Chapter II: Preface

What can be the reason that writers on Ceylon seem impelled to describe their book as a term of years?—

‘Fifty Years in Ceylon.’ An Autobiography by Major Thomas Skinner.

‘Eleven Years in Ceylon.’ By Major Forbes, 78th Highlanders.

‘Eight Years in Ceylon.’ By Sir Samuel Baker.

‘Seven Years in Ceylon.’ By Mary and Margaret Leitch,—

and finally, ‘Two Happy Years in Ceylon,’ by C. F. Gordon Cumming, who had so named her notes of pleasant days in the fair Isle, before realising that any of her predecessors had thus described their longer terms of residence therein?

I can only ascribe it to the fact, so evident in each of these works, that the several writers have retained such sweet memories of

‘Moonlit seas,
Of dreamy sunsets, and of balmy air,
Of glowing landscapes and of shadowy bowers
Where stately palms low murmur in the breeze,’—

that they have loved to enumerate the months and years that glided by amid such pleasant influences.

Although, by comparison with that of others, my own term in the Earthly Paradise was short, I can safely say that, as it was all play and no work, I had abundant leisure to note many matters of interest seen under exceptionally favourable circumstances.

I trust, therefore, that these pages may prove of some value to the ever-increasing army of wanderers in search of winter-quarters.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

INTRODUCTORY 1

I. MY FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE TROPICS 12

II. COLOMBO 25

III. COLOMBO 52

IV. THE CRUISE OF THE CASTLE JERMYN 73

V. THE CRUISE OF THE CASTLE JERMYN 89

VI. TO THE HILLS 108

VII. NUWARA ELIYA 132

VIII. ELEPHANTS 154

IX. KANDY 172

X. THE WORSHIPFUL TOOTH 196

XI. FROM KANDY TO ANURADHAPURA 238

XII. ANURADHAPURA 266

XIII. ANURADHAPURA AND MIHINTALE 295

XIV. RATNAPURA—GEMS 310

XV. BADULLA AND HAPUTALE 325

XVI. SOME PAGES FROM A BROTHER’S DIARY 348

XVII. BATTICALOA 362

XVIII. POLLANARUA 383

XIX. TRINCOMALEE—SAAMI ROCK 406

XX. TRINCOMALEE TO GALLE 422

XXI. SOUTHERN COAST 442

XXII. RETURN TO COLOMBO 466

XXIII. NATIVE POLICE 477

XXIV. IN THE PLANTING DISTRICTS 497

XXV. ASCENT OF ADAM’S PEAK 523

XXVI. THE TUG OF WAR—THE BATTLE OF DIVERSE CREEDS IN CEYLON 548

XXVII. CHRISTIAN WORK IN CEYLON 579

INDEX 609

ILLUSTRATIONS

SHRINE ON THE SUMMIT OF ADAM’S PEAK, AND THE SHADOW OF _Frontispiece_
THE PEAK

MAP OF CEYLON _to face 1
page_

BLOSSOM OF THE COCOA PALM ” 61

OUR HOUSE-BOAT ON THE LUNA-OYA ” 102

VALLEY OF THE MAHA-VELLI GANGA ” 128
Showing the Railway and Satinwood Bridges at
Peradeniya, Allegalla Peak, terraced
rice-fields; foreground, coffee and a Talipot
palm

THE PLAINS OF NUWARA ELIYA ” 134

KANDY, LOOKING TO THE MATELE HILLS ” 173
Shows the Temple of the Tooth, Buddhist Library,
Government House, &c.

