the Cingalese that was possible in
the limited time at our disposal. The Hotel balconies in the early
morning were fairly given over to the crows, great big birds of a leaden
color that circle around you in the most impudent manner and are as hard
to get rid of as the beggars, which follow you about the streets in
swarms and annoy you with their cries of "bachsheesh, bachsheesh," until
you long even for the sight of a policeman to whom you might confide
your troubles. Colombo is not a prepossessing city to the eye of the
traveler, the buildings being of an ancient style of architecture and
built more for comfort than for show, but the market places and bazaars
are well worth a visit.

There is a beautiful beach drive that extends from the military barracks
along the shores of the ocean for miles, and this is the fashionable
drive of all Colombo, though it was all but deserted in the early
morning hours. The Buddhist temples, and there were several of them in
Colombo, we were obliged to inspect from the outside, no admittance to
European visitors being the rule, but the strange gods that peered down
at us from the walls gave us a very good idea of what might be found
inside and served, at least, to take the edge off of our curiosity.

An invitation having been tendered us that morning at the office of the
U. S. Consul to visit the corvette "Essex," Captain Jewell commanding,
then lying in the harbor, we repaired at one o'clock to the wharf, where
gigs, manned by the ship's crew, awaited us and we were soon on board,
where we were entertained by officers and crew in a handsome manner. The
rendering of "America" by Mrs. Leigh Lynch on the cornet brought out an
enthusiastic round of applause, while Clarence Duval captured the hearts
of the seamen by doing for them a plantation breakdown in his best
style. Captain Jewell kindly sent us aboard the "Salier" in the ship's
gigs, which waited for us until we had donned our uniforms, and then
took us to the shore.

The procession out to the Colombo Cricket Grounds, where the game was
played, was indeed a novelty, and the crowds of Cingalese that
surrounded us as we left the hotel and looked on in open-eyed wonder
were by no means the least impressive part of the circus. There were no
drags and carriages on this occasion and no gaily-caparisoned horses
with nodding plumes, but in their places were heavy-wheeled carts drawn
by humpbacked little bullocks and jinrickshas drawn by b