View of Mount Lavinia Hotel, Colombo, from the Coast.
Sir Thomas Maitland was the Governor General of Ceylon in the first decade of the 19th century. His named his house after a local dancing with whom he fell in love. The couple had to meet in secret, so tunnels were constructed between the residence and a well belonging to the girl's father. These tunnels were sealed a century later. The Mount Lavinia Hotel still has a statue of its namesake, a native dancing girl called Lovinia, at the front entrance in a fountain.