Eight Years Wanderings in Ceylon | Page 7

from Colombo, one hundred and
fifteen miles, and from Kandy, forty-seven miles; the last thirteen being
the Rambodde Pass, arriving at an elevation of six thousand six
hundred feet, from which point a descent of two miles terminated the
road to Newera Ellia.
The station then consisted of about twenty private residences, the
barracks and officers' quarters, the resthouse and the bazaar; the latter
containing about two hundred native inhabitants.
Bounded upon all sides but the east by high mountains, the plain of
Newera Ellia lay like a level valley of about two miles in length by half
a mile in width, bordered by undulating grassy knolls at the foot of the
mountains. Upon these spots of elevated ground most of the dwellings
were situated, commanding a view of the plain, with the river winding
through its centre. The mountains were clothed from the base to the
summit with dense forests, containing excellent timber for building
purposes. Good building-stone was procurable everywhere; limestone
at a distance of five miles.
The whole of the adjacent country was a repetition Of the Newera Ellia
plain with slight variations, comprising a vast extent of alternate
swampy plains and dense forests.
Why should this place lie idle? Why should this great tract of country
in such a lovely climate be untenanted and uncultivated? How often I
have stood upon the hills and asked myself this question when gazing
over the wide extent of undulating forest and plain! How often I have
thought of the thousands of starving wretches at home, who here might
earn a comfortable livelihood! and I have scanned the vast tract of
country, and in my imagination I have cleared the dark forests and
substituted waving crops of corn, and peopled a hundred ideal cottages

with a thriving peasantry.
Why should not the highlands Of Ceylon, with an Italian climate, be
rescued from their state of barrenness? Why should not the plains be
drained, the forests felled, and cultivation take the place of the rank
pasturage, and supplies be produced to make Ceylon independent of
other countries? Why should not schools be established, a comfortable
hotel be erected, a church be built? In fact, why should Newera Ellia,
with its wonderful climate, so easily attainable, be neglected in a
country like Ceylon, proverbial for its unhealthiness?
These were my ideas when I first visited Newera Ellia, before I had
much experience in either people or things connected with the island.
My twelve months' tour in Ceylon being completed, I returned to
England delighted with what I had seen of Ceylon in general, but,
above all, with my short visit to Newera Ellia, malgre its barrenness
and want of comfort, caused rather by the neglect of man than by the
lack of resources in the locality.
CHAPTER II.
Past Scenes - Attractions of Ceylon - Emigration - Difficulties in
Settling - Accidents and Casualties - An Eccentric Groom -
Insubordination - Commencement of Cultivation - Sagacity of the
Elephant - Disappointments - "Death" in the Settlement - Shocking
Pasturage - Success of Emigrants - "A Good Knock- about kind of a
Wife".
I had not been long in England before I discovered that my trip to
Ceylon had only served to upset all ideas of settling down quietly at
home. Scenes of former sports and places were continually intruding
themselves upon my thoughts, and I longed to be once more roaming at
large with the rifle through the noiseless wildernesses in Ceylon. So
delightful were the recollections of past incidents that I could scarcely
believe that it lay within my power to renew them. Ruminating over all
that bad happened within the past year, I conjured up localities to my
memory which seemed too attractive to have existed in reality. I

wandered along London streets, comparing the noise and bustle with
the deep solitudes of Ceylon, and I felt like the sickly plants in a
London parterre. I wanted the change to my former life. I constantly
found myself gazing into gunmakers' shops, and these I sometimes
entered abstractedly to examine some rifle exposed in the window.
Often have I passed an hour in boring the unfortunate gunmakers to
death by my suggestions for various improvements in rifles and guns,
which, as I was not a purchaser, must have been extremely edifying.
Time passed, and the moment at length arrived when I decided once
more to see Ceylon. I determined to become a settler at Newera Ellia,
where I could reside in a perfect climate, and nevertheless enjoy the
sports of the low country at my own will.
Thus, the recovery from a fever in Ceylon was the hidden cause of my
settlement at Newera Ellia. The infatuation for sport, added to a
gypsy-like love of wandering and complete independence, thus dragged
me away