AVENUE OF INDIA-RUBBER TREES, PERADENIYA ” 187

GIGANTIC BAMBOOS, PERADENIYA ” 190

THE MAHA-VELLI GANGA, FROM THE SATINWOOD BRIDGE (BAMBOO ” 216
FOLIAGE)

THE RUANWELI DAGOBA, ANURADHAPURA, B.C. 300 ” 268
To contain right collar-bone of Buddha. To the
right is the Government Agent’s house

THE THUPARAMA DAGOBA, ANURADHAPURA, B.C. 300 ” 271
To the left lies the Delada Maligawa, where the
sacred Tooth rested on its arrival from India,
A.D. 400

PILGRIM’S CAMP AND THE THREE STONE BULLS ” 287
Near the ruins of the Brazen Temple

THE SACRED BO-TREE ” 288
Rising through the upper terrace

THE LOWER FLIGHT OF THE 1,840 ROCK STEPS ” 305

FIVE-HEADED NAGA AT THE BATHING-PLACE, MIHINTALE ” 306

THE WATA-DÁGÉ, OR ROUND TREASURE-HOUSE, POLLANARUA ” 390
Looking to the Sat-mahal-prasada, or seven-storied
building

THE JETAWANARAMA AND THE KIRI VIHARA AT POLLANARUA ” 393

THE GAL VIHARA: ROCK TEMPLE AT POLLANARUA ” 395
Sitting Buddha is 15 feet above pedestal; erect,
23 feet; recumbent, 46 feet

THE SAAMI ROCK AT TRINCOMALEE—WORSHIP AT SUNSET ” 407

THE LILY SHORE, NEAR TRINCOMALEE ” 421

THE NILWALLA RIVER AT MATARA ” 445

COCOA PALMS: SHORE OF COLOMBO LAKE ” 476

COFFEE FIELDS ON THE SLOPES OF ALLEGALLA PEAK ” 500
On the summit there is a _partly_ natural
indentation which duplicates _the_ Footprint

ADAM’S PEAK FROM MASKELIYA ” 533

--------------

THE CASTLE JERMYN 77

THE WORSHIPFUL TOOTH 207

BUDDHA GUARDED BY THE COBRA, ROCK TEMPLE, ELLA PASS 293

A FOREST SANCTUARY 399
Offerings of red pottery to the God of the Tank at
Minery

TALIPOT PALM IN BLOSSOM _On cover_

CEYLON

Scale 1:1393329, 22 English Miles to 1 Inch.
London: Chatto & Windus.
]

TWO HAPPY YEARS IN CEYLON

INTRODUCTORY

There are perhaps few families in the Mother Country to whom the farther corners of Great Britain have (from the colonising or sporting instincts of its various members) become more really familiar to the imagination of the younger branches than that to which I was welcomed, as its twelfth addition.

Thus about the time of my first introduction to the immortal Robinson Crusoe, my eldest brother Penrose returned from Canada, soon to be followed by my second brother Roualeyn, who had made his mark as the pioneer of all the Lion-hunters who since then have ravaged the hunting-grounds of Southern Africa.

Then two more of the home brood started to carve their fortunes in far countries. Almost simultaneously my fourth and fifth brothers, John and William, sailed for Ceylon and Bombay, where the latter tamed wild men[1] and slew wild beasts, while the former settled down to sober cocoa-nut planting in the neighbourhood of Batticaloa; and then, through weary years of waiting for the growth of trees which never in his lifetime repaid his outlay, he obtained work in the forests on the east coast, and likewise distinguished himself as a cunning and mighty hunter, beloved by the wild tribes.

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Footnote 1:

‘Wild Men and Wild Beasts.’ By Colonel Gordon Cumming. Published by
David Douglas, Edinburgh.

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During a term of twenty years, scarcely a month passed without bringing us letters from these two faithful brothers; so that life in the forests of Ceylon and of Bombay became as familiar to our thoughts as grouse-shooting or salmon-fishing in Morayshire. Some of the details in these sporting diaries might well excite the envy of many a less successful Nimrod. Thus one mail brought me a letter from India, telling of thirty tigers as the chief item of a two months’ bag; while my Ceylon letter of the same date told of the rejoicing of the villagers over the slaughter, by their white friend, of twenty-five leopards!—a highly satisfactory riddance of dangerous foes.

A journey to India or Ceylon in those days was a very different thing from the simple pleasure-trip which, thanks to swift steamers and large competition, it has now become. Though a great advance had been made since the first quarter of the present century, when the colonists in Colombo were only gladdened twice a year by the arrival of a sailing-vessel from England, bringing supplies of European clothing and stores, nevertheless, so late as 1840, three months occasionally elapsed without a call from any European sailing-ship, in what was then the open roadstead of Colombo; so we may well understand that the approach of the smallest steamer would suffice to throw the population into a fever of excitement.

