^64 
THE tkOMCAL AGRtCULTURIST. fpEB. i. 1894. 
but to planters tlie most cUlioUs and interesting 
sequel was, that neither was inucli enamoured 
with Badulla, or had little inclination to tackle 
the difficulties of transport tlien apparently 
regarded as insurmountahle, 
Be that as it may, it i» passing strange to 
think of the Messrs. Shand witii mucli more 
practical knowledge, wandering away to invest 
in the wilds of Sabaraganiuwa, while the rather 
liappy-go-lucky subject of our notice, drifted in 
an opposite tlirection, and within live-and-twenty 
miles of Kandy selected one of the very liuest 
blocks of coH'ee land ever found in Ceylon. 
The district of Rang ALA, as selected by Mr. 
Nicol, had indeed few if any equals in its day. 
At a suitable altituoe, well sheltered, abun- 
dantly watered and with a fine free subsoil, it 
soon reached the top of the list for heavy 
bearing. "While otiier hill tlistrictu in the 
Central Province had to be content with from 
3i to 5 cwt. per acre, and even JJadulla could 
only average 7 cwt., Kangala produced year 
after year 8 cxvt. per acre all round, — some 
states, such as Battegalla, more than doubling 
this quantity. This latter magnificent property 
of about 300 acres in bearing gave, for a long 
time, about 4,000 cwt. annually— and some years, 
much more if it could have been gatiiered ! A 
•hort labour supply was at that time, the gen*>ral 
experience. 
The block of land selected by Mr. Nicol in 
eluded what was afterwards formed into Itaitgnla 
(proper), Battt^alla, Itainvella, Galhodde and 
Illagolla> All the rest such as Lovegrove, 
liOonagalla, &c., were subsequent purcliases- 
To T. Piide he sold Rangala ; Battegalla to 
W. N. Duckwortii ; and Kanwella to Dr. 
Duncan ; reserving only Galbodde and Illagolla, 
by no means the best of the bargain for himself. 
It must be confessed that as a ])ractical 
planter Mr. Andrew Nicol Avas a doubtful success. 
It has been said with some degree of truth 
that brains are rather an encumbrance to a 
planter than otherwise, being apt to lead him 
away into side-issues incompatible with the 
steady, plodding perseverance necessary in a 
good manager of estates. A. N.'s planting 
operations were rather of a spasmodic character ; 
but being of a sanguine teruperament and well 
supported with capital, he went boldly in, and 
often succeeded -where better but more timid 
planters failed. 
The difficulty was to keep him on the estates. 
The life was then much lonelier than it is now, 
and was of course a great change to one ac- 
customed to the bustle of office work. Never- 
theless Mr. Nicol was of a roving disposition, and 
.would, disappear for weeks, no one knew whither, 
except the few coolies who accompanied him into 
tU« Bintenne country, 
It was on one of these excarsions that he 
penetrated through the Veddah country and 
leached Batticaloa to find coconut planting 
piogressing under tlie fostering care of O (;ra.iy, 
Carey, Munro and Gumming, all plucky si>ort»- 
men and uiost congenial spirits. Ever ready 
to invest and throw in bis lot with such friends, 
.Mr. Nicol lost no time in appljing for a block 
of land. The land was soon eurvej'ed and in 
due course j.uichased, so that next year when 
ho returned to Batticaloa on a sh.joting trip, 
he found himself i.roprietor of some 500 acres of 
finely-situated land by the sea-side including 
a pretty little bay; the surveyor having for 
convenience run the chain right across its neck,— 
60 including the water in the acreage. At 
first Mv. N. was rather pleased with this arrange- 
ment ; but on second thoughts he saw «uch an 
excellent oi)portunity of ^-iving the Government 
Agent a raj. over the knuckles, that he could not 
resist the chance. Few men could write more 
caustically,-e8pecially to officials, -and we can 
readily imagine with what delight hedroppe^l down 
upon the Government with a formal complainf, 
the gist of which was that he "decidedly 
objected to have to purchase from them anv 
portion of the Bay of Bengal .' " . 
There was no replying to such a letter save 
by sending a Surveyor at once to cut ofT the 
disputed water, or rather to deduct the extent 
from the acreage. But the day came when A N 
repented him of his rashness ; In after years when 
the coco-palm* began to yield their increase 
the little bay prove.! very convenient for the 
natives to stealthily approach the beach in their 
canoes and help themselves. Ex»isperated by this 
Mr. Nicol betliougl.t himself of putting up a stronj 
fence across the mouth of the bay, and hoping 
Ins previous letter had been long ago forgotten 
wrote ofiering to pay for this privilege But 
m tins case the biter was bit ; the Government 
Agent replying that " the Government of Ceylon 
decidedly objected to sell to him or to any "one 
else any portion of the Ba;/ of Bengal! " 
By this time the subject of our memoir was 
in his 31st year; the palms were progressing 
satisfactorily at Batticaloa ; the coffee clearings 
at Kangala making rapid .strides. 
T. Pride-a model planter-was doing ad- 
mirable work on Rangala estate, while the 
courtly W. N. Duckworth on beautiful Battegalla * 
was sadly puzzled what the deuce to do with it 
Dr. Duncan toiled away ith tolerable success on 
his rigged brae-face ; while that great gamester, 
R Gerard was supposed to act as plantiacr 
adviser and Visiting Agent for Galbodde and 
LlagoUa. Gerard was by no means a 'pjicka 
planter but a so-called lucky man : evervHiing 
he had bitheito touched having tmnea iatj 
