April 2, 1894.] THE TkOPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
THE EAELY EUROPEAN COCONUT JN- 
DUoTRY IN THE BATTICALOA DISTRICT. 
(Bji an Old Eesident.) 
In counectioa with the eavly history of coconut 
planting in Ceylon is associated a name that is 
imperisnably bound up with the history of ihe 
struggles of ilie Anglo-Jiaxon race in e-tablishing 
British supremacy in the East — David Ouchterlony 
— an adventurous young soldier, who found a con- 
genial sphere for the display of individual bravery 
in the Indian border warfare of the tens and the 
twenties of this century. At one time, against 
the short-statured but brave and hardy mouutaiueers, 
the Ghonteas of the Himalayas, at another time in 
Central India storming the hitherto impregnable clay 
for trees of the Maharaja of Jihurtpore, had he 
lived in modern times he would have won the 
Victoria Cross a dozen times over. A beautiful 
monument, eighty feet high, on the Calcutta maidaa 
in memory of Sir David Ouchterlony, the thousands 
of acres in the Ouchterlony valley in South India, 
the one thousand five hundred acres of the Easter 
Seatown coconut laud in Batticaloa, and other tan- 
gible acquisitions, perpetuate the daring deeds of 
the once obscure young soldier. 
EUBOPEAN PIONEERS. 
Captain Holderness was sent out to open the land 
in the forties. He was a big swell, had many at- 
tendants about him, and kept an ever-open lown 
house in a way betttting his gallant master, but, 
as is usual witn such young meu, he succumOed to 
disease early in life. This unforeseen event brought 
to Chd fore ijis assistant, Mr. John (Jarey. C^uiet, 
unassuming, frugal almost to a fault, he seized "' the 
tide in the affairs of men" and thanked Providence 
for it from his usual corner seat in the Wesieyaa 
Meeting House. Retrenchment and a wonderfully 
economic management formed the order of the day, 
and his grateful master gladly allowed the bloom- 
ing siime durai ail the legitimate fiuit of his ex- 
ertions in appreciation of the changed situation. 
Invergue, zoo acres, belonged to Mr. b- Keir, and 
KirauKulam, iiuO acres, belonged to Messrs. Mac- 
Kiiligan and Maxwell, while bpringtield, 2uU acres, 
belonged to Messrs. J. Thomson and otuers. They 
were absent proprietors, and their estates were 
managed by Messrs. Drummond and Shand. 
SOBER ISLAND. 
There was also another little bit of property 
opened by a doctor (probably Dr. Jallond) and 
jocularly linown as the " Gallipot." But it has come 
into an nonorable use. The doctor's " Gallipot " was 
the only health resort and seaside bungalow for 
Europeans and respectable natives for a long time, 
besides Dr. Sortaiu (reserved;, Kochchi Kativvu and 
Bone's Island, ope.i to all, and so called after a 
Collector and Judge of seventy years ago who owned 
it, but whicU suOsequentiy became par excellence the 
" Sober Island " ol the Burgher community, and 
is now subjected to all the vicissitudes of a vary- 
ing lidal erosion as at Crow's Island at the mouth 
of the Kelaui river. 
BURGHER AND NATIVE PLAXTERS. 
One by one many of the original owners of 
estates in Batticaloa, not realizing any profitable 
returns from me leutu year, as they fondly ex- 
pected, \\h\i13 they had to meet heavy bills on 
account oi their superinlendence, gladly parted with 
their properties, oiten lor much less ilian what 
they would have become worth had they allowed 
a grovvtli of another decade to their trees. Among 
those that scrambled tor prizes was a Buiglier 
gentleman of itusso-i'olish origin, who threw up a 
good Government berth and turned coconut planter. 
