250 



G.UIPOLA AXD THE COFFEE KEGIONS. [Part Vn. 



cahatta and the amusada-nelli ^, whose thick and pungent 

 bark supphes tannui to the Kandyans. 



In these high ahitiides the air is so undisturbed, and 

 tlie silence so profound, that individual sounds, the hum 

 of insects, the voice of bh'ds, or the shrill call of the 

 squirrels, are caught mth surprising clearness. Standing 

 at sunset on one of the mountains at Ambogammoa, one 

 can hear distinctly the evening guns fired at Colombo and 

 Kandy, the one thirty and the other twenty miles distant 

 in opposite directions. 



At the time of my first visit in 1846, these mountains 

 exhibited a scene of wonderful activity and interest ; 

 the .woodman's axe resounded in all du^ectious, and the 

 white smoke ascended in clouds from the slopes where 

 the felled trees '^, after, being mthered and dried by the 

 scorching sun, were fired to get rid of the fallen timber 

 and clear the ground for the reception of the young 

 coffee plants. 



At Pusilawa our home on many occasions Avas the 

 hospitable bungalow of j\Ii\ Worms and his brother, 

 the proprietors of one of the finest plantations in the 

 island. Then' estate, which now consists, besides un- 

 felled forest, of upwards of one thousand acres of cofiee 

 trees in full bearing, was commenced by themselves in 

 1841, Avhen the new enterprise was still in its infancy. 

 Theu' practical knowledge of plantmg was therefore 

 acquii'ed during its experimental stages ; and no capi- 

 tahsts in the colony have contributed more to its advance- 

 ment by judgment and moderation in times of excite- 

 ment, and firmness and perseverance in periods of diffi- 

 culty. Hereafter, when the great project to whicli 

 they have devoted their lives, shall have attained its 

 full development, Cejion, in the plenitude of commercial 

 success, will remember Avith gratitude tlie names of 



^ Carey a arhorea and EmhUca 

 officinalis. 



'^ For a description of the ciirions 

 process adopted by the Kaudyaus for 



prostrating a whole forest simulta- 

 neously, see ante, Vol. I. Pt. i. ch. iii. 

 p. lOoI 



