^ MONTHLY. I>^ 
XX. 
COLOMBO, FEBRUARY 1st, 1901. 
No. 8. 
CEYLON : ITS BOTANIC GARDENS ; 
VEGETATION AND SHORT RE- 
PORT ON A JOURNEY TO 
CEYLON. 
As above mentioned, I was afforded the opportu- 
nity in the year under report of an official jour- 
ney to Deli and Ceylon, in the company of the 
hortulan. 
After a ten days' stay on the East coast [of 
Sumatra], we crossed over to Peuang, in order, 
after a short delay there, to embark on board 
one of the P. & 0. steamers bound for Ceylon. 
The visit to Ceylon had quite a different object 
from that to Deii, Agronomic questions were only 
of secondary importance : the main objpot being a 
proper acquaintanceship with the organization and 
working of the botanical establishments of Ceylon, 
consisting of the famed garden at Peradeniya— four 
miles from Kandy — and its four branch-establishments. 
In the afternoon of 22ad June we steamed alongside 
the island in squally cloudy weather. About sunset 
the vivid lightning over the land reminded us of 
the old stories according to which the Arabian 
mariners sailing in those waters considered the in- 
cessant lightning as a sure sign that they were near 
Ceylon. At about half past one a. m, we were in the 
harbour of Colombo. 
Scarcely had we landed the following morning 
when we were agreeably surprised to find that Mr. 
J. C, Willis, Director of the Botanical Establishments 
of Ceylon, had taken the trouble of undertaking a 
fairly long railway journey from Peradeniya to the 
low-country to welcome us at once on our arrival in 
Colombo. 
During our who'e stay in Ceylon Mr. Willis always 
had the kindnessto spare no pains in arranging to make 
* TraiTilated from Verslag omtrent den Staat van's 
Lands Plantentuin te Buitenzorg over het Jaar 1898 by 
Advocate F. H. de Vos and Donald Ferguson, 
our journey as instructive, profitable and pleasant 
as possible. This is therefore also the place to 
warmly repeat our gratitude to him, the assurance 
of which, of course, we had before given him verb- 
ally. We desire further to tender our thanks to 
Mr. MacMillan, the Curator of Peradeniya Gardens, 
and Mr. Nock, Superintendent of the Ilakgala 
Garden, for all they did for us. 
Mr. Willis returned at noon to Peradeniya, where 
we were to follow him the next morning, having 
spent the night in Colombo, about which place, so 
far as they are appropriate in a report of this kind 
will be found a few remarks at the end of this piper' 
If there is no call to deal here in detail with the 
capital of Ceylon, it were right to begin by con. 
sidering for a moment the climatic conditions of the 
island and the nature of its soil. This is necessary 
to a good understanding of what follows, as also 
to make a comparison between the conditions of 
primitive vegetation and husbandry in Ceylon, on 
the one hand, and Java on the other. 
In the centre of the lowest and broadest portion 
of Ceylon one meets with a great network of moan 
tains running pretty steeply to the South, and more 
to a level to the North, and quite flat in the Northern 
half of the island and the South-Eastern parts of 
it. The south-west monsoon which lasts during 
four or five months of the year, especially in May 
June and July, brings with it much rain. On 
account of the configuration of the island these 
rains however affect only the south-western part 
of the island. When once the Monsoon winds have 
passed over the tops of the hills (7,000 feet and 
higher) they are robbed of their moisture and 
changed into dry winds which cause, during the 
south-west Monsoon months, the northern and 
south-eastern parts of the island to suffer from 
terrible drought. Indeed in the mountain regions 
situated behind the high lops and ridgea the 
drought is severely felt. 
