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.  Since the English deposed the native sovereign, the palace has been inhabited by the English resident, or governor.

Had I only arrived a fortnight sooner, I should have witnessed the mode of hunting, or rather snaring, elephants.  The scene of operations is a spot on the banks of some stream or other, where these animals go to drink.  A large place is enclosed with posts, leading up to which, and also skirted by stout posts, are a series of narrow passages.  A tame elephant, properly trained, is then made fast in the middle of the large space, to entice by his cries the thirsty animals, who enter unsuspiciously the labyrinth from which they cannot escape, as the hunters and drivers follow, alarm them by their shouts, and drive them into the middle of the enclosure.  The finest are taken alive, by being deprived of food for a short time.  This renders them so obedient, that they quietly allow a noose to be thrown over them, and then follow the tame elephant without the least resistance.  The others are then either killed or set at liberty, according as they possess fine tusks or not.

The preparations for capturing these animals sometimes last several weeks, as, besides enclosing the spot selected, a great many persons are employed to hunt up the elephants far and wide, and drive them gradually to the watering place.

Persons sometimes go elephant-hunting, armed merely with firearms; but this is attended with danger.  The elephant, as is well known, is easily vulnerable in one spot only,—­the middle of the skull.  If the hunter happens to hit the mark, the monster lies stretched before him at the first shot; but if he misses, then woe to him, for he is speedily trampled to death by the enraged beast.  In all other cases the elephant is very peaceable, and is not easily induced to attack human beings.

The Europeans employ elephants to draw and carry burdens—­an elephant will carry forty hundred-weight; but the natives keep them more for show and riding.

I left Candy after a stay of three days, and returned to Colombo, where I was obliged to stop another day, as it was Sunday, and there was no mail.

I profited by this period to visit the town, which is protected by a strong fort.  It is very extensive; the streets are handsome, broad, and clean; the houses only one story high, and surrounded by verandahs and colonnades.  The population is reckoned at about 80,000 souls, of whom about 100 are Europeans, exclusive of the troops, and 200 descendants of Portuguese colonists, who founded a settlement here some centuries ago.  The complexion of the latter is quite as dark as that of the natives themselves.