"The white ant, as already mentioned, is one of the most destructive of these pests, since he will eat nearly all kinds of wood, and there are persons who say he is fond of knife-blades, needles, and similar things, and can even get away with a cannon-ball. Closets, where meat and other things for the table are kept, must have the feet stand in saucers filled with water, or they will be over-run by these ants; and in some parts of the island it is the practice to fix the beds in the same way, to prevent the disturbance of the occupants. [Illustration: SCORPION.] [Illustration: CENTIPEDE.] "There are moths, and beetles, and centipedes, and millipedes, and scorpions, and dragon-flies, and many other things in great number, and there is a little thing they call the tic that is about as large as the head of a pin, and makes trouble enough to be heavier than a cat. He gets on the skin, and buries himself in it, and you must lift him out with the point of a knife if you want to be rid of him, as you generally do. There are bees, and fleas, and caterpillars, and there is a curiosity they call the guinea-worm, which grows under the skin around a person's ankles, and gives him lots of trouble. It is like a fine thread, and grows to be several feet in length; in order to get rid of it, the flesh must be cut into, and every bit of the worm removed, and you can readily understand that the operation is not an agreeable one. "Well, that's enough about these unpleasant things--we'll come back to other matters. "There is a dome-shaped mountain on the north-eastern side of the valley which is called Pedrotallagalla, and is the highest in Ceylon, being 8280 feet above the sea, or nearly 800 feet more than Adam's Peak, the most famous mountain of the island. We wanted to go to Adam's Peak, but find we cannot spare the time, and so we must be contented with taking the story of the journey from others. "Adam's Peak lies between Newera-Ellia and the sea-coast; in fact, it is nearer to Colombo, in an air-line, than Kandy is. To go from here, we should have to cross two or three mountains, and the best way to visit it from Colombo is to go from that place directly to Ratnapoora, on the Kaluganga. Ratnapoora is a nice village at the foot of the mountains, and just as you leave the flat country of the coast; from there the distance to the summit of the peak, as the crow flies, is about eight miles: but it is nearly twenty by the roads and paths. [Illustration: A VIEW IN THE FOOT-HILLS.] "We will give the story of the ascent of the peak in the words of the gentleman who told it to us, as near as we can remember them. Here goes: