Hangurankette. 1 9 



seem, in the first instance, to have cultivated the 

 plant mainly, if not solely, with the view of obtain- 

 ing its fragrant white blossom for the decoration of 

 the temple shrines ; hence it was first found largely 

 grown at Hangurankette, some sixteen miles from 

 Kandy, where there were at one time an important 

 Buddhist establishment and a royal palace. From 

 this centre, the plant had been propagated freely 

 throughout the forest, covering the adjacent moun- 

 tain slopes ; and as soon as its value became known 

 (after the Kandian dominion had passed into the 

 hands of the English), the entire tract producing 

 the precious plant was bought from the Govern- 

 ment by a wealthy and intelligent native, at the 

 then upset price of five shillings an acre. The 

 fortunate proprietor, whose descendants still, I be- 

 lieve, hold the property, realized, as may be sup- 

 posed, within a short time a handsome fortune by 

 his sagacity. 



Sir Edward Barnes, the energetic governor to 

 whom is due the credit of having united Kandy 

 with the coast at Colombo by a really magnificent 

 carriage road, which at the time produced a 

 profound impression on the native mind, though 

 now cast into the shade, and in great measure 

 superseded, by the railway was the first to bring 

 British capital and energy to bear upon the culti- 

 vation of coffee on a large scale. His estate, 

 C 2 