In those days the mails from London came _viâ_ Bombay, whence runners carried them across India and Ceylon, and great was the satisfaction when letters were delivered in Colombo only forty days after their despatch from Britain! After a while Ceylon started a steamer to carry the mails to and from Bombay, thus reducing the transit to London to thirty days. A few years later, steamers bound for Calcutta or Australia brought mails and passengers direct in twenty days—a period which has been gradually lessened till now some swift steamers deliver their mail-bags in Colombo in fifteen days, and as it occasionally happens that a return steamer is ready to start immediately, it is now possible to receive answers to letters within five weeks.[2]

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Footnote 2:

Still more rapid and wonderful has been the development of our
Australian cities with their crowded harbours. But for a strange
illustration of the influence of steam-power at our very doors, we may
note Sir Walter Scott’s testimony, that in his day (he was my father’s
friend) one small mail-cart carried the posts between London and
Edinburgh, and he mentions having seen it arrive with only one letter
addressed to the manager of the British Linen Banking Company.

Moreover, is it not strange to mark the development as it affects two
of what we deem our daily necessaries, potatoes and tea, and remember
that the former had never even been heard of till Sir Walter Raleigh
imported the first, and that in 1660 Mr. Pepys described tea as ‘the
new Chinese drink’! And now Britain’s annual consumption of tea is
about 180,000,000 lb., of which about half comes from China and Java,
and the other half from India and Ceylon.

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Nor is the reduction on time alone. The cost of travel has also been minimised, and the colonists of the present day need no longer face the prospect of such prolonged exile as was deemed a matter of course forty years ago, when the expense of a ‘run home’ was prohibitive.

Thus, in the case of these two brothers, though often longing for a sight of home and home faces, fifteen years elapsed ere they were able to make arrangements for a meeting in the old country. The younger happily arrived in safety; but alas! the vessel which should have brought the elder from Ceylon, brought tidings of a HOME-going far different from that which he had planned. He had died very suddenly, almost on the eve of the date when he had purposed embarking, and was laid to rest beside the blue sea-lake at Batticaloa.

Barely two years later I made my first voyage to the East, touching Ceylon at Point de Galle _en route_ to Calcutta. That one glimpse of the lovely isle impressed itself on my memory as such a dream of delight, that when, a few years later, one of my earliest friends was consecrated Bishop of Colombo,[3] I very gladly accepted his invitation to return to Ceylon on a leisurely visit, finding headquarters under his hospitable roof, and thence exploring such parts of the isle as had special interest for me.

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Footnote 3:

The Right Rev. Hugh W. Jermyn, now Bishop of Brechin and Primus of
Scotland.

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These interests gradually widened, owing to the unbounded kindness of numerous friends, and friends’ friends; and so it came to pass that so many delightful expeditions were organised, and so many pleasant homes claimed visits, that wellnigh two years slipped away ere I finally bade adieu to the green Isle of Palms, to which, I think, notwithstanding the claims of many a lovely South Sea isle, we must concede the right it claims—to have been, and still to continue, the true Earthly Paradise.

On my return to Scotland, after widely extended travels, a selection of upwards of three hundred of my water-colour paintings in various parts of ‘Greater Britain’ were exhibited in their respective courts in the Indian and Colonial Exhibition at South Kensington, and at subsequent Colonial Exhibitions in Liverpool and Glasgow. Of these, about sixty of scenery in Ceylon were selected from several hundreds, which, on the principle of ‘never a day without at least one careful-coloured sketch,’ had accumulated as I wandered in every direction—north, south, east, and west—basking on the yellow sands of most fascinating palm-fringed sea-coast, or gliding over calm rivers—gipsying among ruins of mighty pre-Christian cities in the depths of lonely forests, or awaiting the sunrise on lofty mountain-summits—studies of exquisite foliage or of strange Buddhist and Tamil shrines, and all enlivened to memory by the recollection of picturesque groups of brown men, women, and children of divers race and very varied hue, some scantily draped, others gorgeously apparelled, but all alike harmonious in colour.

