ed in value by its being produced abundantly in
lands still farther east, that comparatively little attention was given
to it. I was taken to the public garden in Colombo, and saw the
work-people with their sharp knives peeling off the fragrant bark from
the cinnamon-tree, and preparing it for the market.

Colombo, the capital, is a large, stirring, rising town. Galle is a much
smaller place, and owes its importance to its being a place of call for
steamers on account of its sheltered bay. It is noted for its pedlars,
men who, with combs in their long hair, and clad in jacket and
petticoat, might be taken for women. Their wares of jewellery and
precious stones have not a high character for genuineness. Kandy, the
old capital in the interior, is a small place, lying very low, and is
surrounded by hills. It has a beautiful little artificial lake, and is
famous for its temple, with a tooth of Buddha as its great treasure.

During the few weeks I was in Ceylon I was most hospitably entertained
wherever I went by missionaries, chaplains, coffee-planters, and others.
I shall always retain a grateful recollection of the kindness I
experienced. From these friends I heard much about the spiritual state
of Ceylon. It is well known the Dutch were the first Europeans who
obtained a footing in the island. They determined to stamp out
heathenism and establish Christianity, not by violent persecution, but
by reserving offices of every description for those who embraced the
Christian faith, by treating them in every possible way as a privileged
class, and by showing official disfavour to the unbaptized. An agency
composed of chaplains, catechists, and schoolmasters was appointed to
bring the community within the Christian fold. The work went on with
great apparent success. Tens of thousands avowed themselves Christians.
It looked as if heathenism was to disappear under Dutch rule. If the
Dutch had retained possession of the island, and had persevered in their
policy, in all likelihood by this time Ceylon would have been a
professedly Christian country, with a strong underlying element of
heathen notion and practice.

[Sidenote: BUDDHIST WORSHIPPERS.]

No sooner was the policy of neutrality adopted with the installation of
English rule, than this large Christian community melted away, and
flowed into the old channel of Buddhism, which had been for ages the
religion of the Cingalese. The thousands of Christians were reduced to
hundre