TRIP TO PUSILLAWA. 179 



few years of each other, although thousands of miles 

 apart ; the one an ascetic and philosopher, whose 

 teachings rapidly disseminated over the whole of the 

 East ; the other a lawgiver, exercising immense 

 influence over, what was then, the Western school. 



At the invitation of a gentleman from India, staying 

 at the same hotel, I joined him and his son in a 

 delightful trip to the hills extending in a southerly 

 direction, visiting one or two of the largest coffee 

 plantations on the island, where we were most hospit- 

 ably received. Our road was almost continually 

 ascending, the best elevation for the cultivation of 

 coffee being apparently 3,000 to 4,000 feet, where the 

 ground is covered with a rich chocolate brown loam, 

 consisting of decomposed particles of rock from above, 

 blended with decayed vegetable matter of the forest. 

 The first plantation was commenced as recently as 

 1841, and since that many fortunes have been made 

 here by those who have had ample funds at their 

 disposal. The only thing that spoils the appearance 

 of coffee estates in Ceylon is the number of black 

 scorched trunks which have been left standing after 

 the land had been cleared by the axe and by burning. 

 At Pusillawa we inspected two of the largest 



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