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 from home and from a much-loved circle.
In my determination to reside at Newera Ellia, I hoped to be able
to carry out some of those visionary plans for its improvement
which I have before suggested; and I trusted to be enabled to
effect such a change in the rough face of Nature in that locality
as to render a residence at Newera Ellia something approaching to
a country life in England, with the advantage of the whole of
Ceylon for my manor, and no expense of gamekeepers.
To carry out these ideas it was necessary to set to work; and I
determined to make a regular settlement at Newera Ellia,
sanguinely looking forward to establishing a little English
village around my own residence.
Accordingly, I purchased an extensive tract of land from the
government, at twenty shillings per acre. I engaged an excellent
bailiff, who, with his wife and daughter, with nine other
emigrants, including a blacksmith, were to sail for my intended
settlement in Ceylon.
I purchased farming implements of the most improved
descriptions, seeds of all kinds, saw-mills, etc., etc., and the
following stock: A half-bred bull (Durham and Hereford), a
well-bred Durham cow, three rams (a Southdown, Leicester and
Cotswold), and a thorough-bred entire horse by Charles XII.; also
a small pack of foxhounds and a favorite greyhound ("Bran").
My brother had determined to accompany me; and with emigrants,
stock, machinery, hounds, and our respective families, the good
ship "Earl of Hardwick," belonging to Messrs. Green & Co.,
sailed from London in September, 1848. I had previously left
England by the overland mail of August to make arrangements at
Newera Ellia for the reception of the whole party.
I had as much difficulty in making up my mind to the proper spot
for the settlement as Noah's dove experienced in its flight from
the ark. However, I wandered over the neighboring plains and
jungles of Newera Ellia, and at length I stuck my walking-stick
into the ground where the gentle undulations of the country would
allow the use of the plough. Here, then, was to be the
settlement.
I had chosen the spot at the eastern extremity of the Newera
Ellia plain, on the verge of the sudden descent toward Badulla.
This position was two miles and a half from Newera Ellia, and was
far more agreeable and better adapted for a settlement, the land
being comparatively level and not shut in by mountains.
It was in the dreary month of October, when the south-west
monsoon howls in all its fury across the mountains; the mist
boiled up from the valleys and swept along the surface of the
plains, obscuring the view of everything, except the pattering
rain which descended without ceasing day or night. Every sound
was hushed, save that of the elements and the distant murmuring
roar of countless waterfalls; not a bird chirped, the dank white
lichens hung from the branches of the trees, and the wretchedness
of the place was beyond description.
I found it almost impossible to persuade the natives to work in
such weather; and it being absolutely necessary that cottages
should be built with the greatest expedition, I was obliged to
offer an exorbitant rate of wages. In about fortnight, however,
the wind and rain showed flags of truce in the shape of white
clouds set in a blue sky.
