Foreign Parts
Kandy, Ceylon

Foreign Parts.

On Tour from N.S. Wales.

By H. Rieck.

Kandy (Ceylon), 31/1/99.

Strange sights, strange sounds, and strange scents meet us everywhere in the streets and surroundings of Colombo, the principal seaport of this most interesting and highly beautiful island of India, Ceylon. But these noises, etc., although not at all disagreeable, have affected my companion's organs and nerves to such a degree that we have taken the train up to the highlands of this island, and are now residing near Kandy at an old friend's place, in the midst of tea and cocoa bean gardens, situated on the sometimes very steep slopes of the surrounding high mountains, under the shade of cocoanut, breadfruit, mango and other trees. These enormous mountains are all covered by a network of comfortable zig-zag roads, where coloured and white planters and the Singhalee and Tamil coolie passes to and fro, with bare shoulders and feet, loins and heads covered by "sarong" and "leinsagh" (kerchief), either busily running about or driving in tiny carts drawn by the small, patient, humped Zebu bullock. The temperature, after a severe shower of rain (the wet winter season is just now going to change into mild spring weather) is at present — 3 p.m.—70 degrees only, though somewhat heavy and moist. But there is not here the great difference in day and night temperature as in Australia. In Colombo we felt a temperature of 92 degrees, the air saturated by a heavy stagnant moisture is rather disagreeable.

The low lands of south western Ceylon, the back country of Colombo, as well as the highlands here around the residence of the kings of ancient Ceylon, have originally been covered by an enormous jungle scrub (like at present the north-east part, back of the seaport Trinkomalee, where at present wild elephants and the black aborigine, called Veddah, abide). But in these, since many thousands of years cultivated parts, the indigenous timber has been removed. Firewood is, therefore, very dear. In some parts of this very rough and hilly land, where the cultivation of coffee has since the ravages of a certain root disease, been for 20 years abandoned, lantana-bramble, wild mangoes, breadfruit, jackfruit, tamarinds have overgrown everything, and enormous clearings for tea plantations are carried out. From the enormous height of such a range, far stretching across a yawning precipice towards us onlookers on a road cut along the mountain spur, was a strong fence wire stiffly fixed on two tree stumps. On the high side of the enormous length—about half-a-mile—of this wire were coolies working, clearing on the high mountain side, and they fixed bundles of firewood and small logs on iron hooks on a grooved small iron pulley roller, which landed, rolling down this wire, their loads gently and expeditiously at our feet, where they were received by the clever Singhale coolies, and stacked in tiny heaps of firewood one yard square, and sold at a wholesale price of 1½ to 2 rupees each heap. These sticks and logs are, later on, split into chips, and sold by retailers at a dear price.

Since the tea cultivation flourishes in Ceylon, prices of everything are risen very high. Horses, easily bought in Australia for £3 5s (especially light draughts and coachers) would bring here £16 to £20. Uncultivated tea land on steep mountain ranges, like the Coramba range on the Orara, worth very little when I was here 12 years ago, sells now readily for about 10 miles around Kandy from 30 to 50 rupees per acre (15 rupees equal to £1). Butter in tins sells at 1s 6d to 2s per lb., cheese (Dutch) 2s to 2s 6d per lb., beef 4d per lb., mutton 1s, fish, fruit, vegetables, cheap; bananas, first-rate, 1½d for 2 doz.; bread, 4d 2lb. loaf; clothing, etc., same as in Australia; good tea, 3lb. for 2s; coffee, very dear; sugar, 4d per lb.; cigars, very good and cheap. Average price for cultivated land, 10 miles around Kandy, £30 to £60 per acre.

The stories about infanticide amongst the Singhalee and Tamil population in the bad times, competent white men declare to be erroneous.

The Ceylon authorities intend to push on the building of a railway line from Matale (north of Kandy) through an entirely uncultivated jungle country towards Trinkomalee, in the utmost north of this island.

