gradual slope of the valleys between each range toward the wide expanse of low country a few miles farther below-combined to form a prospect as magnificent as any I had ever beheld.

Just below the bungalow I came to a standstill the road suddenly terminated, and an almost perpendicular bank stood up before me. Cock Robin," however, was better acquainted with the spot than I was, and doubtless divining my hesitation, took his own way, went straight at it, and, floundering up, landed me safely on the levelled compound above, amid a confused litter of bricks, sawn timber, heaps of lime, pools of mortar, stones, tools, masons, carpenters, and coolies, a conglomeration of various implements and races, Malays, Tamils, and Singhalese of every stamp and caste being congregated together in almost equal numbers.

From behind this motley assemblage a heavily-bearded visage was soon distinguishable, and a familiar figure emerged, its burliness scarcely diminished by a suit of white jungle clothes, and the light of amusement inclined to beam out of the dark, kindly eyes as they rested on mine, and descried the consternation and disgust which must have been very vividly pictured in them. When, at length, after dismounting, I managed with my husband's assistance to surmount the various obstacles in our way and reach the bungalow, I was even more dismayed, for although he had prepared me for finding things in an incomplete and disordered condition, my imagination had scarcely realized the veritable chaos which the scene before me presented.

The building was, or rather promised to be, a fine large bungalow, containing several lofty rooms, a spacious smoking hall, and broad verandas. But the plan was only just marked out by stone pillars and partially-built walls-even the roof was not shingled all over, and through the open rafters here and there the sun blazed fiercely in. The only room which was really in a habitable state was the office, and that could just boast of four walls which were already dry and whitewashed; but even here the doors were not put up, and pieces of coir-matting, hung before the apertures, were improvised as curtains in their

NEW SERIES.-VOL. XXXIII., No. 1

place. The room was, however, sufficiently large to admit of our using it as a sleeping apartment; we migrated into the various rooms by turns with our dressing paraphernalia, and the few articles of dining-room furniture indispensable to our needs were placed day by day wherever we found it most convenient to sit down to our meals. How I resigned myself during so long a period to the many drawbacks to comfort I then experienced I find it difficult in the retrospect to conceive. But whenever I felt a disposition to grumble I had only to look from the front veranda to dispel every feeling of impatience and discontent. The magnificent panorama before my eyes almost surpassed description.

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Allagalla" being situated at the very extremity of the district, the termination of the various ranges of hills around afforded us the view of a wide expanse of low country, extending to the right and left as well as before us.

Directly opposite, stretching away for miles toward the beautiful port of Trincomalee, it lay wrapped in an unbroken stillness. Some idea of the remarkable purity of the atmosphere may be formed from the circumstance that on a clear day the sea-line can be distinctly traced on the horizon at a distance of more than seventy miles, looking like a silver thread-the white foam of the advancing and receding waves even perceptible at times to the naked eye. To the left lay the watery plains of Aloot Newarathe Bintenne fields, where the snipe flock in numbers as the season approaches, affording good shooting for all lovers of sport. Beyond, dimly fading in the distance, the broken peaks and summits of the Kandyan ranges reared their lofty heights-Mchadahamahanewara, the Knuckles and Hewahette, and even portions of the Nitre Cave and Kalibooka districts being visible sometimes. mediately below we could trace at intervals portions of the white line of high road passing to the right through the paddy fields of Beebola, and onward through the park country, by many deviations from the straight line to Batticaloa, one of the hottest ports in the island.

I found "Allagalla" a most lonely abode; it was so far from any other

8

estate, or rather bungalow (for estates adjoined it in more than one point), that we rarely saw visitors, especially as we were in such confusion with the building operations that we could not entertain. E being secretary to the Medical Aid Committee at that time, and a member of the Planters' Association, had many public meetings to attend in the district; and the visiting of his own properties, both in the immediate neighborhood and in other districts, made his absences very frequent. But I was thoroughly accustomed to jungle life, and, except on his trips to any great distance, rarely cared to accompany him, the long rides in the hot sun being so trying to me. I had plenty of resources for occupation and amusement in my work and writing, drawing and books, though I often longed for my piano, which of course had been left with our other goods at "Mausa-Kellie;" my poultry-yard and flower-garden too were still in prospective at "Allagalla," and I missed them considerably. But, on the whole, night was the only time when I really did feel the loneliness and solitude almost more than oppressive. Even when my husband was at home the weird aspect of the surroundings had always an unpleasant effect on my nerves, and it was sometimes with an unaccountable sort of shiver that I rose from my comfortable rattan recliningchair in the veranda to retire for the night, when he had fallen asleep in the opposite long arm-chair.

