THE TEOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Oct. 1, 1902, 
present moment, if India from internal causes had 
been prevented from sending a contingent to 
South Africa ? The point I wish to bring to notice 
is this — that judging by our recent military his- 
tory it is not only advisal)le, but perhaps vitally 
impoitant to have ready at hand to send in any 
direction, and at the shortest possible moment, a 
well equipped, healthy body of men, complete in 
every detail, co th se portions of the globe where 
hitherto India has been called upon to send her 
troops. Now, what are the conditions necessary to 
lultil the above ? 
1 — A favourable geographical position. 
2— A country not liable to either external or in- 
ternal attack. 
3— Proximity to a good harbour with sufiaoient 
shipping. 
4— ^Proximity to a railway. 
5 — An extensive country fit for military purposes. 
6 — Adequate local supplies, such as cattle, fodder, 
&c.. &c. 
7 — A healthy climate for the troops. 
The geographical position of Ceylon is practi- 
cally the same as India. Colombo is the Clap- 
ham Junction of the East, where all the large 
Orient liners of the P & 0, Orient, Clan, and 
other Companies call regularly, and where, con- 
sequently, the shipping necessary for the despatch 
of troops could be obtained and collected. The 
new breakwater and batteries now under con- 
struction will make Colombo secure from the ele- 
ments and the enemy. 
A glance at an atlas will, without argument, satisfy 
conditions 1 and S. 
Condition 2 is amply fulfilled. The insular posi- 
tion of Ceylon does nob allow of its inrasion a« 
long as we command the sea, and the loyalty of 
the native population is such that the present gov- 
ernor. Sir West Ridgway, unhesitatingly offered 
the services of the only English regiment ia the 
colony for duty at the Cape during the dark days of 
1899. 
The Ceylon Government Railway meets my 
fourth condition. It passes close to the country 
I am about to describe, and has stations at Diya-- 
talawa and Bandarawella, in close proxi.Tiity to 
ground in every way suited for a military camp, 
and within ten hours' journey of Colombo. 
With regard to 5 ; Ceylon, to the majority of 
people, conveys the idea of a hot, moist, tropical 
country, enervating to a high degree, if not actu- 
ally unhealthy. But the hill station of ISuwara 
Etiya at any rate is now becoming known, and it 
will not be strange to many to learn that other 
parts of the hill districts of Ceylon boast of an 
almost English climate ; t may remark, parentheti- 
cally, in many respects a good deal better ? I 
am not, however, advocating the claims of Nuwara 
E iya. It is far too enclosed for the manoeuvres of 
any but a very small body of troops, and even 
the open country in its near neighbourhood 
*(the IBurrack and Moon Plains) is so studded with 
bogs and morasses that the movements even of a 
company would be largely confined to the high 
road. At the present some thirty or forty sickly 
men regain their stamina there after the enervating 
climate of the low country. Hitherto the Sana- 
torium has been open from the middle of Septem- 
ber till the burst of the south-west monsoon at 
• Nuwara Eliya has a rainfal of 99"37 inches, and 
2*2 Dftiny days ; average of 26 7-12th years. 
the end of May or beginning of June. Nuwara 
Eliya, * from asocial point of view, with its race- 
course, golf links, club, and so forth, is a pleasant 
place enough in fine weather, but ca^i scarcely 
become a station for practical, serious foldiering. 
In the neighbouring province of Uva can however, 
be found all the conditions necessary for the 
military training of 10,003 or more infantiy in a 
healthy country, and with unrivalled climate. 
This appears such a startling statement that I 
propose to enter somewhat fully into the physical 
characteristics of the Province, its climate, and 
the health of the troops at present stationed there. 
I cannot better describe the scenery of Upper 
Uva than by quotations from an account of a pro- 
longed tour made through the Province in March, 
1819, by Dr. John Davy (brother of the famous Sir 
Humphrey Davy), taken from his 'Account of 
Ceylon,' published in 1821. Dr. Davy was on the 
medical staff of the Army in Ceylon, with the title 
of Physician to the Forces, He travelled from 
Colombo to Uva via Ratnapura, and entered the 
Province from the Haputale (south) side, over the 
Idalgashena Pass, and from no point of view is the 
glorious scenery of Upper Uva seen to better ad- 
vantage. ^ He says: — (Fainiliar to Ceylon readers.) 
Dr. Davy visited Uva again later in the year 
1819. His first tour was in March. On the second 
occasion he made his trip from the Nuwara Eliya 
side (about twenty miles north-west of Diyatalawa), 
and proceeded only as far as Fort MacDonald 
six miles north of the camp. 
The amphitheatre of hills surrounding the plain^ 
of Uva on the west and north effectually prevent 
the clouds and rain of the south-west monsoon 
from reaching them. Sir Samuel Baker, in his 
'Eight Years in Ceylon,' gives the following account 
of this curious phenomenon seen during the south- 
west monsoon, when, while the western side of 
the island is enveloped in mist and rain, the wet 
weather terminates abruptly at Hakgalla, and the 
panorama of Uva is seen in all its beauty. He 
says : — (Familiar to Ceylon readers.) 
I can do little more than refer to a very interest' 
ing paper on ' The Botany of the Ceylon Patanas,' 
by Mr Pearson, B A, published in the proceedings 
of the Linnsean Society, vol. xxxiv. page 300, which 
will repay perusal. He enters very fully into the 
origin and present condition of this open countrj', 
aud draws a somewhat close comparison between 
it and the savannahs of South America. He 
roughly estimates the extent of this patana, savan- 
nah or down country, as extending over 300 
square miles, the far greater portion of which is 
in Upper Uva. He summarises his conclusions as 
follows : — 
■ " An examination of such evidence as exists 
with regard to the origin of the patanas of Uva, 
and their western extensions up the slopes of the 
central ridge, leads to the following conclusions. 
On the Uva slopes below 4,500 feet (the lower limit 
of the Rhododendron) the peculiarities of the 
climate have co-operated with the periodically re- 
current grass-fires to transform an open forest of 
low xerophytic trees with an undergrowth of grass 
(i. e. a savannah forest such as is still found on 
the eastern boundary of the plateau) into barren 
grassy plains. These plains, being almost coni- 
pleteiy denuded of soil, must be regarded as being 
* The camp of the Boer prisoners at Diyatab wa ia 
six miles from Haputale at the southern edge of the 
plateau. 
