* *

Before leaving Colombo, an earnest desire possessed the author to see
the town from the bay, under the charm imparted by an equatorial moon
and starlight. A couple of native oarsmen and a comfortable boat
afforded the means of gratifying this wish, all the stronger from the
fresh memory of a like experience, not long ago, off the historic
island of Malta. The view of Colombo, it must be acknowledged, was a
disappointment. It is too thickly embowered with palms to form a
pleasing picture of itself: but ah, the tropical night, luxurious and
calm, with its wonderful brilliancy above, and its dark, mysterious
shadows below! The molten silver on which we idly floated had just
ripple sufficient to double its reflective power, lit by an occasional
flash of phosphorescence when the oars were dipped. The hoarse murmur
of the outside sea beating against the stout breakwater; the head and
stern lights of the shipping at anchor, distributed here and there;
the flashing eye of fire from the lighthouse, casting its long golden
wake seaward; the dancing lamps on the low-lying shore of the
Singhalese capital, with the soft strains of music from an English
bungalow in the half-moon bend of the beach,--all together formed a
delightful picture, leaving a typical scene deeply engraved on the
memory.

Land, sea, and star-illumined sky, everything charmingly bright with
the tender kiss of moonlight, how absolutely perfect was our farewell
vision of this "utmost" Indian isle.

* * * * *

By Maturin M. Ballou.

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