No. 58.— 1907.] 



PROCEEDINGS. 



279 



6. His Excellency the Governor ; Does any gentleman 

 wish to speak on the Paper just read and the notes thereon ? 



There was no discussion. 



7. His Excellency the Governor : It only remains for me 

 to propose on your behalf a cordial vote of thanks to the two 

 gentlemen who have given this Society such interesting Papers as 

 we have listened to this evening. The first Paper especially, 

 though long, is of particular interest to this Society, considering 

 that the Society has taken such an interest in the Natural History 

 section of this Museum. The Paper in itself shows a remarkable 

 amount of research. This we quite expect from Mr. Donald 

 Ferguson, who, I understand, is a wonderful authority on Dutch 

 Records. Mr. Anthonisz himself you have heard read his portion 

 of the Paper, and he also is a gentleman to whom the Members of 

 this Societj^ always listen with the greatest attention, and who 

 always interests them in the valuable matter he brings forward to 

 their notice. I am sure we all much regret, as Mr. Ferguson has 

 explained in his Paper, that such a valuable collection of paintings 

 has been lost to this Museum. The Paper in itself is, as I say, a 

 most interesting one, and it may be divided into a consideration, if 

 I may so express it, of the employer and the employed. The matter 

 of the employer rather strikes me personally as coming to the Island 

 and only here a couple of months, because it shows me that a 

 Governor a century and a half ago had a great deal more time at 

 his disposal than a Governor has now. As regards myself, much 

 as I should wish to do so — and ignorant as I am on matters 

 connected with Oriental study — I feel that it would be impossible 

 for a Governor now-a-days to devote such time as Governor Loten 

 did to the study of natural history and architectural antiquities, 

 and also to write a long series of notes such as is referred to on 

 page 227 in the lectures we have just heard delivered. What is 

 j^articularly interesting is that this Dutch Governor, who had 

 rendered such excellent service and such varied service, ultimately 

 settled in England, and devoted himself to the study of zoology 

 and botany ; and it was in connection with the ability he displayed 

 in these subjects he attained the high honour of being made a 

 Fellow of the Royal Society. 



As regards the artist himself, I think all are agreed he was not 

 only a heaven-born genius, but also that it simply shows — he 

 was three-fourths or four-fifths Ceylonese, I forget which — what 

 an enormous power of conception of the artistic there is inherent 

 in the native races, which we see not only by the exhibition of Mr. 

 de Bevere, but also in other exhibitions of art, both in India and 

 in this Colony. 



As regards the Paper written by Mr. John Pole, I confess I am 

 out of my depth ; but I feel sure the specimens are extremely 

 interesting, and we feel deeply grateful to Mr. Pole for his further 

 offer that when his colleague visits this Colony next year he will 

 place at the disposal of the Society additional specimens even 

 more interesting than those placed before the Society this evening. 



*r 36-07 