Friendly critics, who say that these sketches have helped them to realise something of the true character and beauty of Ceylonese scenery, have asked me to supplement the brush with the pen, and tell the readers who have so kindly received my notes of travel in other lands something of my own impressions of Ceylon. So now I sit surrounded with diaries and letters, travel-notes and sketch-books innumerable, and portfolios in which each page recalls some day of deep interest and many of delight; while the signatures in the corner of each sketch vividly recall the many friends whose kindness did so much to gladden all days, and to smooth all difficulties from the path of a happy guest.

My chief difficulty lies in selecting from such a mass of material only so much as can be compressed within reasonable limits. Another difficulty lies in a far too personal knowledge of certain changes which, to those intimately acquainted with Ceylon, mark a complete revolution in its social economy, and which gave birth to a very sad parody of certain well-known lines descriptive of an isle of which for some years it was too true that—

‘every prospect pleases,
But no man makes a pile!’

To the general reader, however, and to the traveller likely to follow in my footsteps, the only visible feature of a change which to the initiated tells of the total ruin of very many industrious and energetic European planters, and the commencement of an altogether new era, bringing wealth to a new generation, lies in the fact that the vast mountain districts, which ten years ago presented one unbroken expanse of coffee-fields, are now chiefly covered with tea-plantations, varied with cinchona, cacao, Indian-rubber trees, and other products, more or less experimental, while only in certain districts is coffee successfully proving its claim to renewed public confidence. There is apparently, however, no doubt that Ceylon will henceforth be emphatically distinguished in the manner so happily described by the present Governor, Sir Arthur Havelock, as ‘the land for excellent tea.’ That its character in this respect is already well established is evident from the fact, that whereas in 1873 only 23 lb. of tea were exported from Ceylon, the export in 1890 was about 40,000,000 lb.; and there seems every reason to believe that in the current year 1891 it will be fully 63,000,000; and assuredly, long ere the end of the century, it will have risen to 100,000,000![4]

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Footnote 4:

I cannot resist quoting the following paragraph from the ‘Pall Mall
Budget’ for March 13, 1891:—

‘AN ENORMOUS PRICE FOR CEYLON TEA.

‘Unusual excitement prevailed on Tuesday in Mincing Lane, on the
offering by Messrs. Gow, Wilson, and Stanton, tea-brokers, in public
auction, of a small lot of Ceylon tea from the Gartmore estate in
Maskeliya (Mr. T. C. Anderson). This tea possesses extraordinary
quality in liquor, and is composed almost entirely of small “golden
tips,” which are the extreme ends of the small succulent shoots of the
plant, and the preparation of such tea is, of course, most costly.
Competition was of a very keen description. The bidding, which was
pretty general to start with, commenced with an offer of 1_l._ 1_s._
per lb.; as the price advanced to 8_l._ many buyers dropped out, and
at this price about five wholesale dealers were willing to purchase.
Offers were then made up to about 9_l._ 9_s._ by three of the leading
houses, the tea being ultimately knocked down to the “Mazawattee
Ceylon Tea Company” at the most extraordinary and unprecedented price
of 10_l._ 12_s._ 6_d._ per lb.’

Naturally, when this news reached Ceylon the excitement knew no
bounds. This, however, was intensified in the following month, when
another sale of ‘golden tips,’ prepared on the Haviland estate (Mr. W.
A. M. Denison), sold in Mincing Lane for 17_l._ per lb. Even this
surprising price was, however, very soon surpassed, for the next
consignment of ‘golden tips’ from Gartmore fetched 25_l._ 10_s._ per
lb. This was quickly followed by the sale of a small box from the
Kellie estate at 30_l._ per lb.; while, on August 25, another parcel
was actually sold at 35_l._ per lb.

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Nor is there any fear of a glut in the market, since America and Russia have proved appreciative customers. The chief danger lies in the probability that Brazil and Madras will each be stimulated to enter into the competition. Patriotic planters are adjured to refrain from selling tea-seed to Brazil; but as regards Madras, it not only possesses a vast area of suitable land, but, moreover, commands all the labour, Ceylon being entirely dependent on that Presidency for her coolies. So that rivalry is to be feared from that quarter.

