The Dense Forests And Rough
Plains, Which Still Form The Boundaries Of The Cultivated Land, Only Add
To The Beauty.
The monkeys and parrots are even now chattering among the
branches, and occasionally the elephant in his nightly wanderings
trespasses upon the fields, unconscious of the oasis within his
territory of savage nature.
The still, starlight night is awakened by the harsh bark of the elk; the
lofty mountains, grey with the silvery moonlight, echo back the sound;
and the wakeful hounds answer the well-known cry by a prolonged and
savage yell.
This is 'Newera Ellia,' the sanatorium of Ceylon, the most perfect
climate of the world. It now boasts of a handsome church, a public
reading-room, a large hotel, the barracks, and about twenty private
residences.
The adjacent country, of comparatively table land, occupies an extent of
some thirty miles in length, varying in altitude from 6,200 to 7,000
feet, forming a base for the highest peaks in Ceylon, which rise to
nearly 9,000 feet.
Alternate large plains, separated by belts of forest, rapid rivers,
waterfalls, precipices, and panoramic views of boundless extent, form
the features of this country, which, combined with the sports of the
place, render a residence at Newera Ellia a life of health, luxury, and
independence.
The high road from Colombo passes over the mountains through Newera
Ellia to Badulla, from which latter place there is a bridle road,
through the best shooting districts in Ceylon, to the seaport town of
Batticaloa, and from thence to Trincomalee. The relative distances of
Newera Ellia are, from Galle, 185 miles; from Colombo, 115 miles; from
Kandy, 47 miles; from Badulla, 36 miles; from Batticaloa, 148 miles.
Were it not for the poverty of the soil, Newera Ellia would long ago
have become a place of great importance, as the climate is favourable to
the cultivation of all English produce; but an absence of lime in the
soil, and the cost of applying it artificially, prohibit the cultivation
of all grain, and restrict the produce of the land to potatoes and other
vegetables. Nevertheless, many small settlers earn a good subsistence,
although this has latterly been rendered precarious by the appearance of
the well-known potato disease.
Newera Ellia has always been a favourite place of resort during the
fashionable months, from the commencement of January to the middle of
May. At that time the rainy season commences, and visitors rapidly
disappear.
All strangers remark the scanty accommodation afforded to the numerous
visitors. To see the number of people riding and walking round the
Newera Ellia plain, it appears a marvel how they can be housed in the
few dwellings that exist. There is an endless supply of fine timber in
the forests, and powerful sawmills are already erected; but the island
is, like its soil, 'poor.' Its main staple, 'coffee,' does not pay
sufficiently to enable the proprietors of estates to indulge in the
luxury of a house at Newera Ellia. Like many watering-places in England,
it is overcrowded at one season and deserted at another, the only
permanent residents being comprised in the commandant, the officer in
command of the detachment of troops, the government agent, the doctor,
the clergyman, and our own family.
Dull enough! some persons may exclaim; and so it would be to any but a
sportsman; but the jungles teem with large game, and Newera Ellia is in
a central position, as the best sporting country is only three days'
journey, or one hundred miles, distant. Thus, at any time, the guns may
be packed up, and, with tents and baggage sent on some days in advance,
a fortnight's or a month's war may be carried on against the elephants
without much trouble.
The turn-out for elk-hunting during the fashionable season at Newera
Ellia is sometimes peculiarly exciting. The air is keen and frosty, the
plains snow-white with the crisp hoar frost, and even at the early hour
of 6 A.M. parties of ladies may be seen urging their horses round the
plain on their way to the appointed meet. Here we are waiting with the
anxious pack, perhaps blessing some of our more sleepy friends for not
turning out a little earlier. Party after party arrives, including many
of the fair sex, and the rosy tips to all countenances attest the
quality of the cold even in Ceylon.
There is something peculiarly inspiriting in the early hour of sunrise
upon these mountains--an indescribable lightness in the atmosphere,
owing to the great elevation, which takes a wonderful effect upon the
spirits. The horses and the hounds feel its influence in an equal
degree; the former, who are perhaps of sober character in the hot
climate, now champ the bit and paw the ground: their owners hardly know
them by the change.
We have frequently mustered as many as thirty horses at a meet; but on
these occasions a picked spot is chosen where the sport may be easily
witnessed by those who are unaccustomed to it. The horses may, in these
instances, be available, but as a rule they are perfectly useless in
elk-hunting, as the plains are so boggy that they would be hock-deep
every quarter of a mile. Thus no person can thoroughly enjoy elk-hunting
who is not well accustomed to it, as it is a sport conducted entirely on
foot, and the thinness of the air in this elevated region is very trying
to the lungs in hard exercise. Thoroughly sound in wind and limb, with
no superfluous flesh, must be the man who would follow the hounds in
this wild country--through jungles, rivers, plains and deep ravines,
sometimes from sunrise to sunset without tasting food since the previous
evening, with the exception of a cup of coffee and a piece of toast
before starting. It is trying work, but it is a noble sport: no weapon
but the hunting-knife; no certainty as to the character of the game that
may be found; it may be either an elk, or a boar, or a leopard, and yet
the knife and the good hounds are all that can be trusted in.
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