To stand on the levelled space in front of the bungalow on a bright moonlight night, and gaze around, gave me a shuddering sensation of something "uncanny about the place. The black, overhanging rocks above-the "devil's rocks," as they were called-looked blacker in the shades of night; the charred trunks of felled trees in the clearing stood out in huge shapeless bodies here and there, the few remaining branches on them projecting like phantom hands and glinting in the fitful moonlight; the chasms-and there were many--had the appearance of unfathomable depths; and the sharp outline of the rugged hills against the sky made them resemble impending masses in close proximity, ready to close upon and overwhelm everything within

their range beneath their stupendous weight.

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Before we took up our residence on Allagalla" there had been floating rumors among the natives that a "Pezazi,” a Yakkho" or in plain English a devil-haunted its vicinity, rumors which of course E-regarded with supreme contempt, ridiculing all the stories which came to his ears.

Still, the apprehension exhibited by the natives was genuine enough, and we had more than one instance in which fear so completely overcame them that they succumbed to its effects. One case, which fell immediately under my notice, was that of a Singhalese lad about seventeen years of age, employed as a servant by the conductor, who became, as the Tamils graphically describe it, "Pezazi poodichidi," or "devil-taken"-as we should express it, "possessed of the devil"-and gave himself up for lost. He had for some days refused to work, and hung about the compound in a state of abject terror, which increased on the approach of night. Soon he betook himself to one of the go-downs belonging to the bungalow, where he lay in a state of partial coma, trembling and quaking in every limb, and refusing all offers of food or medicine. Unfortunately, at that time the appointment of a medical officer to the district had not been concluded, so that no professional help was at hand. Persuasion failing, threats and even force were resorted to, but without effect; nothing would rouse him, and all that could be gathered from his miserable articulations 'was a kind of incoherent entreaty to be left to his fate; it was useless to make any effort to rescue him from the grasp of the fiend who held him as his victim. On the morning of the third day the unfortunate creature was dead, and laid in his grave before the sun went down.

This circumstance impressed me very unpleasantly, and although I scouted the idea of there being anything to justify such apprehensions as led to the death of the wretched boy, I could not but wish that these notions were less prevalent among the natives, as it became quite disagreeable having the servants and coolies in a state of continual trepidation, and circulating the most improb

able stories among themselves and their neighbors.

I observed, however, that those natives who professed Christianity, both Roman ists and Protestants, exhibited no symptoms of fear, neither were they so credulous as the Buddhists. The Tamil coolies appeared more superstitious than any, impressing upon one the generally received opinion, which has almost be come an axiom, that the greater the ignorance, the greater is the superstition. The memorable night on which the circumstances I am about to describe took place, E-- and I had retired early, as was our usual custom. servants slept in go-downs outside, built in the compound at the back of the bungalow, and it so happened at the time that the conductor and his family also occupied a go-down, the small bungalow in which he had formerly lived having been recently destroyed by fire.

The

E was never a sound sleeper, and the least noise soon roused him. I, on the contrary, enjoyed my repose, and even when dawn of day urged the necessity of rising if we would have a refreshing half hour before the sun burst forth in its tropical heat and dried up all the dews of night, would fain have lingered in the transition state between slumber and wakefulness, when, knowing that we are in dreamland, we still wish to prolong the duration of that blissful feeling of semi - unconsciousness, and avert for a while the awakening to the stern realities and commonplaces of every-day life.

Thus, wrapped in dreams, I lay on the night in question, tranquilly sleeping, but gradually roused to a perception that discordant sounds disturbed the serenity of my slumber. Loath to stir, I still dozed on, the sounds, however, becoming, as it seemed, more determined to make themselves heard; and I awoke to the consciousness that they proceeded from a belt of adjacent jungle, and resembled the noise that would be produced by some person felling timber.

