»46 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
fSEPT. I, 1893. 
to revisit the old country in 1867 and bring 
out his " Souvenirs of Ceylon," a handsome 
oblong volume with illustrations, as a gift-book, 
giving a popular account of much connected 
with the island. A further visit was made in 
1871, and it was then that in consequence of 
a threatened break-down, Sir VVm. (iull advised 
him not to venture back to England, at any 
rate save in summer, as his constituti<m was 
evidently thorouglily acclimatized to the tropics. 
We may next refer to Mr. A. M. Ferguson's 
labours as Ceylon Commissioner to (lie Mel- 
bourne Exhibition of 1880-81, for wliicli he 
was chosen by universal acclamation, wliile 
his services were acknowledged by liis fellow- 
colonists with a purse of 1{10,000, a gold watch 
and service of plate, followed from Her Majesty, 
on the recommendation of the Governor, by the 
honour of C.M.G. It is not for us to say how 
well-deserved these tributes to good work were, 
or how his exertions on behalf of Ceylon tea in 
Melbourne bore good fruit in increasing ex- 
ports to Australia, which have gone on to the pre- 
sent day. No more visits were paid to Europe, 
but Mr. Ferguson made several trips to India — to 
the Nilgiris and to Darjeeling as well as other 
parts — in connection with bin promotion of the 
cinchona and tea plantinf^ enterprises which he did 
.so much to develop by his example as well as 
by his writings. In tliis connection it may be 
mentioned how heartily he welcomed the appear- 
ance of The Tropical Aqriculturist which we had 
started during liis absence in Victoria, a stranger 
bringing a copy under his notice before our 
first issue and advice had reached him. In the 
samei way each successive "Handbook and 
Directory" and each "Planting Manual" from our 
press excited in him the liveliest interest and 
satisfaction, while to many of them, of course^ 
he made valuable contributions. His own first 
" Commonplace Book and Directory" appeared 
in 1859, and it was peculiarly interesting for 
its " Planting Gazetteer" which we have often 
wished to revise and republish. Directories were 
continued in 1860 and onwards ; but they were 
small volumes imtil developed into the larger 
"Handbook and Directory" so well-known of 
recent times. From 1879 onwards, Mr. Ferguson 
had been spared tlie necessity of coming to his 
desk in the newspaper office ; but he was always 
reading or writing in the public interest while 
in Colombo, and when at Abbotsford his letters 
" From the Hills" were very regular. The illness 
of liis wife iu 1889 necessitated another trip to 
Australia, and her i-enioval in August 1890 made 
a gre.it blank ; but he made himself happy with 
sons, ^^randcliildieu and nieces in the intervals 
of his oecupations- 
was, as is well-known, never happier and 
nevei' more his natural self than when on Abbots- 
ford plantation, Upper Dimbula. He loved every 
hill and stream, knoll and dale, aye almoiit every 
tree on the property which he had seen changed 
from original forest into fields of f-od'ee and cin- 
chona and te^i and of useful and ornamental 
trees. Until quite an old man up to and over 
his 70th year he wa« accustomerl to take such 
walks on the plantation, a long and steep one, 
and into the jungle, as often tried the mettle 
of far younger men. Indeed, it became a proverb 
in the neighbourhood tliat " old Ferguson ' could 
walk the most muscular young planter oflF hits 
legs, while all the time keenly enjoying the 
vegetation and the scenery, the distant hills and 
cloud effects, or the note of birds and the 
flower of a striking or new plant cloae at hand, 
and at the same time pouring out information 
intermixed with shrewd inquiry and keen 
observation. NoUiing afforded him greater plea- 
sure than taking visitors over Abbotsford,— hie 
readiness and enjoyment in this way equalling 
that of his great prototype (if we may lio say) 
Sir Walter Scott in tlie Abbotsford liome he 
had created by the Tweed, in the early part 
of the centuiy. 
And now of Mr. Ferguson's character and work 
as colonist and journalist for fifty-five years in this 
island, what need of us to speak ? He was the 
oldest Britisii editor in Asia by a long way. He 
belonged to the old school of journalists who 
were far more literary and descriptive writers, 
than politicians, and busy social critics ready to 
watch and develop any turn of public opinion. 
The comfort of the good old days when there 
was only a fortnightly mail with ample time 
to digest all its news, was much more to our 
senior's liking than the hurry and worry of more 
recent years, and hisi power and taste lay 
more in descriptive writing than in edit^irial 
work. He has never been excelled in his des- 
cription of the natural beauties of Ceylon, and 
his was a poet's prose, for he had the poetic 
Celt's imagination highly developed, and some 
of his writings of " the fifties " describing visits 
to the Dumbara Valley, to Kelebokka, to the 
Matale liill ranges &c. liave only been equalled 
as word-paintings by the wealth of language 
which in later years he lavished on Upper 
Dimbula, Xuwara Eliya, Hakgalla and the 
surrounding panoramas. An accomplished Aus- 
tralian jouinalist — now editor of one of the 
leading papers— told us after a year's obsen-^ation 
! in Ceylon, of our senior, that his was one of 
I the most interesting personalities lie had ever 
met from Carlyle onwards— unique and pictur- 
esque in his journalistic and book writings, but 
scarcely intended for the constfint and trying 
duties of " daily ' editor. And yet never was 
' there one more ready or determined to defend 
' the right as he saw it, against all odds— never 
a public writer more ready to stand up to, and 
■ denounce, mistaken autocrat or wrongdoer, 
