THE COCONUT BELT 33 



to Ferguson's Coconut Planters' Manual, by an 

 anonymous writer, who says : 



" During the first quarter of last century very 

 little coconut oil was shipped from Ceylon to 

 Europe, and it has been said that the first cargo of 

 this product ever shipped from the island to Great 

 Britain was taken by Captain Boyd, an Aberdeen 

 navigator, who then commanded an East Indiaman, 

 and afterwards became a partner in the firm of 

 Acland, Boyd & Co. When the cargo reached its 

 destination, there was difficulty in finding a pur- 

 chaser, as there was no market at home for the oil. 

 At length the proprietors of a wool mill, to whom 

 it had been favourably reported upon for lubricating 

 purposes, bought it up. About 1832, Messrs. 

 Acland, Boyd & Co. established the first oil mill 

 worked by steam, and the Ceylon trade in coconut 

 oil became quite a popular investment among the 

 local civilian and military classes. In the same 

 year, already mentioned, 1820, Captain Steward 

 took home a cargo of coconut oil, using the stems 

 of the plantain plant to fill up the interstices 

 between the barrels. It has also been stated that 

 the first coconut oil mills worked by steam power 

 at Colombo were established there by the then 

 > Governor, Sir R. Wilmot Horton, and their first 

 shipment of oil was made to London on Govern- 

 ment account, the mills being afterwards acquired 

 by Messrs. Acland, Boyd & Co. 



