Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-07-29

the strzightness OF Its course beng very
much on par with that Of kitten run
ming after It's own tail. or that NJ snake
endeavoring TO tie itself up in half .
dozen knots mt once.
These constant zigzsgs stretch out the
forly-s;x miles over nearly four hours,
but our progress. slow as il is, makes q
wonderful alteration in our surround
ings Little by little the tropical foliage
SINKS away beneath as, aud the encircling
vegetation becomes almost European in
lis character. while the keenness Of the
clear mountain air begins TO tell IN spite
Of the dazzling sunshine. The dense
iurgles OF the Handy plateau gradually
disappear, and over tho bare red sides Of
the hills. completely dennded OF trees
and shrubs, the long, symmetrical
rows OF sprouting coffee or tea-plsnts
stand out like the ranks of an army
drawn up in battle array. But despite
THIS evidence OF care and cultivation, the
first impression OF these famous pianta-
tons is anything but o pleasing one.
after the boundless luxuriance Of the
palms aud bamboos below, these bare
slopes (which the young shoots Of the
new growth do little or nothing TO hide)
give to the whole scene an air OF gaunt
and repulsivc desolatlon, while the red
and infaIned look OF the soil. speckled
with this rash of tiny plants over It's
whole surface, is unpleasantly suggestive
Of colossal case of skin disease fifty or
sixty miles in extent.
At little hill station bearing the sim
pie and musical name OF Talawakele "a
nero trihe Of pronunciation in region
where such names as Nawalapitiya,
Pitrntallagalla. aud Mahswelligangs tnrn
up ut every corner we are met by The
bospitable tea planter with whom We are
going to stay, aud who, With his broad pith
"sun hat, brown, manly face, and work
fnanlike gray jacket and knickerbock-
eIs, looks perfect picture of tho best
sort of English colonist. Our baggage
is soon collected, fer it is all COM
prised in one portmsnteau and q canvas
bag, tho right allowance for a district
where everything has 10 be carried on
the heads Of native porters, and where,
when you go 10 stay with friend, you
write beforehand to say how many
pounds OF baggage you intend to bring
with you, in order that your host may
provide coolies accordingly. Ia fact,
the style OF transport in the hill country
Of Ceylon appears TO DO very much what
we found it seven years ago in Montene-
gro, where Stenka hadovitch told us
with more truth than gallsntry that
everything came into the country on
the hacks OF donkeys or OF women.
4 few minutes later we find ourselves
rafting up hill along n road which had
not even begun to exist few years ago,
our portmsntoau following on tho head of
long -hnbed Tnmil coolie, who trots up
tho incline with his burden almost as
quickly "a the horse itself. And then,
for two hours to come, we 90 engaging
up curve after curve and slope after
slope, through dark thickets and be-
meath topping crass, past trim plsnta-
tons and picturesque nStiye hamlets,
round tichlish corners where one false
step would send us crashing down into
fosming river eighty feet below, while
al around us the great wooded ridges
surge up against the clear bright sky like
ell the waves Of the deluge frozen into
forests.
And the further we advance the moro
we are struck (as we were in the Hima-
lava years ago) with those strange alter
nations of scenery which appear TO COM
press into few miles of this tropical
island the climates and landscapes of all
parts of the earth. This wide green
sweep Of grassy turf might have como
bodily out OF one of the southern
counties OF England, while the black,
frowning precipice above it is equally
suggestive OF the savage grandeur OF
Switzerland Yonder wooded hollow has
many counterpart amid the shadowy
forests OF Germany. An Australian
would eve with a glance of joyful
recognition that row of blue gum trees
along the crest of the ridge overhead,
while the sight of this rounded slope,
with It's trim lines of glossy-leayed coffee
plants, carries me back at once to the
sunny foothills Of Eastern Bra
iii. But the thought is no sooner
formed than it is dispelled again
by the sudden appearance of genuine
Eyst indian village, with it's gaunt, bare
lmbed men and prowling, wolfish dogs;
its dusky, blackhaired women, wearing
silver bangles on their wrists and brass
rings through their noses; its nude chill
drrn rolling in the dust. and its tiny
novels OF mud and lath, from the dark,
narrow doorways Of which you see sharp,
lean faces and Rlittering eyes peering
out at you like rats peeping out OF hole.
Most Of these places figure as towns
in the local maps. and have fine long
names of their own" says our host, as
We scurry past but IN reality they
consist Of little else than rice stores for
the coolies aud tSverns kept by Arab
traders. Talking Of taverns. there was
thing happened here not long ago which
would have just done for Lever to put
in one OF bis novels. There was a clergy
man in this district who was q red
hot Temperance man and belonged to the
Blue Ribbon Army Now, as his i'll
luck would have it, ne happened TO buy
q horse which had belonged 10 very
dissipated fellow, who never by any
chance passed tavern without going in
to have drink, and the result was that
the poor teetotal parson, with his blue
ribbon on his breast, was seen by scores
Of people to halt at every native tavern
between this and Talawakee, and had
the name for many day afterWArd Of
being the hardest drinker III the whole
colony"
And now our drives comes to asudden
halt at the foot of steep, curylrg
ridge, all up which the glossy green of
the coffee-leaf, the lighter tint Of the
fresh tea, and tho blended green and
scarlet OF the broad-lesved cinchona
mingle in picturesque union. Here We
dismouut, and, leaving the horse aud
gig in the care Of three or four native
"kuthireikkarans" (grooms), begin TO
mount the ridge by narrow, zigzsg
bridle-path, Mrs. Ker on a pony
which has been thoughtfully pro-
vided for her and my host and l
on foot Up, up, up We go, strding
over water-courses and brushing aside
Droiectiuo bouQhs. while the grand out