viii Coco-nuts The Consols of the East 



A BOOM IN Coco-NuTS. 



To the Editor of the " Post and Mercury" 



" SIR, Several prospectuses, advance no- 

 tices, and other printed matter have come to my 

 knowledge recently, from which I gather that 

 an attempt is being made to educate the public 

 up to a coming boom in coco-nuts. Some of 

 the prospectuses, &c., contain quotations from 

 my book, ' Coco-nuts the Consols of the East/ 

 particularly Sir W. H. Lever's * Foreword ' 

 to it, and from articles in my paper, Tropical 

 Life. 



" Correspondents, in some cases perfect 

 strangers to me, have brought the matter to my 

 notice, and have asked me whether the state- 

 ments are reliable and if I can recommend 

 investment. Under these circumstances I ask 

 the indulgence of your columns to state that in 

 no case have I, or my publishers, been asked 

 to give or given permission to use the extracts 

 from my book or paper, and I would prefer that 

 they should not do so ; but my solicitors advise 

 me that I cannot prevent such quotations from 

 appearing. 



"I would also warn your readers against 

 relying on any short quotations from my book 

 or paper without making themselves fully 

 acquainted with the context ; and would add 

 that I have always been careful to warn my 

 readers against relying on a larger annual 



