cooking fires, whilst the bullocks were permitted to bathe and browse.

[Footnote 1: Attempts have been made to domesticate the camel in Ceylon;
but, I am told, they died of ulcers in the feet, attributed to the too
great moisture of the roads at certain seasons. This explanation seems
insufficient if taken in connection with the fact of the camel living in
perfect health in climates equally, if not more, exposed to rain. I
apprehend that sufficient justice has not been done to the experiment.]

The persons engaged in this wandering trade are chiefly Moors, and the
business carried on by them consists in bringing up salt from the
government depots on the coast to be bartered with the Kandyans in the
hills for "native coffee," which is grown in small quantities round
every house, but without systematic cultivation. This they carry down to
the maritime towns, and the proceeds are invested in cotton cloths and
brass utensils, dried fish, and other commodities, with which the
_tavalams_ supply the secluded villages of the interior.

_The Buffalo_.--Buffaloes abound in all parts of Ceylon, but they are
only to be seen in their native wildness in the vast solitudes of the
northern and eastern provinces, where rivers, lagoons, and dilapidated
tanks abound. In these they delight to immerse themselves, till only
their heads appear above the surface; or, enveloped in mud to protect
themselves from the assaults of insects, they luxuriate in the long
sedges by the water margins. When the buffalo is browsing, a crow will
frequently be seen stationed on its back, engaged in freeing it from the
ticks and other pests which attach themselves to its leathery hide, the
smooth brown surface of which, unprotected by hair, shines with an
unpleasant polish in the sunlight. When in motion a buffalo throws back
its clumsy head till the huge horns rest on its shoulders, and the nose
is presented in a line with the eyes.

The temper of the wild buffalo is morose and uncertain, and such is its
strength and courage that in the Hindu epic of the Ramayana its
onslaught is compared to that of the tiger.[1] It is never quite safe to
approach them, if disturbed in their pasture or alarmed from their
repose in the shallow lakes. On such occasions they hurry into line,
draw up in defensive array, with a few of the oldest bulls in advance;
and, wheeling in circles, their horns clashing with a loud sound as they
clank them together in their rapid evoluti