"Here we are, 112 miles from Colombo, and 6240 feet above the level of the sea. We are on an undulating plain three miles long by one wide, and the ground is covered with rich grasses and with lots of flowers in blossom; the mountains rise around us, but there are not a great many of them, as we are nearly up to the height of most of the mountains of Ceylon. "Newera-Ellia is a sort of Saratoga for the inhabitants of Ceylon, or rather for the foreign portion of them. People come up here as often as they can to escape the heat of the coast, and even the inhabitants of Kandy do not despise the place. The change is something like magic; in Colombo the heat and dampness are oppressive, but up here you need a fire and blankets to keep comfortable, and in the winter the ground in the morning is white with frost. Roses and other flowers of the temperate zone grow here, and the blackbird and robin have been imported, and get along finely. Even a day or two of this atmosphere has a wonderful effect upon the visitor from Colombo, and some who cannot afford a longer time run up here on Saturday, return Monday, and find themselves vastly benefited. "We are so high up that the air is rarefied, but we have no difficulty in breathing. Many of the invalids, however, find it hard work to get their breath, and some have been compelled to go away very soon after their arrival, on account of the injury to their lungs. There is quite a town here, with church, hotel, reading-room, and other public resorts, and in some seasons of the year the place is crowded so that a stranger cannot get in. The temperature is about 53° in the morning, 70° to 75° at noon, and 60° at sunset, and it gets very cold in the night, with frost on the ground from December to March. All the English vegetables and flowers grow here, and so do strawberries and other bush fruits, but peaches will not ripen, and the cherry-trees turn to evergreens, and will not even blossom. [Illustration: WAITING FOR THE RACES.] "The Government has built a sanitarium for the officers and soldiers of the troops serving in Ceylon, and there is always a detachment stationed here. They have a race-track also, and on frequent occasions they get up some exciting matches. Everybody goes--natives and all--and it must be an interesting sight to see the different races at the races. [N.B.--This joke was intended by Frank, who made it.] The natives are very fond of watching the horses go round the track, and sometimes they follow the example of the English, and make bets on the result. "They have a band of music, and it plays every other day in front of the regimental barracks; and there is a club where they have balls and receptions: they keep hounds for hunting elk and other large game, and another pack for hunting hares. Altogether they manage to have a good time, and any one who can possibly spare a couple of days to visit Newera-Ellia ought to come here.