are
variations showing lovely shades of pink and cream colors. Those which
grow at the greatest altitude seem to differ somewhat from the others,
and are said to be peculiar to Ceylon, being sixty feet in height,
with trunks nearly two feet in diameter.

This is but one among many of the tall flowering trees upon the
island. The re