Shutting my ears to the disturbance, I made no sign, until with an expression of impatience E suddenly started up, when I laid a detaining grasp upon his arm, murmuring that there was no need to think of rising at present

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it must be quite early, and the kitchen cooly was doubtless cutting firewood in good time. E responded in a tone of slight contempt, that no one could be cutting firewood at that hour, and the sounds were more suggestive of felling jungle; and he then inquired how long I had been listening to them. Now thoroughly aroused, I replied that I had heard the sounds for some time, at first confusing them with my dreams, but soon sufficiently awakening to the fact that they were no mere phantoms of my imagination, but a reality. During our conversation the noises became more distinct and loud; blow after blow resounded, as of the axe descending upon the tree, followed by the crash of the falling timber. Renewed blows announced the repetition of the operations on another tree, and continued till several were devastated. Exclaiming wrathfully that he would stand this sort of thing no longer," E-— pushed aside the matting overhanging the doorway, and passing through a couple of rooms and a passage stood in the back veranda and shouted for the appoo and the conductor. I remained within, listening in mute astonishment to what was passing. It appeared that both conductor and servants were all awake, and I could hear the wailing of a child, followed by the sound of a woman's frightened weeping from one of the go-downs outside. E- was the first to speak. In imperious tones he demanded what the conductor meant by allowing such a disturbance at that hour-why did he not put an immediate stop to it? The conductor's reply was given without hesitation, deferentially enough, but with no attempt at evading the question. His English was not elegant, but at least explicit. "I should be very glad to stop it, sir, if I could, but I can't. It's no one at work, sir-it's the devil."

I confess that my nerves were not proof against this startling announcement. I sought companionship. Throwing on my dressing-gown I quickly proceeded to the veranda, looking at the clock on the sideboard en passant. The hands pointed to 2.55 A.M. ciently convinced that there was something very extraordinary going on, I joined E-- in the veranda. The conductor, head appoo, and several of

Suffi

the other servants were standing outside in the compound. All this time there had been no cessation of the sounds. The regular blow of the axe and the crash of the falling tree went on without intermission. For the moment, as the conductor ceased speaking, E--'s utter astonishment almost took away his breath. This was succeeded, as he has since admitted, by a cold chill, which crept imperceptibly over him as he stood there, and seemed to paralyze his powers of articulation. Hastily rallying himself, with rising anger, he found utterance.

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Conductor, do you take me for a fool, or am I to consider you one, to believe in such humbug as this? I looked upon you as a man of some sense, but you appear to be as foolish as the coolies. You know as well as I do that the devil doesn't play practical jokes like these, and that no such person as the devil is allowed to go about as these ignorant people describe-that it is simply a tissue of humbugging superstition.'

The conductor shook his head. "He was very sorry to lose master's good opinion, he had no wish to believe in the devil, he did not believe in the devil, at the same time he could not account for the sounds. No person would dare to be in the jungle at this hour, in such darkness, therefore no human being could make them ;"' ergo the devil must! Logic certainly, but not convincing enough for E. Exasperated beyond control, he called for his gun, and shouting in Tamil that he was going to fire, discharged both barrels in the direction whence the sounds proceeded the strip of jungle almost adjoining the compound, so close was its proximity to the bungalow. The sounds became fainter; suddenly stopped. Congratulating himself upon having settled" the devil, for the present at any rate, E-— reloaded his gun, and sending the servants to their rooms we returned to our own, to compose ourselves to slumber again if possible; but I am fain to confess that my apprehensions were quickened and my nerves by this time quite unstrung. Anything tangible one might grapple with and surmount, but this mysterious intruder baffled and filled one with undefinable dread-of what, it was impossible to conjecture.

46

Some time elapsed, it may have been a quarter of an hour, and my quakings having somewhat subsided, I was dropping off into a restless doze, when suddenly a whole battery of blows resounded in the immediate vicinity, succeeded by thundering crashes in quick succession.

Then came a violent rush of wind, followed by a volley of what seemed to be missiles, in the shape of stones, sand, and other loose materials. hurled down upon the roof of the outside buildings with the noise of a hurri

cane.

The sudden alarm almost deprived me of my self-possession, and E-- could scarcely repress his indignation, so firmly did the conviction rest in his mind that human agency was at work. His muttered imprecations were not a few, and I pitied the poor "devil," whoever he might be, who might at that moment have fallen under the lash of his vengeful feelings.

After this we heard no more, the fiend having apparently exhausted his displeasure. Daylight came at last, and with it my nerves recovered their wonted equilibriun.

