Show H amr martha nelson learns meaning ot of CW col W hilp in ceylon by mrs mr martha nelson mrs mra nelson recently returned from the far east cast off the tip of india lies the island of 0 ceylon with its strange customs anti and interesting people after A her spending a short time in beautiful colombo out our port of entry we took the opportunity offered few tour lats fo for a trip to kandy kandy is located in hi a valley high in the mountains the rather turbulent ganga river creeps slowly through this valley I 1 thus giving the elephants their favorite bathing place the temple tempe of the sacred tooth budihas Dudd Budd haa has tooth and the pride of the ceylonese the university of ceylon are located in this valley also never shall I 1 have another such trip the driver called tor for us early and we climbed into a contraption which h he e proudly referred to as nice nic e car my companions were brit ashers from london whom I 1 had met in kobl K japan they were wonderful and never let it be said the english have lave no sense of humor their wit is subtle and their humor keen tee ta plant on the way we passed many tea farms and we visited a tea processing plant here the leaves are dampened and left till they slightly ferment after which they are dried and packaged tor for shipment on the rubber plantations the trees were tapped and the raw rubber or sap was oozing into containers cocoanut Coco anut trees short and tall were growing all up the mountainside cinnamon and cashew trees grew in fields and along the roadside there were satin wood and other trees from which lumber is made the sawing being done by hand flowers daffodils hyacinths rhododendrons and even orchids bloomed in profusion along filmy ferns I 1 was especially interested to see insectivorous plants such ouch as the picher plant growing wild elephants were wandering in the fields or were being worked in heavy lifting and hauling hardy bullocks were drawing topped carts people walking at the side of the road both men and women wearing flowing gowns usually of white many bright eyed skinny little ch children lidren played by the roadside there were stands here and there selling hot ca shew nuts strange fruits and bananas large and small short and tat fat red and yellow and green but bananas never the less it was last march and the day was hot as they always are near the equator I 1 won dered it if our streaming old car would make the steady climb dut but finally we arrived in the picturesque little city of kandy 1 I laugh now as I 1 remember how we rushed here and there so as not to t miss anything and before we knew it was time for us to go to the uni hersity where we were to have lunch with dr and mrs kapalla bombay duck lunch was served in the garden it consisted of colom bo fruit cup chap and bombay duck which Is not duck at all but fish curry vegetable curd and rice and of course we were served hot chutney sauce and black tea the people of 0 ceylon car can be justly proud of their uni ver versify sity the buildings are delicate pink stucco and stone set on a campus of v vel ea vety gross grass and flowers add ing to this picture were stud ants in their colorful gowns and gracefully draped saris most of the girls wore to tal aks a red spot on the fore head denoting their religion and many with a jewel in the side of the nose I 1 could have enjoyed many nore more hours with the kaladas Ka but I 1 heard the rattle and puffing of nice car and I 1 knew that our visit must end the trip down the mountain side was relaxing my friend remarked that the car ran bet ter down bill but as we rounded a curve we could see in the valley below that there was great excitement among those placid people priests in their orange robes grownups grown upa and little children were rush ing to the scene even out our driver ise seemed erred worried as lie he hurried the old crate along sad news when wo we drew up to the place of excitement my heart stood stul still there in the road lay a dead bullock that had been hit by a car where was the driver of the car was the th man killed I 1 asked the only answer I 1 tot got from our driver was oh sad sad then he left the car to talk with the priests soon he returned saying funeral tomorrow funeral funera tomorrow oh all sad sad gad sad then he was wag killed I 1 said and I 1 thought of his little family or maybe big family he had left behind now I 1 committed my most awful faux pas I 1 asked it if they were going to skin this fat young bullock and give the meat to those poor people dohoo moaned our driver with a look of horror on his face I 1 shall never forget eat your mother he moaned eat your m o t h e rt finally it dawned on me that funeral tomorrow was for the bullock no one seemed to 0 know about the man and they have cared less now it was I 1 who moaned under my breath holy cow |