little in advance, walking cautiously, as if on an enemy's ground; his eye constantly wandering about and penetrating the thickets, as if to avoid being surprised by an elephant, bear, or leopard. The only wild animals I saw during our walk, with the exception of a few monkeys, were four or five large alligators. Turning round a little headland of the lake, we suddenly came within a few feet of them, as they lay on the sandy shore, basking in the sun. The instant they saw us, and heard the report of my rifle, they plunged into the lake, and disappeared under water: a circumstance that may convince even the timid, that on land, at least, they are not dangerous, particularly when I mention that we were only two in company; that they were in the act of flying even before the rifle was fired; and that the sand where they were contained their eggs. This we discovered accidentally : walking over the sand, we heard distinctly feeble cries from beneath; some egg-shells lying on the shore immediately suggested the cause, and, on digging in the sand from whence the noise issued, two or three young alligators made their appearance, and we found several eggs. It was curious to observe the propensity of these animals to use the weapons with which nature has furnished them; they all bit at the stick with which I touched them ; savage from birth, and shewing more instinctive hardihood than their runaway parents. The egg was about the size of a gooseegg, but larger, and at its extremities more rounded. Its earthy shell was brittle, and easily separated. Like the shell of the eggs of all the other lizards that I have examined, as well as that of the turtle, and of birds, it consists chiefly of carbonat of lime, and a little albumen, with very slight traces of phosphat of lime. The membrane beneath the outer shell too, like that of other lizards and of the turtle, was thick and remarkably tough

and strong. The alligator of Ceylon is never seen in rivers amongst the mountains or hills; it is confined to the low country, and abounds most in the lakes and tanks in the northern and southern parts of the island. It appears to be the Crocodilus biporcatus of M. Cuvier. * It occasionally attains a great size: I have heard of one taken that was seventeen feet long. in its own element, it rarely attacks man; but there are instances of its carrying off individuals; and the large one, just alluded to, had seized and swallowed a native.

Even

Kandellé, distant from Mineré twenty-nine miles, is a journey of two days. The country between Mineré and Pulian-Kadavettè, the intermediate halting place, is a very agreeable succession of wood and plain. It is low, and in the rainy season a great part of it is under water. The extremity of Mineré lake, in this direction, is far more picturesque than in the other. When we passed early in the morning, the prospect of the calm lake, with its numerous projecting promontories, girded round by green wood, and bounded by the lofty blue mountains of the Interior, had a most charming effect. About six or seven miles on the road, we crossed a pretty extensive plain. On the left, it had very much the appearance of a morass, and was covered with long grass four or five feet high. Here, at a distance, we saw several wild buffaloes feeding; they were so large, that we at first mistook them for elephants. On the right, this plain is bounded by jungle, in which, on our return, I accidentally discovered a great embankment, exceeding in magnitude that of Mineré. The mouth of the outlet of the old tank is a massive work, and still nearly in perfect preservation. It is a square

well, with walls formed of large stones, some of which are twelve feet by four, neatly cut, and most nicely adapted to each other, -to use the technical phrase," rabbited together." I regret I could not cross the embankment and examine the vent of the outlet on the opposite side. At a very little distance, and nearer Mineré, I observed in the jungle an immense hollow, like the bed of a great river, intersected by pretty steep ridges of quartz-rock. Its bed was composed of fine sand, and was full of deep pools of clear water. How far it extended I cannot say; the rocks, water, and jungle, preventing rapid examination, and I had not time to prosecute any other. On the spot it occurred to me, that it might be the quarry from whence the stones were procured for the construction of the great embankment adjoining. On this idea, even the appearance of the insulated ridges of quartz-rock may be accounted for, on the supposition that the more valuable gneiss only was quarried. Pulian-Kadavettè is the counterpart of one of the wretched little villages on the former part of the road. Here we felt, in a sensible manner, the sudden transition we had made from very the cool air of the highlands to the hot atmosphere of the plains. In the afternoon, the wind was westerly and hard; its temperature was 88°, and being very dry, it had a parching effect, and excited thirst greatly, in a place where there was only a little muddy water to allay it.

Between Pulian-Kadavettè and Kandellè is the little village of Permamadua. The intermediate country is more generally covered with wood than the preceding stage. Three or four miles from Kandellé the scenery again improves. The path leads across an open grass plain, in which there is a small tank that was crowded with water-fowl. The tank was a most agree

able object to our thirsty followers, particularly the palanqueenbearers, who no sooner saw it, than they raised a shout of joy, and impatiently ran to it to take a draught of its water.

Kandellé is a scattered village, similar to the preceding. It contains about sixteen families, who subsist on the produce of one large paddy-field. The lake or tank of Kandellé, which is close by, is a great work, and the best example of the kind of work, that I have ever seen. The lake is about three or four miles in circumference, and, like that of Mineré, skirted with green plains. The embankment by which the water is confined is a mile and one-third long. It extends nearly in a straight line, from a rocky hillock at one extremity, to a high ledge of rock at the other. Its perpendicular height may be about twenty feet; at its base, it may be a hundred and fifty or two hundred feet wide. Its face towards the lake is naked, sloped at an angle of about 45°, and composed of stones that rise one above the other like steps. The stones are of the same size nearly; from two to three feet long, about two high, and from one to two wide. They are of the same kind as the adjoining rock. It is, perhaps, worth remarking, that they have no sharp angles or asperities of surface; they have the appearance of quarried stones, rendered thus smooth by the action of the elements in long process of time. On the land-side the slope is very gentle, and the embankment is of gravel and earth. The stone face of the embankment is shaded by trees of great size; the other side is covered with large forest-trees and thick underwood, in most places impenetrable. Besides the great embankment, there is a small one detached from it about a quarter of a mile, and nearly at rightangles to it, similarly constructed.