"As we left the low country, and ascended among the mountains, we found that the air became cooler and purer the higher we went. We crossed the summit of the pass at an elevation of 2000 feet, and then descended 200 feet to Kandy. The scenery on one side of the mountains is about the same as on the other, and the whole range of hills in the centre of Ceylon seems to have been shaken up in a very lively way, and then cooled off just as it was. In whatever way we looked there were hills and valleys, and the slopes were generally so steep that they would not be at all easy to climb. "We went to the Queen's Hotel in Kandy, and thought from its name that the establishment ought to be a fine one; but we think that if the queen knew what kind of a hotel is being kept in her name, she would order it changed: the house is dirty and uncomfortable, and the table the very perfection of badness. The proprietor says it is difficult to get good cooks in Kandy, and we believe him, for the ones he has are certainly very far from being good. In all the rooms there are notices that no credit can be allowed, and all patrons are expected to settle their bills before they leave the house. Doctor Bronson asked why these notices were put up, and they told him that the coffee-planters frequently come to the hotel and go away without paying their bills, and a good deal of money had been lost by trusting them. "Kandy is quite prettily situated among the hills, and it looks as though a considerable amount of money had been spent on making it attractive. There is an artificial lake that has a road all around it where people go for their afternoon drives, and there is a small mountain just back of the town with a road winding around it, with shade-trees nearly all the way to protect you from the sun. We took a stroll there this afternoon, and found it delightful; every few hundred yards there are seats where you may sit and look at the scenery, and from some of the points you can look for miles over the lovely valleys and the hills covered with trees clear up to their summits. "Kandy is the capital of Ceylon, and it is to this fact that it owes the great number of charming walks and drives; nearly every road and path bears the name of Lady Somebody or other, and there are so many of them that the list becomes tiresome after a while. But if the people whose names are thus preserved gave the money for making the roads and paths, I suppose we ought not to complain, as they have added very much to the attractions of Kandy. The place was favored by nature in supplying it with an abundance of tropical vegetation, and so there was an opportunity to spend money to good advantage." CHAPTER XIX. AROUND KANDY.--BOTANICAL GARDENS AND COFFEE PLANTATIONS.--ADVENTURES WITH SNAKES.