234 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 



[Oct. I, 1886. 



THE LONDON " TIMES " ON THE " CEYLON 

 COUET." 

 There is nothing very striking in the following 

 liei^ort, but it is of importance simply because it 

 is the view presented of Ceylon to the reading world 

 by the leading English journal : — 



THE COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION: 

 CEYLON. 



The very varied and highly attractive exhibits of 

 this most charming of islands are appropriately 

 placed at the end of one of the Indian Courts. The 

 whole arrangements and decoration of this court 

 reflect high credit upon the Commissioner, Sir Arthur 

 Birch, and his able assistant, Mr. Davidson. On en- 

 tering the court through the richly-carved Kandyan 

 porch, we do not think that it suffers in the least 

 from comparison with the splendour of India. The 

 visitor sees at once a likeness and a dissimilarity, 

 and experiences a sense of relief at the compactness 

 and methodical arrangement of the court, after the 

 confusing superabundance which he has just quitted. 

 In the colouring and design of the walls and the 

 roof the main object has evidently been to adhere as 

 closely as possible to the arts of Buddhism, of which 

 the traditions and sites have been maintained in 

 the highest purity among the mountains of Ceylon. 

 The most notable colour, therefore, in the decor- 

 ations is that shade of yellow which is the sacred 

 colour of Buddhism, and this yellow is blended in 

 the other shade constantly depicted m the Kandy 

 temples. The attractive and handsome entrance 

 gateway has been erected with the sime object of re- 

 producing the traditional features of the country's art. 

 It is a Kandyan porch flanked on each side by a loop- 

 holed wall, the whole copied from portions of the King's 

 Judgment Hall of the Buddhist Temple iu Kandy. The 

 rarviug was executed iu Kandy by Sinhalese workmou. 

 Dn passing through the entrance the eye is attracteil 

 ]jy the decorations on either side, especially the frieze, 

 which is the production of Kandyan artists, and which 

 de.scribes the Perahera, or graud annual procession, 

 and other phases of Buddhist worship ; and those on 

 the west wall facing the entrance and terminating the 

 portion of the building assigned to Ceylon. High up 

 on the wall is seen a coloured bronzed figure of the 

 Gautama Buddha, modelled iu high relief, seated iu 

 the attitude of contemplation. Below the Buddha 

 the passage westward is made through a gate- 

 way, elaborately carved iu ebony, coconut wood, and 

 toromandol, faithfullj' copied by Sinhalese workmen 

 from a stone gateway found at Gapahoo, an ancient 

 capital ©f Ceylon. On either .side, at the base of the 

 west wall, is arranged a very fine collection of all the 

 woods of Ceylon, numbering over 250. Some of the 

 iiuer woods are further exhibited in slabs of timber 

 aifixed to the wall. These include the special cabinet 

 woods — satinwood, coromandel (or colomander) tama- 

 rind, ebony coconut wood, and a number of others 

 Avhose names are not familiar to English ears. 



The cases near the entrance porch are .devoted to 

 a display of the arts and wealth of Ceylon — tortoise- 

 shell work (in which Ceylon stands pre-eminent), lace, 

 ebony carving, and ivory iu all stages from the tusk 

 to the most minute carvings. The jewels include a 

 very choice collection of Ceylon gems — the cat's-eye, 

 ruby, sapphire, and many others of miuor value, and 

 some good strings of pearls. Native jewelh-ry has 

 been largely lent for exhibition, and can vie success- 

 fully with that of the Indian Empiie iu quality, 

 though not iu quantity. The same remark applies to 

 the exquisitely beautiful silver work, the Kaudyan gold- 

 smiths specially excelling iu their vepo'MiQ work. The 

 Kaudyan pottery exhibited deserves attention from its 

 unique colouring and its astonishing cheapness, which, 

 we believe, disposed of the whole collection a few days 

 after the opening of the Exliibition. 



The second half of the court is devoted to the ex- 

 hibition of the native aud European industries. 

