542 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[February i, 1884. 



Those celestials bid us up for a town block, but 

 carried awaj' with the hopes prevailing we thought 

 nothing of it. 



The Company's agents b'ft iu March to report to their 

 board of direcfairs. I believe the.v never had anv, th' y 

 left and their applioiitious, unpaid for even to the l-3rd, 

 lapsed, and left us wonderiug, somewhat doubtful. 

 We 'd had eiioh a lot of liqi;!!!" too on it all. I '11 

 defy any one to ntiend laud sales or lo move about 

 among our's fellow men in the hope of gaining inform- 

 ation (or in other words " doing " your friends) 

 without 1 quoring up a good deal. Oh ! those bills, 

 those bills. 



This is December, and I understand the Commissioner 

 of L'lnds has declined to cancel the upplioations made 

 bv t'Ue or two fellows (who ihought the> would try 

 iron), or to return any momy, and politely added 

 that the 'Jud instalment, i. e. 2-.3rds would be due 

 in February. Polite indeed, I call it unfeeling. 



How C1U a feKow open ihe laud? Why, it's 170 

 miles away from here, snd there arc no steamers 

 going there and no coolies living there. How is 

 a fellow to open land at such a place ? I think 

 it 's a monstrous injustice for the Govenmient (Uov- 

 eminent indeed) to have sold land at such a place 

 without at OEce organizing means of communication. I 

 think of leaving the c(.nntr). I see little hope of get- 

 ting on. There's a w.int ol' orgauiz ition throughout 

 the conn' ry. The natives get all their own way. The 

 KeNident here gives block-i of laud to every hadji or 

 cooly »lio aeks for it. They have only to reniind him 

 ihat they knew him four years ;igo and met him up 

 sncli and such a river, anrl now wish to seltlc at 

 !-'aiidakan, and ho immediately gives them ten or 

 twenty acres for nothing. In fact, these given lands 

 are the only transfers made for someoime by the 

 Giivrnment, as I bi-lieve the Survey Ollice cannot 

 undertake the surv. y of Lands th.at would sell, as orders 

 have been received from home not to sell any more 

 land. My partner says so, and he ought to know. He 's 

 just got the sack — because they are reducing ex- 

 penditure, and lie wants me to buy his half share. 

 1 said "I'd see!" It makes me perspire to think of 

 it. VVaa not there a poet who said something about 

 no money improving the mind. Some of us here ought 

 to be '■ improved;", the Government -seem hard ui> too. 

 re'Uicing the staff all round. Some of ilie reduciions 

 commend themselves — every sei'vice imports a lot of 

 " Queen's bad bargains," and alfhough ihe number 

 may have beeu reduced, I question whether the effici- 

 ency of the B'aff has been. It 's a curious thing tliat 

 as soon as some men gel Into a CTOvernment service 

 they keep hours. With a diligence that is charmint;, 

 10 o'clock to 4 finds them iii office. They dress 

 neatly, and that ano society affords tlieir brains all 

 the scope they are capsldc of. 



They accept work from the heads of their dep.ait- 

 moui iu the same spirit that a young lawyer receives 

 a chancery suit, with the hope that it w ill last, and 

 thev linger it out until in desp.air it is taken from 

 them anti (lUt tlirough by someone else. These men 

 are not wanted in a new country. A surveyor who 

 thinks thiit because the office hours iu town are so and 

 so he can carry them into the field with him is apt 

 to find he is not, wanted. An office man wlio pigeon- 

 holes his papers at 'i o'clock and talks despairingly 

 at the billiard-room of ihe. accumul.Ttiug iiiase of 

 correspondence i s apt to hedislilieel by the public and 

 his .■superiors. And a clearance of ru'ibish sometimes 

 takes place somewhat unexpectedly. Sometimes some- 

 thing valuable is thrown away with tlie rubbish. 



