Ceylon / Colombo, Kandy, Newara Eliya  
GEORGE BULLOUGH – WORLD TOUR 1892-1895

 Written  from  first-hand  research and  illustrated from his personal archive by  

George  W.  Randall co-founder in July 1996 and former 

Vice Chairman Kinloch Castle Friends' Association. 

India Rubber Tree, Peradeniya Botanical Gardens, Kandy, Ceylon.

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George Bullough and Robert Mitchell arrived at Colombo, Ceylon, (today Sri Lanka), 

on the 23^rd October 1892.

The twenty volume photographic record of their three-year long world tour 

is in the library at Kinloch Castle, Scotland. Bullough's Highland home.

 Article 4 of 28 as published in the Accrington Gazette, Saturday 23 May 1896.

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THE TWENTY WORLD TOUR PHOTOGRAPH ALBUMS  14½ x 10¾ inches.

I   Ceylon / India * II   Ceylon / India * III   India * IV   India * V   India * VI   India / Burma * VII   Australia

VIII   Cape Town * IX   South Africa * X    South Africa / Madeira / Hobart    XI * Tasmania / New Zealand

XII   New Zealand * XIII   Natives Africa / New Zealand * XIV   Japan * XV   Numea / Batavia / Singapore

XVI   China * XVII   China / Japan * XVIII   New Zealand / New Caledonia * XIX   Honolulu / California

XX   Salt Lake.

NOTE: ALBUM  XIV  NEW ZEALAND / NEW CALEDONIA SHOULD READ ALBUM XVIII NEW ZEALAND / NEW CALEDONIA THERE BEING TWO ALBUMS BEARING NUMBER XIV AND NO ALBUM XVIII.

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The world they experienced was very different to life we see today in the 21^st Century.

Crossing oceans by steam ships which still carried a full complement of canvas sails, travelling on land by steam train, horseback, rickshaw or bullock cart, they visited many of the world’s major cities, including San Francisco, Sydney, Peking, Nagasaki, Delhi and Cape Town. They also visited what at the time were sites of recent human conflict:- India (Cawnpore 1857); South Africa (Zululand - Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift 1879); Australia (Ballarat, - Eureka Stockade 1854); 

these and more are recorded in this unique collection of newspaper articles and photographs.

George Randall and Magnus Magnusson (left)

first met at his home in Scotland in 1996 to 
collaborate on chapters in his book: 
“Rum: Nature’s Island”

celebrating 40 years since acquisition of the

26,400 acre island as a National Nature Reserve

in 1957 from Lady Bullough, Sir George’s widow.

I am indebted to Accrington Library 
for supplying me with photo-copies of the 
twenty-eight articles published in the 
Accrington Gazette between 2 May and 12 December 1896 describing their travels which I have re-typed and hereby post without alteration.

Please bear in mind the text reflects attitudes of the time, some of which are unacceptable today!

The end of each published article,

(this being number 4 of 28), you will find  numbered 

Explanatory Notes relating to the text.

Written from contemporary publications of the late 19^th century, these are intended to portray the pre-visit knowledge Bullough and Mitchell had of their destination. 

I must also thank the late journalist and broadcaster, Magnus Magnusson, K.B.E., who, until his death in January 2007, was Chairman of Scottish Natural Heritage, the agency responsible for the island of Rum, Scotland and the late Victorian/Edwardian Kinloch Castle, commissioned by George Bullough and constructed 1897-1900. 

Mr. Magnusson gave me permission to archive 

and photographically record the contents of the Castle, 

including the 600+ half-plate images of Bullough and Mitchell’s tour.

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* Note: Ceylon, since 1972 the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

George Bullough and his travelling companion, Robert Mitchell, arrived at Colombo, 

Ceylon, on the 23^rd October 1892, twenty-four days after boarding the P & O liner 

S.S. Oceana at Gravesend, England, and booked into the Grand Oriental Hotel, 

overlooking the harbour and Galle Face Green.

(Map: The Family Atlas - Society for the Diffusion of Knowledge. 1875)

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The hotel faces the landing jetty and affords a good view of the harbour

Described as “one of the largest and best  appointed in the East”,

its 150 bedrooms can accommodate 350 persons per night.

“The handsome dining-hall measuring 75 by 35 feet, with overlooking

balconies, will seat 300 people. There is a fine billiard room with four tables,

the cuisine and attendance are of the highest class.” 

