or people; and when told where he was he would scarcely believe his eyes, and would have some difficulty with his ears; for though there would be the old language, even that would be mixed with many words that to him would be utterly unintelligible. Looking at his own countrymen, he would say that in his time both the head and the feet were uncovered, but that now they cover both; or perhaps he would think that the youths whom he saw with stockings and shoes and caps were of some other nation. He would be shocked at the heedlessness with which appus and naidas and everybody else roll along in their bullock-bandies; passing even the carriage of the white man whenever they are able by dint of tail-pulling or hard blows; and when he saw the horsekeepers riding by the side of their masters and sitting on the same seat, there would be some expression of strong indignation. He would listen in vain for the ho-he-voh of the palanquin-bearers and their loud shouts, and would look in vain for the tomjohns and doolies, and for the old lascoreens with their talipots and formal dress. He would be surprised at seeing so many women walking in the road and laughing and talking together like men, but with no burdens on their heads and nothing in their hands, and their clothes not clean enough for them to be going to the temple. He would perhaps complain of the hard road, as we have heard a native gentleman from Kalpitiya do, and say that soft sand was much better. He would wonder where all the tiles come from for so many houses, and would think that the high-caste families must have multiplied amazingly for them to require so many stately mansions; and the porticoes, and the round white pillars, and the trees growing in the compound, bearing nothing but long thin thorns, or with pale yellow leaves instead of green ones, would be objects of great attraction. He would fancy that the Moormen must have increased at a

great rate, as he would take the tall chimneys of the coffee stores to be the minarets of mosques, until he saw the smoke proceeding from them, and then he would be puzzled to know what they could be. In the bazaar he

COFFEE.

A. The ARABIAN, or East African; B. The LIBERIAN, or West African; with Coolie attendant employed to shoot squirrels, rats, or hares on plantation.

would stare at the policemen and the potatoes and the loaves of bread, and a hundred other things that no bazaar ever saw in his day. And the talk about planters and barbacues, coolie immigration, and the overland and penny

He

postage, and bishops and agents of Government, and the legislative council and banks, newspapers and mail-coaches, would confuse him by the strangeness of the terms. would listen incredulously when told that there is no rájakáriya, or forced labour, and no fish tax; and that there are no slaves, and that you can cut down a cinnamon tree in your own garden without having to pay a heavy fine. Remembering that when Governor North made the tour of the island, he was accompanied by 160 palanquinbearers, 400 coolies, 2 elephants, and 50 lascoreens, and that when the adigar hælapola visited Colombo he had with him a retinue of a thousand retainers, and several elephants, he would think it impossible that the governor could go on a tour of inspection, or a judge on circuit, without white olas lining the roadside, and triumphal arches, and javelin men, and tomtoms, and a vast array of attendants. He would ask, perhaps, what king now reigns in Kandy, and whether he had mutilated any more of the subjects of Britain. From these supposed surprises, we may learn something of the changes that have taken place in the island, but we cannot tell a tithe of the whole."

If this was true when the veteran missionary wrote in 1862, the picture might well be heightened and intensified by the experiences of 1893, for the progress in the second half of our good Queen's reign among the people of Ceylon is not less remarkable than it was between 1837 and 1862.

As to the comparative freedom from poverty and suffering which distinguishes the lower classes, the vast masses of the natives of Ceylon, more especially in the rural districts where nearly all have an interest in field or garden, it must be remembered that they live as a rule in the most genial of climates, where suffering from cold is impossible, and the pangs of hunger are almost un

known, little more than a few plantains a day being sufficient to support life in idleness, if so chosen. Sir Edward Creasy, in his "History of England," says: "I have seen more human misery in a single winter's day in London than I have seen during my nine years' stay in Ceylon." In the larger towns, there are of course a good many very poor people, for whom some provision is made through Friend-in-Need Societies, there being no poor law nor rates. Occasionally, special subscriptions are raised for the poor, among the merchants and planters, while the Government makes grants to the Societies and has certain charitable votes.

CHAPTER XI.

PRESENT PROSPECTS FOR CAPITALISTS IN CEYLON.

Ceylon still a good Field for Investment-Its Freedom from Atmospheric Disturbances-Shipping conveniences at the New Harbour of Colombo-Low Freights-Cheap and Unrivalled Means of Transport -Certain Lands available for Tropical Culture in Coconut Palms, Cacao, Liberian Coffee, and to some extent in Tea-Openings for Young Men with Capital-High Position taken by the Ceylon Planter-Facilities for personal Inspection of Investments.

HAT we have said in the previous chapter will show

WHAT

the value of the planting enterprise to the settled inhabitants and to the government of Ceylon. We have also pointed out the immense advantages gained in commerce and profits by the mother-country. The British Capitalist, who, during the period of deficient coffee crops, grievously lost confidence in Ceylon, has within the past six years found cogent reason to forbear condemnation, and to look still on this colony as one of the best of British dependencies for the judicious investment of capital. It may be unnecessary now, in 1893, to offer him encouragement, because the value of Ceylon tea is everywhere recognised; but in some home circles the island may still be decried.

The situation of Ceylon in the Eastern World is peculiarly favoured in certain respects. The atmospheric disturbances which periodically agitate the Bay of Bengal, and carry, in hurricanes and cyclones, destruction to the shipping in the exposed Madras roadstead and the devoted