THE PEARL OF INDIA
BY
MATURIN M. BALLOU
And utmost Indian Isle Taprobanes.
Milton
SECOND EDITION
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
The Riverside Press, Cambridge
1895
Copyright, 1894,
By MATURIN M. BALLOU.
PREFACE.
That many readers evince a growing satisfaction in contemplatingforeign lands through the eyes of experienced travelers, the favorshown to previous books by the author of these pages abundantlytestifies. Mutual profit is therefore the outcome of such a work; boththe author and reader are gratified.
It is a pleasure to depict scenes which have afforded so muchgratification to the writer, for enjoyment is redoubled by beingshared,—"joy was born a twin." The undersigned has often been askedboth personally and by letter, "Of all the places you have seen andwritten about, which do you consider of the most interest, and whichdo you recommend me to visit?" This is a very difficult question toanswer, because individual tastes differ so widely. It is safe to sayno point presents more varied attractions to the observant traveler,more thoroughly and picturesquely exhibits equatorial life, oraddresses itself more directly to the delicate appreciation of theartist, botanist,[iv] antiquarian, general scientist, and sportsman, thandoes Ceylon, gem of the Orient. There are few attractive places in theEast which are so accessible, or which may be said to offer morereasonable assurance of safety and good health to the stranger, thanthis fabled isle of Arabian story. The climate is equable and mostdelightful; though the temperature is exceptionally high, it is, infact, perpetual summer, varied only by the rains of the monsoon monthsof May and June, October and November. The tropical heat near thecoast is trying to northern visitors, but one can always find arefuge, within a day's journey, up in the hills of the centralprovince, where it is so cool at most seasons of the year as to rendera fire necessary after sunset. In the matter of expense, this route isas economical as the average of land and sea travel in any direction.The cost of living in Ceylon is quite as moderate as in SouthernEurope, and now that the island is so generally traversed by railwaysand excellent government roads, there is very little hardship to beencountered in visiting its remotest districts.
M. M. B.