Nuwera Ellia, a military post lately taken up, is in a south east direction 50 miles from Kandy, the road lying through a wild and mountainous country, always picturesque,- often magnificent. This place was first visited by Europeans in September 1827, and was fixed on by Sir E. Barnes, as offering peculiar advantages for a convalescent station, in January 1828. He immediately commenced building a house, and since that period many habitations have been erected by private individuals; and others, both public and private, are now in progress (the discovery of lime-stone in the neighbourhood greatly facilitating the object); and there cannot be a doubt, but that the place will soon increase in importance, as well as extent. The smoking chimnies and whitewashed walls of the houses give it all the appearance of an English hamlet. It is upwards of 6000 feet above the level of the sea, - the extent of the plain on which it is situated may be about 4 miles in length, and one and a half mile in breadth. This plain is divided into two parts by a thick strip of jungle, and is in a great measure surrounded by steep rochy mountains of irregular height, which are covered with wood from the verge of the plain to their very tops. One of these mountains rises upwards of 2000 feet above the level of the river which meanders through the entire extent of the plain. "The temperature of the air never approaches to what is called Tropical heat, and though the cold is sometimes so great as to produce ice, yet that piercing wind which is so frequently complained of in England is never felt." The mean daily variation of the temperature is as high as 112°, and the annual range from 35-1/2° to 80-1/2°. "There are two seasons,- the rainy and the dry; the former prevailing during the period of the north east monsoon (from December to May), and the latter during that of the south west (from June to November). The soil consists of a deep black mould, resting on a stratum of yellow clay and gravel. All descriptions of English vegetables, fruits, and flowers, are cultivated with success, and promise to become abundant. There are numerous springs and wells; and the water is so pure, as to form a transparent solution of nitrate of silver; - there are also chalybeate springs. A good deal of game is found in the neighbouring jungles; and we learn that some otters have been discovered to exist in the proximity of the river before noticed.
From the establishment of a Mail coach between Colombo and Kandy - by which easy conveyance persons may advance 72 miles on their journey with little or no fatigue - we may expect it to become the resort of invalid^, even from the coast. The European soldiers resident at Nuwera Ellia appear ruddy and healthy, and possess the same strength and spirits as in their native iand; and may be said also to possess that robustness of frame, common among the inhabitants of an English agricultural district.
Of this beautiful spot, reclaimed from the wilderness, much more might be said; but as time will doubtless develops numerous advantages yet undiscovered, we have confined ourselves to such information as has already appeared from able pens, regarding the present advantages it offers to Europeans, both in salubrity and comfort. Even this, brief as it is, may prove not uninteresting, when this infant station at some future period shall have become conspicuous among the posts on the Island.
There is a bazar which is improving daily; and the establishment of a native rest house for coolies proves highly beneficial. (Colombo Journal.)
Extracted from Simon Casie Chitty, 1834, The Ceylon Gazetteer, pp.173-175
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