Simultaneously with the amazingly rapid development of this new product, 1891 has to record the most successful Pearl-fishery of the present century, the Government share of the total amount realised being upwards of 96,370_l._, of which about 10,000_l._ covers all expenses, so that the revenue profits to an extent far exceeding the most golden expectations. In 1888 these fisheries realized 80,424_l._ less 8,000_l._ of expenses. Such sums had only been realized four times in the present century: therefore, that two such fisheries should follow in such rapid succession, is an unspeakable blessing to Ceylon. From 1882 to 1886 the return from these fisheries had been almost _nil_; but in the years 1887, 1889, and 1890, a total was realised of 120,720_l._, less 1,489_l._ of expenses. Naturally the colonists look for immediate railway extension in divers directions, and for other boons which, ten years ago, seemed altogether visionary.

A notable advance in the last decade has been that of the steadily increasing prosperity of a multitude of native cultivators, owing to the restoration of several of the cyclopean tanks and other irrigation works, created by the autocratic rulers of olden days, but which (partly since British rule rejected the ancient custom of ‘Rajah-kariya’—_i.e._ compulsory work for the king—by which the rulers of the Isle exacted from every man so many days’ work annually for the general weal) had fallen into total decay, so that a scanty and unhealthy population could barely find subsistence in the arid jungle or malarious swamps which replaced the verdant rice-fields of olden days.

In the face of many difficulties and strenuous opposition on account of the great outlay involved, Sir William Gregory and the Honourable Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon have accomplished a work earnestly advocated by previous Governors, Sir Henry Ward and Sir Hercules Robinson—namely, the restoration of a considerable portion of the ancient system of irrigation; and already the wisdom of the measure is abundantly proved by the transformation of great areas of country, where luxuriant crops now once more support a healthy and well-fed population.

Another great boon to the hitherto poverty-stricken and suffering villagers has been the establishment in many districts of village hospitals, where the sick are now wisely and judiciously cared for, to the immense improvement of the general health.

Yet another marked change in the last few years has been the construction of the mighty breakwater, upwards of 4,000 feet in length, of huge blocks of concrete, on a foundation of masses of gneiss, thanks to which Colombo now owns a harbour so excellent and secure as to have drawn thither almost all the traffic of the Isle, while beautiful but treacherous Point de Galle is now wellnigh forsaken—a change that was not effected until many a noble vessel had proved to her cost the lurking dangers of numerous patches of coral within the harbour, rising from the ocean-bed almost to the surface.

But for this, the situation of Galle marks it as the natural port of call for vessels, inasmuch as turning in to Colombo involves a considerable deviation from their course; so it may be that as the commerce of the Isle increases, it may yet prove worth while to clear the seemingly noble harbour of Point de Galle of its submarine dangers, and so woo back the vanished shipping.

Meanwhile, however, the fact remains that Galle harbour is now comparatively forsaken. Few vessels enter her port save those engaged in the coal or coir trade.[5]

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Footnote 5:

Coir is the coarse fibre obtained from the outer husk of the
cocoa-nut, which so abounds on the southern coast.

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The offices of the great shipping companies, and of the principal mercantile houses, have been transferred to Colombo (which has long been the Government headquarters), and pleasant luxurious homes in which, but a few years ago, kindly hospitality reigned, are now let at almost nominal prices to tenants who are content to dwell in peace in quiet habitations apart from the busy tide of commerce. The census, however, shows an increase in the population in the last ten years from 31,743 to 33,505.

But in the same period the population of Colombo has increased from 112,068 to 127,643, and its harbour is now crowded with ships of all nations. Sometimes fifteen to twenty steamers are simultaneously busy coaling and receiving or discharging cargo, Sunday and week-day alike—a terribly busy scene, and, as regards the Sunday work, very hard on all concerned,—and almost all, remember, whether sailors or landsmen, are British subjects. Of course the majority of these vessels are British merchantmen, but men-of-war of all nations come and go. On May 20, 1890, there were no fewer than six in harbour, three of which were Spanish, one French, and two British, and by a curious coincidence one of each nation was an admiral’s flagship. That of the Spanish admiral, the Crucero Castilla, was a noble old wooden three-decker, such as Turner would have loved to paint. Then came the German and Dutch vessels and two Japanese men-of-war conveying the survivors of a wrecked Turkish ship, the Ertugroul, back to their own country.

