544 



tH'E tROPieAL AGKIC0LT0KiS1?, [I^Et. u i^H 



insects of the sunshine that keep the grove all tre- 

 mulous with their eternal hum — 



. . . and the day has a sun 

 That shall make thee wish it done. 

 But evening brings relief to the fietcer stages of 

 "junge fever" as to the ordinary work of a plant- 

 ation. At sundown a stalwart coolie exerci«ies his 

 vigour in oscillating the clapper of a heavy bell that 

 hangs between two posts at a central spot, and from 

 all quarters converge the ready coolies, who have 

 been squatting on their heels and waiting for this 

 sound for some time. Jinn, women and children, 

 they file in, collecting in a great circle round the 

 rough backwoods desk, where the owner is ready 

 with his day book, and everyone's work is entered 

 against his name as he answers to it. If it be pay 

 day, then a glittering heap of silver coin p'^rcolates 

 from the log counter to the dusky hands of the 

 labourers — two-pance a day for the men,* a ])enny for 

 the women, and a "retaining salary" for the little 

 children, who come up in turn, and duck their shaven 

 heads in comical homage to the great white sahib 

 as they hold out small brown hands for the price 

 those same hands are supposed to have earned at a 

 halfpenny a day. When he has seen his horse fed, 

 has locked up his stores and sheds, counted back 

 his tools, and doctored, perhaps, a dozen of co)lies, 

 who come up to his verandah steps to be cured of 

 every sort of ailment of which Asiatic nature is 

 capable, the planter has a spell of well-earned re- 

 pose. 



The hardest part of his life is this first part- As soon 

 as his prosperity is assured his way Ues amongst, pleasant 

 places. His permanent bungalow crowns some palm- 

 fringed hilltop, and courts the winds of Heaven to play 

 amongst the cuacus-grass mats that serve instead of 

 doors : perhaps it is his good fortune to have a wife 

 there with him, and half the sting of exile vanishes 

 in the glamour of her presence. He will enjoy more 

 time, too, for sport when the laud is planted up~ 

 ridding the district of a rogue elephant, on whose vindic- 

 tive tusks perhaps half a dozen men have been spitted, 

 and following such a beast through the mazes of the 

 forest on foot is as thrilling a sport as could be desired. 

 Or a tiger may work havoc amongst our herds of 

 tame cattle, and then we sit over a recent " kill " and 

 watch while the stars describe a pirabola overhead, 

 for the soundless approach of the lordly beast, who 

 dies forthwith upon the body of his victim. Deer are 

 generally abundant in new regions. In India there is 

 the sambonr, a noble example of his kind, given to 

 stealing at twilight into the coffee— moreover, generally 

 coming down to drink at the same stream night after 

 uight. A successful shot at a " stag " often will stock 

 the district for a week or more, utterly discomfiting 

 the native butcher, and respiting his flock of tough, 

 meagre, brown shearlings. The spotted deer lives a 

 peaceful life amongst the bamboo thickets. While 

 the *' ibex" or hill-sheep of the planter, tempts him up 

 to the breezy crags, where lemon gi-ass waves in end- 

 less savannas, and the climate resembles that of an 

 English April. This is about all the big trame he 

 sees though "bison" — the exile's nomenclature is 

 very careless — of glossy black hide, brown hill-bears 

 and wild pig share the jungles with larger species 

 For lighter amusement there are abundant jungle fowl — 

 ao bad imitation of pheasants, but hard to bag, owing 

 to dense cover — 'pigeons of gorgeous hue, a dozen of 

 which %ve htve often tumbled out of one fig tree which 

 without quitting our verandah, and plenty of lesser 

 birds for the amusement of him who is blessed with 

 a solacing love of natural history. 



