Sit Samuel Mbitc 3Baftcr 581 



the colony. In proof of this assertion Baker adduces 

 the example of Mauritius and the He de Bourbon (now 

 known as Reunion), both French settlements, though 

 the former is now a British possession, and compares 

 them with Ceylon as he first knew it. Individually the 

 Frenchman may be a better settler in tropical climates 

 than the Englishman, but even Sir Samuel Baker would 

 hardly have contended that as a colonising race the 

 French are comparable to the English, and with that 

 reflection we may salve our wounded pride. 



To carry out his idea of planting a vigorous English 

 settlement in Newera Ellia, Baker purchased a thousand 

 acres of land from the Government at twenty shillings 

 per acre, and engaged a bailiff, who, with his wife and 

 daughter and nine other emigrants, including a black- 

 smith, sailed from London in September, 1848. Baker's 

 brother John with his wife and family also joined the 

 company of settlers, so that, with Mrs. Samuel and her 

 children, the party numbered over twenty souls. The 

 settlers brought with them farming implements of the 

 most improved descriptions, seeds of all kinds, saw-mills, 

 and the following stock : a half-bred bull (Durham and 

 Hereford), a well-bred Durham cow, three rams (a 

 Southdown, Leicester, and Cotswold), and a thorough- 

 bred entire horse by Charles XII., also a small pack of 

 fox-hounds and a favourite greyhound. 



After many disappointments the little colony at 

 length realised the hopes of its founder. Newera Ellia 

 was transformed into a fashionable and flourishing 

 health resort, with its churches, public reading-room, 

 brewery, and luxurious villas and hotels. It could boast, 



