246 
TH£ TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October x, 1888 
" The lower slopes produced, in immense quan- 
tities, the finest grass I had seen in the island; 
this it is which has rendered proverbial amongst 
Kandians the milk of Lagalla and the fatness of 
its cattle. The people of the neighbouring districts 
profit by its rich grazing grounds, and drive bul- 
locks and buffaloes in thousands (when their ser- 
vices in cultivation, or as beasts of burthen, can be 
spared) to fatten in these luxuriant pastures : nei- 
ther can the proprietors prevent this intrusion, as 
by Kandian custom all pasturage is common, unless 
fenced in by the proprietor ; that is to say, he 
has the right of property, but, when left unenclosed, 
cannot obtain compensation for a trespass. 
" In the wooded valleys that intervene between 
the successive ridges over which 'we crossed 
oinnamon-bushes were abundant ; and a few trees 
of this spice were pointed out with stems about 
eighteen inches in diameter, and of height pro- 
portioned to their size. The barks of these large 
trees had a strong flavour, but when chewed felt 
coarse and gritty. 
"Near the Batandua pass, an elephant, in attempt- 
ing to reach the leaves of a bo-tree, a food of which 
they are remarkably fond, had tumbled headlong 
from a precipice ; and, falling on his thick, straight, 
short tusks, had shivered them to the extremity of 
th eir sockets. The animal was killed by the shock; 
and a Kandian, who passed soon after, secured the 
shattered ivory, which he produced to me, and 
pointed out the rock from which the animal had 
fallen." 
The goodness of the Laggala pasturage continues 
to be widely appreciated by the Kandyans on both 
sides of the mountains and one of the troubles 
of the planters is to keep buffaloes driven across 
to the patanas to graze, out of their clearings, 
wide ditches as well as fences being in many 
cases provided. Forbes refers to the coconut palm 
in the Laggala uplands as well as valleys. We 
were much struck with one prosperous grove near 
a Kandyan village at the back of the Knuckles 
range, before reaching Kalupahana ; quite 2,000, 
to 2,600 feet above sea-level There resides 
a headman who for rather more than sym- 
pathy with the would-be Rebels of '47-8, was 
deprived of his office and has ever since been 
under a cloud. His village home with its groves 
of fruit trees and surrounding upland rice-fields 
is a most picturesque one, and from this point, 
the Kalupahani valley with its fine expanse of 
forest— running from the riverside up to the top of 
an encircling amphitheatre of mountains, — lies like 
a map at our feet. 
(To be continued.) 
r- — .V - ! i ff-(ji v'liif 
NOTES ON FUEL FOR PROPULSION AND 
TEA FACTORIES, AND ON TRAMWAYS, BY 
AN ENGINEER. 
"M. I. C. E." writes:— "I enclose a page of 
' The Machinery Market.' There are one or two 
notices that I think might be interesting to your 
readers who have not seen this paper, especially 
' i'etioleuin Fuel for Looomotion.' As in India so 
eventually here, the ' cost of wood fuel is increasing 
yearly owing to its scarcity.' 
" In the same paper there is an interesting article 
on 'Yariuw's Zephyr System of Propulsion for 
Launches.' ' The material used for burning is the 
ordinary paraffin or kerosine oil, J a gallon of 
oil i>< t hour lor a 4 -horse power engine, no skilled 
labour required.' In view of the increase of 
railways, the daily erection of tea stores and the 
probable scarcity of wood fuel in a few years 
every attention should be given to all new motive 
powers for working machinery of every description. 
" P.S. — Since writing the foregoing I have been 
reading over some notes made from time to time, 
and I think the following suggestion for the benefit 
of the island in view of a future want should be 
adopted. Of course, you are the man to lead every- 
thing. Consequently, I think allowing that the cost 
and therefore the scarcity of wood fuel will before long 
prevail, you should call a meeting of engineers and 
leading planters (1 should include Government en- 
gineers that know an engine from a Coast bullock), 
to appoint a Committee who should read up and write 
papers from time to time on all new improvements 
on the new phase in the history of motive power, 
which undoubtedly we are now entering upon. So 
that not only the junior but many of the senior 
planters should be fully acquainted with what they 
purchase and what is best to purchase for their 
individual requirements. This may at first sight 
seem to be very rough on any agent for any par- 
ticular machine. Whatever motive is eventually 
thought best at one time, it will be sure to be im- 
proved on in this world of progress in a few years. 
So the sooner their firms adopt or improve, the 
better for them. 
"The tramway in Colombo should have been taken 
up long ago. Kingston, Jamaica, is in the hands of 
3 or 4 individuals, and although they are always 
calling out ' wolf,' I know it pays well, and not 
over flat ground like Colombo where you could 
drive one of Barrell & Sons tramway cars with his 
new compound tramway locomotive at any pace. 
In Kingston they use mules. I am afraid to say 
how many mules die in the year, but their Half 
Way Tree line of over 3 miles by a couple of chains 
or so has a rise of an average of from 1 in 170 to 
1 in 150 3 mules up and 2 mules down. Mules 
cost from £15 to £20 each." 
On which we have to remark that the fuel 
question is literally as well as metaphorically 
a " burning" one. We were just stating sugges- 
tions for inquiries respecting Indian coal from the 
Warora mine, when the above letter reached us : — 
Indian Coal to Ceylon. — Noticing that por- 
tion of Col. Conway Gordon's railway report 
on Indian railways which deals with the question 
of fuel, the Indian Engineer states ; — 
The outturn of coal at the Warora Colliery, during 
the year under review, was 113,073 tons, and a 
profit of 6-83 per cent, on the capital cost of the 
oolliery was made. There is every probability that 
a large field of virgin coal exists, and the Great 
Indian Pensinsula Railway Company have made 
arrangements to take 72,000 tons annually at the 
reduced rate of R4-4-0 per ton. 
Here it will be seen that the best coal as yet 
found in India can be obtained by the Great Indian 
Peninsula railway for R4-25 per ton. Might it 
not be worth while for our railway authorities, 
or an enterprising private individual, like Mr. 
Grinlinton, inquiring at what rate coal from the 
Warora mine could be delivered on board a sailing 
vessel in Bombay for transmission to Colombo ? 
With the prospeot of establishing an appreciable 
trade, both the Mining and Railway Companies, 
would probably concede favourable terms. If even 
the contract rate of the Indian Railway Company 
were trebled by the time the coal was landed in 
Colombo, or brought up, say, to R12 per ton, there 
would be, we suppose, a saving of 25 to 30 per 
cent on the rate at which English coal is supplied. 
In that oase the remaining question would be one 
of quality. We have not heard anything further 
of the lignite of Siam, which our good friend Mr. 
