544 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[Feb. 



i886. 



was supposed to have hidden in the bowels of a great 

 range of mountains in mid-Africa. How they found it 

 and what happened we leave our readers to tind in 

 the book itself, sufficient is to say that the story 

 is one of the most fascinating pieces of fiction that 

 have appeared for many a long day. I have said 

 this because Jlr. Streeter, who may certainly be 

 considered the greatest expert living in diamonds 

 and precious stones, mentioned the book to me, 

 affirming tliat wlierever Mr. Haggard got the found- 

 ation for his story, he would almost be inclined to 

 accept some of it as sober facts. You would think 

 me a Mnncliausen were I to tell you of the strange 

 applications which are made to me to provide funds 

 for such expeditions. If you have ever walked 

 througli some of the great picture galleries of Flor- 

 ence, you will notice that all the women are painted 

 with most magniticent necklaces of pearl. What 

 has become of them ? Where have they gone to ? 

 People do not wantonly destroy such things. If 

 you gave me an order today tor a pearl necklace 

 to cost £40,000, it would take me a year's careful 

 inquiries to fulfil your demand. It might take even 

 longer, for I do not know where sucli a one exists. 

 Of course, I should have to collect the pearls singly 

 from all quarters. " Every mail," said;Mr. Streeter, 

 " brings me strange documents from remote and 

 forgotten towns of South America, from the east 

 and from the west, from all quarters of the world. 

 Now, here is one," handing me a small p.ucel 

 bearing the Spanish postmark, wrapped in brown 

 grass paper and carefully tied up at the ends. 

 " Yon may open it and see for yourself wliat it con- 

 tains." i carefully untied the mysterious package, 

 wondering what riches it would disclose. The riches 

 were but on paper. Nothing more than a tracing, 

 showing a river, a few villages dottted about on 

 each side, and a few sketches which showed the topo- 

 graphical features. Besides the thin tracing that 

 cracked in my hand tliere were numerous writings 

 on thin foreign note-paper. " That came to me a 

 day or two ago from a correspondent of mine in 

 remote Spain. The plan shows the route to a 

 long forgotten mine which my correspondent has 

 discovered. Here you see " — reading from the faded 

 manuscript — " are accurate and minute directions 

 for approaching it, with close and detailed descrip- 

 tion of the surrounding country, the rivers and the 

 mountain passes, the character of the people, and 

 the whole story of the mine. I'ou need not 

 trouble to read it, but the legend may amuse you." 



k SAPrniEE KIVEE. 



" I have projected many expeditions," said the 

 Kin gof Pearls; "some have been successful, others not. 

 It is a great gamble, and one must take the good 

 with the bad. Men come to see me here from all 

 parts of the world with their schemes ; some I take, 

 many I reject. It is a. hazardous business, for one 

 has to trust to individuality. When a man comes 

 to me with a proposition to work a mine, in Mexico 

 say, I try to read his character in our talk, and if 

 I like him and he produces details that seem to 

 me credible, if he has character and decision — he 

 is generally well travelled — we hit it off well enough. 

 Sometimes they go, and for a time all is well, then 

 they disappear for ever from view. In 181)9 I sent out 

 Professor John to the Diamond Fields in the first 

 rush, and the party of three bought three claims for 

 half a guinea a piece. For one reason and another 

 they worked tor awhile and then sold out. Since 

 then these same claims have produced millions. 

 That was a big slice of bad luck if you like. In 

 Ceylon I have taken rivers for cats-eyes and sap- 

 phires. I once tried Cashmere, but could never get 

 a oonoes8ioOi though the BajaU seut my wife the 



handsomest shawl I ever saw. I have sent exped- 

 itions to tha Sulu Sea, and all round the coast of 

 Australia. I have now a party working a Brazil 

 river for gold and diamonds. Then, just before 

 the Burmese war broke out, I was negotiating with 

 Theebaw for a concession to work the famous ruby 

 mines which lie above Mandalay. We have plotted 

 out the road, for which we were to receive (payinj^ 

 j;20,000 for the mine concession) eight miles on 

 each side of the Irrawaddy, along which the road 

 lies.— P. M. Biiilftet. 



