right of the avenue is a stretch of land devoted to tropical Peradeniya vegetables, including gourds, yams, sweet potatoes, tapioca, arrowroot, pineapples and many others. Gardens In the Bat Drive may generally be seen hundreds of so- Flying foxes called flying foxes hanging head downward like legs of mutton from the topmost branches of lofty trees. These curious birdbeasts (Pteropus edwardsii) are fruit eaters, and particularly fond of the seeds of the banyan tree (Ficus Indica). By day they sleep suspended as seen in our picture, and at night unhook their claws, and spreading their heavy wings, they fly around the trees in large numbers, making no little noise in their foraging exercises. A drive around the gardens by the river side is especially pleasant and affords many lovely views. At the north end there is a portion of ground allotted to nature herself, where in the jungle self-sown plants compete for the mastery in earth and air. The Museum situated near the Great Circle commands The Museum beautiful views and is full of objects of great interest. Here will be found specimens of the many valuable timbers of Ceylon. Entymology is represented, and the specimens include the Entomology greatest wonders of the insect world, many of them so closely allied to the vegetable kingdom that only on close examination can the question be determined as to whether we are looking at an object having a sentient being, or a mere bundle of leaves or sticks. Volumes might be written about these Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya; but it is beyond the scope of the present work to give more than a general idea of them. They contain the most lavish display of tropical flora that has ever been brought together, and the practical benefit of such an establishment, with its large staff of accomplished experts, will be manifest to every visitor. KANDY (74m. 36c.). By the most experienced travellers Kandy Kandy is usually awarded the high distinction of being the 1602 feet most picturesque spot of the British Empire. The formation Formation of the town itself may be described as a basin in the hills, the of the town bottom being occupied in one part by native quarters, temples and pansalas, and the rest by a picturesque lake, around which many miles of carriage drives, bridle roads and walks, at various elevations line the hill-sides, which are studded with pretty bungalows. A reference to our illustrations will give some idea of the way in which this beautiful little town clusters around the lake, amid all the wealth of foliage peculiar both to mountain and plain, which here meet and intermingle. Kandy is incomparably beautiful; but let it be at once Scenery understood that in thus describing it we are not limiting the epithet to the town and its immediate surroundings. It is Kandy Kandyan history Struggles with the Portuguese Arrival of the British rather the Kandyan country as a whole that is thus distinguished, and this must be seen from the hill-tops which command the far-reaching valleys where the Mahaweliganga rolls over rocky channels and through scenes of almost majestic beauty; from the Hunasgeria peak; from Mattanapatana; from Lady Horton's Walk and other steep acclivities that encircle the town itself. Travellers too frequently, either from want of time or lack of energy, obtain but a faint idea of the varied beauty of the Kandyan district. Our interest in the Kandy of to-day will be strengthened by some knowledge of the previous records of the Kandyans and their little city. It has no very ancient history. It was for the first time adopted as the capital in the year 1592 by Wimala Dharma, the one hundred and sixty-fourth monarch who had reigned in Ceylon since the year B.C. 543, the earliest period of which any events are recorded. For more than a thousand years Anuradhapura was the capital, and the residence of the kings, till in A.D. 729 this once mighty city, the stupendous ruins of which we shall describe later, was forsaken, and henceforth for some five hundred years Polonnaruwa became the capital. With the downfall of Polonnaruwa, consequent upon Malabar invasion, the prestige of the Sinhalese monarchy dwindled. From the year 1235 various places were selected for the capital, including Dambadeniya, Kurunegala, Gampola, Cotta and Sitawaka, until the final adoption of Kandy, which continued to be a place of royal residence until the reign of the last monarch, Sri Wikrama Rajah Sinha, 1798-1815. From the time of the first contact with Europeans, which took place in the early part of the sixteenth century, Kandy was for three hundred years the chosen ground where the Sinhalese made their stand against the aggressions of European intruders. The Portuguese first carried on a desultory struggle with the Kandyans for one hundred and fifty years, during which time they repeatedly gained possession of, and in great part destroyed, the city, but never succeeded in holding it to their own advantage, or for any considerable length of time. With the arrival of the Dutch in the middle of the seventeenth century a policy which involved less fighting was adopted, but the attitude of proud defiance on the part of the mountaineers was not one whit changed in consequence. From the very beginning the Dutch recognised the futility of trying to gain and hold possession of the Kandyan kingdom. It remained for the British to accomplish the task; nor was it by any means an easy one for them. For twenty years after their first arrival in the year 1795, Kandy remained unsubdued. At length Kandy was in possession of the British. The King was captured at Medamahanuwara, deposed and deported to the fortress of Vellore in India, and at a convention of the chiefs held in the great Audience Hall of the palace his Kandy dominions were transferred to the British Crown. military Good government speedily brought about contentment and Effect of the rapid advancement of civilisation. And recrudescence of the roads wars, which had lasted for three hundred years, was guarded against by the construction of good military roads. It seems to us somewhat strange that no attempt was ever made by the Portuguese or Dutch during their three centuries of warfare with the Kandyans to compass their end by means of roads. Roman history had afforded many notable examples of this mode of conquest from which they might have profited. The new roads of the British soon broke down the exclusive habits of the inland population, and the march of progress has been continued without interruption to this day. contentment Freedom and the benefits that follow in its train have now Peace and become familiar to the Kandyan mind, and peace, prosperity and contentment are now enjoyed by a people for centuries accustomed to serfdom, poverty and the excesses of unscrupulous tyrants. Before we proceed to describe Kandy as it will be found by the traveller to-day it may be useful to remark that during the months of October to April it is always advisable for intending visitors to book hotel rooms in advance. It frequently happens that several large steamships arrive at Colombo together, and a rush for Kandy is made by a large number of their passengers, who fill the hotels to their utmost capacity. It is safer therefore to telegraph for accommodation, unless it has been ascertained in Colombo that this course is unnecessary. The local hostelries comprise the Queen's Hotel, which is a large and well-equipped institution, in a most convenient situation; the Florence Hotel, quiet, comfortable and homelike in picturesque grounds upon the lake road; the Firs Hotel, and other smaller hotels and boarding houses. Hotel accom modation in and area The population of Kandy is about 25,000, of whom only Population about one hundred are English. The form of local government is a municipal council of which the Government Agent is the chairman, and the area embraced by the municipality is about eleven square miles. The streets as well as the hotels and the principal bungalows are lighted by electricity. The exploration of the interesting features of the town may be easily and pleasantly done on foot, with the occasional use of a jinrickshaw. This useful little man carriage is obtainable as easily as in Colombo, and the 'rickshaw cooly is under similar municipal regulations. He can be engaged by the hour for a trifling sum. The jinrickshaw is especially useful if taken out on little expeditions and left by the roadside during the exploration of places that are accessible only by pathways. Horse carriages can be obtained at the hotels. |