hat five years since,
Ceylon was exporting sixteen million pounds of the medicinal bark
annually, an aggregate which would rival nearly any South American
port, Peruvian or otherwise.

While in this vicinity, one of our party was bitten in several places
on the lower limbs by what proved to be land leeches, a species of
this small creature which lives in dry grounds and also upon trees,
burrowing in the bark. From the proportions of a darning-needle, this
active and somewhat venomous little pest swells to the size of a
pipe-stem, when it becomes filled with blood. Their bite often creates
a painful sore, especially if one's circulation happens to be in an
unhealthy condition. To protect themselves against this abomination,
Europeans wear what are called leech-gaiters, reaching up to the
knees, made from stout, close-knit canvas, or russet leather. The true
water leech also abounds in the marshes and ponds of the island, and
is quite destructive to animals which frequent these places. Domestic
buffaloes seek the ponds in which to submerge their bodies to get rid
of stinging flies and voracious mosquitoes, but they sometimes lose
their lives by the combined attack of these more formidable enemies,
the water leeches. After one of these bloodsuckers is fairly fixed
upon the body of man or beast, it will not give up its hold until it
has drawn its fill of blood. When this condition is reached, the leech
drops off, and, like a snake after a hearty meal, it becomes dormant
for a long time.

There are plenty of reptiles in all parts of Ceylon, but, as we have
said, they keep mostly hidden from human beings. The gardens and woods
are infested with ticks, so called, resembling small crabs, and armed
with similar forceps with which to torment their victims. One almost
requires a microscope to see these little black atoms, though they
possess gigantic ability to inflict painful and highly irritating
bites. This insect quickly buries itself under the skin, where it
creates a lasting sore unless it is thoroughly eradicated, together
with the poison that surrounds it. The natives use cocoanut oil as a
preventive to the attack of the ticks, and it is true that they will
drop from any spot where they encounter this pungent lubricator. In
some parts of Ceylon, the leech pest is so prevalent as to render
whole districts quite uninhabitable by human beings.

At Kandy as well as in the vicinity of Point de Galle, frequent
attempts have