LANDS OF THE MOONLIGHT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2106, 5 July 1894, Page 40

LANDS OF THE MOONLIGHT.

QA Series of Papers Specially Written for the Otago Witness")

BY BbBNAKD ESPINAS3E,

THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. No. IV.

Before proceeding to Kandy, around whicb cluster so many historical associations, it may be as well to glance hurriedly through a few of the Sinhalese annals, tbe better to appreciate the importance attaching to Kandy in the past. The legendary folklore which Ceylon possesses in common with all other places in all ages can of coarse only bo taken at its romantic value. Probably the first recorded mention of tbe Island Kingdom occurs in the " Ramayana," acknowledged to be the oldest epic in the wotld. This takes us back to tbe time when Ceylon was joined to the mainland by what is now a chain of rock 3 and sand banks, dividing tbe Palk Strait from the Gulf of Manaar, and known aa Adam's Bridge. In Hindu mythology this was tbe route taken by Rama, the warrior god, accompanied by his allies, Hanuman and the Apes, when invading Ceylon in pursuit of Kawana, who had carried off Secta — another Helen to another Troy.

Patting aside this fable, which, in the vernacular, is as beautiful as any of the northern Sagas, we find every reason to suppose that centuries before its very existence was suspected by the western world Ceylon was known to the Chinese — that strange, secret people! whose footprints upon the sands of the long-buried past are ever being revealed as tbe oct>an of time recedes and leaves them bare. There is record among their chronicle?, datirg back to dim antiquity, of the wrecking of a Chinese vessel — Singha (the lion)— upon this island (from which tbe verj nomenclature of the Sinhalese may have sprung), and so no doubt they were the first colonists there, as they have been elsewhere more often than history will allow.

The Sinhalese kings are said to have reigned from 543 B C, and their monuments are certainly over 2000 years old, and acknowledged by arebse'ogists to be second only in interest to those of Egypt. Coming down to more authentic histqry, we find the Portuguese in 1505 opening up commercial relations with the kings of Kandy, by which title the Sinhalese monarchs were then known. Whereupon their aid against the Arab pirates, who made periodic descents upon the island, was purchased by a tribute of cinnamon. Tbe masterful Portuguese becoming in their turn a greater scourge than the pirates, were driven out by tbe Dutch in 1639, who erected in the methodical sequence of civilisation a gallows, a prison, a fort, and a factory. About a century and a-half later, on war breaking oat between England and Holland, the Dutch possessions in Ceylon were attacked, and after three weeks' siege, Trincomalee, and subsequently Galle and Colombo, were taken by the British. Nevertheless, as in the case of both Portuguese and Dutch, it was tbe sea coast alone that was held ; in the fas tries tea of the hills a monarchy more than 20 centuries cl<3 slill endured. But in 1815 the tyranny of tbe Kandyan king and his outrages upon B itisb subjects became too flagrant to be tolerated, and the English troops entered Kandy and finally deposed its ruler. The whole i.land then became a Grown colony, and is now one of the largest coaling stations in the British dominions.

