February 2, 1891.1 
THE TROPICAL AOmCOLTUmST. 
557 
A HOLIDAY TRIP TO LABUGAMA LAKE i 
THE SOtTRCE OF THE COLOMBO WATER SUPPLY. 
WITH NOTES ON THE VBCrETATION AND PLANTING 
OPERATIONS OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD, 
It is to be regretted that the beautiful scene 
whence the capital of Oeylon derives its supply of 
mountain-born water (of a purity unexcelled) is not 
more facile of access. The Lake which has been 
formed by damming up the Wakoya (the “crooked 
stream,” as the Dikoya is the “ long river”) is 
nearly 28^ miles from Colombo. Over 19J of 
those ore along the Eatnapura road, to about If 
mile beyond Hanwella, and to this point the 
mail coach is available. But there are no horse 
carriages to be hired at Hanwella, only bullock 
hackeries to do the 8f miles of road which were 
made specially for the purposes of the waterworks. 
This road turns off at right angles from the high 
road at Wakoya, 1-54 miie beyond Hanwella. If, 
as in our case, a party of four can bo made up, we 
can testify to the comfort of the waggon and the 
excellence of the horses which Messrs. A. Pate & Son 
can supply. Starting from Colombo on the morn- 
ing of the 2nd at about half-past 6, we reached 
Hanwella at 9, and we could have got to 
Labugama by half-past 10, and returned the 
same day to Colombo, had we not formed other 
plans. We must warn any inclined to make 
the trip, that, although they may find accommo- 
dation at Labugama, in a Government building 
which is used as a resthouse, when not required 
for purely Government purposes, they had better 
take provisions with them from Colombo, if they 
do not follow our example and breakfast at the 
very nice and commodious resthouse at Hanwella. 
Even so, information ought to be sent in advance 
to the resthouse-keeper. With such an arrange- 
ment, visitors to the Lake could return to a late 
tiffin at Hanwella, and then back to Colombo. If 
they arrange, as we did, to dine and sleep at 
Hanwella, the enjoyment of the trip will not be 
marred by fatigue, — the more especially if our 
example be further followed in floating down the 
Kelani (“ pleasant ”) river by boat. The resthouse- 
keeper could get a boat ready ; and if there was 
any difficulty we have no doubt that other Euro- 
peans would benefit as we did by the courtesy of 
Mr. Ameresekere, a most intelligent Sinhalese 
gentleman, who is a planter and contractor for 
cutting, carrying and storing timber at Hanwella 
from the Government forest reserves, of which one 
block near Labugama extends to an area of 5,000 
acres. I may as well mention here that although 
“wa ” is by the Railway Department classed highest 
amongst firewoods, Mr. Ameresekere agrees with 
Ool. Clarke that this tree is too valuable as a 
cabinet wood to be used lor the furnace, for which 
purpose he gives the preference to “mendora,” the 
calorific qualities of which are increased by the 
resin which permeates the fibres of the wood. 
We should have got to Hanwella at § past 8, but 
for the fact that our driver, instead of taking the short 
out, via Urugodawatta to Ambatale, took us the old 
route by Grand Pass and then along the road parallel 
with the Kelani, which crosses the canal near the 
Bridge of Boats. We were, in the end, glad that 
this route was chosen, as we thus had the oppor- 
tunity of appreciating the magnitude of the raft and 
boat traffic on the river, in bamboos, timber trees, fire 
wood, coconuts (which fruits in the husk wo saw 
floated down on rafts), bricks, tiles, cfec., of which 
there are welt stocked depots along the sides of the 
canal and road. We could not help noticing, as com- 
peting even with salt fish in appeals to our olfactory 
nerves, the odour of timber in course of conver- 
sion after being seasoned in water. The sourness ! 
70 
of the timber smell was a striking contrast to the 
strong and co asionally semi-putrid odour of the fi-h. 
The value to Colombo of the cheap water carringe tor 
fuel, timber and building materials generally, afforded 
by the Ke'ani, is far greater than many of us 
imagine. The bricks and tiles are manufactured 
mainly at Pannebakkery (Angliee, the Pan Bakery), 
where excellent clay for the purpose abounds 
under a surface stratum, more or Jess thick, of 
red mould. Here the Government had an establish- 
ment for the manufacture of bricks and tiles, so 
long ago as 1837 ; and one of the first incidents 
of my career in Ceylon was a visit to this place, 
then under the charge of a Corporal Ross of the 
78th Highlanders, who had been left behind when 
his Eeniment was removed from Ceylon. My re- 
collection is still vivid of the huge elephants being 
compelled to use their broad feet in puddling the 
clay, their constant efforts being to step into the 
hollows previously made while the object of the 
driver was to compel them to put down their 
feet where lire soft and adhesive clay was thickest, 
against which they occasionally entered protesting 
growls. The huge bulk of the animals’ bodies 
and the resemblance of their long thick legs to 
east iron columns made a strong impression on 
my mind which time has not effaced. All the way 
from Pannebakkery to Hanwella, good quality tena- 
cious clay unmixed with siliceous particles, is found 
at intervals, on which diggers were at work. We 
were puzzled to see n ass' s of puddled clay near the 
cottages on the roadside all the way to Hanwella 
until enlightened by Mr. Gibson at Labugama 
on an important point in engineering, of which 
I am ashamed to say I was previously ignorant. 
It appears that clay subjected only to a process of 
puddling and then used in building a bund is 
valueless, because liable to bo washed away. The 
moist mass requires to be “ weathered” : reduced 
to dry particles. These are again moistened be- 
fore being utilized, and thenceforward the mass, 
having dried and hardened, is as impervious as 
rock. One of the circumstances which added largely 
to the cost of the bund of the Labugama 
Lake, was the fact that the puddled olay 
used in its construction had to be trans- 
ported all the way from Hanwella by carts, all 
attempts to find suitable material nearer at hand 
having failed, sharp, sandy particles intermixed 
^ndering the clays unsuitable. Before reaching 
Pannebakkery, we were interested in identifying a 
little up the western bank of the river from the 
Bridge of Boats, the site of Orta Seda, or Seda- 
watta, where formerly there were botanical gardens 
in which mulberry trees for the feeding of silk- 
worms were grown. And this reminds me of the 
wrong spelling of Embulwatta, a village about 
85 miles on the Colombo side of Hanwella. The 
place has undoubtedly derived its name from the 
gigantic scarlet-blossmed cotton trees, conspicuous 
on the road and which serve to mark 
the divisions of korales. The name, there 
fore, ought to be written and printed Imbulwatta. 
PasBsing the outlet of the Mulleriyawa tank before 
reaching Kaduwela, we regretted that the time at 
our disposal did not permit of a visit to one of the 
mw important irrigation works in the Western 
Province and one which is within easy reach of the 
capital. There is a nice resthouse at Kaduwela 
prettily situated on a rise in the river bank and com’ 
rnanding a view of a great rock which juts out into 
the river from its eastern bank and of one of the largest 
sandbanks in the river, on parts of which vegetation, 
including bamboo, has commenced to grow. There is 
a ferry from Kaduwela across to Malwana a 
classical scene in the history of Ceylon, a visit to 
which was the main object of our down-river roturii 
