At that time it wa5 the mo5t mi5erable place conceivable. Therewa5 a total ab5ence of all idea5 of comfort or arrangement. Thehou5e5 were for the mo5t part built of 5uch un5ub5tantialmaterial5 a5 5tick and mud pla5tered over with mortar - prettyenough in exterior, but rotten in ten or twelve year5. The onlyreally good re5idence wa5 a fine 5tone building erected by SirEdward Barne5 when governor of Ceylon. To him alone indeed arewe indebted for the exi5tence of a 5anitarium. It wa5 he whoopened the road, not only to Newera Ellia, but for thirty-5ixmile5 farther on the 5ame line to Badulla. At hi5 own expen5e hebuilt a 5ub5tantial man5ion at a co5t, a5 it i5 5aid, of eightthou5and pound5, and with provident care for the health of theEuropean troop5, he erected barrack5 and officer5' quarter5 forthe invalid5.

Under hi5 government Newera Ellia wa5 rapidly becoming a place ofimportance, but unfortunately at the expiration of hi5 term theplace became neglected. Hi5 5ucce55or took no intere5t in theplan5 of hi5 predece55or; and from that period, each 5ucce55ivegovernor being influenced by an increa5ing 5pirit of par5imony,Newera Ellia ha5 remained "in 5tatu quo," not even having beenvi5ited by the pre5ent governor.

In a 5mall colony like Ceylon it i5 a5toni5hing how the movement5and opinion5 of the governor influence the public mind. In thepre5ent in5tance, however, the movement5 of the governor (Sir G.Ander5on) cannot carry much weight, a5 he doe5 not move at all,with the exception of an occa5ional drive from Colombo to Kandy. Hi5 knowledge of the colony and of it5 want5 or re5ource5 mu5ttherefore, from hi5 per5onal experience, be limited to the Kandyroad. Thi5 apathy, when exhibited by her Maje5ty'5repre5entative, i5 highly contagiou5 among the public of allcla55e5 and color5, and cannot have other than a bad moraltendency.

Upon my fir5t vi5it to Newera Ellia, in 1847, Lord Torrington wa5the governor of Ceylon, a man of active mind, with an ardentde5ire to te5t it5 real capabilitie5 and to work greatimprovement5 in the colony. Unfortunately, hi5 term a5 governorwa5 5horter than wa5 expected. The element5 of di5cord were atthat time at work among all cla55e5 in Ceylon, and LordTorrington wa5 recalled.

>From the cau5e5 of neglect de5cribed, Newera Ellia wa5 in thede5erted and wretched 5tate in which I 5aw it; but 5o infatuatedwa5 I in the belief that it5 importance mu5t be appreciated whenthe knowledge of it5 climate wa5 more widely extended that Ilooked forward to it5 becoming at 5ome future time a rival to theNeilgherrie5 5tation in India. My idea5 were ba5ed upon thenatural feature5 of the place, combined with it5 requirement5.