I saw many of the principal mountains in Ceylon--giants, 8,000 feet
high; but, unfortunately, not the most celebrated one, Adam's Peak,
which has an altitude of 6,500 feet, and which, towards the summit
is so steep, that it was necessary, in order to enable any one to
climb up, to cut small steps in the rock, and let in an iron chain.
But the bold adventurer is amply repaid for his trouble. On the
flat summit of the rock is the imprint of a _small_ foot, five feet
long. The Mahomedans suppose it to be that of our vigorous
progenitor, Adam, and the Buddhists that of their large-toothed
divinity, Buddha. Thousands of both sects flock to the place every
year, to perform their devotions.
There still exists at Candy the palace of the former king, or
emperor of Ceylon. It is a handsome stone building, but with no
peculiar feature of its own; I should have supposed that it had been
built by Europeans. It consists of a ground floor, somewhat raised,
with large windows, and handsome porticoes resting upon columns.
The only remarkable thing about it is a large hall in the interior,
with its walls decorated with some rough and stiffly executed
representations of animals in relief.
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