The Calanyganga, an important river, is traversed by a long floating
bridge; the road then branches off more and more from the sea-coast,
and the character of the scenery changes. The traveller now meets
with large plains covered with fine plantations of rice, the green
and juicy appearance of which reminded me of our own young wheat
when it first shoots up in spring. The forests were composed of
mere leaved wood, the palms becoming at every step more rare; one or
two might sometimes be seen, here and there, towering aloft like
giants, and shading everything around. I can imagine nothing more
lovely than the sight of the delicate creepers attached to the tall
stems of these palms and twining up to their very crests.
After we had gone about sixteen miles, the country began to assume a
more hilly aspect, and we were soon surrounded by mountains on every
side. At the foot of each ascent we found extra horses in waiting
for us; these were yoked to the ordinary team, and whirled us
rapidly over all obstacles. Although there is a rise of about 2,000
feet on the road to Candy, we performed the distance, seventy-two
miles, in eleven hours.
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