Having paused by the wayside to pick up these few crumbs of history, let us now take our places behind the iron horse, and so onward through the valltya and np tbe heights to Kandy. Tbe most beautiful scenery of all that is so beautiful in this Island of the Blest unfolds itself as tbe railway carves its path through tbe windings of the Dekanda Valley, opening up at every torn the perennially verdarous slopes rising gently inland in undulating billß clothed with the most luxuriant vegetation. " For 50 miles a level stretch of scented gardens, aglow with the cinna-moc-laurel, delights the eye, and charms tbe senses with the aromatic odours of the cassia buds. Terraced rice fields alternate with gentle knolls on wbioh stand the huts of the goyas (farmers), surrounded by groveß of plan tain p, jak fruit, cocoanut palm?, and mangoes. These give place to. a range of low hills and swamp lands, set with dense thickets of giant bamboos, lantana, and citron trees. Here gold dust sparkles in the river bed, and perchance lies bid in tbe earth, awaiting the shovel of the diggtr. Passing through " Tbe Valley of the Shadow of Death '' — a gloomy pass, so called from tbe mortality whioh attended the construction of tbe line at this pomt — tbe railway now begins to mount the incline Befcre us, above an elevated tableland, looms np the vast bulk and bold conical summit of the Aligalla Mountain, 8000 ft in air, the culminatirg point of the island, from whose top persons guilty of treason were siid to have been hurled into space by order of the kings of Kandy. The mountain sides rejoice in heavy masses of forest trees, including teak, ebony, and satin wood. Above them all to a stately height of close on 100 ft rises the talipot palm, the most magnificent of all its family. It flowers but once in a lifetime, after attaining the patriarchal age of nearly 80 years, the enormous, leaves forming a circlet 13ffc in diameter around a grand crowning blossom 70ft from the grouno. So gigantic are tbe leaves that half a doien of them can be made into a very commodious tent. The sacred books of the Sinhalese are written or cut upon leaves of tbe talipot palm

The railway, temporarily ergulfed by a long tunnel through the solid rock, now emerges upon a picturesque gallery carried z ; g-zag wise around the mountain summit, and reaches presently a bold projection 1000 r t above the sea. known as Sensation Rr.ck. Tbe construction of the line at this place is an engineering feat, and the Bervices of some of tbe most powerful engines in the world have been enlisted to surmount tbe natural difficulties of the precipitous ascent. The view from this coign of vantage is enchanting. We seem to be suspended in mid-

air upon this rfeky shelf, which overhangs the Gampola Valley (once the abode of Siugilese royalty) and the rapids of the Mabaveli-Ganga, flashing in the sunlight. To the right is Sinnapitiya, the site of the first coffee estate in Ceylon, and a little to the left we catch a glimpse of Mariawatta, the most valuable tea plantation in the island. As we wind onwards ap tbe rise Nature unfolds all her grandeur to onr vision. In the distance the Great Weste-n Range (7000 ft) and Adam's Peak, its mighty neighbour (whereof more anon), tower heavenward in majestio strength. . Far, far below, in the lap of the Dimbala Valley, tbe " Bridal Veil," a lovely waterfall, wbioh leaps from rock to rock for hundreds of feet, is lost in the immensity of the depth. The slopes are gloriously bright with a mass of roses, and tbe windings of rivers and roads are like silver threads through a green mantle.

And bo we reach Kandy. Maha-neura (the Great" City) stands at the head of a noble valley, on the borders of a beautiful lake. A wooded belt of -mountains rise tier upon tier around it in the form of an amphitheatre. Hindu poets speak of it as one of the seven heavens. Tbe most conspicuous natural phenomenon in the vicinity is the Camel Rock," a mighty boulder standing oat on the mountain side above the valley, and closely resembling a ruiDed castle. Next to the royal palace of the ancient kings — which is not a thing of architectural beauty, howe«r much it may be a joy for ever to the Sinhalese — the most interesting building in Kindy is the Dalada Malfgawa, or Temple of the Tooth. This is one of the most deeply venerated shrines in all India, since it possesses a tooth of Buddha I This astonishing relic— which is 2ft in length I— is prererved in a dagoba, or saced casket, wrought of gold and crystal, Btudied with precious stones, and festooned with jewelled chains. It yearly attracts crowds of devout worshippers, who stiew the pavement before the temple ankle-deep in flowers. The Buddhist monastery, which forms a quadrangle, the roof supported by 16 pillars of solid masonry, i 3 one of the finest spec'mens of a Hindu temple in the East. Tbe sanctuary contains a colossal figure of Buddha, 30ft; high, carved out of the living rock, ear rounded by several smaller figures painted a bright yellow, similarly hewn out of the sandstone.

Close at hand are the tombs of the kinga. The sarcophagi are of stone, covered with rude carvings. Those of the kings and queens face one another, and here in their quiet graves beneath the overshadowing branches of the peepul trees sleep the last of a royal race, mighty In" the long ago, come, as we all must come, to dust at last 1