mountain
climb. This ascent was another triumph of engineering skill, winding
around long and bold curves.

Nuwara Eliya is located sixty-two hundred feet above the sea, but,
surrounded by mountains, the country has the appearance of being a
valley. The Grand Hotel, in bungalow style, is prettily located in well
laid-out grounds, with a fine view. In the morning we drove to Hakgalla
Botanical Garden, and on our way there we saw a striking feature in
great masses of rhododendrons. The road to the gardens through an avenue
of trees was inviting, and as we turned to the right we had a fine view
of the west peak of the Hakgalla rock; passing on up the drive, we saw a
large lake, the banks of which were lined with ornamental trees. There
is here a pleasing vista of flowering plants, tall palms, and varied
trees; we examined an immense tea plant twelve feet in diameter, a fine
clump of tree ferns, and a peculiar silver fern from New Zealand,--also
a wax palm from New Granada, the leaves of which are covered with a wax
substance from which good candles can be made; and a fernery with
twenty-six thousand plants. There is also a flower garden, a house for
the propagation of plants, and a laboratory for scientific research,
besides many other interesting features in this truly complete garden.

We visited a tea factory, and an attendant showed us the entire process
of preparation, even to the wrapping of the tea in packages. During the
afternoon we drove to Ramboda Pass, six miles distant. From the top of
the pass, six thousand feet high, there was a panoramic view of mountain
scenery with the Katinale valley below and the gray-crested Peacock
Mountain as a centrepiece. Nuwara Eliya is a famed summer resort, with
beautiful walks, tennis, cricket, and social clubs; the English Church
is finely located, with the usual well-kept close.

[Illustration: _General view of Nuwara Eliya_]

* * * * *

KANDY, _January 30th_: We left Nuwara Eliya, on the morning of January
30th, for Kandy, arriving there at 2 P.M. The train passed through a
country similar to that before described, only there was a greater
descent, Kandy having less altitude than Nuwara Eliya. We had
anticipated much of Kandy, Ceylon's ancient capital and the scene of
action in the days of the old Kandyan kings. It is said that when Adam
and Eve were banished from Paradise they repaired to Ceylon and located
at Kandy, it being the nearest