Images of Sri Lanka through American Eyes

Reginald Heber's unfortunate "Where every prospect pleases, but . . ." was written before he ever dreamed of being Bishop of Calcutta (1823-26). Again and again these pages show how little was known about Ceylon. Point de Galle, the seaside journey from Galle to Colombo, by road or rail to Kandy and Nuwera Eliya were usual excursions; Trincomalee and Jaffna had few visitors. Religious sites and events in urban areas, and gems everywhere, proved interesting; Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa were inaccessible and of little concern to anybody. But through this strictly chronological text, readers are led to more expeditious communication and enlarged regions of interest.

Twenty-two ethereally lovely photographs, prepared in Ceylon (1964) by Yvonne Hanemann during her Fulbright year, form their own essay of the lively beauty of people. Extracts from thirty-six published diaries, letters, and formal essays by Americans of many types and conditions reflect their visits to this tropical island: from Samuel Newell in 1813 to Thomas Merton in December 1968 (a week before his death in Bangkok).
The anthology offers contrasts: Newell, the Winslows (Miron and Harriet), and Samuel F. Green, M.D.—early missionaries in Jaffna; Henry Steel Olcott—champion of Buddhism; Andrew Carnegie, Phillips Brooks, Mark Twain; John Henry Barrows—remembered for his influence at University of Chicago's Oriental Institute; in our own century—Francis Parkinson Keyes, Paul Bowles, Eugene Wright, and Dr. Victor Heiser. Eugene Wright, boatswain, stole some shore leave, managed a bus trip Colombo/Kandy/Colombo within twenty-four hours, recorded his fun; Victor Heiser resided patiently, studied manners and customs—to convince the people that hookworms were unnecessary. Ambassador (1953-56) Philip Crow enjoyed Major Roland Raven-Hart's hobby of canoe travel; but Dr. Thomas Horsfield (Pennsylvanian), earliest field scientist in East India, spent 1799-1819 in the eastern archipelago and did not stop in Ceylon to write of its flora, fauna, and mountains.
This book was published by USIS, as an American bicentennial salute to Sri Lanka. Only Ian Goonetileke could have compiled it. Author of A Bibliography of Ceylon (Leiden: Inter Document)