Kandy British Garrison Cemetery: colonial malaria mortality, slate epitaphs, and Commonwealth war graves?

The British Garrison Cemetery in Kandy, opened in 1817 shortly after British annexation of the kingdom, contains 195 graves documenting the brutal toll of tropical diseases on 19th-century European soldiers, tea planters, and civil servants. Epitaphs on the slate and granite headstones show that over 75% of those interred died under age 35, succumbing to malignant malaria, cholera, dysentery, and sunstroke. Noteworthy burials include Sir John D’Oyly (the colonial administrator who negotiated the 1815 Kandyan Convention) and Lady Elizabeth Gregory. Maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the cemetery rests under a dense canopy of tropical hardwood trees.