s
said to be a forgotten virtue with both sexes of the Tamil race, as
well as with the other mixed nationalities. These people seem to be
born with strange proclivities in their blood, and there is certainly
very little improvement to be observed in their condition as regards
the influence of Christianity upon their daily lives.

In olden times, as already intimated, Ceylon was known in the East by the
name of Naga-dwipa,--"Snake Isle,"--and it would seem not without good
reason, for until quite lately there was a snake-temple on the island of
Naiwativoe, which lies just off the shore, west of Jaffna, where many
serpents were nourished and cared for, including a number of deadly cobras,
by an organized corps of priests. There is, or was very lately, a
cobra-temple upon what is known as the Twin Isle, twenty miles further
south, and eastward of Ramisseram. It is therefore plain enough that there
were once plenty of serpent-worshiping tribes in various parts of Ceylon.

We know that the worship of the snake is a very ancient creed.
Mexicans, Egyptians, Hindus, Babylonians, and Buddhists have been
devotees to this idea. All stories or legends of the creation contain
some reference to the serpent, which also, according to Biblical lore,
played its part in the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of
Eden.

We have failed to mention heretofore that the remains of certain
Druidical circles of stone are occasionally found in both the northern
and southern portions of Ceylon, indicating that the Druidical form of
worship, which is supposed to be that of the Phoenicians, must have
once prevailed upon this island. These tokens belong to a period a
thousand years prior to the founding of the "buried cities" which we
have described.

On leaving Jaffna, the coasting steamer steers southward through the
Gulf of Manaar, following the Paumben Channel, past Adam's Bridge. A
call is made at the "holy" island of Ramisseram, where a visit may be
made to the great Hindu temple situated on the east end of the island.
Ramisseram is fourteen miles long by about five in width. The
dimensions of the temple upon the ground are eight hundred and
sixty-eight feet by six hundred and seventy-two in width, far
exceeding any other shrine or building in the island of Ceylon. Like
the temples of Tanjore, Madura, and Trichinopoly in continental India,
it is massive and tawdry, but still is the annual resort of hosts of
devout pilgrims from vast d