March i, 1895.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 597 
and the matter of the Customs admitting such 
" teas " from Germany and of their being sold 
thereafter as sound tea, is likely to he brought 
before the House of Commons during the present 
Session. None the less, however, is it incumbent 
on our Ceylon public bodies to express their 
opinion on the subject and to call on the Com- 
mittee of the London (Ceylon) Association to 
give their special and continuous attention to 
the grievance until steps are taken to prevent 
any chance of recurrence. 
CEYLON PLANTING DISTRICTS : 
A PEEP INTO PUNDALUOYA. 
The Railway lias taken away from Colombo 
residents, many of the sensations which accom- 
panied coach journeys upcountry. "Sensation 
rocks" and "Great Western precipices " are exciting 
enougli for a first trip by rail ; but one soon gets used 
to them in a way that never was the case when 
sitting on a coach rattling down the Kadugan- 
nawa, Ballacadua, Ramboda or Attabage Passes, 
considering the horse flesh and drivers available 
In Ceylon in byegone days ; and yet we dare to 
say more accidents occurred between Colombo 
and Galle on the dead level than on any of 
the upcountry lines referred to 1 At least, so it 
was in our own coaching experience. 
To revive some of the sensations accompanying 
a drive along a typical Highland road with 
grand scenery, frowning bastions of rock over - 
head, a long line of underlying precipices with 
awkward turns and exposed corners we can very 
well recommend— taking Colombo nerves into con- 
sideration— the 6 miles drive from Wattegoda 
station into the Pundaluoya valley. With a 
high dogcart and a skittish horse, it must be 
refreshingly bracing. In a rickshaw with a couple 
of coolies we found the journey comfortable enough, 
enabling the traveller to enjoy all the changes 
of scene at every mile of the road, as the magni- 
ficent Kotmale-Pussellawa valley opened up 
from the Lower Dimbula gorge. The first half 
of the journey is through the heart of fields of 
tea, merely marked by a gradual descent which 
must equal an average of 80 ft. per mile falling 
from 4,4ui I feet at SYatagoda station to under 
4,000 below Kaipoogalla factory. Thedrive gave us 
a new idea of the valuable property the Eastern Pro- 
duce and Estates Co. possess in Medakunibera. 
It may be said of all the estates lying at the 
base of t lie (iivat Western mountain-mass of 
rock, that they can never want a supply of 
fertilizing material in view of the gradual but 
steady slipping away of detritus from the moun- 
tain or rock sides above them. But this must be 
peculiarly true of many of the Medakunibera 
fields which lie like so many basins ready to receive 
the good stuff that should come to them from 
above fair c'pnturies yet to follow ! Not that 
owners or managers place their dependence 
mi such supply; for there arc signs ot careful 
tending and cultivation everywhere, and we saw 
little that was not up to a remarkably good aver- 
age of tea in growth, jat, appearance and flush and 
we felt, altogether, in passing through this 3heel 
of -J, mm acres of tea, that we had looked over some 
divisions what is really a splendid property. 
Piles of cpffee stumps at one or two turns pf the 
road attracted attention for the grand size attained 
by the old stems ; but we were told at the end of 
our journey that the tea had immensely improved 
since these coft'eo trees had been removed. A 
feature in Medakunibera common to most Dimbula 
and upcountry plantations now, we are glad to 
think, is the tree dotting of timber belts and 
trees — especially grevilleas — throughout the tea 
fields. Rut particularly grateful to the traveller 
in a hot sun and also interesting in itself 
is the avenue of diversified trees which form 
a shade along the main road — with line 
specimens of sapu, toon (albr.^io), Eucalypts 
(blue and red or swamp mahogany), ficus, 
Crypto ineria Japonicas, nlango as well as grevilleas 
— all prospering and presaging giant trees in 
years to come. The continuous grove of grevilleas 
and acacias above the tea under the mountain 
mass, makes a capital boundary line for Meda- 
kunibera, besides being valuable in them- 
selves. Very familiar from days of old is the 
group of plantations which face us stretching down 
from the Dimbula Gap — old Rogaha watte and Kelle- 
wattie looking as verdant as ever, until we note the 
richly clothed fields of Mount Vernon all dotted 
over with grevillea . belts. We were surprised to 
learn that the rich-looking tea fields below Bo- 
gawatte on the same side of the river, but under 
the boldest rocky feature dividing Dimbula from 
Kotmalie, belonged to Medakunibera which 
has 450 acres in cultivation on that further side of 
the Kotinalie-ganga. Farther round, there is a 
nice looking little tea property — of perhaps 100 
acres in all, belonging to Mrs. Hampton which, 
besides being favoured by its capital Eastern 
aspect, must profit like the rest by the rocky 
hillside above. 
The first burst of tlris truly Kandyan Kotmalie 
valley — the seat of a Rat emahatmeya— with 
its terraced rice-fields, glistening in light green 
or yellow in the early morning or after- 
noon sunlight, — is peculiarly refreshing and 
the river tumbling white or brown and black 
in the centre, the dark green tea fields and 
groves of ornamental trees above — all set 
in a framework of everlasting rocks or hills, 
forms a picture once seen to advantage as we 
saw it, which cannot easily be forgotten. The great 
feature in advance of the traveller down to 
Pundaluoya, is the Moneragalla or prominent 
"Peacock" hill overshadowing what was once 
the grand Black Forest of Pussellawa — now in 
Rothschild, Delta, Glenloch, Helbodde and other 
places, rich in tea. How gratified the brothers 
Worms would be not only to see the resuscitation of 
their Pussellawa properties ; but also the trans- 
formation of their grand block of Lower Dim- 
bula land into the splendid tea estate of 
Medakunibera ; for, this block as well as that 
of Norwood, together with the Rothschild, Con- 
degalle, Keenakelle and other properties were 
sold by the Me-sis. Worms and formed the 
rMson d lire of the Ceylon Company, Limited. 
Passing along the side of a steep underly- 
ing precipice, wisely guarded by a well-built 
masonry parapet, and rounding the patana-covered 
shoulder of the range, we pass from Lower Dim- 
bula into what used forty years ago to be 
described as 
THE KICH W.UiM VALLEY OK J I1K I'lN DAI.OVA. 
It was our lirst peep into a district which has 
long had claims on our attention. The Planters' 
Association of L856 treated it as a mere sub- 
division of Ramboda district, and with only a 
nucleus of estates and nothing better than a 
bridle-path to approach it, the distinction of 
a separate district was then scarcely called for. 
Joined to Kamboda il continued until 1881, w hen 
the separate properties having increased from 
7 to 12, we ventured to establish it in the 
Directory, as a separate division. Long before 
this, a grant-in-aid road had been constructed 
into the heart of the district which, for zigzags, 
through what was Lyon-Fra.sei's property, reminds, 
