Ruins.--Aged Cave-Temples.--Gigantic Stone
Statue of Buddha.--French Vandals--A Native Chronicle.--Once the Seat
of a Great Empire.--System of Irrigation.--Mysterious Disappearance of
a Nation.--Ruins of a Vast City.--Departed Glory.--The Brazen
Palace.--Asiatic Extravagance.--Ruined Monument 44

CHAPTER IV.

Oriental Dagobas.--Ancient City of Pollonarua.--Laid out like our Modern
Capitals.--Unexplored Ruins.--Elaborate Stone Carvings.--Colossal Stone
Figure.--The "Buried Cities."--The Singhalese not a Progressive
People.--Modern History of Ceylon.--Captured by the English.--The
"Resplendent Island."--Commercial Prosperity.--Increasing Foreign
Population.--Under English Rule.--Native Soldiers.--Christian Sects and
Churches.--Roman Catholic Church.--Expulsion of the Jesuits 71

CHAPTER V.

Food of the People.--Rice Cultivation.--Vast Artificial Lakes.--The
Stone Tanks of Aden.--Parched Australia.--Coffee Culture.--Severe
Reverses among Planters.--Tea Culture.--Cinchona Plantations.--Heavy
Exportation of Tea.--Cacao Culture.--A Coffee Plantation
described.--Domesticated Snakes.--The Cinnamon-Tree.--Cinnamon Gardens a
Disappointment.--Picturesque Dwellings.--Forest Lands.--The Ceylon
Jungle.--Native Cabinet Woods.--Night in a Tropical Forest.--Rhododendrons
89

CHAPTER VI.

Arboreal King of the Forest.--The Palm Family.--Over-Generous Nature
and her Liberal Provisions.--Product of the Cocoanut-Tree.--The
Wide-Spreading Banian.--Excellent Public Roads.--Aquatic Birds and
Plants.--Native Fruit Trees.--The Mangosteen.--Spice-Bearing
Trees.--Treatment of Women.--Singhalese Rural Life.--Physical
Character of Tamil Men.--Tree Climbing.--Native Children.--Numerical
Relation of the Sexes.--Caste as respected in Ceylon.--Tattooing the
Human Body 112

CHAPTER VII.

Experiences between Colombo and Point de Galle.--Dangers of Encountering
Reptiles.--Marvelous Ant Houses.--Insect Architects.--Curious Bird's
Nests.--Flamingoes at Rest.--Variety of the Crane Family.--Wild
Pea-Fowls.--Buddha's Prohibition.--Peculiar Wood-Notes.--Mingling of Fruit
and Timber Trees.--Fatal Parasitic Vines.--Stillness of the
Forest.--Superstitions of the Natives.--Snake Bites.--Railway Facilities
131