But fo. any ouo to play the part of a )ii.ria durai 
oh a young estate, unless backed by ancestral wealth 
or . ihor aourcos of incouie, is rather risky, and in 
eifiht jftars he was ruined for lite, lost everything. 
f.ai ho and h.% >Yitg dieU within four months ol 
each other. Another Burgher gentleman was more 
fortunate. He was at first content to become a 
kangani under an European, then overseer, and 
then a conductor ; the surplus of his salary he- 
invested in the adjoining jungle, and eventually be 
came a successful " creeper." He left very few 
blood relatives here ; the nearer ones were supposed 
to be in "Potgwiter Land," South Africa. He had 
several idiosyncracies, one of them being a hatred 
of European medicines, and he died a martyr to his 
opinion. Another successful speculator in land was 
Dr. M. Covington. — Local " Times." 
♦ 
CEYLOX AND INDIAN TEA IN AMERICA. 
Mr. P. R. Buchanan writing from Nawara Eliya 
on the 15th uit., favours us with the f jllowing ex- 
planation of his views and of the working ol the 
" Soheoie " suggested by Sir John Muir and hitn- 
self :— 
"It is quit? trge I should prefer to Fee the com- 
mission RO direct to the distr.Dutor, bat it would be 
hlmo-t imposs bio to check claims. If however uur 
rspreseutalive cltarly pointed out to the dealors that 
this ullowauod was made, I am eatiefied it would 
find its way to them ultimately. I do not kuow 
why the payment should not be made to theicnporter 
into America as eaady as to the exporter and I should 
certainly puefer this, but it seems to me Mr. Grm- 
linlon's opiuion on nuoh a point ought to be ddoieive. 
'"If O'jr rspreeentative is to carry samples, enulees quea- 
tiOLS 01 whose Simples, what sample, would arise. All 
large houses io Canada and most large uealers in the 
States get eamples ot Oeylons and Indians themselves 
a id our tea representative could always put a dealer io 
the way of getting them if necesesry. We should avoid 
his being mi taken for a regular ' drummer ' and we 
should certainly see that we do rot place him in a 
position in which his aotions might be miBintsrpceted, 
Ruch as pushing any particular lea &a, He must be, 
like Cassar's wife ' irreproachable." 
We see the fores of the objeotion taken to the 
distribution of samples. Granted also that the 
oommission be paid to ezportera, we see that 
Mr, Grinlinton gives as one reaeoa, the simplicity 
and acouracy eneured through the Consul's ceru- 
fioates for shipments. Are then Bhipmeuts to the 
Canadian Dominion (including Bri.iah Coiombiaj 
to be exoluJed from the bounty ? Surely not, 
for there is a splendid field for the extension of 
the uemand for British grown teas in Canada, and 
it3 towns were specially mentioned in iha Suneme 
I as coming under the direct cognizance of the 
Agent in his travels. Then, again, it Mr. Grinlinton 
would coneent to aooept the pose cf Agent, ou 
the terms specified, as a contemporary hopes, he 
would surely much prefer to represent all British- 
grown teas — India as well as Ceylon — than to 
have another Agent — like Mr. Bleohynden probably 
— following his heels, or preceding him lo the 
d.fferent towns ? It is very amusing to see how 
petty feeling developsi At the time we starttd 
the proposal that Cejlou and Indian lea-planters 
should co-operate, we were told that as Ceyloa 
should certainly nut approach India, it would be lima 
enough to discuss tne nialter when a proposal 
was made on behalf of the Indian planters. Now 
that the proposal has ccnie aod been formulated, the 
very fact that it was ULStliciled, is u=ed in tome quar- 
ters, to t 11 against il 1 We einctroly hcp3, however, 
that iho raujoiity iuteiesled in Ceylon lea vtiil 
r.se to a broad and bubinces-like vitw of tha case 
now presented to them. In a nu shell, il is — Are 
there to lo two separate, and possibly, rnsl 
Agents to reprcajnt Bnt sb yrown tias io America, 
or only one '? D.Tisiou ana Opposiiioc: or Union 
Bgaiust the coinmon fee, rtpii-stnted oy Cbiuft 
acd J^paD teas ? ' 
