234 



GAMPOLA AND THE COFFEE EEGIOXS. [Part Vn. 



chances of deterioration to which it is exposed in bullock- 

 carts during long journeys to the coast. 



Evils stni more formidable from natural causes beset 

 the trees during theh growth : eddpng winds in the 

 mountain valleys loosen the plants, and injure tlie bark ; 

 Avild cats, monkeys, and squirrels prey upon the ripen- 

 ing berries ; caterpillars devour the leaves, and at 

 intervals, a plague of insects, known to planters as the 

 coffee-hug^ but in reahty a species of coccus^, estabhsh 

 themselves on the young shoots and buds, and cover 

 them ^\\i\\ a noisome incrustation of scales, enclosing 

 their larva?, fi'om the pernicious influence of wliich the 

 fruit shrivels and drops off.'^ 



At other seasons, the golunda rats^, when the seeds 

 of the nilloo (strobilanthes), on which they feed, are ex- 

 hausted^, invade the plantations in swarms, gnaw off 

 the young branches, and divest the tree of buds and 

 bloom. As many as a thousand of these vermin have 

 been killed in a day on a single estate, and the Malabar 

 coohes esteem them a luxury, and eat them roasted or 

 fried in coco-nut oil. 



Still, in defiance of all risks and discouragement, the 

 rapid extension of the cultivation of coffee in Ceylon is the 

 most irrefragable test of the suitabihty of the island for 

 its growth and the profit at which it may be conducted. 

 By far the most valuable statistical record on this subject, 

 is a document prepared by J\ir. A. M. Fekgusox, from 

 data collected by the Planters' Association, exhibiting in 

 detail the number of estates in 1857, the proportion of 

 acres under bearing, the amount of theh produce, and the 



1 Lecamum Coffea-, "Walker. 



2 The liistorv of these insects is 

 so remarkable, that I have appended 

 as a note to this chapter an account 

 of them prepared chiefly from a re- 

 port di-awn up by the late Dr. 

 Gardnek, shortly after attention had 



been attracted to the ravages oc- 

 casioned by their visitations in the 

 coffee estates of the interior. 



^ Gohoula ElUotti, Gray. See 

 Kela art's Fauna Zei/la/i., p. 67. 



* See atite, ^'ol. I. Pt. i. ch. iii. p. 

 91. 



