Cnvi-. Vir.] RAXGBODDK PASS. 259 



it be that they tlms assemble in groiqxs in the hills lor 

 the sake of accumulated warnitli at the cool altitude ot 

 ■lOUU feet ? 



The lowland Sina:halese have a horror of the cold in 

 these elevated situations, and still more of the rain, to 

 avoid the pattering of which on their skins they would 

 at any time crouch under water in a stream or a tank. 

 It is difficult to tempt them to the hills, and even tlic 

 Malabar coolies shrink with apprehension from the 

 chills of Neuera-eUia. To provide labour for these 

 moimtain roads the Government retain in their ])ay a 

 body of Caffres as pioneers, the remnant of a force 

 which was originally incorporated Ijy the Portuguese, 

 Avho introduced them from their African settlements at 

 Mozambique. The Dutch succeeded in kee])ing up it- 

 t^trength by an inuiiigration from the Cape, and tlu; 

 British maintained it by purchasing slaves from the 

 Portuguese at Goa. At present the Caifres show no 

 inclination to resort to the island, and this valuable 

 force is threatened with extinction in consequence. 



On the occasion of my first ascent, the lianglxxUle 

 pass was rendered dangerous by the presence of a 

 '' rogue " elephant which infested it. He concealed 

 himself by day in the dense forests on either side of the 

 road, making his way during the darkness to the river 

 below ; and we saw, as we passed, marks on the trunks 

 of the trees where he had rubbed off the mud, after re- 

 turning from his midnight bath. On the morning when 

 I crossed the mountain, a ])oor Caffre, one of the ])ioneer 

 corps, proceeding to his labour, came suddenly upon tliis 

 savage at a turning in the road, when the elei)liant, 

 alarmed by the intrusion, lifted him with its trunk and 

 beat out his brains against the bank. 



After a slow and toilsome journey to an elevation (d" 

 more than 6000 feet\ a sight is obtained of the ])laii) of 



Tho rpst-lionsp on tho plain ,it XciuM-a-ollia is (i:>:>2 feet jibovc tlic .-t-a. 



