"'Then you pass another ravine, and then you come to a great rock about fifty feet high that forms the summit. Here you climb by hanging on to some iron chains fixed in the solid rock, and I don't see how anybody ever got up there without them; they have been there a thousand years or so, and are mentioned by Marco Polo and other ancient writers. Some are newer than others, and are probably the gifts of rich pilgrims to replace those that were worn or rusted out. [Illustration: TEMPLE ON ADAM'S PEAK.] "'When you stand all panting and exhausted on the summit, you find yourself on a little terrace surrounded by a low wall, and containing a temple which is held in place by iron chains that go over its roof. The temple itself is on a mass of rock at one side of the terrace, and inside of the temple is the famous _sri-pada_ or footprint. "'When you examine the footprint you cannot help thinking that Adam, or Buddha, or whoever stepped there, must have been a person of extraordinary size, as the print is about five feet long by two and a half in width. It is apparently a natural indentation in the rock, extended artificially to represent the shape of the human foot. There was formerly a cover of solid gold over the footprint, but it was lost long ago, and the only cover there at present is made of brass. "'The pilgrimages of three classes of religionists are made to this temple--by Mohammedans and Malabar Christians in honor of Adam, and by Buddhists in honor of the founder of their religion. The three are often mixed together during the month of March, which is the time of the greatest number of visitors; but in spite of this mingling, and the opposite views professed by the pilgrims, there is no quarrelling, and all seem impressed with the solemnity of the place, and the magnificence of the view from the mountain. The panorama is a very fine one; the southern half of Ceylon lies before you like a map, and away in the distance you see the sunlight sparkling on a beach of shining sand, while beyond it the light plays on the waves of the ever-restless sea. The rivers wind through the plain like threads of silver in a rich carpet, and the breezes from the cinnamon groves and the flowers in perennial bloom bring delicious odors to your nostrils. The man who can look from the top of Adam's Peak, when the clouds have vanished and the great picture is spread before him, and not be impressed by the sight, must be made of something little better than the inanimate earth. "'On the summit is a spring from which the pilgrims drink; occasionally leaves are found floating on the water of this spring, and the natives believe it has a connection with paradise, and that these leaves come from there. There is also a spring near Deabetine; the leaves that are found in it are thought to come from a garden that Adam established not far away, but anybody who tries to find it will never be allowed to return to his friends.