me fidgety, and having dismounted, he tried to
direct them in detail; but never a bit would the stone budge. Finally,
losing all patience, he leaped from the top of the bank, and roared
out, in a voice of reproach and provocation, "Give me the crow-bar!"
Thus armed, he pushed the officers and men to the right and left,
while he insisted upon having the whole job to himself, literally,
single-handed. He first drove the claws of the instrument well under
the edge of the stone, then placed with his toe a small iron pin on
the ground under the bar, and across its length, to act as a fulcrum,
or shoulder. When all things were carefully adjusted to his mind, he
slipped his hand to the upper end of the lever, and weighing it down,
gave what he called "life" to the huge stone, which, just before,
half-a-dozen strong men had not been able to disturb. Sure enough,
however, it now moved, though only about half-an-inch, towards its
intended resting-place. At each prize or hitch of the bar, the rock
appeared to advance farther, till, after five or six similar shifts,
it was finally lodged in the station prepared for it, where, I doubt
not, it rests to this day, and may occupy for centuries to come.

CHAPTER XVIII.

EXCURSION TO CANDELAY LAKE IN CEYLON.

The fervid activity of our excellent admiral, Sir Samuel Hood, in
whose flag-ship I served as lieutenant, from 1812 to 1815, was
unceasing. There was a boyish hilarity about this great officer, which
made it equally delightful to serve officially under him, and to enjoy
his friendly companionship. An alligator-hunt, a sport in which the
Malays take great delight, was shared in by the Admiral, who made the
place ring with his exclamation of boyish delight. Scarcely had we
returned from the alligator-hunt, near Trincomalee, when Sir Samuel
applied himself to the collector of the district, who was chief
civilian of the place, and begged to know what he would recommend us
to see next.

"Do you care about antiquities?" said the collector.

"Of course," replied the Admiral, "provided they be genuine and worth
seeing. What have you got to show us in that way? I thought this part
of the country had been a wild jungle from all time, and that the
English were only now bringing it into cultivation."

"On the contrary," observed our intelligent friend, "there are
manifest traces, not very far off, of a dense and wealthy population.
At all events, the inhabitants appear to have und