ensive.

The Museum of Colombo is a rather handsome and quite substantial
two-story building, situated near Victoria Park, which was formerly a
part of the famous Cinnamon Gardens, originally planted by the Dutch.
The collection of curiosities in the museum embraces a large number,
which have been found mostly upon the island, and includes many
interesting specimens of preserved birds, together with large and
small native animals and beautiful shells. There are also some
literary and historical treasures relating to Ceylon preserved here,
among which is a rare collection of palm-leaf manuscripts, both in
Pali and Singhalese, bound after an original fashion. The edifice,
which was built in 1877, is pleasantly situated, and surrounded by
well-arranged, cultivated grounds. The entrance is free to all.

Near the Colombo terminus of the Kandy road is the pleasant public
resort known as the Gordon Gardens, named in honor of Sir Arthur
Gordon, a former governor of Ceylon. This area was his personal gift
to the capital in memory of the jubilee of Her Majesty's reign. The
gardens are rendered very attractive on each Friday afternoon by the
performance of a military band; free outdoor instrumental concerts are
also given every week on the Galle Face.

A few of the better class of dwelling-houses in Colombo are finished
externally in stucco, all having the inevitable and indispensable
broad veranda. Surrounding these homes honeysuckles, crimson
hibiscus, azaleas, cape jessamines, oleanders, and other flowering
plants abound, with here and there little rocky mounds of lilies,
cacti, and low ferns; while the familiar palms, mangoes, and bananas
always make their appearance somewhere on the premises. Tennis courts
give an English look to the surroundings of the bungalows. The
unfortunate prevalence of dampness often proves very destructive
inside these picturesque residences. There are seasons when books and
papers, if exposed, are so seriously injured that they decay like ripe
fruit. Boots and shoes become mouldy in a single night, and other
articles are similarly affected.

Colpetty is the name of a very attractive suburb of the capital,
intersected by finely macadamized, level roads, which are kept in
admirable condition, running beneath shady bamboos and bending palms,
where the delightful fragrance of flowers is always present. Here a
small colony of Europeans have made for themselves delightful tropical
homes, half hidden