“THE COFFEE PLANTER OF CEYLON.” 57 
associations: which deprive the victim of his own self- 
respect and the respect of even the coolies it is his 
business to command. Rapidly or gradually the depths 
of degradation are reached, and the once bright youth 
is a broken-down loafer, mooning about, talking of 
his having been unfortunate, and that in Ceylon 
people are ‘‘down on a poor chap” who has not 
been ‘‘lucky.” We will not fill in the details of a 
picture but too familiar to many of our readers. The 
waifs and strays of the planting community—who 
find asylums at the expense of their fellows—are to 
be heard of, if not seen, in most large districts (some 
are shipped off by subscription), and if you listen to 
their story and believe it, you will lay at the door of 
misfortune what owed its origin simply to fault—to 
moral infirmity. Our readers willnot misunderstand 
us as making an assertion more sweeping than we intend 
it to be: we are talking only of a percentage, though 
a serious one. But to be a good coffee planter it is not 
enough that a man should have a good constitution and 
industrious habits, with the power of controlling his 
appetites. He must have at commencing, or acquire as 
he goes on, afair acquaintarce with many branches of 
general knowledge and especially natural science. It is: 
not necessary that the coffee planter should be learned 
in the classical languages or fluent in the modern 
tongues, but certainly a facility in acquiring 
languages is of importance. The manager of a coffee 
estate in Ceylon, to be thoroughly useful and 
successful, ought to be well up in_ colloquial 
Tamil, at least. Mr. Sabonadiére attributes his 
own good relations with his coolies to his ability. 
to communicate with them directly by a fluent 
use of their own language. We know what the 
prejudices against the ‘‘ middleman” are amongst 
races far higher in the scale of civilization than 
the coolies. We cannot wonder, therefore, at the 
great advantage possessed by the superintendent, 
who, without descending a step to anything that 
is degrading in the native level, is able wth pre- 
cision to convey his directions to the workmer 
in their own language, and perfectly to understand 
the reports, written or oral, of his kanganies 
(overseers of gangs), and the representation of coo- 
lies who may consider themselves aggrieved. To be 
a good superintendent, a man, then, must be a 
bit of a philologist. He must have a knowledge 
of law at least so far as the relations of master 
and servant are concerned, and the relations of 
the planters with thes owner of trespassing cattle. He 
ought to be well up in sanitary science, especially 
‘the philosophy of smells.” Mr. Tytler, of Dum- 
