All Ceylon people dread the wet season at Newera Ellia, which
continues from June to December.
I myself prefer it to what is termed the dry season, at which
time the country is burnt up by drought. There is never more
rain at Newera Ellia than vegetation requires, and not one-fourth
the quantity fills at this elevation, compared to that of the low
country. It may be more continuous, but it is of a lighter
character, and more akin to "Scotch mist." The clear days during
the wet season are far more lovely than the constant glare of the
summer months, and the rays of the sun are not so powerful.
There cannot be a more beautiful sight than the view of sunrise
from the summit of Pedrotallagalla, the highest mountain in
Ceylon, which, rising to the height of 8300 feet, looks down upon
Newera Ellia, some two thousand feet below upon one side, and
upon the interminable depths of countless ravines and valleys at
its base.
There is a feeling approaching the sublime when a solitary man
thus stands upon the highest point of earth, before the dawn of
day, and waits the first rising of the sun. Nothing above him
but the dusky arch of heaven. Nothing on his level but empty
space, - all beneath, deep beneath his feet.
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