324 RACING IN CEYLON 



the same condition, with the sole exception 

 that those thick-and-thin supporters of the 

 royal sport In the land of the spicy breezes, the 

 planters, are now as prosperous on their ever- 

 increasing output of tea as they were then 

 the reverse on a continually diminishing pro- 

 duction of coffee. With Improved finances, 

 no doubt the quality of the racing has also 

 improved, but not I daresay the good-fellow- 

 ship of the old Impecunious days, when we 

 nearly all lived on advances, obtained with 

 difficulty from the old Oriental Bank, who 

 were then de facto the owners of pretty well 

 every ''shuck" coffee estate In the Island. 

 One has a feeling of regret, too, to think 

 that the old concern failed to weather the 

 storm, especially when one reflects that 

 these same worn-out, worthless estates now 

 grow the finest tea In the world. But this 



