This is one of the most beautiful islands in the world. Part of it indeed
is flat--that part near Hindustan; but in the midst--there are mountains;
and streams running down their sides, and swelling into lovely rivers,
winding along the fruitful valleys. Such scenes might remind you of
Switzerland, the most beautiful country in Europe.
The chief beauty of Ceylon is her TREES.
I will mention a few of the beautiful, curious, and useful trees of this
delightful island. The tree for which Ceylon is celebrated, is the
CINNAMON tree. For sixty miles along the shore, there are cinnamon
groves, and the sweet scent may be perceived far off upon the seas. If
you were to see a cinnamon-tree, you might mistake it for a laurel;--a
tree so often found in English gardens. The cinnamon-trees are never
allowed to grow tall, because it is only the upper branches which are
much prized for their bark. The little children of Ceylon may often be
seen sitting in the shade, peeling off the bark with their knives; and
this bark is afterwards sent to England to flavor puddings, and to mix
with medicine.
There are also groves of cocoa-nut trees on the shores of Ceylon. A few
of these trees are a little fortune to a poor man; for he can eat the
_fruit_, build his house with the _wood_, roof it with the _leaves_, make
cups of the _shell_, and use the oil of the _kernel_ instead of candles.
The JACK-TREE bears a larger fruit than any other in the world;--as large
as a horse's head,--and so heavy that a woman can only carry one upon her
head to market.. This large fruit does not hang on the tree by a stalk,
but grows out of the trunk, or the great branches. This is well arranged,
for so large a fruit would be too heavy for a stalk, and might fall off,
and hurt the heads of those sitting beneath its shade. The outside of
this fruit is like a horse-chestnut, green, and prickly; the inside is
yellow, and is full of kernels, like beans. The wood is like
mahogany,--hard and handsome.
But there is a tree in Ceylon, still more curious than the jack-tree. It
is the TALPOT-TREE. This is a very tall tree, and its top is covered by a
cluster of round leaves, each leaf so large, that it would do for a
carpet, for a common-sized room; and one single LEAF, cut it in
three-cornered pieces, will make a TENT! When cut up, the leaves are used
for fans and books. But this tree bears no fruit till just before it
dies,--that is till it is _fifty_ years old: THEN--an enormous bud is
seen, rearing its huge head in the midst of the crown of leaves;--the bud
bursts with a loud noise, and a yellow flower appears,--a flower so
large, that it would fill a room! The flower turns into fruit. THAT SAME
YEAR THE TREE DIES!
PEOPLE.--And who are the people who live in this beautiful land?
In the flat part of the island, towards the north, the people resemble
the Hindoos, and speak and think like them; and they are called Tamuls.
But among the mountains of the south a different kind of people live,
called the Cingalese. They do not speak the Tamul language, nor do they
follow the Hindoo religion. They follow the Buddhist religion. You know
this is the religion of the greater part of the nations. Ceylon is full
of the temples of Buddha. In each temple there is an inner dark room,
very large, where Buddha's image is kept,--a great image that almost
fills the room.
[Illustration: DEVIL PRIESTS.]
The priests in their yellow cloaks, with their shaven heads and bare
feet, may be seen every morning begging from door to door; but _proud_
beggars they are,--not condescending to _speak_,--but only standing with
their baskets ready to receive rice and fruit; and the only thanks they
give--are their blessings.
There is another worship in Ceylon, and it is more followed than the
worship of Buddha, yet it is the most horrible that you can imagine. It
is the worship of the DEVIL! Buddha taught, when he was alive, that there
was no God, but that there were many devils: yet he forbid people to
worship these devils; but no one minds what he said on that point.
There are many _devil priests_. When any one is sick, it is supposed that
the devil has caused the sickness, and a devil priest is sent for. And
what can the priest do? He dances,--he sings,--with his face
painted,--small bells upon his legs,--and a flaming torch in each hand;
while another man beats a loud drum. He dances, he sings--all night
long,--sometimes changing his white jacket for a black, or his black for
a white,--sometimes falling down, and sometimes jumping up,--sometimes
reeling, and sometimes running,--and all this he does to please the
devil, and to coax him to come out of the sick person. This is what he
_pretends_;--but in _reality_, he seeks to get money by his tricks. The
people are very fond of these devil-dancers; it _tires_ them to listen to
the Buddhist priests, mumbling out of their books, the five hundred and
fifty histories of Buddha; but it _delights_ them to watch all night the
antics of a devil priest.
What is the character of these deceived people? They are polite, and
obliging, but as deceitful as their own priests. They are not even
_sincere_ in their wrong religion, but are ready to _pretend_ to be of
any religion which is most convenient. The Portuguese once were masters
of Ceylon, and they tried to make the people Roman Catholics. Then the
Dutch came, who tried to force them to be Protestants. Many infants were
baptized, who grew up to be heathen priests. Now the English are masters
of Ceylon; they do not _oblige_ the people to be Christians, yet many
pretend to be Christians who are not.