Not
A Breath Of Air Has Rustled A Leaf, Not Even A Falling Fruit Has
Broken The Spell Of Silence;
The undying verdure, the freshness
of each tree, even in its mysterious age, create an idea of
eternal vegetation, and
The silvery yet dim light adds to the
charm of the fairylike solitude which gradually steals over the
senses.
I have ridden for fifteen or twenty miles through one of these
forests without hearing a sound, except that of my horse's hoof
occasionally striking against a root. Neither beast nor bird is
to be seen except upon the verge. The former has no food upon
such barren ground; and the latter can find no berries, as the
earth is sunless and free from vegetation. Not even monkeys are
to be seen, although the trees must produce fruit and seed.
Everything appears to have deserted the country, and to have
yielded it as the sole territory of Nature on a stupendous scale.
The creepers lie serpent-like along the ground to the thickness
of a man's waist, and, rearing their twisted forms on high, they
climb the loftiest trees, hanging in festoons from stern to stem
like the cables of a line-of-battle-ship, and extending from tree
to tree for many hundred yards; now felling to the earth and
striking a fresh root; then, with increased energy, remounting
the largest trunks, and forming a labyrinth of twisted ropes
along the ceiling of the forest. From these creepers hang the
sabre-beans. Everything seems on a supernatural scale - the
bean-pod four feet or more in length, by three inches in breadth;
the beans two inches in diameter.
Here may be seen the most valuable woods of Ceylon. The ebony
grows in great perfection and large quantity. This tree is at
once distinguished from the surrounding stems by its smaller
diameter and its sooty trunk. The bark is crisp, jet black, and
has the appearance of being charred. Beneath the bark the wood
is perfectly white until the heart is reached, which is the fine
black ebony of commerce. Here also, equally immovable, the
calamander is growing, neglected and unknown. This is the most
esteemed of all Ceylon woods, and it is so rare that it realizes
a fancy price. It is something similar to the finest walnut, the
color being a rich hazel brown, mottled and striped with
irregular black marks. It is superior to walnut in the extreme
closeness of the grain and the richness of its color.
There are upward of eighty different woods produced in Ceylon,
which are made use of for various purposes; but of these many are
very inferior. Those most appreciated are-
Calamander, Ebony, chiefly used for furniture and cabinet work.
Satin-wood, Suria (the tulip tree). Tamarind. Jackwood.
Halmileel. Cocoa-nut. Palmyra.
The suria is an elegant tree, bearing a beautiful yellow blossom
something similar to a tulip, from which it derives its name.
The wood is of an extremely close texture and of a reddish-brown
color.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 121 of 173
Words from 62167 to 62672
of 89475
