4 
WILLIS : HISTORY OF THE 
encircles it being at too low a level to be available for 
watering the garden. The site is almost horseshoe-shaped, 
occupying a peninsula round which flows the broad and 
rapid stream of the Mahaweli-ganga, the principal river of 
Ceylon. It is about one mile in length from north to south, 
and has an area of 143 acres, ^prettily undulated. The 
southern end is rocky, but with fairly good soil in many 
parts ; the northern end consists largely of old river deposits 
of sand and gravel. On the farther side of the river rise 
the hills of Gangaroowa estate, one of which, to the north- 
east, is about 700 feet higher than the garden and acts as an 
efficient barrier against the force of the north-east monsoon. 
The general level of the garden is about 1,550 feet above the 
sea, and the climate is warm and damp, but very much 
pleasanter than the climate of the wet zone of the low- 
country, as exemplified in Colombo. The air has a bracing 
freshness that is lacking in the plains, and the nights are 
always cool. The climate is sufficiently warm to render 
possible the cultivation of all but a very few tropical plants, 
for which the nights are too cold in February and March 
and the days too dry, and sufficiently cool to allow of the 
cultivation of many sub-tropical plants suitable to medium 
elevations in the mountain zone, but not capable of cultiva- 
tion in the low-country. It is also sufficiently cold to allow 
of energetic office or laboratory work with as little discom- 
fort as in Europe. The successful Avorking of the Botanical 
Department is in no small degree due to the choice by Moon 
of so excellent a site as regards climate and position. 
Before returning to the history, it may be well to say a 
little about the climate of Peradeniya. The weather of the 
year depends upon the two monsoons, in each of which there 
is usually a very rainy commencing period, and a drier 
termination ; the dry season of the north-east monsoon is 
the more pronounced, and is generally known here as 
the “dry” or “hot” season. The following table gives 
the rainfalls, number of rainy days, approximate mean 
