140 Among Men and Horses. 



but ruined them. As a remedy, they seized upon cinchona, 

 which under their diligent hands produced so much quinine 

 that that valuable antiperiodic fell in price from ten shillings 

 to two shillings an ounce, and had then to be all but aban- 

 doned. Cocoanuts and cocoa brought, in a few instances, 

 relief to financial strain : till tea, in an incredibly short time, 

 has made them prosperous. The abundant moisture and 

 warmth in the Ceylon planting districts, render the ground 

 eminently fitted for the production of 'leaf : even more so 

 than for that of berry. The fear, which I sincerely trust is 

 unfounded, hangs over these fine fellows that the light soil of 

 their land may in time become exhausted, and that ' red 

 spider ' and blight may ruin their tea industry. If that day 

 does come, which I fervently pray may be long postponed, 

 it will find the brave planters full of resource and courage. 

 I have sojourned among planters in Tirhoot, Chumparun, 

 Assam, Cachar, Kangra, Wynaad, and Ceylon, and have 

 carried away only one impression about them, and that is, 

 that for hospitality, sporting feeling, and entire absence of 

 ' side,' they are not to be surpassed. 



The only breaking incident worthy of notice which I can 

 recall in connection with Ceylon, was that of a bad jibber 

 whose owner, at one of my classes, insisted on seeing if I 

 could make his animal start kindly in harness. As this gen- 

 tleman was the superintendent of several tea-gardens, I could 

 not very well refuse his request to be served first. On ordinary 

 occasions, I was always allowed my own discretion in choosing 

 the order of taking the horses which were brought to me to 

 experiment upon, and naturally liked to commence with a 

 frisky one or two, so as to give some zest to the proceedings, 

 and to keep the sulky ones to the end, by which time I would 

 have had an opportunity of winning the confidence and good- 

 will of my audience. As this gentleman appeared to ' fancy 

 himself a good deal about his knowledge of horses, I thought 

 of a way to pay him out and at the same time to utilise his 

 influence in increasing the numbers of my class. Accordingly 



