Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon

a Thousand Princes"-Vestiges of Former Population-Mountains-The Highlands of Ouva-Ancient Methods of Irrigatio

the appearance of a new settlement; plants and shrubs spring up with wonderful rap

, and those which succeeded were persevered in. I discovered that excellent beer might be made a

claimed their parentage. The fields were green; the axe no longer sounded in the forests: a good house stood in the centre of cultivation; a road of two miles in length cut through the estate, and the who

om established; but, with the exception of one good house which had been built, private enterprise had lain dormant. As usual,

season at Newera Ellia, which

, and not one-fourth the quantity fills at this elevation, compared to that of the low country. It may be more continuous, but it is of a lighter character, and more ak

est mountain in Ceylon, which, rising to the height of 8300 feet, looks down upon Newera Ellia, some two tho

feet. From childhood he has looked to heaven as the dwelling of the Almighty, and he now stands upon that lofty summit in the silence of utter solitude; his hand, as he raises it above his head, the highest mark upon the sea-girt land; his form above all mortals upon this land, the near

with boundless forest, stretch beneath his feet, far as his sight can gaze, and the scene, so solemnly beautiful, gradually wakens to his senses; the birds begin to chirp; the dew-drops fall heavily from the trees, as the light breeze stirs

. A glassy clearness of the atmosphere reveals the magnificent view of Nature, fresh from her sleep; every dewy leaf gilded by the m

ying at our feet. We trace the river winding its silvery course through the pl

d swept over it, and the mists hung around the mountains, and the bright summer with its spotless sky succeeded, but still it was unknown and unseen except by the native bee-hunter in his rambles for wild honey. How changed! The road encircles the plain, and carts are busy in removing

tree could tell of winter's blasts and broken boughs, and storms which howled above its head, when all was wilderness around. The eagle has roosted in its top, the monkeys have gamboled in its branches, and the elephants have rubbed their tough flanks against its stem in times gone by; bu

hurch is the grand impr

istence was unknown to the Cingalese. The name itself proves its former importance to the kings of Kandy, as Newera Ellia sign

not only known to the natives of the adjacent low country, but has its separate designation. There is no feature of the country without its name, although th

icts of Ouva and Kotmalie, and these native paths have been formed to connect the two by an arduous accent upon either side, and a comparatively level cut across the shoulders of the mountains, through alternate plain and forest, for some twenty-five miles. These paths would neve

, the very act of traversing it appears impossible. This knowledge has been gained by years of unceasing hunting, and by perseveringly following up the hounds wherever they have gone. From sunrise till

ormer prosperity and immense population. Even these uninhabited and chilly regions, up to an elevation of seven thousand feet, are not blank pages in the book o

nt. This spot, forming, a shallow gap, was the ancient native entrance to Newera Ellia from that side, and the Cingalese designation for the locality is interpreted "the Path of a Thousand Princes." This name assists

value consisted. There are no buildings remaining, no ruins, as in other parts of Ceylon, but a liquid mine of wealth pou

a rice-growing country like Ceylon, the periodical rains are insufficient, and the whole system of native agriculture depends upon

thousand feet; and Adam's Peak, seven thousand seven hundred; but although their altitude is so considerable, they do not give the idea of grandeur which such

rrents. Then, at the elevation of Newera Ellia the heavings of the land appear to have rested, and gentle undulations, diversified by plains and forests, extend for some thirty miles. From these comparatively level t

n of ledges of great extent at various elevations, commencing with

and undulating forests continue at this elevation as far as Ne

istrict of Dimboola commences, and extends at this elevation over a vast tract of forest-cove

descend to the Elephant Plains; a beautiful tract of fine grass country,

r elevation of one thousand five hundred feet, st

e seen except the low brushwood which is scantily distributed upon its surface. We emerge suddenly from the forest-covered mountains of Newera Ellia, and, from a lofty point on the high road to Badulla, we look down upon the splendid panorama stretched like a waving sea beneath our feet. The road upon which we stand i

