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Ten days in Ceylon Andrew Carnegie
(1835-1919), self-made steel billionaire and philanthropist, visited
Galle, Colombo and Kandy for 10 days in January 1879. Carnegie's
trip round the world was a fulfillment of a long cherished ambition. With not a
cloud upon the financial horizon, he and his friend John Vandervort
set out westward from New York on October 12, 1878 and returned
after 256 days on June 24, 1879. A book on the trip was his first attempt as an author. Originally printed for private circulation, it was published in 1884. It was dedicated “To my brother and trusty associates, who toiled at home that I might spend abroad, these notes are affectionately inscribed by the grateful author”. The following are extracts; Tuesday,
January 14 It was smooth
and quiet steaming all the way to Ceylon. I had been humming “Greenland's
Icy Mountains” for several days previously, about all that
I knew of the Ceylon's isle being contained in one of the verses
of that hymn, which I used to sing at missionary meetings, when
a minister who had seen the heathen was stared at as a prodigy. And indeed
the “spicy breezes blew soft o'er Ceylon's isle” as we
approached it in the moonlight. We found Galle quite a pretty, quaint
little port, and remained there one night, taking the coach next
morning for Colombo, the capital. Colombo:
In the city The drive of
sixty miles to the railway, which extends to Colombo, seventeen
miles beyond, is one of the best treats we have yet had. The road is
equal to one of our best park avenues, as indeed are all the roads
we saw in Ceylon; from end to end it skirts the rocky shores, passing
through groves of cocoa and betel-nut trees, and dotted on each
side by the huts of natives at work at some branch of the coconut
business. There is no
prettier seashore in the world, nor a more beautiful surf. Every
few miles we come upon large numbers of fishermen drawing in their
nets, which are excessively long and take in several acres of sea
in their sweep. The dress of
the Ceylonese women is really pretty: a skirt closely fitting the
figure, and a tight jacket over the shoulders - all of fine, pure
white cotton cloth or muslin and quite plain, with neither frill,
tuck, flounce, nor anything of the kind. Necklaces and earrings
are worn, but I am glad to say the nose in Ceylon seems to be preserved
from the indignity of rings. The men's dress
is rather scanty, their weakness being a large tortoiseshell comb,
which every one wears; it reaches from ear to ear, and the hair
is combed straight back and confined by it. Women are denied
this crowning ornament, and must content themselves with a pin in
the hair, the head of which, however, is highly ornamented. The Buddhist monks form a strange contrast in their dress, which consists of a yellow plaid, generally of silk, wrapped around the body and over the shoulders. The religion
of Ceylon is Buddhism; indeed it is now the most strictly Buddhist
country in the world. One condition
of the cession of the sovereignty to Great Britain was that this
religion should be held inviolable with its rights and privileges,
its monasteries and temples and all pertaining thereto. Ceylon is somewhat
smaller than Ireland, and the population is a little less than three
millions, but it is rapidly increasing, as are its exports and imports.
Of all the places we visited it seems to have suffered least from
the wave of depression, which has recently swept over the world.
