Samuel Baker's observations of Ceylon
Andrew Scott
 IMPRESSIONS: The life and activities of early writers on Sri
Lanka (then Ceylon) such as Robert Knox, Baldeaus, Tennent, Codrington,
Marshal, Parker, D'Oyly and several others are well known while the
writings and activities of an equally eminent writer on Sri Lanka, Sir
Samuel Baker, the author of "The Rifle and the Hound" and "Eight Years
in Ceylon" are not that much known.
Of all the books written on Ceylon by Englishmen in the 18th century
one of the most interesting is "Eight Years in Ceylon" the account of
Samuel Baker's sojourn in this country from 1847 to 1855. He was one of
the first Englishmen to popularise Nuwara Eliya and he established a
farm in Nuwara Eliya bringing English colonists to work in it.
Some of the English vegetables Samuel Baker introduced to Nuwara
Eliya in the 1840s are popular vegetables throughout the country today
and in Nuwara Eliya his name is perpetuated to this day in Baker's
Falls.
Initially Samuel Baker was attracted to Sri Lanka because of his love
for hunting, specially the hunting of wild elephants (a very destructive
sport) which was a very popular sport among the early Englishmen who
came to this island which had an abundant supply of wild animals in
those leisure days.
This account of his life and activities in Ceylon gives an insight of
life in this country in that spacious age. Returning home from Ceylon
Samuel Baker became the first Governor General of Sudan.
In his preface to the first edition of "Eight Years in Ceylon" Samuel
Baker wrote: "Eight years' wanderings in Ceylon have created a love for
this beautiful island which can only be equalled by my affection for Old
England... during this period my delight has been in tracing the great
natural resources of the country, in observing the immense relics of its
former prosperity, and contrasting the past grandeur and energy of an
extinct race with the pathetic and selfish policy of our present
system."
He pioneered the cultivation of various crops and initiated farming
in Nuwara Eliya which area he liked very much. Writing about Nuwara
Eliya and the neighbouring landscape Samuel Baker wrote: "And now the
distant hill-tops, far below, struggle through the snowy sheet of mist,
like islands in a fairy sea: and far, how far his eye can scan, where
the faint line upon the horizon marks the ocean Mountain and valley,
hill and plain, with boundless forest, stretch beneath his feet, far as
his sight can gaze, and the scene, so solemnly beautiful, gradually
wakens to his senses.
The birds begin to chirp; the dew-drops fall heavily from the trees,
as the light breeze stirs from an apparent sleep; a golden tint spreads
over the sea of mist below; the rays dart lightning-like upon the easter
sky; the mighty orb rises in all the fullness of his majesty, recalling
the words of omnipotence 'Let there be light.'
It is very interesting to recall that, according to him, certain
quantities of gold was found in Nuwara Eliya at that time. He says: "The
first discovery of gold at Nuwara Eliya was on the 14th of June, 1854,
on the second day of their search in that locality.
This was found in the 'Vale of Rubies.' He also says: The minerals
proved to exist up to the present time are gold, quicksilver, plumbago
and iron. The two latter are of the finest quality and in immense
abundance."
Dramatic description
He mentions that there were many leopards in Nuwara Eliya at that
time and gives a dramatic description of how a prowling leopard was
attacked by an agile cow! In describing this rare event Baker says:
About three years ago a leopard took it into his head to try the
beefsteaks of a very savage and sharp horned cow, who with her calf was
the property of the blacksmith.
It was a dark rainy night. The blacksmith and his wife were in bed,
and the cow and her calf were nestled in the warm straw in the cattle
shed.
The door was locked and all was apparently secure when the hungry
leopard prowled stealthily round the cow-house, sniffing the prey
within. The strong smell of the leopard at once alarmed the keen senses
of the cow, made doubly acute by her anxiety for her little charge and
she stood ready for the danger, as the leopard, having mounted on the
roof, commenced scratching his way through the thatch.
Down he sprang! But at the same infant, with a splendid charge, the
cow pinned him against the wall and a battle ensured which can easily be
imagined. A cooly slept in the corner of the cattleshed, whose wandering
senses were completely scattered when he found himself the unwilling
umpire of the fight.
He rushed out and shut the door... The bellowing of the cow, the
roars of the leopard and the thumping, trampling and shuffling which
proceeded from the cattle-shed explained the savage nature of the
fight."
His favourite sport had been hunting wild elephants which were found
in plenty in the Sri Lankan jungles at that time and he gives an
exhaustive description of how he hunted and shot (at close quarters) a
large number of wild elephants.
Night insects
In "Eight Years in Ceylon" Samuel Baker also mentions that at that
time there were no mosquitoes in and around Nuwara Eliya. He says:
"There are neither ticks, bugs, leeches, scorpions, white ants, wasps,
nor mosquitoes. In fact there is nothing venomous except the snake
alluded to and a small species of centipedes."
Describing the luminous night insects which were found in plenty he
says: "A Ceylon night after a heavy shower of rain is a brilliant sight
when the whole atmosphere is teeming with moving lights; bright as the
stars themselves, waving around the tree tops in fiery circles, now
threading like distant lamps through the intricate branches and lighting
up the dark recesses of the foliage, then rushing like a shower of
sparks around the cliggering boughs.
Myriads of bright fir flies in these wild dances meet their destiny,
being entangled in opposing spiders' webs, where they hang like fairy
lamps, their own light directing the path of the destroyer and assisting
in their destruction.. The light of a common fire fly will enable a
person to distinguish the hour on a dial in a dark night..."
The cry of the Devil Bird or Ulama, an enigma of the jungles of
Ceylon, particularly at night, has mortally frightened and even killed
villagers. About this bird Samuel Baker wrote: "The name for the Devil
Bird is Ulama and so impressed are the natives with the belief that a
sight of it is equivalent to a call to the nether world, that they
sometimes die from sheer fright and nervousness. A case of this happened
to a servant of a friend of mine."
The world knows Samuel Baker as a great explorer of Africa in the
18th century and his published works have a permanent place in this
history of early exploration. This book 'Eight Years in Ceylon' gives a
faithful account of his life in Sri Lanka in a more spacious age when
man lived without restraints and had much leisure at his command. |