'Dk Govern.-ir, tlie Hi n. W. H Treachrr, as head of 

 the family, does not lik'- this washing day. i believe 

 he wanted lo have and rejoin the colonial sevvice to 

 whioh lie properly beiong-. Init the hoatd in London 

 liave oblaiued leave for him to stay another year, and 



Mrs. Treacher is coming out to join her husband after 

 a, visit to England. 



Australia has lately been investigating the resources 

 of Borneo, and a syndicate startnt by Sir Julins Vogel, 

 and so.Tie leading meu of Aiistrulia, have ju>t bought 

 100,000 acres and paid the first instalment. They 

 seem to have a good tiling, as I hear they have found 

 minerals and fought over the mineral clause until 

 they got it all their own w,ay. They propose to plant 

 sugar, but also look to tobacco and the C.-vlon pro- 

 ducts. An Anglo-Chinese Company here are planting 

 tobacco, auel have two Deli planters superintending 

 operations ; unfortunately both these gentlemen com- 

 plain of ill-health. As you fouuel it unhealthy 

 in Cejlon to open land, so we find it heie, and our 

 soil ia richer ; of the latter I have no doubt. Our 

 lowcountry soil is equal to y ur hill soil, and I 

 argue that our hill soil will, when it is oneued by 

 future planters, be found richer thau anything you 

 can boast of. 



The climate at Sandakan, Kudat anel Gaja, our 

 chief settlements, is elelightl'ul. Much cooh r at night 

 than Colombo, and not so painfully hot in the day. 



Tne Australian rppresentative accustomerl to Fiji 

 frankly allowed, at leaving, that the climate here was 

 preferable to anything Fiji could .show, aud the growth 

 (they were here from May to Oct. ) was remarkable. 



The cpiestion of laliour will have to be solvi'd. We 

 did look to get from Hongkong all the labor and 

 more than we could possibly use. That idi'a is pass- 

 ing away, and the Straits Chinese will probably be the 

 cooly of Bm-ueo. They are agriculturists accustomed 

 to tlie work required, and their pay is less than those 

 of Hongkong. Sir W. Midhurst, our Immigration Com- 

 missioner in Ho:^gkong, has retired anel is understood 

 to allow that the native Chinaman is not so suited lo our 

 requirements as ihe Singapore-born coolj', a great 

 admle^ion for the Caulonese-lovirg Sir Waller to make. 



The Australians hope to got labor from Madras on 

 the Mauritius terms. At the back of this Compauy, 

 I hear, a New Zealand company is waiting, to go in 

 if Sir Julius and his friends show the way. Of course 

 there is plenty of land, from the sea-port to the 

 nest down south it is 170 miles; to Kudat it is 

 somewhat less. This inimense seaboard is partially 

 uiie-xplored. "I have found a new river and been 

 up it twenty miles" is a common enough statement. 

 Of course some of these rivers turn out mythical, but 

 it gives you an idea of the large area of lanil waiting 

 to be taken up, when suoh statements can be made 

 and believed. What is to be the luture of Boruco y 

 In spite of the present coldness, which is merely the 

 result of a few speculating men fiueling their little 

 attempt at a "big thing" has failed, I believe with 

 economy of administratiou a wonderful future is before 

 North Borneo, dependent on the agricultural interests. 



This is really g'Mting too long so I close. 



MR. W. CAMERON'S PAPERS ON CINCHONA 

 AND TEA DEYING. 

 Oiir planting readers will peruse with interest the 

 papers prepared by Mr. W. Cameron forthe meeting of 

 the Dimbula Planters' Association. We regret that 

 we cannot accompany them with the plans referreel to, 

 Mr. Cameron suggests for the slow drying of cinchona 

 bark at a moderate temperature is a modified Clerihew 

 apparatus, originally the invention of the super- 

 intcudeut on Eahatungoda of the lale Mr Hay Cameron. 

 We well remember .Mr. Clerihew's learneel preliminary 

 lecture on " tremacausis or Decay " dcliveicil in Kandy 

 some time in 1«47. we believe; that is thirty-seven 

 years ago. The main object of the inveution was to 

 keep coliee sweet in damp weather by forcing a 



