Constance Frederica Gordon Cumming (1837-1924)

'The Sri Pada, the Holy Foot, [is] so named on account of a natural mark on the extreme summit [of the mountain], which, to the eye of the faith, was in remote ages in some degree suggestive of a huge footprint, and was accordingly revered as a miraculous token of the place having once been visited by some supernatural being ... Tradition says the hollow footprint should contain a supply of fresh water supplied from Heaven which cures all diseases.' (Ibid, pp.310-337). Adam's Peak, the highest point in Ceylon, is 7352 feet above sea level. When Gordon Cumming first saw the mountain she wrote: 'There in the early dawn, it stood revealed, a deep blue peak cutting against a golden sky. To reach this high point became the desire of my heart.' (Ibid, p.322). She scaled the mountain in February 1874.