CEMETERY OF MAJOR THOMAS WILLIAM ROGERS
CEMETERY OF MAJOR THOMAS WILLIAM ROGERS
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| Major Thomas William Rogers |
Long, long ago, when the
little island of Ceylon was ruled by the British and herds of mighty elephants
meandered in the Central Highlands, a brave officer by the name of Thomas
William Rogers arrived in the island.
It was the year 1824. Ceylon
was a flourishing island guided and controlled by the British. Buildings were
being constructed everywhere and plans to make this small island nation great
were also being drawn up. But there was just one problem. There were too many
elephants in the villages! These elephants were notorious for wreaking havoc
wherever they went. They destroyed the crops and left the villagers exasperated
and hopeless.
Starting work in Sri Lanka And
then the 20-year-old Thomas William Rogers arrived in the country. He started
shooting and killing the elephants that were troubling the locals. In 11 years,
he killed more than 1,400 elephants! In fact it is said that he himself lost count
of the number of elephants that he killed in the later years. Yes it was an
atrocious crime against the wildlife of the country, but the villagers did not
see him as a criminal. No, he was hailed as a redeemer.
This man with a gun was
invincible. Only once was he attacked by an injured elephant and even then, he
survived. But nature achieved what the defenceless elephants couldn’t and on
the 7th of June 1845 Major Thomas William died tragically, after he was struck
by lightning.
He was buried just behind the
Nuwara Eliya Golf Course. A tombstone was erected in his memory and a moat was
constructed around the cemetery to keep the elephants from entering the
territory. But once again, nature achieved what the elephants couldn’t and his
tomb was also struck by lightning,