Directly after the matutinal cup of coffee, E-- went out, traversed every part of the small belt of jungle adjacent, and came back thoroughly disappointed and nonplussed with the result of his investigations. Not a trace of a tree having been touched was perceptible, nor was there a vestige of any substance whatever on the roof of the buildings in the compound.

No satisfactory solution of the mysterious noises we heard has ever been offered, and we can arrive at no conclusion. It has been suggested that they may have been produced by an echo. The strip of jungle ascended the hill, on the other side of which was a deep valley. On the opposite side of this valley rose another range of hills, covered with a tract of heavy jungle. This was valuable, as the district did not abound in very extensive forest, and timber was in request. It is possible that the sound of felling in this jungle might be echoed by the opposite hill, but even then other circumstances combined to stultify this supposition; the echo would be heard on the hill where the sounds were made, not on that which

produced it. No felling was going on there at that time, and had any one at tempted to fell and carry off timber by stealth, the act must have been detected. Throughout the entire jungle did E—— subsequently extend his investigations without discovering a sign of human being having been engaged in any such operation. And then, who would, who could, go into the depths of a Cey. lon jungle at dead of night without even a streak of moonlight to direct their steps, for any purpose whatsoever? Most natives are timorous of even walking on the high road in darkness. Lights would have been of little use, and moreover would have been likely to lead to the discovery of their whereabouts. But the main fact remained to overthrow all the possible explanations we could devise-no felling had taken place in any part of the jungle.

This fact goes far also to disprove any supposition which might be urged on the ground of volcanic agency, which would leave some traces of its action. Neither is Ceylon subject to earthquakes or disturbances resultgin from this cause, though it is not altogether exempt from them, as, in the autumn of 1874, I my. self experienced a shock one night which we found was attributable to a slight earthquake which was felt more or less in different parts of the island.

Time passed on. I was not so brave as formerly about being left alone at night, and that day week E-— had occasion to attend a medical committee meeting at Cooroovagalan, and could not return home till the following morning. I might have accompanied him had I felt equal to the ride, but my nerves were in so shaken a state that I could not sit my horse, and had to give up the attempt and remain at home. As night advanced, my fears redoubled. Dinner over, I kept the servants about the bungalow as long as I could, but at length they had finished all I could find for them to do, and, not wishing to display any feelings of nervousness, I was obliged to dismiss them. I could, however, hear them in conversation outside over their rice, and summoned up courage to retire for the night. Just before turning in" an impulse led me to push aside the curtain over the doorway, and gaze upon the solitude around.

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The tall pillars and bare scaffolding, half-built walls and dark corners looked weird and desolate enough; and with a feeling of insecurity I dropped the curtain and extinguished my lamp. The convivial domestics outside had by this time ceased their chattering; all was still, when upon my startled ears fell the unwelcome but familiar sound of a heavy. blow-an axe falling upon a tree! Hor rified and unnerved, and dreading that the events of the previous week were about to be re-enacted, to what extent I could form no limit or conception, I hastily sought my pillow, bathed in a cold perspiration. Whether imagination or not this time I cannot determine, but if it was the "Pezazi" again, bent upon terrifying us poor human beings, he desisted for that night, and relinquished his intention; for no more of the dreaded sounds did I hear; nor have I, from that day to this, ever been troubled with anything intangible to cause alarm or raise suspicions of a superstitious nature in my mind.

As might have been expected, after this occurrence all sorts of reports and vague stories were brought to our ears, such as that of a mason who, sleeping in an open shed in company with several other workmen, deposed to having actually seen the " Pezazi" in propriâ persona, and went so far as to give a vivid description of his chain, horns, and cloven foot in regular order!

Another man, a Jaffna Tamil, had occasion to sleep in a small store standing alone on the patina some few hundred yards from any other dwelling, and he calmly asserted with great seriousness that nightly did the Evil One pace the narrow veranda in front of his room, clanking his chain, and from time to time knocking for admittance. Samuel, who professed Christianity, stated that on the arrival of this unwelcome visitant from the unknown world, he read aloud his Testament by the light of his solitary lamp, and after repeated unsuccessful demands to enter, the uninvited guest was forced to take his departure, unable to endure the reading of Holy Writ.

All these stories we took for what they were worth; and gradually the natives became less importunate, and, as time went on, the rumors died a natural death.