CEYLON COCOA ESTATE 139 



woman and her husband went and beat the 

 husband of the money-lender, who happened to 

 be store watchman. All the other coolies took 

 sides and joined in the fray, and hence the 

 hubbub. Doubtless in a day or two they will 

 all be the greatest of friends ; this is cooly 

 nature. 



July 20th. — " Peter Piper picked a peck of 

 pepper" persistently repeats itself in my brain 

 to-day. Our Peter Pipers are picking not only 

 pecks but bushels of pepper, and a very pretty 

 crop it is. It grows in clusters about two inches 

 long, depending from a vine with oval, deeply 

 veined leaves, which twine in luxuriant masses 

 up the stems of forest trees. The pepper berries 

 when first picked and piled up in the store are 

 a study in greens and reds, for as they ripen 

 they turn a lovely coral colour, becoming when 

 dried the ordinary black peppercorns we are 

 accustomed to use in England. The cultivation 

 of the pepper vine is said to be increasing in 

 Ceylon. Chilis are another product which do 

 well in the low country, and would surely pay 

 to grow when it is taken into consideration 

 that more than one million are imported annually 

 into this island from India. We have numbers 

 of the smaller chilis growing in various parts 

 of the Estate. They are much appreciated by 

 the coolies, who use them in their curry, and 

 also by our Appu who makes from them chili 



