"The faces of the Cingalese women are quite pretty, but there are not many of them that would be called handsome. Doctor Bronson says they are usually married by the time they are fourteen years of age, and their husbands are only a year or two older. The marriages are generally arranged by the parents without consulting the young people: the ceremony consists in tying the thumbs or little fingers of the couple together, in the presence of several witnesses, and while they are thus tied some scented oil is poured over the head of the bride. [Illustration: A CHEAP COMB.] "We went outside the Black Town, and made quite a drive among the fields and forests around Colombo. Our driver took us to see the cinnamon gardens, which were much larger than those of Point de Galle, as they covered hundreds of acres, and the trees were kept in much better condition. There are other trees mixed up in the gardens, such as cashew, bread-fruit, tamarind, and other tropical growths, and the fine roads through the place made our ride a pleasant one. The perfume from the grove was delicious, and we all recalled the words of Bishop Heber about 'the spicy breezes that blow soft o'er Ceylon's isle.' [Illustration: CASHEW-NUT.] "The country back of Colombo has a good many water-courses, some of them natural and others artificial. There are several lakes, but none of any great extent, though they are nearly all pretty in consequence of the rich foliage about them. A river with a sluggish current comes down from the north, and along its banks there are a great many floating houses, where the natives live just as they would on shore. [Illustration: A COOLIE AT PRAYERS.] "At one place, where we passed a little hut, we saw a coolie standing outside and pouring water upon a stone, while he repeated some words which of course we could not understand. We thought he was engaged in some form of religious worship, and when we asked the driver, he said it was so. The man was probably a native of India, as this form of saying prayers is quite common in certain parts of that country." The party went to bed early in order to have a good night's sleep, and be ready to start in the morning for the centre of the island. The express train for Kandy starts at 8 A.M., and consequently it was necessary to leave the hotel a little past seven. The boys found that the train was not unlike the one that carried them from Batavia to Buitenzorg, in Java; it was composed of carriages of three classes, the same as the Javanese trains, the third-class being occupied entirely by natives, while the second contained a mixed lot of middle-class natives and economical Europeans. The fares were six, four, and two rupees respectively for the different classes, the rupee being worth in round figures about fifty cents of our money. The distance between Colombo and Kandy is a little more than seventy-two miles. It was Fred's turn to keep notes of the journey, and he wrote as follows: