The Gangways Are Up
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ALL THE GANGWAYS ARE UP An expatriate in the Ceylon kaleidoscope 1916 – 1945 VALESCA REIMANN ALL THE GANGWAYS ARE UP An expatriate in the Ceylon kaleidoscope 1916 – 1945 VALESCA REIMANN ii Abstract and author photo: see back page. iii CONTENTS Preface vi Tributes from Trinity ix Introduction xi Map xii 1. All the Gangways are Up 1 2. School in Two Days 5 3. The Kaleidoscope 8 4. Anuradhapura 13 5. The Bishop's Visit 16 6. Up-country 18 7. The Little Monsoon 23 8. Negombo 24 9. The Kandy Perahera 27 10. Alankan, Afghans and Anchylostomiasis 30 11. Nawanagalla 33 12. Snake Upsets 37 13. A Mad Dog and Other Scares 39 14. Perumal 41 15. Supernatural Ceylon 42 16. The Rice Famine 43 iv 17. Timitar Estate 45 18. Dambulla and Sigiriya by Bicycle 51 19. Polonnaruwa 56 20. Trincomalee 59 21. An Elephant Kraal 62 22. Caste and Customs 65 23. Meetings with Snakes 68 24. From the Bungalow 70 25. Six Years Later 73 26. Jaffna 75 27. A Jungle Trek 77 28. Two Kinds of Drought 88 29. Yala Game Sanctuary 89 30. Life and Death at School 96 31. The River 98 32. Westminster Abbey 105 33. Yapahuwa and Kala Wewa 110 34. Elephant Pass 114 35. The War Years 115 Appendix 1. “Visiting Adelaide. Miss Valesca Reimann” 131 Appendix 2. Staff Photos Supplied by Trinity College 134 Appendix 3. History of Trinity College, Kandy 135 v PREFACE I first met my aunt Valesca when she visited Brisbane in 1948. I was 11 and she had returned from thirty years teaching the classics, Latin and mathematics at Trinity College, Kandy, in Ceylon. That visit is etched on my memory. We were immediately on the same wave-length and she had a quirky sense of humour. Now, at the other end of my span, I have inherited all her diaries, her book "A History of Trinity College, Kandy" and the manuscript and photos for another book she wanted to publish on her experiences in Ceylon. Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) was approaching the end of the British colonial era. Trinity College was founded on Christianity in a largely Buddhist, Hindu and Moslem country. Sinhalese and Tamil cultures added to the mix. The boys at the school were mostly from these cultures. Valesca, from South Australia, navigated her way through this and added travel adventures on the way - ever curious and mostly undaunted. Valesca says that in March 1915, the Rev A G Fraser, Principal of Trinity College, Kandy, visited Australia under the auspices of the Australian Student Christian Movement. The College had been established by the Church Missionary Society in England in 1872 and was a leading boys' school in Ceylon. It had been increasingly difficult during the war years to obtain suitable men from overseas for special purposes, so while Principal Fraser was in Adelaide he invited her to join the staff as head Classics teacher. Her appointment was for two years, but this extended to thirty. At the end of every five years, she was given a year's furlough to England. She found the school was run along the lines of an English public school. Many nationalities were represented and boys came from all over Ceylon, India, Burma, Siam, Malaya and even Uganda. The ‘lingua franca’ was English, but gradually with the awakening of national feeling, the national languages, Sinhalese and Tamil, began to take a more prominent place. At first, while Ceylon had only a University College affiliated with London, the main examinations held in the Island were the Cambridge Junior and Senior, London Matriculation and London Intermediate in Arts and Science. Later on the University of Ceylon was established and introduced its own system of examinations. About 50% of the boys were boarders, divided into their respective Houses. She lived all these years in one or other of the College bungalows. Until she left she remained head teacher of Western Classics, but afterwards these were almost entirely superceded by Eastern languages. She took an active interest in all College activities, helping to edit the College magazine, vi took over the Glee Club, acted on committees and latterly even judged some athletic events. In spite of the White Australia Policy, much resented in Ceylon, she was accepted as a full member of the College by the boys and staff. Being female was not considered a handicap. In fact most of the smaller boys called her "Sir”. Valesca was born in Adelaide in 1888 and died there in 1964. Her grand-parents farmed in Hahndorf in the hills east of Adelaide. They migrated with many others during the first half of the 19th century from Germany, seeking greater Lutheran religious freedom. Her father taught music and founded the College of Music in Adelaide (Australia’s