This is undoubtedly owing to the fact that the spicy isle enjoys
somewhat of a monopoly in coffee and some of the spices, cinnamon
especially. In the coffee
plantations men are paid eighteen cents per day; women, fourteen
cents. A disease akin to that which attacked the vines in France
some years ago has raged among the plants for two years past; it
promises this year to be less destructive, although no effectual
cure has yet been discovered. We met several
coffee planters, generally young, pushing Englishmen who either
own the estates, or are related to those who do. They lead a
pleasant life in Ceylon, the climate being good most of the year,
and those who are contented declare that a European can live there
and enjoy as good health as at home. If the weather proves too warm
in the summer there are the mountains to run to. Scientific
cultivation of coffee began in Ceylon as late as 1824, and public
attention was not directed to it until 1834--only fifty years ago--yet
today there are more than twelve hundred coffee plantations, and
the amount of coffee exported exceeds twenty millions of dollars
per annum. Tea cultivation has been introduced recently, and the quality is said to be excellent. There cannot be any doubt of this, because it finds a ready market here. None has been exported. I shall watch the Ceylon tea question with interest, and hope that at some not distant day the production of the tea leaf may rival that of the coffee bean. Kandy: The
hill capital A railway has been built from Colombo, the shipping port, through the mountains to the coffee-growing districts, a distance of seventy miles, and this enabled us to visit Kandy, more than 1,600 feet above the sea, and the summer capital to which the government repairs in hot weather. It is a beautiful little town, and gave us the first breath of air with ‘ozone’ in it that we had enjoyed since we were on the Sierras. The Botanical
Gardens here are rivalled in the tropics by those in Java only,
and upon seeing the display of luxuriant vegetation, we fully understood
how it had acquired its celebrity; but still all is green. The great
variety of palms, the breadfruit, banyan, jackfruit, and others
sustain this reputation. The chocolate
tree was the most curious to us; it has recently been introduced
in the island, and promises to add one more to the list of luxuries
for which Ceylon is famous. A fine evidence
of the intelligence of the Ceylon planters is seen in the fact that
the association employs a chemist to investigate and report upon
the different soils and what they are capable of producing; under
his supervision various articles are always under trial. Ceylon is noted for its pearl fisheries and its supply of rubies, sapphires, and cats' eyes as much as for its spices; and from the hour the traveller lands until the steamer carries him off, he is beset with dealers offering precious stones, worth hundreds of dollars in London or New York, for a few rupees; but those who purchase no doubt find their fate in the story of the innocent who bought his gold cheap. Succession
of events Colombo,
Tuesday, January 21 Ceylon was
originally settled in 1517 by the Portuguese, who obtained the right
to erect a small factory at Colombo for purposes of trade. This
soon grew into a fort, and naturally the whole west coast became
theirs. The Dutch drove
them out a hundred and fifty years later, to be in turn expelled
by the English after they had occupied the island for just about
the same period. As with all their colonies, the Dutch left their
impress upon Ceylon. New industries were introduced, great public
works constructed, and, better than all, the education of the people
was well cared for. England has
been master since 1796, nearly ninety years now, and certainly the
work she has to show for the less than a century is marvelous indeed. The people
are not yet done rejoicing at the restoration of their ancient village
institutions, which took place in 1871. Europeans had rudely swept
these away and substituted courts after their own fashion. After
many years' trial, they were seen to be unsuited for the country,
and the ancient village tribunals were reestablished a few years
ago. It will not do to conclude, as many do, that India, Ceylon,
and other of the Eastern lands, are left almost bare of just laws
and fair administration, for nothing could be farther from the truth.
The village elders, chosen by the people of Ceylon, for instance,
administer laws which are the outgrowth of centuries, and as such
are far better adapted to the real conditions which exist than any
other system of laws, no matter how perfect, which have been found
suitable in other lands under conditions wholly unlike. We saw the
new breakwater which the government is constructing at great expense.
When finished it is proposed that the Indian steamers shall call
here instead of at Galle, the harbor of which is dangerous. This
may be a decided improvement upon the whole, but the tourist who
does not see pretty Galle and enjoy the long day's drive through
the island to Colombo will miss much. Galle, Wednesday,
January 22 Future travelers
will soon miss one of the rarest treats in Ceylon. The railway will
soon be completed from Colombo to Galle, and the days of coaching
cease forever. We congratulate ourselves that our visit was before
this passed away, as we know of no drive equal to that we have now
enjoyed twice, and the last time even more than the first. During our
trip down yesterday I counted within forty miles eleven schools
filled with young Cingalese. English is generally taught in them,
and although attendance is not compulsory, great inducements are
held out to parents to send their children. The advantages of knowing
the English language are so decided that I am told parents generally
are most anxious to have their children taught. The school-houses
are simple affairs, consisting only of white plastered walls about
five feet high, with spaces for entrance. On this wall rest the
slight wooden standards, which support the roof of palm-leaves,
so that all is open to our view as we drive past. Saturday,
January 25 At ten tonight
we sailed for Madras and Calcutta by the English mail steamer Hindostan,
and were lighted out of the intricate harbor by flaming torches
displayed by lines of natives stationed at the buoys. “Flashes
of flambeaux looked Like Demons
guarding the river of death.” The last sight of Ceylon's isle revealed the fine spires of the Catholic Cathedral, which tower above the pretty harbor of Galle.
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