THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Feb. t, 1894: 
Planter, " a cognomen whieli stuck to Mr. Nicol 
through the r«iuaiiuler of his life. Tlie descrip, 
tioii occurred in thin wise: — he had freely and 
generously given to (jovernnieiit a building at 
Teldeniya to be u.sed as a Post Office ; tmt 
after a time tlie Government Agent probal>ly 
forgetting the circumstance, and only re- 
membering him as ])roi)rietor, wrote otticially 
requesting him to have the premises white- 
washed without delay, This called forth a 
characteristic letter in which A. N. deplored 
tlie meanness of the Ceylon Government, who 
not content with sitting rent free had the 
effrontery to ask him, "A poor hnt indantrious 
planter," to whitewash their Post Office for them ! 
To see Andrew Nicol at his best, however 
was to meet him casually at an o\it-of-the-way 
restdiouse. To hear him tackle the appu, 
,see him tuck np his ."ihirt-sleeves, beat the 
steak, or teach the astonished cook how to fry 
sardines in paper. Then after dinner to hear him 
shaft' Charles Shand about liLs " cuter|)rising 
spirits in Sabaragamuwa," or Alexander (Gibson 
as to his investments in the wilds of Haputale, — 
contrasting tliese with his own profitable places 
and capable men in Kangala, generally winding 
np the evening with a few yarns illustrating his 
prowess as a sportsman. Here is a sample taken 
down verbatim et literothn 33 years ago : — 
" We were bothered with a brute of an elephant 
at Batticaloa. Jock Gumming liad been after him 
for days, but could not get near him. I was 
living in a small talipot hut, and at night my 
servant lay at my feet. One night I was 
awakened by the shrieks of my appu, and a 
strange, rattling, thumping noise In the roof, 
With my dim floating light 1 could just see 
the huge trunk of an elephant swinging 
backwards and forwards right above me ; his 
head filled the doorwaj', and he had evidently 
made up his mind to h ive a lark with ua at his 
leisure. I mounted to my elbow, slipped my hand 
below my camp-bed, where my rifle lay, always 
ready loaded ; steadily and deliberately I took 
my aim, and fired. There was a terrific snort, 
a trumpet and something like an earthquake. 
I replaced my rifle, turned on my side and was 
asleep again in 5 minutes, but in the morning 
a large rogue elephant lay dead in front of our 
hut 1" 
It was about this time — 18G1 — that he became 
Planting M.L.C., and on the whole a very good 
and useful member he made. " The Council 
have no longer all their wits about them" said 
tlie senior Editor of the. Ohservnr, when Mr, 
Nicol retired, on account of another visit home 
in 1862. On this voyage, Mr. Nicol's experience 
and fertility of resource as a pioneer and jungle 
resident came well to the front ; for the P. & O., 
Steamer " Colombo," Capt. Farquhar, in which 
he left Galle in Noveml>er of that year, ran 
ashore on the North end of Minicoy ialaod, 
and although passengers and crew were all 
saved, they had rather a dreary time of it 
ashore, until tiiey were able to communical* 
witii the Coast of India and Colomlxi. .Mr. 
Nicol excelled himself as hut-buihler and caterer 
on this occasion, and ladies and childreu felt 
much indebted to him. — In 1863, Mr. Nicol re- 
tired from mercantile business, his Firm being 
merged in that of Messrs Fowlie, Uichmond 
& Co., and to this house there came U) Ceylon, 
three members ot the community, still in our 
midst Messrs. W. Law, II L. M. Brown, and 
William Somerville. 
In 1864 Mr. Nicol once more leturned to Win 
native town, and took up his residence at 
St. Ann's Hill— a villa in the suburbs. But 
Bantt" had greatly changed, bomt fUh frien.ls 
were fewer, the many who claimed acquinlauce 
were poorer, while he himself was not richer. 
He was pestered with begging letters, an<l 
particularly deplored the growing want of inde- 
pendence amongst the rising generation. The 
boys he said "could no longer play ai marbles 
or kick a foot-ball without electing a Secretary 
to beg, while women forsook their sacrwl 
household duties, to meet where the ma.xinmm 
of talk and minimum of work, qualified aC^jm- 
mittee to beg." Now Mr. Nicol was by no 
means an illiberal man ; but like all gentlemen of 
experience preferred to dispen.se hw own charities. 
The climax seemed to come in the formation 
of a " Bathing Club," a few dirty boys having 
resolved upon an occasional dip, and elected a 
Committee, whose Secretary — James Watt — was 
instructed to write to the retired Ceylon Plant«r 
for a subscription. This tickled A. N.'s .sense of 
the ludicrous, and called forth one of his 
inimitable letters, in which " although depre- 
cating anything that would tend to destroy 
the fine spirit of independence amongst Scottish 
youth," he continued, — " there was something so 
commendable in the Banff young men volun- 
tarily undertaking to wash themselves, that 
he had much pleasure in sending a subscription 
of £2 2s, and would be glad to continue this 
annually, provided that the money was spent 
on soaj}- The Secretary quietly pocketed the 
sarcasm with the cheque, and took care never 
to omit year after year while they both lived 
to apply for the " .soap money."' 
But although Mr. Nicol had a natural horror 
of appearing on subscription lists, few men, 
perhaps, gave more liberally or unostentatiously, 
and to many who had the very reverse of 
any claim upou him, Frank Hudson, for instance, 
who had done more to injure and ruin him 
