CEYLON COCOA ESTATE 73 



the good sorts are so called, but here it is a 

 dire offence, and I am continually corrected 

 and told to say plantain. 



This reminds me of another mistake which 

 all newcomers are apt to make, namely to 

 speak of a tea, or a coffee Plantation. This 

 is a terrible solecism. Here in Ceylon one 

 must speak of Estates, — a tea Estate, a coffee 

 Estate, and so on. In India they are called 

 Gardens, and in the West Indies Plantations. 

 Each country has its own little nomenclature, 

 and it is amusing of what importance they think 

 it. 



" If only I were a botanist!" is my constant 

 lament and especially to-day for I have found 

 a (to me) new flower. It has something of the 

 form and quite the scent of a white azalea, only 

 the flower has four distinct petals, the upper 

 ones marked with blotches, some maroon and 

 some yellow, quantities of long white stamens, 

 leaves rather like a large myrtle, a woody stem 

 with thorns. It grows on a low bush, and 

 is not common about here. I have only found 

 two specimens, one on a hill, the other on 

 ground near a river ; the one from the upper 

 ground having much smaller and more glossy 

 leaves than the other. To understand one's 

 excitement and delight over finding some new 

 natural object, you must have experienced what 

 it is to live an isolated life. I am often reminded 



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