34 



Near Peradeniya the tea estates appear only in the back- 

 ground, and the valley land is planted to diminutive fields of rice. 

 In the numerous villages the huts of the natives are surrounded 

 by cacao, coconuts, betel palms, bananas, and bread fruit. As 

 the line ascends progressively higher and higher, these tropical 

 fruits disappear one by one, the banana being about the last to 

 go, at an altitude of 3,800 feet. The little villages gradually 

 disappear also, and the natives all live near the tea factories in 

 barracks called coolie lines. As the villages and tropical vegeta- 

 tion are left behind, the tea gardens expand and eventually 

 monopolize the landscape. It is remarkable what a large amount 

 of space they occupy. One scarcely realizes that the whole 

 world can consume all the tea which they produce, and the scene 

 can be compared only to the almost continuous cornfields of Iowa. 



'In America one never sees any mountain in cultivation, 

 except a few little clearings here and there, but in Ceylon a 

 whole mountain will be one continuous tea garden from the 

 valley at its base to its very summit. Not an acre of the original 

 jungle is left. Picture a deep valley with the train on one side 

 of it 500 feet or so up. On the opposite side the mountain rises 

 from the valley some 1,500 or 2,000 feet. In either direction, 

 up or down, for a distance of five miles or so the valley is visible, 

 so there is in sight at one time a strip of land ten miles long and 

 probably two or three miles wide. This whole area is almost a 

 solid mass of uniform dark green tea plants, set out in regular 

 rows. Zigzagging over the sides of the mountain are yellow 

 lines where the roads are located: At the bottom of the valley 

 a broader yellow line locates the well-made automobile road. 

 Running vertically up the mountain are rows of light green 

 shade trees about 100 feet apart, standing out sharply against 

 the sky on the very crest and disappearing over the other side. 

 At four or five places in the landscape are the tea factories, 

 huge three-story buildings, black with white trimmings. Some- 

 where out in the tea fields there are a hundred black specks where 

 the Tamil coolies are picking tea. Now stretch this panorama 

 out over fifty miles of country and it may give some imperfect 

 idea of the Ceylon tea industry. 