(Photograph number 1 from Album 1 - Ceylon / India)

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The Colombo rail line to Namuoya, the station for Nuwara Eliya, via Kandy rises to 5,291 feet. 
(Detail of south Ceylon: The Family Atlas - Society for the Diffusion of Knowledge. 1875)

There are two openings to the sea between the three sections, 

one of 800 feet, the other of 700 feet. The area enclosed is 640 acres.

The 4,200 foot long breakwater was completed in 1884. 

The first stone was laid by the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, in 1875. 

Two additional arms were later added to give complete, all year-round shelter. 

There are two openings to the sea between the three sections, 

one of 800 feet, the other of 700 feet. The area enclosed is 640 acres*.

These improvements have enabled Colombo to assume first-class importance to shipping 

as one of the finest artificial harbours in the world.

* Other Reports state 660 acres.

Colombo breakwater.  Album I  *  Image 4  *  Size 10½ x 8½ inches.

Colombo breakwater.  Album I  *  Image 3  *  Size 10½ x 8½ inches.

Singalese Man Showing Head Comb

Album I  Ceylon / India  *  Photograph 6  *  Size: 10½ x 8½ inches.

Promenade Leading to Galle Face

Album I  Ceylon / India  *  Photograph 7  *  Size: 10½ x 8½ inches.

Railway Going to Kandy.      

(Sensation Rock on the Kaduganawa Incline.)

Album I  Ceylon / India  *  Photograph 9  *  Size: 10½ x 8½ inches.

“The cow-pusher at the front of the engine was a real necessity, as, apart from fallen boulders,

animals strayed onto the track. In 1890 a total of 129 bullocks, buffaloes and cows were 

run over and an even greater number pushed off the rails. Engine drivers were all British,

they were considered more cool-headed than natives when confronted with danger.” 

Natives Weighing Tea in Ceylon.

Album 1 * Image 13 * Size: 10½ x 8½ inches. 

"I like a nice cup of tea in the morning for the start of the day you see,
and at half past eleven.
Well, my idea of heaven is a nice cup of tea.
I like a nice cup of tea for my dinner,
and a nice cup of tea with by tea.
And when it’s time for bed, there is a lot to be said,
for a nice cup of tea."

These photographs illustrate the intensity of labour in hand-picking the leaves of the

 tea plant at the time of George Bullough and Robert Mitchell's visit, October 1892.

Tea Plantation Showing Natives at Work.
Album 1 * Image 12 * Full size: 10½ x 8½ inches. 

Coffee had been introduced to Ceylon in 1824 by former British soldier 

and, from 1824-1831, fifth governor, Sir Edward Barnes, 1776-1838.

Over the following fifty-three years coffee grew steadily, and by 1877 

over 272,000 acres were in cultivation, yielding 103 million pounds annually.

For several years since his arrival in Ceylon in 1852, James Taylor had been trialing the commercial cultivation of tea, so that when Hemileia vastatrix, (coffee rust), 

first appeared in 1869, relentlessly decimating yield over the next twenty years by 90%, 

the day of Ceylon Tea had arrived.  

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Queens Hotel    Newara Eliya.

Album I  Ceylon / India  *  Photograph 17  *  Size: 10½ x 8½ inches.

“Newara Eliya – City of Lights, known as Little England, was a favourite Hill Station

of the British who tried to create a “typical English village” with post office, rose gardens

and Hill Club complete with hunting pictures, mounted trophies where formal dinner

attire was strictly enforced.”

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 Entrance Peradeniya Gardens.

Album I   -   Image 22   -   Size: 10 ½ x 8½ inches.

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The entrance gates by the Superintendent’s bungalow were erected in 1867,

the posts being completely draped in bigonia unguis-cati from Brazil.

Three miles from Kandy, the gardens, comprising 150 acres undulated terrain at 1,540 feet

above sea level, are home to 2,000 species, mainly trees and shrubs.

The climate is hot and moist, the mean annual temperature being 77°F (25°C).

Annual rainfall, which occurs on 200 days a year, totals over 85 inches.

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Copyright  ©  George  W.  Randall  Archive.
POSTED BY GEORGE W. RANDALL  -  WEDNESDAY 6 DECEMBER 2017

REVIEWED 14 NOVEMBER 2022