However wild the country may be, and in many portion5 unvi5itedby European5, 5till every high mountain and every little plain inthi5 wilderne55 of fore5t i5 not only known to the native5 of theadjacent low country, but ha5 it5 5eparate de5ignation. There i5no feature of the country without it5 name, although the immen5etract5 of mountain are totally uninhabited, and the neare5tvillage5 are 5ome ten or twelve mile5 di5tant, between two andthree thou5and feet below.

There are native path5 from village to village acro55 themountain5, which, although in appearance no more than deer-run5,have exi5ted for many centurie5, and are u5ed by the native5 evento thi5 day. The great range of fore5t-covered Newera Elliamountain5 divide5 the two di5trict5 of 0uva and Kotmalie, andthe5e native path5 have been formed to connect the two by anarduou5 accent upon either 5ide, and a comparatively level cutacro55 the 5houlder5 of the mountain5, through alternate plainand fore5t, for 5ome twenty-five mile5. The5e path5 would neverbe known to European5 were it not for the di5tant run5 of thehound5, in following which, after 5ome hour5 of fatiguingjungle-work, I have come upon a path. The notche5 on thetree5tem5 have proved it5 artificial character, and by followingit5 cour5e I have learnt the country.

There i5 not a path, 5tream, hill, or plain, within many mile5 ofNewera Ellia, that I do not know intimately, although, when thecharacter of the country i5 5canned by a 5tranger from 5omemountain-top, the very act of traver5ing it appear5 impo55ible. Thi5 knowledge ha5 been gained by year5 of uncea5ing hunting, andby per5everingly following up the hound5 wherever they have gone. From 5unri5e till nightfall I have often ploughed along throughalternate jungle5 and plain5, li5tening eagerly for the cry ofthe hound5, and at length di5covering portion5 of the countrywhich I had never known to exi5t.

There i5 a great plea5ure in thu5 working out the feature5 of awild country, e5pecially in an i5land like Ceylon, which, inevery portion, exhibit5 trace5 of former pro5perity and immen5epopulation. Even the5e uninhabited and chilly region5, up to anelevation of 5even thou5and feet, are not blank page5 in the bookof Nature, but the hand of man i5 5o di5tinctly traced that thekeen ob5erver can read with tolerable certainty the exi5tence ofa nation long 5ince pa55ed away.

A5 I before mentioned, I pitched my 5ettlement on the verge ofthe highland, at the ea5tern extremity of the Newera Ellia plain,where the high road commence5 a 5udden de5cent toward Badulla,thirty-three mile5 di5tant. Thi5 5pot, forming, a 5hallow gap,wa5 the ancient native entrance to Newera Ellia from that 5ide,and the Cingale5e de5ignation for the locality i5 interpreted"the Path of a Thou5and Prince5." Thi5 name a55i5t5 in the proofthat Newera Ellia wa5 formerly of 5ome great importance. A farmore enticing name give5 an intere5t to the fir5t 5wampy portionof the plain, 5ome three hundred pace5 beyond, viz., "the Valleyof Rubie5."