miser, while their
social relations, like their Roman Catholic brethren, outrage
unblushingly all priestly rules. There are fewer Parsees and Moormen
in proportion to the number of inhabitants. These, being of the
trading class, generally seek Colombo or Point de Galle, where they
find congenial occupation in supplying strangers with sapphires,
topazes, rubies, and precious stones, or oftener with imitations of
these, in disposing of which they are notable experts. There is but
one piece of advice to be given regarding these harpies,--avoid them
altogether.

The principal object of interest in Kandy is the old palace and the
far-famed ancient temple of Malagawa, where the precious tooth of
Buddha is preserved, and yet it is not very ancient, as the word
applies to temples and ruins generally in Ceylon. It was built in the
fourteenth century, especially to form a shrine for this tooth, and it
is held, mainly on this account, to be the most sacred Buddhist temple
in existence. The palace, now partially improved for government
purposes, was built just about three hundred years ago by the
Portuguese prisoners captured by the Kandians, which accounts for
certain European characteristics about the edifice. It was doubtless
once an imposing structure, but of no architectural interest. It faces
a broad, level area, where in olden times elephant fights used to take
place for the entertainment of the king and his court,--a cruel sport,
in which one of the combatants was sure to lose his life, and not
infrequently both were fatally injured. The modern Spanish bull-fight
is only a degree more cruel, and both exhibitions are equally
indicative of the national character of the promoters.

The one residence worthy of mention in Kandy proper is the Pavilion or
Governor's House, built by Sir E. Barnes. This is a very elegant
modern structure, combining European architecture with tropical
adaptations, and is surrounded by a broad colonnade. The house is
finished externally in stucco, with a hard polish like white marble,
which it much resembles. The neighboring grounds are very beautifully
laid out, and are kept like an English park, the view from which is
beyond description for its variety and beauty.

The Temple of the Tooth has no claim to architectural beauty. It
belongs to no recognized order, and is an indescribable old shrine,
low, black, and grimy, surmounted at its eastern extremity by a tower
manifestly of European design,