TlMBHRU 



3f 



local advantage, add those enjoyed by Java, plus those 

 specially charafteristic of the Sandwich Islands, and so 

 on ; and then I have no doubt we should be able to 

 score results that would make a record. 



All suggestions and general information that can be 

 gleaned from external sources should of course receive 

 the fullest and most careful consideration, and herein 

 will lie the safety and wisdom to be derived from a 

 multitude of councillors ; but the decision as to how far 

 these suggestions should be adopted, and in what manner 

 they ought to be carried out, lies undoubtedly with our- 

 selves, lest a plethora of cooks should spoil the feast. 

 In the long run such a course will be found to be the 

 sound path to be followed. What is one Estate's meat, 

 is another Estate's poison. A policy that would bring 

 forth good results on Plantation Hampton Court in the 

 extreme West, might cause disappointment if pursued on 

 Plantation Skeldon in the extreme East of the colony ; 

 for even within the limits of Demerara we find widely 

 varying conditions. For instance, our coal consumption 

 at Nonpareil was felt to be excessive when compared 

 with results obtained in Java and the Sandwich Islands; 

 and we felt greatly discredited. But when one of our 

 principal critics on this score had visited Demerara and 

 made himself acquainted with details of the conditions 

 under which we had to work at Nonpareil itself, he un- 

 reservedly withdrew any stigma he had unintentionally 

 cast upon us. Another gentleman from the same quarter 

 expressed surprise when, to use his own words, he found 

 that in various methods we had originated we could give 

 the Islanders " points." A third visitor, who had tra- 

 velled in Java and Australia, and who keeps himself in 



