THE: TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [May i, 1894. 
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The " planted acreage " was not given at that 
period (this being compiled by us forthefirjt time 
in 1869) ; but we may mention that the sale of these 
estates (some planted and othera on y forest] logetl.cr 
with certain town property, conslituted probably tlie 
largest transfer of property eier effected in Ceylun 
at one time, the total amoant which passed being uo 
le<<s than £157,000. both brathers had in f^ict 
begun to feel after 24 years' residence in Ceylon 
that it would be better for them to return to 
Kurope. Mr. Gabriel was still hale and hearty ; 
but Maurice frequently suffered for want of change. 
Accordingly, their special financial adviser, Mr. Geo, 
Smytan Duff, arranged with the Directors of his 
Bank, the Oriental, for the formation of a Planta- 
tion Company to take over this grand series of 
Ceylon properties, and most properly it was dubbed 
" The Ceylon Company, Limited." Ceylon had a high 
reputation at the time as a plantation eolouy and 
the judicioui Directors of the Bank very cleverly 
arranged to get rid at the same time, of a number 
of Sugar Estates in Mauritius, taking care, however 
not to call the Company, " The Ceylon and Mauritius 
Coy., Ld." The consequence was that in certain 
circles, Ceylon bore the censure for losses due to 
Mauritius. For many long years, their Ceylon pro- 
perties paid the Company very handsomely, while 
the reverse was the case with those in the Sugar 
Island ;— but ail this is apart from the Messrs. Worms . 
They were well satisfied with the sale of all their 
Ceylon properties for £157,000 ; ',' We have led 
useful contented lives '' — said Mr. Gabriel, to us 
before leaving— "and our Ceylon investments have 
giveu 10 |jer cent interest aud the capital back." 
Very great regret was felt at the departure of 
the Mees's. Worms from Ceylou. H^w large a 
placa they filled in the colony bulb iu Colo Ix) 
and the planting districts may be judged froui what 
was written in Sir Emerson Tennent h " Ce> lou ' 
(already referred to) as follows : — 
"At Pusilawa oar home on many occa^i'juc v\a' ihe 
hospitable bungalow of Mr. Worms and his brother, 
^he proprietors of one of the finest plantations in 
the island. Their estate, which now (iu the fifties ") 
consists, besides unfelled forest, of upwards of uiie 
thousand acres of coffee trees in foil beariaK, was 
commenced by themselves in iHll, wlieu the new 
enterprise was still in itH infancy. Their practical 
knowledge of planting was therefore acquired dunoi; 
its e.xpcrinicntal stages; and no capitalists in ihe 
colony have contributed more to its advancement 
by judgment and moderution in times of cxciteuient. 
and by firmness and perseverance in periods of 
diificulty. Hereafter, when the great project to 
which they have devoted their lives, shall have 
attained its full development, Ceylon, in the pleni- 
tude of commercial success, will remember with 
gratitude the names of men like these, who were 
the earliest pioneers of its prosperity. 
" It is dithcult to imagine a scene of greater natural 
grandeur tliaii tbat in the midst of which their cslatej 
have been formed. The valley of Pusilawa* is over- 
hung on its sonth-eastcru side by a chain of wooded 
hills, the last of which, known as Mooaerd-galla, or 
the ' Peacock rock,' rises upwards of 4,000 feet above 
the level of the sea, and commands a pronpect of in- 
desr-ribable beauty and magnificence ; extending far 
a d wide and embracing mouutdins, forests, rivers, 
( alara 'ts, and plains. The plantationj of the Messrs. 
Worms extend to the very crown of Moouera-ga la, 
bud the uudulatiug side.- of the hills, which hfiteu 
years ago were concealed uy the trees of the Black 
I'orest, are now fenced with roses and co^ered m 
all directions with luxuriant coffee busses. 
" A pijulanou uf coffee is at every season an object 
if beauty aud interest. Tue leaves are bright and 
polished like t jo >e of a iaurel, but tf a much darker 
green; the jlowers, of tlie purest «hite, giOW in 
tufts along the top of the branches, and bloom so 
ouddeuly, that at morning the trees look as if snow 
had lallen on them in wreaths during the night_ 
Their jasmiue-like perfume is powerful enough to be 
oppressive, but they last only for a day, and the 
bunches of ^.rimsuu berries which succeed, resemble 
cherries in tneir brilliancy and size. Within the 
pulp, concealed iu a parchment-like sheath, lies the 
double seed, which by a variety of processes is freed 
from its integuments, and converted into coffee. 
" Ou this fine estate an attempt has been made to 
grow tea: the plants thrive surprisingly, and when 
1 saw them they were covered vrith bloom. But 
* Pusilawa is said to mean the " valley of liowers." 
Another conjecture is, that the name is deiived 
from the great climbing plant, the jjus-icatl (Entada 
Pursetha), whose gigantic pods attain the astonish- 
ing length of five feet upwaicla. 
