28 THE RIFLE AND HOUND IN CEYLON, chap. ii. 



although this has latterly been rendered precarious by 

 the appearance of the well-known potato disease. 



Newera Ellia has always been a favourite place of 

 resort during the fashionable months, from the com- 

 mencement of January to the middle of May. At 

 that time the rainy season commences, and visitors 

 rapidly disappear. 



All strangers remark the scanty accommodation 

 afforded to the numerous visitors. To see the number 

 of people riding and walking round the Newera Ellia 

 plain, it appears a marvel how they can be housed in 

 the few dwellings that exist. There is an endless sup- 

 ply of fine timber in the forests, and powerful saw- 

 mills are already erected ; but the island is, like its 

 soil, ' poor.' Its main staple, ' coffee,' does not pay suf- 

 ficiently to enable the proprietors of estates to indulge 

 in the luxury of a house at Newera Ellia. Like many 

 watering-places in England, it is overcrowded at one 

 season and deserted at another, the only permanent 

 residents being comprised in the commandant, the 

 officer in command of the detachment of troops, the 

 government agent, the doctor, the clergyman, and our 

 own family. 



Dull enough ! some persons may exclaim ; and so 

 it would be to any but a sportsman ; but the jungles 

 teem with large game, and Newera Ellia is in a cen- 

 tral position, as the best sporting country is only three 

 days' journey, or one hundred miles, distant. Thus, 



