Mat i, 1889.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
7 73 
the list for comparison: — 
Species. 
Per- | 
centage of 1 Habitat. 
Alkaloids. 
Erythroxylon Coca 
„ arcolatum ... 
„ macrophlylum 
„ ovatum 
„ montanum 
„ laurifolium 
„ retiMum 
„ monoyynwn 
0760 Grown at Jamaica. 
0033 Jamaica; dried in 
1 shade. 
0023 Jamacia; dried in 
1 sun. 
0000 British Guiana. 
0020 I „ „ 
0 030 ? Java. 
0-050 ? 1 „ 
0-030 ? 1 „ 
* 0-040 India* > 
— Pharmaceutical Journal. 

A VISITOR FEOM NATAL. 
Six years ago, Mr. A. H. Bisset of the Matale 
district left for Natal where his father General 
Sir John Bisset had taken up a wide extent of 
land on the banks of the largest river in the Colony 
about 100 miles south of Durban in order, as he 
hoped, to establish a planting colony. Mr. Walter 
Bisset, also a Ceylon planter, had preceded his 
brother. The latter is now manager of a gold-mine in 
the Transvaal with an income about equal to 
that of our best paid public officers next to the 
Governor. Mr. A. H. Bisset is still planter 
and farmer in the lowcountry, having com- 
munication twice a month by steamer round the 
coast with Durban. Mr. Bisset has come to Ceylon 
on a few weeks' visit by the S. S. " Pongola," 
and we heartily welcome him back here, hoping he 
will have a pleasant and profitable time, even to 
the extent of carrying away to Natal all the use- 
ful wrinkles he can pick up in reference to our 
tea cultivation and preparation, and the treatment 
of any other products suited to his planta- 
tion in the far south. The "Pongola" is one 
of two steamers now regularly running between 
Durban and Calcutta in the interests of cooly 
labour for the colony. They are likely always 
to call at Colombo or Galle en route, so that the 
means of getting to South Africa will be made 
very accessible, and few trips could ba more plea- 
sant to those who like a longer voyage than 
usual now-a-days, with some weeks of holiday in 
one of the finest countries under the sun. The 
return trip could then be made by the next 
steamer up. But it is possible that we may have 
passengers from Ceylon going off to the gold fields, 
rather than for visits or holiday trips ; for there 
can be no doubt that there is a grand future 
before South Africa with its wealth of minerals of 
the most precious description. Already the Colo- 
nists talk of a thousand miles of rich gold-yielding 
reefs, besides (alas!) hills of silver and, apart from, 
apparently, exhaustless diamond fields. All this 
is pretty well realized by the outside world, and 
as a consequence Mr. Bisset reports that the 
amount of capital which has been, and is being, 
thrown into South Africa and especially the Trans 
vaal is quite fabulous, and the population is also 
being rapidly increased through the influx of would-be 
miners of every grade. Mr. Bisset goes so far as 
to think that Durban may eventually become another 
Melbourne. At present though a very busy port with 
an enormously developed trade, a great many of 
the inhabitants have run away to the gold-fields 
and there seem only to be men enough left to 
look aft"r the families ! The railways are being 
rapidly extended inland, but South Africa is, of 
* Analysis of Dr. "Warden, 
course, a country of magnificent distances, and 
as yet there is much hard, expensive work in 
transport. For this reason, among others, to 
planters and farmers on the Coast whose cooly 
labourers have been tempted away and for whose 
produce the market offered on the gold fields is 
far too distant, the rush after gold is by no 
means an unmitigated blessing. The farmers in the 
Transvaal, on the other hand, will be certain 
to reap a golden harvest through the mere sale of 
their produce and stock. 
But on the whole, Mr. Bisset is well-pleased 
with his planting home in Natal, out of the tropios, 
being in 31° South, but with so mild a climate by 
the riverside that frost is never experienced, the 
temperature scarely sinking below 42°. Coffee, 
tea and other sub-tropical products are cul- 
tivated, a good return being got by supplying the 
local markets. Labour is, of course, the drawback, 
but coolies from India are likely now to be 
more abundantly and regularly introduced ; and where 
the Natal planter-farmer has the pull is in 
raising all the grain, vegetables and stock required 
by him and his staff on the property, as in the 
case of the Brazil planters. This makes the cost 
of cultivating the tropical products, wonderfully 
low. But again, Mr. Bisset says that he and 
others have so many strings to their bow ; for 
instance his is one of the most succcessful fruit- 
growing countries in the world : the finest mangoes 
he has ever seen are growing close to grand straw- 
berry beds ; while oranges, bananas, apples, &c, 
&c, prosper amazingly and there is a good and 
steadily improving market at Durban for all the 
fruit that may be produced. The planting of orchard 
trees and garden cultivation generally constitute 
therefore a very important branch of the planter's 
work and property in Natal. The South African 
Colony has certainly suited Mr. Bisset in health ; 
he never looked better although the voyage up has 
been a trying one through the great heat experi- 
enced, more especially in the Mozambique Channel. 
This heat affected the horses brought by the S- S. 
" Pongola " unfavourably ; but no doubt they will 
soon get over this and there are some serviceable 
animals among them. 
TARRED PAVING. 
Preparatory to again visiting the Australian 
colonies after an interval of eight years, our 
" senior " was engaged for some ten days in " red- 
ding up" (as the Scotch say), a vast heap of papers 
brought by him from Melbourne, and whioh he meant 
to deal with in that leisure time that never came I 
He felt special self-reproach for not earlier bringing 
to the notice of the Municipality and others, the 
process of the laying down of tar paving, which 
was so conspicuous and go useful in the (1881) Ex- 
hibition grounds as well as in Melbourne city, From 
the City Surveyor he received a paper of directions, 
from whichwe now quote : — 
Description of the peocess of Laying down 
Tabbed Paving, as Adopted by the 
City Council. 
In the first place all the metal and screenings must 
be thoroughly mixed with tar, turning it over and 
over again, untilevery particle of metal and screenings 
is coated with the tar, but not to such an extent as 
wil! admit of any tar running away from the bottom 
of the heaps. 
The. tar for the metal is applied cold ; but for the 
screenings it is applied heated from an iron boiler. If 
the screenings are wet, they must be driiid either by 
the sun or on iron plates by the fire. About 1| gallons 
of tar are required to each superficial yard of paving. 
Prepare the foothpath (to receive the metal) by boxing 
out to a depth of three inches below the tow of the 