His chances of social relaxation depend much on 

 where he may be located. But he inust h ive got very 

 deep indeed into the wilderness if he does not manage 

 to bestride his hill pony every other Sunday, anl, 

 with his rifle across his knees, to trot down to some 

 country-man's shanty, where the news of the day is 

 to bo heard, and an hour or two whiled away in friendly 

 gossip and discussion of crops and ])rospects. To 

 " the hills, " where Eugli>h society congregates in the 



A long obsolete rate of wages,— Ed, 



scorching summer, he looks throuehout eleven months 

 of tlie year with longing and aft'ection. It is there 

 those tender children of his go to .school and cultivate 

 a little colour on their pale cheeks in an air ap- 

 proaching taat to which they were born. It is there 

 his club i< — that elysium of good fellowship — and the 

 church where he can slip a gold mohur into the 

 alms big to condone fitty enforce I absences. Saxon 

 girls, it may be added, never seem so fair as after 

 a long dwelling amongst those whose complexion is 

 " the swarthy livery of the burnished sun, " and his 

 countrywomen, whether in ball room, tennis court, or 

 galioping after jackal across the rolling hill jiastures, 

 are not the least pleasant of the memories which 'he 

 bachelor squatter takes back to his lonely hut from 

 Ooty, Simla, or whert-ver he may have spent a delight- 

 ful mmth in touch with civilisation. 



In this brief chapter we may not enter into the 

 technical details of the curious art of coffie planting — 

 a tortuous but ( if carefully followed ) promising road 

 to fortune. Those who would know more should con- 

 sult some modern hau^ibook on the subject, such as 

 the well-known firm of Whittingham, in Gracechurch 

 Strnet, can supply, and study at their leisure all the 

 de+ails of the craft. In these few lines we have only 

 attempted to show that there is more romance and 

 " adventure by fie d and flood " represented in such 

 a fragrant cup t.f coffee as that we sip at breakfast 

 or after dinner than is perhaps generally known. How 

 htr<i our "younger suns" (and some older ones too) 

 work for it, is often little su-pecied ; and to touch in, 

 though hastily, the lights and shadows of their rough 

 life, and to show how they cut a way, against over- 

 whelming difficulties, to an honourable ambition, has 

 been the purpose of this little sketch.— Co^ewie* and 

 India. 



Sugar and Fkuit in Fiji. — Amid the surround- 

 ing depression, the sugar output continues most 

 satisfactory, The mill managens, shareholders, and 

 proprietors speak with hopeful confidence of the future, 

 and they have evidently derived a very considerable 

 accession of this confidence from the perusal of the 

 article on "The Position of the Sugar Industry," 

 which appeared in the Australasian of September 

 26th. Oil the Rewa, even the crushing power of the 

 Colonial Sugar Kefinery Company's michinery, which 

 collectively constitutes the largest mill in the world, 

 is found to be insulfioient for requirements, and the 

 erection of what will virtually be th« fourth mill under 

 the one roof, is to be proceeded with almost immedi- 

 ately. The works at Koronivia and at Ba are progress- 

 ing slowly, but in both cases there is a very large area 

 planted up, which will be fit for the rollers when the 

 new mills are ready. On the Dreketi River, "^'auua 

 Levu, the collapse of the little old worn-out Pioneer 

 mill did not long suspend operations. Another mill 

 has already been erected in its place, and it is reported 

 that it commenced crushing last week with admirable 

 results. Unlike the sugar growers and manufacturers the 

 fiuit cultivators and shippers are still experiencing the 

 cold shadow of adversity. The banana disease is spread* 

 ing. It smites the tree as with a curse. The leaveb 

 put forth half deve'oped, with a wrinkled and un- 

 matured appearance; The calyx bnr.sts prematurely. The 

 flower comes out blighted. The fruit forms black and 

 blasted, and never approaches maturity. The trunk, 

 swells half-way down, and from it bursts an untimely 

 growth of puny leaves in tuft, which never attaiuto 

 one-twentieth of normal dimensions. The tree is in* 

 every part of it as brittle as a dry twig, and its whole 

 aspect is that of an unprofitable deformity. The Suva 

 Chamber of Commerce has taken the matter in hand, 

 and it has forwarded diseased and healthy trees, with 

 respective soils, for examination and report by cnnipe- 

 tent authorities. Tho immediatf cross for the frui'-ship- 

 per is the quarantine of the Sydney boai at th send, 

 which has spoiled every ca.se and bunch ot fruit b.ougut 

 in for her. By the aw- of compensation there should 

 be a very bright future in store for Fiji, for it would 

 certainly seem as if lor the past few years even the 

 stars in their courses have been fighting against 

 )i9t.~-Av.itralasinn . 



