| Show c 7 4 4 J A 6 ak AX IX Y k 1 s I 1 af ol 01 ilk 4 4 k v 0 14 tte A docile ceylon temple elephant prepared by national society washington D C service HE duke of gloucester on hi his S Tp forthcoming visit to ceylon w will III present resent the island with the throne of its native kings the last tamil king of kandy raja stalls was unpopular with his subjects aided by the british they deposed him in 1815 find and sent his throne to england where ever since it has been preserved in windsor castle ceylon Is known to most of us only tor for its fragrant tea yet aside from producing the leaves of on one le of the worlds most popular beverages the island contributes anany many other oiher products to commerce coconut fiber for brushes tortoise shell for combs and eye glasses graphite an important component of pencils citronella oil applied to ward ot oft mosquitoes and cardamona car damons used to deaden the taste of medicine A pear shaped island halt the size of new york state ceylon lies iles in the indian ocean off the southern tip of india it Is a british possession and has no political connection with india though separated from it only by 22 miles of water A hinda epic relates that this strait was once bridged by a causeway the handiwork of an army of monkeys legend rises like incense from ceylon A huge hollow in a rhododendron covered hill Is revered as the footprint of buddha edans call it adams peak arabian legend relates that that adam and eve driven out of paradise were allowed to enter this enchanting island in many ways it Is a second eden it Is drugged with sweet scents that breezes waft far out over the high seas three days before mariners marinero ma sight ceylon they can smell its heavy fragrance which rises from flower decked temples from blossoms trampled on the highway from blooming lotus frangipanni gardenia cinnamon and other spice trees natives have idyllic life british modernization of the island has disturbed but little the almost idyllic existence of the natives off the palm fringed shores where lazy surf rolls on yellow sands they fish leisurely from outrigger canoes british automobiles may speed over the islands copper colored roads but cey lons ions slow moving bullock carts set the tempo for native life on any road arched over with tamarind trees festooned festoon ed with pepper vines one passes cream colored bullocks drawing huge thatch roofed prairie schoon ers era bursting with families and their household belongings the brown skinned women lire are slender and delicately featured often beautiful the men in their tight skirts and hair caught up in a bun appear effeminate their mouths are stained scarlet from chewing soothing betel nuts ceylon Is a land wrested from the jungle it well deserves its ancient name of the island of dusky leaves for most of its hills bills and low lying plains are arc covered with thick jungles glossy jak trees bamboos ebony and other rare hardwoods are woven together by wild vines jungle has overgrown Cey lons ancient clues cities the most extensive of these Anuradha pura miles north of colombo was the capital of a high ly civilized ceylon about B 0 A royal residence with buddhist priests among its inhabitants it must once have covered an area larger than london hindu gamils reduced it to a heap of granite posts and sculptured friezes it now Is strangled by creepers the ceylon archeology archaeology arche department which erected government offices and bungalows there cleared corridors to it so BO that visitors may view its fascinating ruins sunshine and heavy rains rain cef Cey ions climate Is fairly good for the tropics though thong it moist and enervating with warmth it Is tempered by sea gea breezes and Is healthful except in the low lying jungles jangles where malaria has taken heavy toll infant mortality Is excessive due chiefly to malaria mi ilaria intensive anti antl malaria work and maternal ferns and child welfare work are slowly producing good results the island alternates between scorch ing sunshine aud heavy showers at times the air la Is very still and liol hot thunder over hills bills and jungles precede midsummer rains so torrential that enery leaf drips clumps of giant bamboo already over feet high shoot up another foot in a single day liquid bird calls echo through drenched jungles the streams leaping from fall to fall down the central uplands to the coast gush in torrents and sometimes flood the land formerly when scant rain fell the rivers dried up into parched water courses carpeted with grass deer from the woods ventured out on them and wild swine plowed them up at night the northwest and southeast corners of ceylon became burning deserts to counteract this irrigation was begun centuries ago irrigation Is needed because rice Is the staple food of its inhabitants the early kin kings s made a great part of ceylon cultivable by constructing artificial takes lakes or tanks modern ceylon Is doing extensive irrigation work damming up rivers and conserving water in reservoirs for dry times this has not only converted arld arid land into agricultural areas but has checked floods and malaria Cey lons prosperity depends entirely on her agriculture the soil Is extremely fertile and about one fourth of the land Is under cultivation the valleys are a patchwork of vivid green rice fields the hills are striped with rows howg of tea bushes and rubber trees the tea industry largely in the hands bands ot of europeans Is the mainstay of the island exporting about million pounds annually most of the w work ork on the rubber and tea est estates a tes I 1 Is a done by tamil immigrants who migrate annually from south india and return home at the end of the season in 1931 these tamil immigrants composed 1305 per cent of the total population ot of ceylon one sees tamil women in bright red and white draperies winding down paths between the waist high tea bushes chattering and throwing tea leaves over their shoulders into baskets aside from tea and elt citronella ronella oil ceylon exports chiefly raw materials cacao cinnamon coconuts areca nuts rubber and cardamoms carda moms island Is I 1 a jewel box unlike the gamils who do most ot of the unskilled labor the are skilled workers being largely jewel grinders weavers lacquer makers ceylon Is a jewel box of precious stones in colombo the headquarters for jewel grinders and wholesale and retail jewel sellers one may purchase pearls glowing rubles sapphires sapp hires ame moonstone and alexand rites those weird stones green by day and sullen red under artificial light the early greeks knew ceylon as the land of rubles the island Is noted for its pearls the pearl pear fisheries are located on the northwestern coast along the gulf of kanaar along this shore which Is sea bottom become land by slow upheaval for 10 or 12 miles inland the plow turns up oyster shells every where here at the time of pearl fishing thousands of boats are anchem anchored off shore temporary villages spring up overnight complete with snake charmers and magicians to lure luie the money of the newly rich peart divers pearls of rare value are sometimes discovered legend has it that pearls from here jound found their way to Cleo patras earrings and the queen of necklace Cey cellona Ce ylona lons fauna would populate a weird zoo rose colored fla mate in its artificial lakes man eating crocodiles bask on the shores through shoulder high grass wild buffaloes watch tame lame buffaloes plowing rice fields the air rings with screams ot of wild peafowl and white beaded fishing ea eales eagles les the jungles fill the tropic night with uncanny hoo footings tings and catcalls cat calls the bloodcurdling blood blond curdling call of the devil bird makes ones flesh creep and onis ones hair stand on end the brown hawk owl makes a cry like a strangled cat above the file chattering of monkeys one hears bears the trumpeting of wild elephants |
