In all tropical countries the first principle of cultivation is
the supply of water, without which the land would remain barren.
In a rice-growing country like Ceylon, the periodical rains are
insufficient, and the whole system of native agriculture depends
upon irrigation. Accordingly, the mountains being the reservoirs
from which the rivers spring, become of vital importance to the
country.
The principal mountains in Ceylon are Pedrotallagalla, eight
thousand two hundred and eighty feet; Kirigallapotta, seven
thousand nine hundred; Totapella, eight 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 an altitude would convey. They do not rise abruptly from a
level base, but they are merely the loftiest of a thousand peaks
towering from the highlands of Ceylon.
The greater portion of the highland district may therefore be
compared to one vast mountain; hill piled upon hill, and peak
rising over peak; ravines of immense depth, forming innumerable
conduits for the mountain torrents. 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 tracts and
swampy plains the rivers of Ceylon derive their source and the
three loftiest peaks take their base; Pedrotallagalla rising from
the Newera Ellia Plain, "Totapella" and Kirigallapotta from the
Horton Plains.
The whole of the highland district is thus composed of a
succession of ledges of great extent at various elevations,
commencing with the highest, the Horton Plains, seven thousand
feet above the sea.
Seven hundred feet below the Horton Plain, the Totapella Plains
and undulating forests continue at this elevation as far as
Newera Ellia for about twenty miles, thus forming the second
ledge.
Six miles to the west of Newera Ellia, at a lower elevation of
about nine hundred feet, the district of Dimboola commences, and
extends at this elevation over a vast tract of forest-covered
country, stretching still farther to the west, and containing a
small proportion of plain.
At about the same elevation, nine miles on the north of Newera
Ellia, we descend to the Elephant Plains; a beautiful tract of
fine grass country, but of small extent. This tract and that of
Dimboola form the third ledge.
Nine miles to the east of Newera Ellia, at a lower elevation of
one thousand five hundred feet, stretches the Ouva country,
forming the fourth ledge.
The features of this country are totally distinct from any other
portion of Ceylon. A magnificent view extends as far as the
horizon, of undulating open grassland, diversified by the rich
crops of paddy which are grown in each of the innumerable small
valleys formed by the undulations of the ground.
