444 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Jan. i, 1894. 
to survive liis exertions in anil on behalf of the 
Colony. Believing, that there is not a man in 
Ceylon to whom the island owes so much in 
the way of material im])rovenient, on which moral 
advancement so closely depends, we feel bound to 
yield him this parting tribute of gratitude whieli 
he has so well earned." On liis return, Major 
Skinner took an active part in cirrying out the 
public works which Sir Henry Ward so warmly 
promoted ; but he had to o]jpose tlu\.t able Gov- 
ernor in respect of his rash liaihvay contract, 
and this oi)position cost him dearly — (tiie othce of 
Auditor-General and a seat in the Executive and 
Legislative Councils) — though it saved the (.'olony 
a great deal. The first day he waited on Sir 
Henry Ward he laid before the Governor )jlans 
of iron bridges and urged that a dozen should 
be ordered out at once ! 
In October 1860, Sir Charles MacCartliy assumed 
the Government, and notwithstanding strenuous 
opposition in a narrowminded P^xecutive Council, 
Major Skinner carried liis way with the Governor, 
so far as to get a vote to provide for the extension of 
the Uva Road fromPeliuaduUa to Balangoda which 
he constructed so economically— R9 1,630 for 15 
miles — as to have enough over to prolong the 
same road M'ell on to Haputale. What the Major 
thought of this important line of communica- 
tion may be judged from the following extract 
from his writings : — 
The enterprise of coffee-planters could not be check, 
ed and the demand for roads was excessively urgent 
in order to prevent the loss of much of the capital 
they had invested. During Sir Henry Ward's Govern- 
ment he exercised a will of his own, and it required no 
great persuasion to convince him of these wants; but 
now the expenditure was not considered with reference 
to the increased facilities giveu to tlie planters, but to 
th© ftflditioual charge hkely to be entailed upon the 
revenue for additional annual expenses. The Hap- 
pootella district, a group of probably the finest estates 
in the Colony, furnished a painfully striking example 
of the need of roads. I had long foreseen the strait to 
which the proprietors were inevitably drifting. Tlieir 
rice and other provisions could be carried to the estates 
by manual labour, but directly the coffee tree was old 
enough to yield a crop the consequences were pal- 
pable. I had long been struggling to opLU a road for 
•wheel traffic from the highest navigable port of the 
Caltura River to the Port of Colombo, at Ratnapora 
through Saifragam to Ouvab, and had got as far as 
Pallamadula, twelve miles above Ratnapora. There 
still remained at least thirty-eight miles of the most 
execrable native mountain path, ever traversed and 
intercepted by rapid torrents, only fordable iu dry 
weather. Over this path the planters sent dowu their 
maiden crops, which were always small and hghf. on 
men's shoulders. 
How the planters of Haputale in the " sixties " 
regarded Major Skinner's work on their behalf 
and his services generally, may be judged from 
the following address, drawn up at their request 
by the present writer in 1865 : — 
MAJOR SKINNER AND THE PLANTERS 
OF HAPPOOTBLLA, BADULLA, AND 
SAFFRAGAM. 
The following address and reply have been for- 
Y^axde^ u^i ^"^^ it' vvith no oidinary feelings 
I of jileasurc that we accede to the request to give 
I them a place in our columns. By a Biagolar coin- 
cidence, this unqualified expression of the feelings 
' entertained towards Major Skinner by bo large a 
: section of the Planting community must have reached 
liis hands almost Eimultaneously with the iatelii- 
gence of his supersession in the post of Audilor- 
I General. The preseut is certainly a time when in 
expressing their sense of th services rendered by 
Major Skinner, the public of this island would be 
simply doing a very meagre act of justice. We hope to 
find our suggestion actedupon by the leading membera 
of the Planting community, in refereuc to peti- 
tioning the Secretary of State on the posiitou of 
the Comiuissiouer of Roads. In wtiatever way our 
Legislative Council may be constituted, the prebeuce 
of the officer at the head of the Fublic Works De- 
partment will henceforward become of essential im- 
portance to the Government and the public. 
The gentleman who sent the address to Major 
Skinner accompanied it with the following explana- 
tion : — 
•' In foi'warding to you the enclosed paper on 
behalf of the gentlemen whose names are attached 
to it, I have to ofiftr some explanation. The wish 
to make known their feelings of gratitude to you 
had been expressed among the Happootella Planters 
about nine months ago, and shortly after, this 
Address was drawn np and circulated, which accounts 
for its alluding to you as Commissioner of Roads, 
d'c. instead of your present official position. We 
preferr'-d however sending you the original paper, 
with the names as writieu by the fTanters them- 
selves, some of them widely feparated, to drafting 
another; — and to prevent any further delay it is 
thought best for me to send yon the enclosure ia 
til is private manner, rather than wait for a conve- 
nient opportunity of meeting you publicly. It is 
the wish of us, Planters, however, that the Address 
and any fevr words of acknowledgment from you 
should be published. " 
To Major Thos. Skinseb, 
Chief Commissioner of Roads, and 
Civil Ew/ineer, Cevlon. 
Sib, — We, the undersigned Planters and other 
Residents iu the district of Happootella, Saffragam 
and Badulla proper, < annot permit the occasion of the 
completion of the Happootella Road to pass without 
making known to you the feelings of gratitude and 
esteem with which we have watched your exertions 
for the successful execution of this great work. 
We need scarcely allude to the personal interest 
we each a' d all, feel in a Trunlc Road opening 
up the districts which we represent, inaugurating a 
new era for a Large exter.t of country, both in re- 
gard to European and Native Industry. W^ cannot 
but realize tbat after our late Governor, Sir Charles 
MacCarthy, who first granted a vote to commence 
the road, there is no one connected with Ihe Colony 
to whom we are more indebted than yrurself for this 
boon, both from the intelligent and warm interest 
t>-.ken, and the activity manifested in its projection 
and execution. Of the manner in which this has 
been carrir^d out, we need say nothing here : the 
general expression of opinion through public channels 
at different times bears imqualified testimony to the 
substantiality of the construction and formation of 
the Koad. Neither is it for us — comparative strangers 
as w^ are, and the great majority at least, but 
Colonists of a few years' standing — to touch on the 
great services rendered hy you to the Island during 
a life-time so well and laboriously spent here. Com- 
mencing in 1S20 we understand, as a subaltern in 
charge of a section of the great Kandy Road, your 
name has ever since for nearly half-a-century, been 
closely connected with the material improvements 
in this Colony, particularly with communications from 
which its prosperity has mainly resulted. Now that 
the period has arrived when the Colombo and Kand; 
Road is about to be superseded the £(aUwaf| 
