EN ROUTE TO A CEYLON TEA ESTATE 21 



drawn to plots of " green manures," vegetarian food 

 in a natural form ; some of these plants, we are in- 

 formed, have been brought from other countries, and 

 are now undergoing the test as to the value of their 

 nutritive properties and as to their taste or distaste for 

 foreign soil. 



Back to the hotel — dinner — early to bed . . . early 

 morning, and we are once more in the train, being carried 

 up and up to the great liill centres of tea cultivation. 

 Xow, indeed, we are amidst the tea-lands of Ceylon — 

 hour after hour, as we journey on our way, we see 

 mountains aliead of us rising tier behind tier, the 

 while mountains to right and left of us present a high 

 climbing wall and here gather at our feet into a 

 mammoth bowl, bedecked round the inner rim with 

 fantastic forms in bold relief ; and all these mountains 

 we see around us bear a rich burden of flourishing tea- 

 bushes. 



We alight at the up-country station of Haputale, 

 where we find coolies awaiting us with rickshaws; and 

 within a few minutes we are being jog-trotted along a 

 well-made road, that corkscrews its way up a steep 

 incline. On one side, this road is flanked throughout 

 its entire length by a mountain-wall, on the other, it 

 hangs on the edge of a precipice ; the rickshaw coolies 

 hug tlie j)recipice side, but even if any of us could speak 

 their language fluently, nothing we might say would 

 break them of the habit for more than the next minute 

 or two, and it would be more wearing to go on repeating 

 the same command than it will be to brace our nerves 

 80 that we can enjoy this little adventure in the way 

 of a journey. 



Let me tell you a story about this ^amc road. So 



