252 GAMPOLA .\^^D THE COFFEE REGIONS. [Part VII. 



finding sldlled labour to dry and manipulate tlie leaves. 

 Should it ever be thought expedient to cultivate tea in 

 addition to cofiee in Ceylon, the adaptation of the soil 

 and climate has thus been estabhslied, and it only remains 

 to introduce artisans from China to conduct the subse- 

 quent processes. 



It Avill readily be inferred that if the hfe of a success- 

 ful planter in these mountains be fraught with anxieties, 

 these are compensated by enjoyment. One can imagine 

 the satisfaction with which he must contemplate the rich 

 prospects that his own energies have created, peophng 

 the sohtudes Avith industry, and teacliing the desert to 

 blossom hke the rose. 



Pusilawa and the surrounding valleys and forests 

 have furnished large collections of objects, illustrative 

 of the zoology of the island ; but this is a som^ce of en- 

 jopiient of which the successors of the present genera- 

 tion will be deprived, by the felling of the forests and 

 the destruction of the jungle, which now afford protec- 

 tion to multitudes of animals, birds, reptiles, and insects. 

 Their numbers are already dechning in this particular 

 spot ; but still, such is tlieir ]:)rofusion in the forests and 

 throughout the region surrounding the coffee estates, 

 that opportunities exist for observing their instincts 

 under most inviting ckcumstances, and even the apa- 

 thetic become interested in watching then- habits. 

 These are so striking that they impress themselves on 

 every sense, and stand out clear and iUustrative in our 

 recollections of the day and its progress. It is not alone 

 that their crowded associations almost overpower the 

 memory, it is not that they form at all times the in- 

 cidents and life of the landscape — imparting vivacity 

 to the foliage, and rendering the air harmonious with 

 their motion and tlieir music ; but there is a degree of 

 order in their arrangements, and almost of system in 

 their hours of appearing and retiring, tliat serves, when 

 experience has rendered them famihar, to identify each 

 period of the day Avith its accustomed visitants, and 



