June i, 1894.I THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
795 
Adversity. — But this happy state of affairs 
did not long continue. In England the equa- 
lizing of the coffee duties in accordance w itli the 
new doctrine of Free Trade deprived Ceylon 
coffee of the advantageous position it had held 
for about twelve years. The result was so 
disastrous to those who had expended large 
sums in Ceylon that it was no wonder there 
was a strong feeling that the new legislation 
was a breach of faith with that portion of the 
j)ublic who had sunk £5,000,000 in the coffee 
enterprise, relying on the Protection afforded by 
the differential duties. Money was so scarce that 
everything caine to a standstill. 
Those whose properties were mortgaged were 
sold up, in many cases the estates going for 25 per 
cent of the amount they were mortgaged for, 
and in others they were sold for a few pounds- 
Plantation coffee was sold in London for a 
trifle and locally parchment went as low as 
3 shillings per bushel. 
Wm. Kudd suffered witli the rest. He assigned 
his estates and paid twenty shillings in the 
pound and it was always a source of proud 
satisfaction to him that he had avoided the 
Bankruptcy Court. There is no doubt that in 
inany instances he threw away his property in 
land to satisfy clamorous creditors. Winding-up 
his big estffte and meeting all claiius in full was a 
long and wearisome process, and eventually left him 
very badly off. Being in Colombo when the news 
of the so-called local " Rebellion" reached him, he 
had not even the means to get back upcoun try where 
his wife and children were, at Hindoogalle. He 
walked from Colombo to the estate (over 
70 miles, the place being 9 miles from Kandy 
on the Deltota road) in 24 houi-s with his 
gun on his shoulder, and followed \>y a 
lowcountry Sinhalese servant, who pluckily kept 
up with his master, but died a few days after 
from the effects of the journey. During the 
Rebellion Wm. Rudd received a bullet wound 
from a rebel ; but beyond leaving a deep scar 
for life, he suffered no inconvenience. A grey 
Pegu pony was also fired at and wounded, but 
lived through it all and worked for many years 
after. 
Hindoogalle was bought by Henry Rudd, Senr. , 
for I'tiOO. h\ 1851, he gifted the property to Wm. 
Rudd's children and appointed the fatlier Trustee. 
In the meantime llie estate had been abandoned 
an<l Wm. Rudd with his family resided at 
Auibokke in the Matale District. 
Hs returned to Hindoogalle in 1852 and 
again conunenced to work up the old coffee 
land. He lea.sed (ialoya from Messrs Swan 
and Keir, the terms being iliat he was to 
give them one-fourth of the crop. The place> 
of course, had been almost abandoned during 
the bad times. After Robert Swan left, it 
had H. Ackland, Stephen Darley, and Tom 
Dixon in succes.sion as Superintendents. 
Hindoogalle during this time was brought 
into a veiy high state of cultivation, chiefly by 
means of pig manure, a very large number of 
pigs being kept on the estate and fed during 
a portion of the year on boiled jak fruits. This 
fruit was very plentiful as there had been 
5,000 jak trees planted on the estate when it 
was first opened. 
In 1856 being driven to Colombo by ill-health 
and a stay there being needed for thorough 
recovery, Wm. Rudd took temporary charge of 
the St. Sebastian Mills for Messrs. Ackland & 
Boyd. In Februaiy 1857 he was severely tried 
by the loss of his wife. She left him with a 
family of 7 children, the eldest of whom was 
about 16 and the youngest about 3 years of 
acre. In 1858 the substantial bungalow that 
now stands on Hindoogalle was completed and 
this year he also purchased the Pettiagalla 
and Bombuw^ estate in Balangoda, which had 
been abandoned for the last ten years. In 
1858 with a view to enabling himself to take 
a trip to England he leased the Hindoogalle 
estate to Mr. Sam Thwaites for £1,000 a year, 
but the lease had to be cancelled. In ' 1860 
after an absence of nearly thirty years he 
returned to England. While there he married 
Miss Berry of Huddersfield, Yorkshire, and 
returned to Ceylon in July 1861. Soon after 
their return his wife purchased 236 acres of 
the upper or North-West portion of Galoya 
from Mr. Lee Viner for ^1,000 and this was 
called " Uplands. " Felling was commenced 
almost immediately and about 60 acres were 
planted in 1862. In 1864 Messrs. H. C. Bird 
& Son, who had a heavy claim against Wm. 
Rudd and a mortgage over Hindoogalle, wished 
the account closed, \\-ith the result that the 
property passed into the possession of Mr. Price 
for £4,300. Wm. Rudd now retired to Uplands 
and began to make a liome again. The bun- 
galow he built here is a most substantial 
structure with stone walls. His Avife had be- 
come a confirmed invalid, she lingered on till 
January 1860 and died at -Maiigakanda. .A. 
curious experience may here be related illus- 
trative of the danger of delay, in matters 
where title deed.-s are concerned. In 1868 the 
.Mercantile Bank gave instructions to Mr. Ueo. 
Fernando, Auctioneer of Kandy, to sell a block 
of ISS acres of land in .Maturata. of which 
tne Bank had the deeds. The land was knocked 
down to the bid of Wm. Kudd for about /;72, 
and the deeds with the auctioneers r^C,^^t^ 