A considerable number of Russian vessels, men-of-war and others, have also found their way here, some bringing Grand Dukes, and the Tsarevitch himself, while one was conveying a new governor to Eastern Siberia, and another, alas! brought 644 luckless convicts _en route_ from Odessa to their dreary Siberian exile. Amongst others was a Russian whaler on her way to the North Seas, and furnished with the newest thing in harpoons— horrible weapons, each carrying with it a glass ball containing an explosive, which on striking the whale’s body blows it into pieces, a method one would suppose better adapted for oiling the waves than for securing a cargo!

To provide additional space for anchorage, and also increased security for this ever-increasing traffic, a second great breakwater is about to be constructed to form a protecting northern arm, that the harbour may be absolutely first-rate.

After recording such a giant stride in Colombo’s standing in the shipping world, the fact that her import of coal has in the last ten years risen from 8,336 tons to 250,338 tons follows almost as a matter of course.

So month by month Colombo progresses and becomes more and more a place of resort, and her streets are thronged with human beings of every conceivable nationality and of every shade of colour—white, yellow, olive, sienna, cinnamon, and dark brown—and clad in divers uniforms, to say nothing of the wondrous variety of non-official raiment.

To facilitate their locomotion a large number of ‘jinrikishas’ have been imported—_i.e._ the ‘man-power carriage’ of Japan, which is a lightly built bath-chair on two modern very large light wheels, very convenient for the person seated in it, whose weight _ought_ to regulate the number of his human ponies. What a fortune the original inventor of these little machines might have made had he secured a patent for even the primitive form devised by some ingenious Japanese only about twenty years ago! Already in the city of Tokio alone there are upwards of 30,000 in constant use, and in Japan at large fully 200,000! And now the jinrikisha is as familiar and indispensable in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Penang, and Colombo, as in its native land. It may interest future generations to know that the very first was imported into Ceylon in May 1883.

Meanwhile, during these same years, the grievous collapse in the coffee trade left some scars on Colombo, where great coffee-stores, with all their once busy machinery and crowds of workers, were deserted—grass and weeds overspreading the drying-grounds, and costly buildings being left to fall to decay—a sorry aspect of dead trade which cannot be revived by the new products of tea and cacao, inasmuch as these are prepared for market on the estates where they are grown.

But on the other hand the city has been improved and beautified in many ways, notably by the generous Jubilee gift of the late Governor, the Honourable Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon, in the transformation of the old Fort Green (a small grassy common surrounded, by ‘tulip’ trees, and occasionally used as a cricket-ground) into a fine terraced garden, with banks of greenest turf, crowned by an octagonal fountain whence cool waters flow by divers channels to supply other pools and fountains, in one of which the magnificent Victoria Regia has already flowered freely. Here rosy oleanders, crotons of all gorgeous hues, feathery palms, and all manner of flowers lend fragrance and colour to what will henceforth be the favourite afternoon lounge, more especially on those days when the excellent band adds the further attraction of good music.

From a business point of view Colombo has advanced prodigiously in general traffic, and many and various improvements mark progress in divers directions, giving evidence of the happily reviving energies of the Isle, and proving how well her adopted sons have now applied the dearly bought lessons of past experience.

The Colombo iron-works turn out work that would do credit to Newcastle, from the casting of iron pillars for the Grand Hotel, to the building of steel barges, and the manufacturing of tea-machinery, and of sundry engines for use on land and sea; also the repairing of damaged vessels.

But foremost among the grand new industries is the steam cotton spinning and weaving factory, established on the brink of the Wellewatta Canal, on a site which, two or three years ago, was a dense jungle of neglected cinnamon. Now a huge factory has been erected, and 10,000 spindles and 150 looms are already busily at work, with every probability that ere long there will be such a demand for these home-made fabrics that 100,000 spindles, and looms to correspond, will find ample work.

