When once we had
seen their shoulders, we no longer wondered at their reluctance to
start; it really made one quite sick to think even of the state they
were in.
If some of the permanent officials were to devote a portion of their
time to endeavours to introduce American coaches, and to ameliorate
the condition of the horses on this road, they would indeed confer a
boon on their countrymen. The coachman, who was as black as jet, and
who wore very little clothing, was a curious specimen of his class,
and appeared by no means skilled in his craft. He drove the whole way
down the steep zigzag road with a loose rein; at every turn the horses
went close to the precipice, but were turned in the very nick of time
by a little black boy who jumped down from behind and pulled them
round by their traces without touching the bridle. We stopped at
Rangbodde to breakfast, and again at Pusillawa. This seemed a bad
arrangement, for we were already late; it resulted in the poor horses
having to be unmercifully flogged in order to enable us to catch the
train at Gampola, failing which, the coach proprietors would have had
to pay a very heavy penalty.
From Gampola we soon arrived at Peradeniya, where we met Mr. Freer,
who was going down to Colombo. Tom had decided previously to go
straight on, so as to have the yacht quite ready for an early start
to-morrow.
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