XXV 
THE SAM BUR 
307 
ful order, and the sadness of the spot was 
relieved by beds of European flowers, and gravel 
walks that gave the appearance of an English 
garden. 
Some of the mountain slopes at Newera Ellia 
had parted with their original clothing of rank 
forest, and were covered from base to peak with 
tea plantations. Others were producing cin¬ 
chona ; but the latter tree, although prosperous 
at the commencement, had exhibited the risks 
attending all agricultural industries. The subsoil 
at Newera Ellia is rich in iron ; this is fatal to the 
cinchona, but favourable to the tea. 
The Government had wisely declined to sell 
Crown lands in the neighbourhood of Newera 
Ellia beyond the altitude of 5000 feet above the 
sea; I therefore was delighted to see many places 
that were absolutely unchanged, and when, from 
rising ground at our old estate, Mahagastotte, I 
looked upon the rounded masses of forest and 
hill-tops extending for 18 miles to the Horton 
Plains, my past life appeared like a vanished 
dream, and I could imagine that I had only 
parted from the scene a few weeks ago. 
Throughout all this country we used to 
hunt, and although pathless, I knew every 
portion intimately. The return to my old home 
was saddening; most of the old companions 
were dead, others had grown old, and were 
hastening to decay. I looked at the wild 
ground, and walked for about 14 miles one 
