CEYLON MEMORIES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 4, 5 January 1910, Page 6

CEYLON MEMORIES.

.1,1 . ■■' ■ «. ■ J I.- - LIFE AT 6000 FEET ABOVE THE SE4SINGHALESE "FRENCH." (By ETHEL. M. COOPER.). ■-■■:. in, . The journey in the goods train with its "pill-bos." attachment that I described, in a previousi article, came to an. end; at Nanuoya, where we. alighted to wait for the- express to Suwar* Eliya,. and, during the interval, I walked about, the little station and stood for a while on the bridge beyond. that, crosses Uhe river from which the" district derive* its pretty name, Nanu-Oya, meaning "Black Stream." We: were; now five thousand feet above (Da level, with an extra thousand: to eljmhbefore Nuwars Eliya was. reached. The air was beautiful though the sun by this time was.: tremendously, hot, yet there was in the atmosphere a sparkling brilliancy that we never see; at- Colombo. Round the narrow winding estate road on a well-known tea plantation we. went, and a truly entrancing walk- it was. Clumps of maiden-hair fern grew on the roadside in the wildest luxuriance, Mana grass, tall, and graceful; up-countiry,; from which citronella oiL is manufactured, flourished everywhere; there were, guardian, lines of aloes, not unlike. New Zealand flax, once used as, hedges> to keep wild elephants, out of the estate, and cinchona trees, from which juraine is obtained.. I These last were- very graceful, their bright green* foliage interspersed- with> warm crimson leavas. Growing with the delicate maiden hair, rougher ferns of the bracken nature also abound. £* ~- ■ TERRACED- HILLS; i£> The terrace system of irrigation on the estate is, to newcomers, a matter of the keenest, interest, but, Ceylon, as. so. weltr known, and tea' estates are alike and so much photographed tihat it would' be going- over/ old' ground, figuratively and literally,, to attempt » long description; Suffice it to say that the. sight of, huge hills on an estate terraced into scores of long platforms, in ordrv to make the most of every drop, of precious water, »j at one glance, a lesson in economical irrigation. On every available- foot of lanttea is planted, and the sight' of it in the tiniest out-of-therway, corners reminded mc of a rather gruesome experience, very; characteristic of the native indifference; to native,' that befel a young English friend then as tea apprenticeship is called, on an up-country plantation. He was fresh from. Home, and bis duty was to act as overseer (S.D. or Sina Domi) to .the tea pickers. The coolie*, rice pay is earned by the weight of his tea basket, and the tricks that are, resorted to, if ifc, \% .'calculated! that the overseer will not notice, in order to avoid much work, are numerous and: cunning. How flint-hearted the average, coolie is, however, the freshman one day learned. His particular estate was especially hilly, and tea was planted even down to the sides of sheer precipices, so that the work of picking required more than, average care. FELL OVER PRECIPICE. Suddenly an old coolie fell backward' aver the edge, and, though the young Englishman was quickly on the spat,, tae little host of natives that had been picking at the top had reached the bottom long before their overseer. What' was 'his horror to find that, not one jot of attention was paid, to the man lay dead, with his neck broken, but' that, instead, his hi' Milled basket was being rifled of its earnings as hard '43 the natives could fill their own, and the body was even rolled over by one tamil, who, more observant than the rest, ■had. espied a pile of picked leaves under the corpse, Watawala, a station 3000 feet, above sea-level, .that we passed through on the way up, is reported to be the wettest part of the island. In consists mainly of abandoned coffee land, and here I. saw an interesting comparison of castes in two different nations; on. one side lounged a group of Moors, distinguished easily as very low caste, because the faces of the women were only partially covered, while walking along the station was a Singhalese of the highest caste, known by his dress—an ordinary tweed suit,, the, trousers covered by a sarong of the material. FAIRYLAND OF FLOWSERS. Nuwara Eliya,.l think, is a place fully done justice to in guide books, and there is no necessity for me.to enlarge ouv its charms here. * We had tiffen at the Grand Hotel in a very fairyland of glorious English flowers, then drove round the lake and the golf links and up the Ramboddy Pass, a delightful little journey on a hilly road cut through the jungle, at.they.top of which a magnificent view rewards the climbers. Pedurutalagalla, a great and shapely mountain, guards this little tovfci that is half-Oriental, half-English, and that proves such- a green haven, of coolness for women during three months of the year when Colombo sun becomes unbearable, and all femininity must rush to the hills. And so on to the train once more and down to Nanuoya, then a transfer and up to the heights of Talawakelle and its Reethouse for the night. Here- welcome dinner awaited lis with the usual menus-in front of each guest, over which we laughed heartily. It is amusing work always, if the appu. is allowed, as he usually is, to write the menu, and the desire to elaborate and turn, out a really European sounding bill of fare sometimes lands, the hostess, in. a .rather awkward position, as was the case when a menu, published not- long ago in Ceylon; xeadr "Roast, little smelling!" % For a long time I -puzzled over Enjovie postage Prance priss bif amulate, until, it was explained that the first was none other than "Anchovy poached eggs," and the second "French pressed beef omelette." "Bif allaw prigas," when translated, became "Beef a la fr'icasse," and "Fris arrance," "Fresh herrings," when the native pronunciation was made, clear to, mc,, but even then such an item as ." Isihapita- pella-to batta beef was wholly misty. Natives cannot pronounce the letter S, and so put a vowel before it, but even if I cut- out the initial letter I was* no wiser. My host, with many years' knowledge, made out for mc "Chonped up (ishapita) plate of (pellata) batter beef! By the same rule "Eustu plam" was easily made. out. i' . A rather amusing episode followed the translation ox apple salt pudding into apple charlotte, wW the appu fn the :—«■•*■«'****■* MBNP'IS* "FREUCH." French tswrk, for some re*.™. ;£gi Ofle night when some New Zealand gWs

with a* and I promised, for thtfrTM \ .Mi. not toe interfere with, tl» -T^-M----some of the-items, read thualy—. Fish a la boil, I s*»h»-i»omm» * i*- —*ts itofaji -* ■ Davilit lev«r._. ■.... "■• I Ohicken in any form always ttiiiw 1 uncomproniisingly 4s **BJn.^? '' 8 "* ■ Many a time,, have. I tried to *»th» I native cooks" marvellous I .preparing a meal, but have never got 2 I the bottom of "the method. If I time is $.30, and has been so for I them, one night, without I six, the, 'hostess., orders the meal to k I ready at 7.30, there is nothing ■ dinner is ready at T. 30, and; pßrft(tw < every way.- ' : -y" ] On one occasion Twent into my yji£ 1 at about four. in. the .aftenjoonlS < there, contentedly eatinggrant tn£ 1 the. range, was a, grey and whit* 15 i "What is. that doing here, ejojjpf ! asked. ■ ' -■ "Being for dinner, lady," he. reply. I. was very annoyed, thinking«f — reputation as. a hostess. T "Why it should, have been KB*f'& morning and hanging?all. day^'r'«*? "No, lady-—I killing, now,? ws»r% cook's soft answer, as ha walktd «^ with the fowl under his arm, reiiq|i not three minutes later with the ayJJ i body. And yet that fowl I : Fortune favonrn tie riataTe ' ■"■■;