HIS JUDICIOUS ADMINISTRATION. 421 



bridged. The North - Central Province, a purely 

 Sinhalese rice-growing division, was called into 

 existence, and large amounts were invested in 

 tanks and roads. About fifty miles were added to 

 the railway system, and arrangements made for a 

 further extension. When Governor Gregory left 

 in 1877, a large extent of previously unoccupied 

 country had been opened up, and an impetus given 

 to natives and European colonists in the cultiva- 

 tion of new jDroducts, which alone saved the island 

 from a serious collapse in the years of commercial 

 depression and of coffee blight which followed. 

 Measures were adopted for the conservation of 

 forests, and for preventing the extinction of elk, 

 deer, and elephants ; the registration of titles was 

 provided for ; Colombo, Kandy, and Galle were 

 much improved ; arrangements were made for a 

 good water-supply to each town. 



" Very early in his administration, Sir William 

 Gregory, to his special credit be it said, saw the 

 necessity for new products, and he used all his 

 personal and official influence to secure their de- 

 velopment, introducing a new feature into the 

 Governor's annual speech to the Legislative Council 

 in special notices of the progress of tea, cinchona, 

 cacao, Liberian coffee, and rubber cultivation." 



With one more passage from Mr Ferguson's book 

 I will conclude these remarks. 



" Ceylon wants a Governor like Sir H. Ward or 