first), later to merge with the Elder Conservatorium of Music. There were six children, the survivors being Valesca, a sister and two brothers. Valesca was educated in Adelaide, achieving a Master of Arts from the University. I have picked the ‘teeth’ out of the manuscript and diaries and added a selection of her photos. I have tried to keep to her writing style, but with editing by me and some additions (see notes below). Valesca visited Adelaide for a holiday in 1923 and a newspaper article of her impressions of Trinity and Ceylon is transcribed in Appendix 1. Trinity College kindly supplied some tributes and staff photos, which are in the next section "Tributes from Trinity" and Appendix 2. A brief history of the College is in Appendix 3, taken from Valesca's book on the College and other sources. Peter Reimann Wellington, New Zealand, 2014. Notes on changes and additions: Valesca unsuccessfully attempted to publish the manuscript in the early 1960s. My editing takes into account the comments of the publishers' reviewers. My thanks go to the current Principal, Brigadier W G K Aryaratne for his biographical material and photographs relating to Valesca’s 30 years at the College. I added a little family background above. More on changes and additions are as follows: . In keeping with the 'kaleidoscope' theme, I have tried to give equal weight to historical, cultural, religious, travel adventure, wildlife, personal and school/educational aspects. Accordingly, some material of cultural/religious interest found in diaries has been inserted and some on visits to places with little accompanying story have been left out, as information can be readily sourced from travel books and the internet. Her hand-drawn map had yellowed and frayed and the lettering was too small, so I have re-drawn this. A link to Google maps is added. Many words considered superfluous or extreme were deleted, eg “very” or “terribly” before adverbs, eg “suddenly” before “exploded” and “completely” before “abandoned”. “specially” changed to “especially”, “till” to “until” and “round” to “around”. Changes or deletions to avoid over-use of “have” and “had”, eg in “have been”. A few statements of the obvious deleted, eg “But it had its disadvantages.” vii . Many long sentences connected by “and” split into two. Some long paragraphs split. The comma before “and” deleted. Terminology and expressions of the day retained, eg the jungle “infested by wild beasts”, “It was vile”, “verandah”, “snaps” for “photos”. Spelling of place-names changed to those on current maps where possible, eg "Horabora Wewa" instead of "Sorabora Wewa". Some chapters have been split and re-named to cover one topic, instead of several, eg one on snakes and others on caste and customs, Jaffna, Perumal (the servant). Notes on tea production and gems found in diaries added, as chapter end-notes. Some historical/mythological content transferred to chapter end-notes. Frequent changes between past and present tense retained (to keep sense of immediacy and because each chapter is headed with a date). Title changed from "The Isle of Spicy Breezes" to "All the Gangways are Up" to obscurely reflect Valesca's 30 years of adventures (see third paragraph of Preface above). viii TRIBUTES FROM TRINITY By Mr R R Breckenridge in the School Magazine of August 1946 "V. L. O. R. "TRINITY without Valesca Reimann is one of those voids caused in 1945 by the changes and chances of time. For thirty years she lived and moved in our midst shyly and tentatively at first, as became a newcomer to these shores from far Australia, plunged into a whirl of an athletically- minded boys' school. She had come to teach the Western Classics, having graduated with high honours in Classics and Mathematics. Presently we found that she was devoted to classical music; and then we found she could wield a useful tennis racket, and go on mountain-climbing hikes, and swim in the swift running streams. A dreary wet afternoon found her ready to play chess or take a hand at bridge. And when the theatricals were in season she would play an aunt or a devoted mother. If a sing song were proposed she would be accompanist, and with unswerving charm range from soulful ballads to rousing sea-shanties. "No wonder that Trinity got used to the presence of a dame teaching the higher forms, and presently found that V.L.O.R. was needed at every turn. "It is not the intention of this sketch to catalogue her many activities - it would be enough to say that hardly any part of the many-sided life at Trinity was left untouched by her helpful influence. Generations of Old Boys of the school remember with affection their association with her, as they testified at various farewell gatherings held in her honour.