CiiAr. YII.] 



PUSILAWA. 



251 



men like these, who were the earliest pioneers of its 

 prosperity. 



It is difficult to imagine a scene of greater natural 

 grandeur than that in the midst of which their estates 

 have been formed. The valley of Pusilawa ^ is over- 

 hung on its south-eastern side by a chain of wooded 

 hills, the last of Avhich, known as Moonera-galla, or the 

 " Peacock rock," rises upwards of 4000 feet above the 

 level of the sea, and commands a prospect of indescribable 

 beauty and magnificence ; embracing far and wide 

 mountains, forests, rivers, cataracts, and plains. Tlie 

 plantations of the Messrs. Worms extend to the very 

 crown of Moonera-galla, and the undulating sides of tlie 

 hills, which fifteen years ago were concealed by the trees 

 of the Black Forest, are now fenced mth roses and 

 covered in all directions witli luxuriant coffee bushes. 



A plantation of coffee is at every season an object of 

 beauty and interest. The leaves are bright and polished 

 hke those of a laurel, but of a much darker green ; the 

 flowers, of the purest white, grow in tufts along the top 

 of the branches, and bloom so suddenly, that at morn- 

 ing the trees look as if snow had fallen on them in 

 wreaths during the night. Their jasmine-hke perfume 

 is powerful enough to be oppressive, but they last only 

 for a day, and the bunches of crimson berries which 

 succeed resemble cherries in their brilliancy and size. 

 Within the pulp, concealed in a parchment-hke sheath, 

 hes the double seed, which by a variety of processes 

 is freed fi'om its integuments, and converted into coffee. 



On this fine estate an attempt has been made to 

 grow tea : the plants thrive surprisingly, and when 

 I saw them they were covered with bloom. But 

 the experiment was defeated by the impossibihty of 



^ Piisilawa is said to mean the 

 "valley of flowers." Another con- 

 jecture is, that the name is derived 

 from the great climbing plant, the 

 pus-wad (Entada Piirsetha), whose 



gigantic pods five feet long excite 

 astonishment in passing through tlie 

 forest. See ante, Vol. I. I't. i. ch. 

 iii. p. lOG. 