We happened to arrive at Kandy just at a time when the entire native population was in great excitement. The Queen of Burmah (wife of King Thebau—the latter is imprisoned by the English) has arrived here as a guest of the highest Buddha Priestcraft authorities, with her Princesses and a great cortége of Burmese aristocracy and clergy, bringing to the safe keeping of the highest and holiest temple of Buddha at Kandy, an enormous rich treasury in a "Golden Casket," with the "tooth of Buddha" enclosed in a lot of precious stones inside.

As a Press representative, I tried very hard, producing my credentials, to get an interview with Queen Thebau or one of her court; but the mass of fat yellow silk robed, clean-shaved priestcraft was too dense and quite unable to read my introductory letters, so that I, with thousands of other individuals of all nations of the globe (but mostly yellow, brown and black) had to go down again the many thousand-years-old granite staircase of this highly celebrated and very majestic Temple of the good and well-meaning Buddha Gautama, dead now several thousand years.

When I resided, 12 years ago, for a few weeks in Kandy, I noticed with distress nightly an incessant row of tom-tom drums sounding in all the hundred thousands of mud-built and cocoa palm-leaf-covered little Singhalee huts. This drumming was said to be a kind of mechanical homage or prayer to Buddha, to make things in general or in special better in this world. This pious noise is now prohibited by the worldly British authorities, and it appears that after a better sleep the people have in day time since been able to strive by themselves to better things about them.

To-night (27th), in a great torchlight procession, the above-mentioned casket or treasure case, in the shape of a "Dagobah" of about four feet square, will be carried through the streets of Kandy—carried by an elephant and followed by a cortege of grandees from all parts of India on elephants, etc. No power on earth would then be able to stop the gigantic tom-toming of the enormous masses of coloured people from all parts of the world where Buddhists live.

The streets of Colombo and all other greater townships of these parts are inhabited by great swarms of small crows, whose individual characteristics are very similar to those of their dark human neighbours and protectors; they both are very funny, very polite, very cunning, quick and cheeky, and thievish.

In rattling along the zig-zag railway from the low-lying seaport of Colombo, through swampy rice-fields, up to this height of about 2000 feet above the sea, around mountain corners and precipices, through long tunnels—fertile slopes and cultivated valleys stretch out before our eyes, and show us what a country can produce by hard and incessant labour, not alone, but also by cheap railway communication and a dense network of roads to all the railway stations along the line.

There is here abundance of cheap labour and cheap middlemen, who all live not so miserably compared with the fare of many men in Australia (damper, salt beef and tea). The Singalee and Tamil, as well as the burgher descendant of Portugese, Hollander and English, are sober, clean, hilarious and contented, and in their many special branches of agriculture, etc., are at least not less experienced, industrious and competent as many an Australian "expert" travelling on high Government expense to teach our farmers. Under such circumstances, it is of very little—or no use at all—to advise our Australian farmers to grow rice, coffee, cotton, and put "protective" high duties on such articles which they cannot possibly produce themselves; but they had better buy such and exchange with and pay with such articles whose production is natural to Australia.

The Tick Disease.

Conversing with a friend here, who is a plantation owner near Kandy, about the tick disease, which does so much damage in the northern colonies of our Australia, and about which disease I had myself 10 years ago in New Guinea, already a very sad experience. I was told, and heard afterwards by other competent men, it was corroborated, that this disease exists also in Ceylon amongst the cattle, and is successfully subdued by an oil made by the natives here in the south-western districts of Ceylon, and which is known under the name of margosy oil. This oil has a very nasty smell, and is rubbed well into the affected parts of the skin of the animals. It is said to act promptly, and to be also of good effect against bad sores, fly blow, etc. The fruit out of which the natives press the margosy oil is gathered in the wild jungle, and is by the planters obtained from them. Mr. W. Wothe, Kandy (Ceylon) has given me this information about the margosy oil, and I have no doubt he will kindly answer any further inquiry about this remedy.

But I have to add here that in New Guinea mostly European cattle were attacked by the cattle ticks in such a deadly way. The Indian Zebu cattle suffered not so much; but as here also, the Zebus get infected by ticks in a severe degree, and the margosy oil brought help. I think I should mention this fact here. I will send a bottle full to the Department for Agriculture in Sydney, with my best wishes of success.