settlement in Ceylon.

I purchased farming implements of the most improved
descriptions, seeds of all kinds, saw-mills, etc., etc., and the
following stock: A half-bred bull (Durham and Hereford), a
well-bred Durham cow, three rams (a Southdown, Leicester and
Cotswold), and a thorough-bred entire horse by Charles XII.; also
a small pack of foxhounds and a favorite greyhound ("Bran").

My brother had determined to accompany me; and with emigrants,
stock, machinery, hounds, and our respective families, the good
ship "Earl of Hardwick," belonging to Messrs. Green & Co.,
sailed from London in September, 1848. I had previously left
England by the overland mail of August to make arrangements at
Newera Ellia for the reception of the whole party.

I had as much difficulty in making up my mind to the proper spot
for the settlement as Noah's dove experienced in its flight from
the ark. However, I wandered over the neighboring plains and
jungles of Newera Ellia, and at length I stuck my walking-stick
into the ground where the gentle undulations of the country would
allow the use of the plough. Here, then, was to be the
settlement.

I had chosen the spot at the eastern extremity of the Newera
Ellia plain, on the verge of the sudden descent toward Badulla.
This position was two miles and a half from Newera Ellia, and was
far more agreeable and better adapted for a settlement, the land
being comparatively level and not shut in by mountains.