Newera Ellia, we arrive in the district of Ouva, much like

st ledge of the high lands of Ceylon. Passes from the mountains which form the wall

e other side, of tilt Newera Ellia range of mountains, are, with the exception of th

f water obtained from the mountains; and upon this su

position and power which Ceylon occupied in the Eastern Hemisphere when England was in a state of barbarism. The wonderful remains of ancient cities, tanks and water-courses th

pulation few are more interesting than

containing a certain population, we can arrive at a tolerably correct idea of the fo

hollow is taken advantage of for the cultivation of paddy, still the

gh dense forests, across ravines, round the steep sides of opposing hills, now leaping into a lower valley into a reservoir, fr

s are lined out in every direction with these proofs of industry, and their winding course can be traced round the gras

, has, in most cases, fallen to decay. Even those water-courses still in existence are of the second class; small

natural channels; opposing hills were cut through, and the waters thus were led into another valley to join a stream flowing in, its natural bed, whose course, eventually obstructed by a dam, poured its accumulated waters into canals which branched to various localities. Not a

nd with it the industry an

the former importance of Newer

m the neighborhood of Newera Ellia. Therefore, a king in possession of Newera Ellia had the most complete command over his subj

in time of foreign invasion. I have seen in an impregnable position the traces of an ancie

o the probable cause of the

t plain of Newera Ellia should have received its appellation of the "Royal Plain." In those days there was no very secure tenure to the throne, and by force alone could a king retain it. The more bloodthirsty and barbarous the tyrant, the m

ver, no doubt that at some former period the east end of the plain, called the "Vale of Rubies," constituted the royal "diggings." That the king of Kandy did not reside at Newera Ellia

d we presume that he came to look at the condition of his water-courses and to superintend the digging for p

me of very large size and of a depth varying from three to seventeen feet. The Newera Ellia Plain, the Moonstone Plain, the Kondapallé Plain, the Elk Plains, the Totapella Plains, the Horton Plains, the Bopatalava Plains, the

no Englishmen are ever to be seen at work at this employment. The natives would still continue the search, were they permitted, upon the "Vale of Rubies;

ath, mixed with a rounded quartz gravel, which in ages past must have been subjected to the action

ire, ruby, emerald, jacinth, tourmaline, chrysoberyl, zircon, cat's-eye, "moonstone," and "star-stone." Occasionally a stone of value re

as often been suggested as the "Ophir" of the time of Solomon, and

and; and Dr. Davy in his work makes an unqualified assertion to that effect. But from the discoveries recen

ve assertions of a clever man u

y, and when about half-way it struck them, from the appearance of the rocks in the uneven bed of a river, called the Maha Oya, "that gold must exist in its sands." They had no geological reason for this opinion; but the river happened to be very like tho

ations for working on a more extensive scale, when they were all prostrated by jungle fever-a g

wera Ellia, naturally concluding that the gold which existed in dust in th

4th June, 1854, on the second day of their search in that

ad there settled in the largest numbers, from their superior gravity, it was natural to conclude that, if

to predict the future discoveries which may be made of other minerals. It is well known that quicksilver was found at Cotta, six miles from Colombo, in the year 1797. It was in small quanti

uality and in immense abundance. The rocks of Ceylon are primitive, consisting of granite, gneiss and quartz. Of these the two l

l and rocks in Ceylon, and may be seen covering the surfa

four to twenty feet below the surface. The cost of digging and the transport are the only expenses at

rocks that upon their decomposition it is

ate in immense masses, and forms a valuable buildingstone, as it can be cut with ease to any shape required, and, though soft when dug, it hardens by exposur

rious forms, from the small iron-stone gravel to large masse

ime immemorial to make periodical visits for the purpose of smelting the ore. The average specimens of this produce

of ore, it is rendered as small as

y, about six feet in length by

of the platform, about eighteen inc

this well is an air-passage, c

f charcoal and pulverized iron ore; the fire is

treadmill kind of labor by the elasticity of two bamboos, of eight or ten feet in length, the butts of which, being firmly fixed in the ground, enable him to retain his balance by grasping one with either hand. From the yielding top of each bamboo, a string descends attached to either

e well, which he continues to feed alternately with fresh ore and a corresponding

dly-smelted iron. This is subsequently remelted, and is eventually worked up into hatchet

ce per hundredweight; and if he were to make the same calculation of the value of time, he would discover that by the time he had completed one axe he could have purchased ready made, for one-third the money, an English tool of superior manufacture. This, howev

Newera Ellia to Colombo, that this valuable metal, li