Sept. i, X893.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
179 
70 iki EM0f. 
MOSQUITO BLIGHT. 
Dear Sir, — In ihe course of a eonversation 
lately, on the Enemies of Tea in Oeylon, the quea- 
tion was alartcd whether mosquito blight had yet 
visited Oeylon. Can you or any of your readers 
desoribe the appearance of this blight, and what 
remedies are recommended or have been found 
useful in the treatment of same ? The T.A.. does 
not mention it. — Yours faithfully, 
ENQUIBER. 
[" Mosquito Blight " ia better known by the 
Dime which made it so sadly familiar to ooooa 
planters in Ceylon a few years ago, namsly KtU- 
pdtis Antonii. It has not attacked tea in Ceylon 
yet seriously, so far as we know ; but in India 
it ia no uneommon ooourrenoe to see a field with 
a luxuriant flush one day, all brown and withered 
the next, from a sudden attaak of this enemy. 
The insect attacks the young shoots, sucking out 
the juices, ao that they wither and die. Bed and 
black ants readily prey on Helopdtis if they hare 
the chance. " Enquirer " will find a great deal 
about the pest in past volumea of the T.A. and 
a short account on page 134 of the Tea-planter' i 
Manual— T.A.} 
PLANTING ; IMMIGRANT LABOUR ; CLIMATB 
AND FOOD IN GERMAN EAST AFEICA ; 
MR. COWLEY IN DEFENCE. 
Derema, Tanga, German East Africa, June 80th. 
De.\b Sib,— Were it not for the expense and 
trouble that the German East Africa Company 
has already been put to in introducing oonduatora 
and foreign laboursrs into this Colony, and the 
serious injury such a letter as that which appeared 
in "ihe Ceylon Examiner" of the 25th April last is 
likely to do to the Company and to myself, I think 
Mr. Percy Braine's letter would suffice; but in 
view of all this I mubt aek you to do me the favour 
of publiahing my reply as well ; for the letter in 
" Tbe Examiner" simply teems with oriental ex- 
aggerations from beginning to end. 
There is not the slightest truth in the state- 
ment that "the estates are 50 to 60 miles from 
the soast and that it takes about a month to get 
here." In proof of what I say, I can first of all 
produce tracings of the "whole of the cooly route" 
from Tanga to this, and of the "railway trace" 
ball way, and besides these tracings I have the 
Agent's letter dated the 16th June 1892 stating 
•' the flonduotors arrived here (Tanga) from Zan- 
zibar on the 1-iih instant and are now leaving 
tor Derema ;" and to this I would add they ar- 
rived here on the 18th June, thui accomplishing 
the journey in the average time of 2 days, the 
d. stance being under 45 miles, and tot looking at 
all as if they had " suSered eontidetably from a 
scarcity of good water." So much for statement No 1. 
Now, turning to the second statement that "they 
had Bufiered considerably from a scarcity of good 
water." I must say they had only themselves to 
blame to a very great extent in this matter. Con- 
sidering they were two whole days in Tanga, during 
which time they were careful enough to lay in a 
stock of tinned provisions, besides brandy, for 
uou6ULuption on the road, they could also have 
provided themselves with aoda, a common enough 
drink in Tanga ; and, supposing the soda had run 
dry, by exeroiBiDg a little forethought, they could 
very easily have got filtered water, or cold tea, not 
to mention coconuts. However, be this as it may, 
with regard to drinkable water on the road, it can 
be obtained in quantity at two plaeee, and in small 
quantities, at, at any rate, one other place along 
the road ; but of course to obtain it one must try 
a little persuasion in the shape of copper money, 
for no native is going to bestir himself, just for 
the sake of a little water even without some slight 
encouragement being offered by strangers. 
I have brought up as many as 22.3 persons with 
me and have provided all with water, partly by 
carrying some, and partly by buying it for them 
along the road, paying a few pices for each chatty 
full, and had the 8 conductors only thought of all 
likely requirements they could have made them- 
selves perfectly indf p' ndent of any water for 
drinking purposes along the roid, especially as all 
expenses for porters, drink and provisiona were paid 
for by the estate. 
With regard to the number of Ceylonese originally 
here, there never were 8, even il Burghers, Minha- 
leae and Malaya are counted together. When I 
started I brought 1 Tamil with me, since that 1 
Malay and 2 Ceylonese or Burghers followed in 
June, and 1 Tamil, 1 Burgher and 2 Sinhalese 
arrived during Deaember, and of this lot tbe 8 
Burghers have bjen the only ones to return. 
The first of these I sent off because shortly after 
his arrival he complained of pains in his chest 
and throat, and according to his own admission 
he should never have left Ceylon being in ill-health 
before starting ; the second to go was obliged to 
return because he had no ergagement here, having 
been employed to bring out various products, and 
some men (had the Ceylon Government allowed 
thera to go,) and the last of all to leave was 
compelled to do bo because be was peculiarly 
eusceptibla to fever when others fell ill of it, so 
that it would have been nearer the truth to have 
said that siekneas (contracted in Africa) compelled 
1 to leave and not some, thereby leaving ihe im- 
preesion that all 3 were compelled to leave because 
of the elimate. 
And now regarding the elimate and its efl«it 
on the labourers here : With the exception of the 
death ol a little girl of 6 years of age from acute 
pneumonia following an attack of fever, not a 
single Javanete or Chinaman has died of fev*r 
up to the present time. The few deaths that 
have occurred, and anongit the Chintte only, were 
due to oontagiouB diseases, sonsumption and pure 
dysentery, some of the men being ill from the 
time of landing, and two deaths out of these few 
not ooeurring on the estate at all, and one of 
the Chioeee committed suicide whilst cfl hie head 
with dysentery and under the influence of opium. 
On arrival here slight fever did attack a good 
many at firit towards end of August. Duricg 
September the eases of farer had dwindlel down 
by 50 per cent., and in Oatober there were m oases, 
and ineluJed amongst the fever-strioken ones 
were many cases of contagious diseases. Since 
October eases of pure fever ha^e been exceedingly 
few and far between, the diseases imported giving 
US far more trouble than any fever oases, 
so that what business tbe writer has •• for believ- 
ing that if Sinhalese oeme here they would have 
to return within a year," that " the attacks of fever 
arc unbearable and oairy one oS within eight and 
ten days" I cannot conceive ; nor, as I understand 
this assertion that there ia "no proper medical 
attendance." The medical officer here haa been 
i attached to the Army Medical Departrnent both 
ill Germany and out here — in the Hoipitala— and 
on ihe march, and ia fully qualified to deal with 
all ordinary oases Buoh aa one meetfl with either oa 
