base starts from a plain situated at that
elevation above the sea.

CHAPTER XII.

Historical Kandy.--Importance of Good Roads.--Native
Population.--Temple of Buddha's Tooth.--The Old
Palace.--Governor's House.--Great Resort of
Pilgrims.--Interior of the Temple.--The Humbug of
Relics.--Priests of the Yellow Robe.--A Sacred
Bo-Tree.--Diabolical Services in the Ancient
Temple.--Regular Heathen Powwow.--Singhalese
Music.--Emulating Midnight Tomcats.--Chronic Beggary.--The
Old Parisian Woman with Wooden Legs.--A Buddhist
Rock-Temple.

Kandy is a place of more than ordinary interest in Ceylon, on account
of its historical relations. It will be remembered that a native king
reigned here as recently as 1814. The recklessness, cruelty, and
grievous tyranny of this potentate hastened his downfall, causing his
native subjects to join the English in effecting his overthrow. The
government took forcible possession of the place in 1815, capturing
the king and sending him to Bengal as a political prisoner, where he
died seventeen years later. The systematic brutality of this ruler was
exercised so lately that its detail is preserved, forming a horrible
story of barbarous cruelty. One elephant was trained as an
executioner, whose duty it was to tread to death any condemned
political or other prisoner. Rich and poor, priest and soldier, are
said to have rejoiced at the banishment of this tyrant.

When the Kandian kings died, their bodies were cremated with great
ceremony. It was not the same here as it is and was in India proper,
where all classes are cremated; only kings, nobles, and priests
enjoyed the privilege in the island of Ceylon. Kandy is still the
capital of the central province. All the efforts of the Portuguese and
afterward of the Dutch to conquer this mountain region were
unavailing, owing to its isolation and its inaccessibility. The town
was situated in a valley, guarded by narrow mountain passes which a
few determined men could effectually defend. The district was also
girt about by tangled forests almost impassable except by birds, wild
beasts, and reptiles, the latter being the chronic dread of the
European invaders. Only foot or bridle paths existed between populous
points along the coast in those days. There were no roads in any
direction passable for wheeled vehicles during the possession of the
island by the two nationalities spoken of.

The Engli