AND THE MALAY STATES 19 



Very early in the day, I was introduced by my request to the dhoby 

 man, who is the washerwoman of the East. He takes one's clothing out 

 to the nearest stream, wades into the water, and pounds the dirt out on 

 the rocks, then partially dries and irons them. He also has a habit of 

 infesting them with a parasite which results in the "dhobies 7 itch." I 

 had a mixture of starch, boric acid, and powdered zinc, which I desired 

 to try on this parasite, and although I told him when he took the contract 

 to be sure to give me my money's worth of germs, I didn't get one, and 

 I am sure he had some, for he was always scratching. I fancy he deliv- 

 ered mine to the chap who had the room next to me, for I used to hear 

 him scratching and "saying things" when night had fallen, and the "spicy 

 breezes blew soft o'er Ceylon's isle." 



"HEVEA" AT HENERATGODA. 



[Large tree in foreground on which tapping experiments were 

 made for several years.] 



The next morning I called on Mr. Ferguson, of the Tropical Agri- 

 culturist, who for many years has been a high authority on tropical 

 planting. To my regret, he was absent, being then in the United States, 

 and, his nephew informed me, likely to call at my New York office at 

 any time. I learned, however, that Director J. C. Willis, F. L. s., of the 

 Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya, was then in town, and at the hotel 

 familiarly known as the "G. O. H.," meaning the Grand Oriental Hotel, 

 where I found him, and was able to secure his assistance in planning 

 my visit to the typical Herca plantations. 



