There
was a total absence of all ideas of comfort or arrangement. The
houses were for the most part built of such unsubstantial
materials as stick and mud plastered over with mortar - pretty
enough in exterior, but rotten in ten or twelve years. The only
really good residence was a fine stone building erected by Sir
Edward Barnes when governor of Ceylon. To him alone indeed are
we indebted for the existence of a sanitarium. It was he who
opened the road, not only to Newera Ellia, but for thirty-six
miles farther on the same line to Badulla. At his own expense he
built a substantial mansion at a cost, as it is said, of eight
thousand pounds, and with provident care for the health of the
European troops, he erected barracks and officers' quarters for
the invalids.
Under his government Newera Ellia was rapidly becoming a place of
importance, but unfortunately at the expiration of his term the
place became neglected. His successor took no interest in the
plans of his predecessor; and from that period, each successive
governor being influenced by an increasing spirit of parsimony,
Newera Ellia has remained "in statu quo," not even having been
visited by the present governor.
In a small colony like Ceylon it is astonishing how the movements
and opinions of the governor influence the public mind. In the
present instance, however, the movements of the governor (Sir G.
Anderson) cannot carry much weight, as he does not move at all,
with the exception of an occasional drive from Colombo to Kandy.
His knowledge of the colony and of its wants or resources must
therefore, from his personal experience, be limited to the Kandy
road. This apathy, when exhibited by her Majesty's
representative, is highly contagious among the public of all
classes and colors, and cannot have other than a bad moral
tendency.
Upon my first visit to Newera Ellia, in 1847, Lord Torrington was
the governor of Ceylon, a man of active mind, with an ardent
desire to test its real capabilities and to work great
improvements in the colony. Unfortunately, his term as governor
was shorter than was expected. The elements of discord were at
that time at work among all classes in Ceylon, and Lord
Torrington was recalled.
>From the causes of neglect described, Newera Ellia was in the
deserted and wretched state in which I saw it; but so infatuated
was I in the belief that its importance must be appreciated when
the knowledge of its climate was more widely extended that I
looked forward to its becoming at some future time a rival to the
Neilgherries station in India. My ideas were based upon the
natural features of the place, combined with its requirements.
It apparently produced nothing except potatoes.