 Among the former the collection of pearl-oyster 

 shells and the models illustratiug the method of 

 fishing for them are instructive ; while the native 

 agricultural interests in cinnamon, the products of 

 th(! coconut and palmyra palm, are adequately re- 



presented. Plumbago, the only mineral in Oeylon 

 which it has yet been found profitable to work, is 

 shown as befits an industry in which Ceylon takes the 

 lead in the world's markets. The European enterprise 

 which has made Oeylon wealthy and prosperous in the 

 past is more fully represented than at any previous 

 Exhibition. Prominent among all are samples of tea 

 of all qualities and from gardens at all elevations from 

 sea level to an altitude of 6,.500 feet. Arrangements 

 have been made an<l are daily carried out with' Messr.s. 

 H. S. King and Co. for the sale of this tea both iu the 

 cup and by retail in the gardens, in order to give the 

 public an opportunity of judging of the quahty and 

 price of this now, and that only within ten j'ears, 

 the foremost industry in Ceylon, The Ceylon te.a- 

 house between the court and Old London lias become 

 one of the favourite resorts of the Exhibition for 

 wearied afternoon visitors and dangling couples, who 

 enjoy their tea all the more that it is served by white- 

 robed Sinhalese, with their jet-black heads coronetted 

 in a crosscorab. Ceylon coffee (a fading industry), 

 cinchona, and cacao, are also well shown, as well as 

 paddy and rice in various forms, grain of other 

 kinds, cardamoms, indiarubber, and many other 

 products from this exuberant i.sland. The scenery 

 of the island is well illustrated by numerous 

 pictures by Miss North and Mr. Gordon Oum- 

 ming, and a good collection of photographs by Mr. 

 Skeen, of Colombo. A view of Ivandy in the princi- 

 pal entrance hall of the Exhibition is worthy of 

 notice. It is from the brush of an amateur, but 

 from an art point of view will compare favourably 

 with the views representing the other leading colonies. 

 The Ceylon Court, like the Indian and Canadian 

 Courts, has its sporting trophies, foremost among 

 which is the huge stuffed elephant, surrounded by 

 other trophies of elephant shooting. Some well arranged 

 cases of leopards, deer, itc, are shown, and enough 

 is to be seen to remind sportsmen that there is no 

 country as accessible as Ceylon in which big game 

 can be found with equal ease. The elephant taming 

 scene near the gateway is particularly instructive and 

 interesting. 



Such is a ruiming summary of the leading features 

 in a court in which every exhibit has some 

 special interest attaching to it, and in which 

 there is no padding, if we may be allowed the 

 expression in this connexion. Some of these exhibits, 

 however, deserve a little further notice. First of 

 all comes tea, uovv- the leading industry of an island 

 which only 10 years ago could export no more than 

 1,4001b. In ls85 the quantity exported amounted to 

 4,350,0001b. Along the side of the court are three 

 long cases of satinwood, containing samples of teas as 

 prepared in Oeylon from 30 different estates aud sorted 

 in the various grades of broken Pekoe, Pekoe, aud 

 Souchong. Besides these there are also samples from 

 about 150 estates shown in the exhibits of Messrs. H. S. 

 King and Co. (Tea Trophy) in the North Court. In 

 the catalogue attached to the entries of most of the 

 samples the rainfall in the estate is given ; it is always 

 high, ranging from 100 to 200 inches. Tradition says 

 that tea was introduced into Ceylon' by the Dutch dur- 

 ing their occupation of the island, but we only know 

 for certain that the first plants were brought from 

 China somewhere in the forties. It was not, however, 

 till 1865 that the low price of coffee drew the serious 

 attention of planters to the possibility of successful tea 

 cultivation. Seeds were brought from Assam, where 

 the indigenous tea plant had apparently not beec re- 

 cognized until after it had hybridized with the intro- 

 duced Chinese variety. It is this hybrid variety which 

 is now most generally used in Ceylon and is knovin 

 as the Assam hybrid. Still, it was not until the devast- 

 ation of the coffee estates by the ravages of the liemcleia 

 vaAtaii'iti that tea planting was undertaken on a large 

 scale. The scepticism iuoidental to an agricultur.il novelty 

 cau9eil much wavering, until it became au indisputable 

 fact that the moist climate of a great part of th« island, 

 its abundant labour supplj' recruited from Southern 

 India, and its exceptional transport facilities bj- road, 

 rail, and river, were specially favourable to tea cultiv- 

 ation, that Oeylon teas could be placed in the market 



