May i, 1895.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
7«y 
Horton Plains Kesthou.se l>y the route we 
walked, cannot, we should say, he much more 
than 3h or at most 4 miles ; and an outlay of 
R700 even should oll'ccb a great change for the 
better and indisputably make it the favourite, 
because easiest as well as shortest route by 
which to approach Horton Plains. But for the 
return trip we think the Totapol a- Ambewela 
route although double the distance, is prefer- 
able for reasons which will appear. 
Immediately after breakfast we prepared 
for our 
RETURN JOURNEY 
and got oil" about noon : our party divided 
however, two having to go back to Ohiya, 
while the major portion determined to walk, 
by the established bridle-road to Nuwara Eliya, 
as far as Ambewela station. This was stated 
by the Restlmuse- keeper to be 8 miles ; we heard 
afterwards that H. E. the Governor from his 
recent trip on horseback thought it would 
measure 7 miles ; while a planter in the 
neighbourhood declared, he regarded the road 
as at least 9 miles- or half the distance to 
Nuwara Eliya, the total between the two Plains 
— or resthouse to resthonse — being always given 
as 18 miles. Be that as it may, it is always 
a grand advantage in any jungle or upcountry 
trip to follow in the footsteps of 
THE GOVKUNOR OF THE COLONY ! 
We found this bridle-path in splendid order ; 
it had just been done up, the crossing-places all 
tested and repaired, and above all a diver- 
sion made on the side of Totapola, at the spot 
where the roadway gave way with Mrs. Bay Icy 
when riding along some years ago, so precipitat- 
ing her and her horse down the side of 
the mountain, the escape from very serious if 
if not fatal results, being a marvellous one. 
As it was, Mrs. Bayley was much bruised and 
shaken and yet had the courage to ride many 
miles — slowly of course — before succour and rest 
could be obtained. That part of the bridle- 
path we repeat, has been abandoned and a 
safer trace cut out a little above. Of course 
for pedestrians, all is very plain ; but the Go- 
vernor and Lady Havelock and suite having 
just passed over it, the path may be presumed 
a thoroughly safe and good one for riders all 
the way. The route Mas familiar to us from 
our visit of 18 years ago ; but it was new to 
the rest of the party and they declared it far 
more interesting than the Ohiya route. 
Before leaving the Plains, we had a good look 
at the three highest mountains (next to Pidru- 
tallagalla) in Ceylon, all rising from the sides 
of Horton Plains. Looking from Nuwara Eliya 
we had latterly got into the habit of confound- 
ing the position of Totapola with that of 
Kuduhugalla (the "bent or crooked mountain," 
from its summit bending to one side) ; but Hie 
error was quickly corrected on the Horton 
Plains. It may be of interest to repeat here 
some nine or ten of the highest Trigonometrical 
stations, — all that are above 7,000 feet m the island 
in fact, — and mainly close to Horton Plains or 
Nuwara Eliya: — 
1 Pidnrutallag.illa S.-2'.Hi Al»>ve Nuwara I'.liwi 
2 Kirigalpotta 7,832 West of Hortou Plains 
8 Totanolakanda 7,7 Hi N.K. and overlooking 
Horton Plains 
•1 Kuduhugalla 7,607 NAY. ami do do 
6 Adam's Poak 7,353 
6 Kikilimanakanda 7,316 N.W. of Nuwara Eliya 
— almost same height 
as Adam's Peak 
7 Gonmulakauda 7,276 Within Horton Plains 
8 Great Western 7.264 Above Dimbula 
9 Hakg.illa 7,148 Highest of three sum- 
mits near Gardens 
10 Lover's Leap 7,099 Above Pedro Estate 
11 Horton Plains Trig. 7,004 Seventy yards N. of old 
Resthouse. 
All other mountain tops observed in Ceylon — 
including such well-known ones as One Tree 
Hill (Nuwara Eliya), Mahakudugalla in Walle- 
pane, Ealse Ped.ru, and Namunukula (above 
Badulia) are below 7,000 feet. Horton Plains, 
it will be observed, not only include two trigo- 
nometrical stations within the patanas, exceeding 
7,000 arn I 7,270 feet respectively ; but two sides 
are pretty well walled in by mountains which 
rise from 600 to 800 feet above the Plains. 
This is especially true on the Northern or 
Totapola side ; but on the West, Kirigalpotta 
and Kuduhugalla do not form a continuous range ; 
but are rather distinct mountains with dee]) gorges 
at their sides running into Dimbula or leading to 
the Bopatalawa patanas. On the East and South 
sides of the plains again, there is no conspi- 
cuous hills to range as boundaries ; and indeed 
in the Ohiya and "World's end" directions, 
the tableland runs out to the top of the sheer 
descent through jungle or by grassy precipice. 
The path from the Resthouse towards Ambe- 
wela winds circuitously and pleasantly across 
the Plains and passes through several delightful 
bits of jungle before climbing up the side of the 
Totapola range. These detached sections of 
forest are ''delightful," because though the trees 
are by no means large or lofty, many are very 
old and nearly all clothed with moss of very 
rich and variegated colours, so that at some 
points the scene with a bright sun shining down 
through the foliage was inexpressibly lovely and 
almost fairy-lake. Orchids, wild (lowers and ferns 
were not wanting here and on the wayside gener- 
ally.* Our party declared that they would not have 
missed this experience as well as others later on, on 
any account, and that the proper way to. "do" 
the Horton Plains was undoubtedly to climb 
from Ohiya, but to return via Totapola and 
Ambewela. We had in our party besides ser- 
vant and coolies, a Sinhalese mason (a Galle 
man) resident at Pattipola, who agreed to act 
as guide, so far as to make us sure of the right 
path where diverging roads occur as at one 
or two points The first time we troubled him was 
after ascending the side of Totapola range some 
200 or 300 feet above the plains, we began the 
descent on the Northern or Nuwara Eliya side. 
Stopping for live minutes, our "guide" then declared 
we were more than half-way — which proved to be 
incorrect — and later on he declared we were within 
a mile of Ambewela station, when we were quite 
two miles oil' I So much for a Sinhalese man's 
estimate of distance. Later on in the day. we had a 
* It may be interesting to repeat from Mr. Nock'3 
list in the Nuwara Eliya Manual the most popular 
orchids found in the Nuwara Eliya and Horton 
Plains' districts : — 
Lily of the vallej (orchid Eria tricolor, I.imll.). 
Primrose orchid (l)endrob vm tinman. I.imll.). 
Daffodil orchid (JPachf/itOnia speeiota, RechbA 
Snowdrop orchid (Coeloqyne odorotittima, I.imll. )t 
Foxglove orchid ( PHagM tricolor. I.imll.). 
(Jrbuiid or Hyacinth orchid ISatyrium nepaiente, p 
Don.). 
Spiral oii-hid (Spirant/us aunt rati*. I.imll.). 
Wana-raju {fKiidtetochUiti setattux, BL). 
Glirulll-raju fvar. iiwnmtiis. Hook.). 
Insect owh\il (Li)>« l is n i egai ia, I.imll..). 
Cirrhapetolum Knindinortun, \VigjU, 
Calauthe veratrifolia, Br. 
Microstylis Kheedii, Lin-it. 
Uirides cyliudiiciuii Limit. 
