CEYLON COCOA ESTATE 49 



cucumber appears with scalloped edges, and 

 mashed potato is often moulded into the form 

 of a fantailed pigeon, or takes the semblance 

 of one huge potato — even the angularities and 

 depressions are copied, and so complete is the 

 deception, that the first time this dish was 

 handed to me I exclaimed (much to the amuse- 

 ment of the company) " Oh what an enormous 

 potato ! I think it is the largest I have ever 

 seen." The cooks seem to have a real love of 

 their art. Our " boy " is at this moment revel- 

 ling in Miss Young's M Domestic Cookery." 

 He can read just enough English to make out 

 the recipes, which are very clearly and simply 

 expressed. He generally manages to carry 

 them out correctly ; but one day it was a little 

 perplexing to have " Exeter Stew " sent up 

 with what ought to have been suet balls, made 

 into a pudding paste, whilst inside it reposed 

 the meat made into balls, thus reversing the 

 usual process. We benefit by his experiments, 

 though I much fear that a box of stores, which 

 I have just had up from Colombo, will in 

 consequence come to an end much sooner than 

 I expected. 



February 2nd. — Last night Rob and I were 

 going for our usual evening walk, when an 

 enormous buffalo rushed through the cocoa 

 close to us. Then began an amusing chase, 

 Rob put five coolies on his track, and after 



