222 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Oct. 2, 1893. 
tliesame age, a period, which it will be ohserved, 
carries oft' very many. 
R. B. T. did not expect it ; indeed, dui iiig the 
past year he frequently wrote : — "I have 15 or 
20 years yet ; let us seiiou«ly consider whether 
it is to be in Tasmania or New Zealand." 
But it was othei-wise ordered. The call came 
rather suddenly at last, and the closing scene was 
comparatively brief. 
In a certain sense — tn the most important of all 
senses — few men could have been better prepared 
ior the change. Albeit, as lie painlessly, silently 
and calmly crossed the bourne, there seemed to 
me an expression of slight surpiise tkat the 
journey had come to an end so soon. 
So ends the succinct, graphic word-picture by 
R. B. T.'s old friend, to be developed some 
day, we hope, into an adequate biography of 
this ' fine old Tropical Planter all of tiie olden 
time,' from whose life-work and varied experiences 
for 51 years— from his 12tli to 63rd year — so 
many valuable lessons may be pointed for the 
young tropical colonists of tlie present age. 
But we cannot deny ourselves or our readers the 
pleasure of quoting from further MSS. which 
"Old Colonist " has forwarded with his essays, and 
we feel sure these extracts will be pardoned for 
the further insight they give into the character 
of Mr. Tytler. First, in his letter to us with 
the above notice, " Old Colonist " says : — 
" Bearing in mind that I was writing for the T.4., 
I have not — as I would bave otherwise so much liked 
to do — dwelt (scarcely touched) upon the most notable 
and interesting side of his character, viz., B. B. T. 
as ail Evaririclist. His tact in preaching to the motley 
crowds on Castle Gate or the Fair : how he was 
attacked by a burly mason who said he " didn't believe 
in a Deevil." Have you not read said the ironical 
R. B. T., "Believe in the D 1 and thou wilt 
be saved " I " Na," said the man stopping to think 
a bit, and t^en the correct version took hold of him. 
He followed T. home, ever after to be fast friends. 
How with a volley of oaths the cobbler in GalJow Gate 
ordered him (T.) out of his shop, as he didn't want 
any hypocritical s there ; but 1. never turn- 
ing a hair, cooUy took to examining the cobbler's work : 
" Man, that's fine work 1 I like the hand-sewn ." 
" Get oot o' this ye " howled the cobbler, but T. 
only continued to turn over the boot. '■ Much better 
than pius or sprigs," ending in getting his foot 
measured, and the savage soier becoming a sincere 
disciple ! 
" Again one would like to tell how T. brought his 
religion into all the aifairs of life. He wasn't 
the man to throw it off with his Sunday clothes. 
' O Lord give us guod crops and fair prices ' 
was his form of asking ' dailij bread ' in Ceylon, 
and you remember the apt petition about ' crimp- 
ing,' when G. M. interjected ' Speak for yourself T.' 
Such traits as these, and gems from the marvellous 
flow of grim huniour have yet to be recounted when 
the opportunity occurs, but I quite recognize that 
the place for all this is not in the T.A," 
Under date, Aberdeen, 24th May, 1879, 
K. B. T. writes to his friend : — 
" It was you, was it not; wrote that scrap in the 
Weekly Free Press on Sleep ? You old rogue 1 
Sleep is coming back to my pillow since Palli is 
coming so to the front with Cacao. Possibly .3 years 
he ce my account will shew large credits per annum — 
Ifio bad sudorific with a good ' night cap ' to pro- 
lUQte sapori&c sweating q& dh^ eneots astvQieh- 
ment at finding one's self with more money than ona 
can possibly mau&ge. ThtN, (when this ' mxI year' 
comes,) I aui to requisition you to join me lo a 
cruise to Manitoba, thence to Color&do, thence 
Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand, and Tasmania inot 
forgetting Cyjirus or Zululand) to prosj/ect." 
Later on, 26th February, 1882, we have another 
characteristic letter : — 
" It seems an age since we exchanged hails. I 
know I am owing you a letter, yours lo me being 
our last, BO here's a s'juare. How are ye — and Thmo't 
(la '! We are as usual, 1 am leck-pKliin t Aye ' f^rnp- 
pet, and doonhadden.' Oh, me— mc!!l Coffoe — 
«ay ' Kauphy ' — (and give it a gucd deep groan.) 
You see it tram/onus ! not one letter of the proper 
word. It Las got to this. There s not one comlort 
such as there uicd to be 20 years ago when all waa 
roseate in tl e future sky. Fact w»s we Oun t.oouD 
KORWAJiD. Now alas we look back, and preienti 
My wonder is that I am still upheld. It is purely 
and surely to God's providence alone that this ii 
attributable. Yet — cacao loums hopefully ahead and 
may carry a ijoor fellow through. Do write me 
something, aud soon — for 1 am wae. 
" What a grand success is John Ferguson's Tropictd 
AyriculturUt idea ! It promises (or indeed is already) 
to be a most valuable production to the entire world. 
"When are you cooiing this way? I nm wexryiiif 
for a crack ? What » winter. It s no trintc/- at au, 
and, best of all, there's oceans of rain iu Doombera. 
Never seen such floods — and soil soaked. But for 
disease it would be a red-letter year there. What 
about Boustead and his Ceylon afiairs — or Byrde— or 
our old IrienJ Willie Smith, or anybody — ? Ihere's 
been no snow at all ijere! Now on the lerge of 
February." 
"Duiubara and rain" reuiiuds tie of the two 
photographs Mr. Tytler had taken in Coloiubo 
to present to his friends : — one represented him 
looking downcast and weary almost sulky as if 
ill-used and had for superscription " Dumbara in 
dry weather — R. B. T." The other, represent- 
ing a cheery, laughing open countenance, he 
entitled '• R. B. T. with rain in Dumbara." 
The portrait we are enabled to present with 
this notice represents the natural man in hie 
prime, and does justice to his well-develojjed, 
well-balanced heatl, and the firm, intelligent, 
self-reliant nature revealed in his counieuauce. 
One important omission from ''Old Colonist's" 
narrative lias reference to Mr. Tytler's happy 
marriage in 1848 with the youngest daughter of me 
Rev. Charles Gibbon, D.U., the I'aribn Minister 
of Lonniay, Aberdeenshire, Miss Annie Grace 
Cibboii, who still survives him, and wno was* 
in every sense a worthy helpmeet and com- 
panion to her husband. Mr. 'I'ytler was 
the friend and generous supporter of every 
good work that was ever brought to his 
notice in Cej'lon, and no one appreciated him 
more than iJr. John Murdoch, the apostolic 
founder of the Sinhalese Tiact Society and of 
the Christian Vernacular Education Society of 
India, lifelong friends as he and Mr. Tytler were. 
Iso one could, be in his company long •without 
realizing the original as well as masterful 
character and the many varied as well as good 
qualities of 
Robert Boyd Tytler. 
He was indeed as a Planting Colonist^ one of 
whom it may be said : — 
^ ■ take him for all in all. 
We shall not look upon hi$ like again, 
