Item 01: Irene Victoria Read letters from her husband, 27 November 1914-1 November 1915 - Page 84
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[Page 84]
& presented us with a flower – if it was too small an offering they mumbled & scouled at us. One of the numerous beggar boys that followed us as we drove along told me his name was Peter – I gave him 25 cents but felt pleased that my little Peter was not like him. On the way to the Buddhist temple we passed through part of the native quarter, we got out of the rickshaws & had a good look at the different native shops. The tobacconist shops all had a curious cigarette lighter, a long roll of smouldering fibre about the thickness of a sausage. I never ever tired of watching those poor quaint patient little bulls used for drawing the two wheeled waggons with roofs of plaited straw. There does not seem to be much bird life in Colombo, there were crows a plenty but I did not see any other birds. We next went out to Victoria Park & on the way drove past some very nice bungalows. In the Park there were some good beds of caladiums & crotons & also some fine clumps of bamboos. There were also some fine trees, banyan, rubber, jack fruit, bread fruit, paw paw, cocoa, mango & etc. The crotons & caladiums grow also by the roadside as weeds, as also does the curious little sensitive plant that shuts up when it is touched. After doing the gardens we boarded the rickshaws once more