Of course this must prove an immense incentive to the growth of cotton (the amount carried by the railway to Colombo advanced from 32 tons in the first year to 289 tons the following year), and doubtless thousands of acres of now waste jungle-land will shortly be transformed into busy cotton-fields.

The growing and weaving of cotton is no new thing in the Isle, for long before the Christian era both were extensively carried on, as were also the arts of bleaching and dyeing, and mention is made in the Mahawansa of a canopy in the ancient city of Anuradhapura, which was formed of eight thousand pieces of every hue. That was B.C. 161.

Early in the present century a large quantity of cotton was grown in the northern province, and was extensively manufactured by the weavers of Jaffna and Manaar till the imposition of a five per cent. tax to Government on island-made cloth, instead of on imported cotton goods, in a great measure discouraged their industry. The weavers of Batticaloa on the east coast and Chilaw on the west, have long been famous for excellent bed and table linen, and the native looms of Saffragam and Galle turn out well-made white cottons.

According to official returns for 1887, there were then 15 hand-looms in the southern province, 21 in the north-western, 429 in the eastern, and 575 in the northern province. The cultivation of the cotton plant, however, has not been systematic, and its experimental growth by European planters has not been altogether encouraging, though a good deal has been grown by natives. Now, however, it has been satisfactorily proved that in certain soils it will grow well and bear abundantly, and cautious native capitalists deem its success so certain that they are forming companies for cotton-growing on a large scale, as well as investing largely in the Colombo mills.

Of course here, as in India, the giant steam-power will ruthlessly swallow up all the interesting native arts of hand-spinning and weaving, and already the weavers of Batticaloa have yielded to the inevitable, and have come to Colombo to learn the new methods and secure employment, and homes in the new village of comfortable cottages which the company are erecting for their workers.

One excellent thing in connection with these cotton spinning and weaving mills is, that the work thus provided has furnished the Wesleyan missionaries with the opportunity for establishing industrial homes and schools for destitute boys and girls. The Home has been erected close to the mills, which provide ample work for the young folk, whose board, lodging, and clothing, as well as moral and religious training, are the care of their missionary friends. This work of mercy is an all-round benefit, the manager of the mills being well pleased to have so reliable a staff of young workers always at hand, instead of having to look for an irregular supply from the villages.

I may add that simultaneously with the establishment of these industrial schools in Colombo, admirable schools of the same class (though more of a reformatory character) have been established by another Wesleyan missionary, Mr. Langdon, at Haputale, chiefly for the hitherto grievously neglected children in the province of Uva.

In concluding these introductory words, let me briefly forewarn travellers who purpose visiting India and Ceylon, that they will find the latter poorer in startling scenic effects. Here there are no mighty forts which seem to have been ‘built by giants and finished by jewellers’—no fairy-like lace-work sculptured in marble—no solemn grandeur of great Mohammedan mosques, nor bewildering intricacy of detail in sculpture as in the Hindoo temples; while, as compared with the marvellous rock-temples of India, those of Ceylon are grievously disappointing. Neither are there such striking street-scenes as one finds in many an Indian city, nor such bewildering crowds of gorgeously apparelled rajahs with their camels and elephants.[6] Therefore, for all such impressions, visit Ceylon first and India afterwards.

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Footnote 6:

For details of a never-to-be-forgotten year in Hindoostan, see ‘In the
Himalayas, and on Indian Plains.’ By C. F. Gordon Cumming. Published
by Chatto & Windus.

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But, for archæological interest, the pre-Christian and medieval cities of Ceylon, so long buried in the silent depths of the great forests, are altogether unique; and for luxuriant loveliness of tropical foliage, Tahiti itself cannot surpass this Isle of Palms.

I would fain hope that those who have patience to peruse these notes of two of the happiest years of my life, may discover something of the many attractions of Ceylon. Nevertheless, I fear that no words can adequately describe her fascination. So I can only advise all who have the power to travel leisurely, to go themselves and enjoy a winter there.