, still bearing his name. I breathed the very air more
eagerly, hoping, like other travellers, to inhale the fragrant
odours wafted to me from the plantations of costly spices.
It was one of the most magnificent sights I ever beheld, to observe
the island rising gradually from the sea, and to mark the numerous
mountain ranges, which intersect Ceylon in every direction, becoming
every instant more defined, their summits still magically lighted by
the setting sun, while the thick cocoa-groves, the hills, and plains
lay enveloped in dusky night. The fragrant odours, however, were
wanting, and the vessel smelt, as usual, of nothing more than tar,
coals, steam, and oil.
About 9 in the evening, we arrived before the harbour at Pointe de
Galle, but, as the entrance is very dangerous, we quietly hove-to
for the night. On the following morning two pilots came on board
and took us safely through the narrow passage of deep water leading
into the port.
Hardly were we landed before we were surrounded by a crowd of people
with precious stones, pearls, tortoiseshell, and ivory articles for
sale.
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