Frpit TttEE5 ON S.vxo.v HrcfHWAVs.— The planting 

 ofth) hisfbw.iy* in Sixouy with fruit trees is proving 

 finxucially a very suioesjfut experim'sut. During the 

 last three years the State receive i from this source — 

 18S2, 87.Stl Mirks; 18SS, 110,161 MirUs ; 1884, 

 103,313 Mxrks; to-ether 301,21? Marks. Wood sold 

 also produced from 13,000 to 13,000 Marks. These 

 am )aats were rejeived after the expenditure incurred 

 in leasing and in siactioas had bean deducted. — 

 X«/^'o»'^^' Gertntni Tradr Rfvieir. 



Sulphur. — A depositof sulphur was lately accidentally 

 discovered in the Narsapur taluk in Godavari. In 

 digging on a piece of waste land, some earth was 

 turned up, the peculiar appearance of which attracted 

 the attention of one of the passers-by, the village 

 magistrate, who, having secured a small quantity of 

 it forwarded it to the Civil Surgeon. A rough 

 analysis of the earth disclosed that it was strongly 

 impreguated with sulphur, and a further examination 

 of the locality in which it was found resulted in the 

 discovery that the deposit extended over a considerable 

 area. — InJiaii Aqricullural Gazette. 



Tea in the roNJAB. — The cultivation of tea in the 

 Punjab or rather in the Kaugra Valley is making 

 considerable progress. During last year there were 

 1,925 plantatious of wliich .34 were new. As many as 

 1,880 gardens are owned and worked by natives of 

 India. The total area undi-r tea during the year w»» 

 S,172 acres, of which G,4oO ucres were under mature 

 planting. Other 1,7.50 acres have been taken up for 

 planting. The outturn for the year reached 1,334,002 

 lb., .showing an increase of 34,000 lb. — Indian Agri- 

 cilltand Gazette. 



Baling of Cinchona Bark in OEyLou. — At the last 

 public auctions dissatisfaction was expressed by the 

 London bark buyers becau.se bales of bark often arrive 

 at their final destination in bad condition, heavy loss in 

 weight frequently having to be Ijorne by the manu- 

 facturers. In order to r*^medy this it is necessary, firstly 

 as regapds shippers — (a) — That no bale of bark should 

 weigh over 2.50 lb. nett. (b). — That stout gunny cloth 

 not thin hessiau canvass, should be used for packing. 

 The large and unwieldy bales, so often shipped from 

 Oeyiou, are in dock more or less unmaiigeable ; to draw 

 fair samples from such packages is most ditJicult, and 

 the wear and tear is naturally excessive. The 

 thin hessian canvas so often used by shippers 

 gives way directly the goods are handled, 

 and is often the direct cau.^e of loss to the buyers. 

 Secondly as regards docks and wharves — (a). — It is a 

 sine qua non that samples should be absolutely unim- 

 peachable. (/))■ — It is necessary that iron boops, re- 

 moved to facilitate sampling, or for the purpose of 

 tariog, be re-adjuste-l or replaced by stout cording. It 

 is invidious to mention names, but two wharves undoub- 

 tedly deliver barks in a better condition for re-ship- 

 ment than their comi)etitors. The rates which impor- 

 ters paj' to docks and wharves justify the trade in de- 

 manding that the work be done thoroughly and that 

 barks be delivered to the buyers with every iron hoop 

 adjusted or re-adjusted, or with ,a stout cord in lieu <if 

 any missingboop. Kmdly treat this matter as uf im- 

 portance, and we rely upon you to put this letter for- 

 ward iu the proper quarters. — We are, dear sirs, yours 

 faithfull", (Hhinrd) ;i. ;>. H. Buchler, P. Buehler, W. 

 H. Cole & Co., < 'orhyn, Slacey it Co.. Howards ^ Suns, 

 Kram^ois le Mair h Kivers Hicks, O.G. Meier & Co., 

 .T. 0. Robrweger, Fred. Thomae 4 Co., Thos. Whiffen, 

 Wideiunann Broioher & Oo,— Local "Times," 



