THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Dec. i, 1894. 
$64 
and active interest in the progress of Mission 
and Educational work, lie and -Mrs. Wall often 
attending the services at the Baptist Chapel in 
Kandy. He became the attached friend and sup- 
porter, along with Mr. Ty tier, of Mr. (now Dr.) 
John Murdoch who threw up his Government 
Schoolmastership, to found and carry on the 
Sinhalese Tract Society afterwards developed 
into the Christian Vernacular Education, and 
later into the Religious Tract, Society of India 
and Ceylon. But it is a singular fact that 
although the "Government Calendar and Di- 
rectory" of those early years purported to give 
an annual list of all arrivals of shipping and 
passengers at the chief Ceylon ports, and also 
included a Directory, supposed to contain the 
names of, at least, all European residents, in 
none of the yearly volumes up till 1851, can 
we find the slightest reference to Mr. George 
Wall. And yet, Mr. Wall by no means hid his 
light under a bushel, or retrained from making 
his presence known. He very early began to 
take an interest in local politics and we have 
a distinct recollection of hearing from our prede- 
cessor, of how Mr. Wall headed a Kandy move- 
ment against the Observer, and in favour of Lord 
Torrington's thoughtless and arbitiary proceedings 
in the troublous times of 1848, and even of his 
presiding at a meeting held in the Kandy Library 
in connection therewith. Very strange, therefore, 
is the fact that five years elapsed after his arrival 
and not until the " Calendar and Directory of 18.31" 
did the official compilers seem to be aware of Mr. 
Wall's name and residence in Kandy. In that 
volume Ave find under the heading of mercantile 
fnms in Kandy, " George Wall " ; but the name 
did not appear in the Directory of residents in 
the island until 1853 ! In 1854, the firm of 
"George Wall & Co." was opened in Colombo. 
In that same year, the " Planters' Association 
of Ceylon" was founded and Mr. Wall took a 
prominent part in this work, he having penned 
the original draft of ths circular issued proposing 
such an Association. The first chairman was 
Captain John Keith Jolly of Farieland (the father 
of Mrs. Dr. Kynsey) who then or afterwards was 
closely connected with Mr. Wall in business, 
the first Secretary being Mr. Alex. Brown. After 
Captain Jolly retired, Mr. Tytler was elected and 
it was not till he left for home, that Mr. Wall 
came in as third Chairman of the Association. 
He distinguished his term of office— (1S5G-57) 
by collecting and compiling the first reliable 
list of plantations with acreage and the average 
crop for two years, according to districts— that 
is giving the total for each district, but not for 
the separate estates. This list was embodied in Sir 
Emerson Tennent's book on "Ceylon." Its compil- 
ation undoubtedly entailed a good deal of trouble ; 
hut it presents a Contrast to the elaborate returns 
compiled in our Directory from the " sixties 
onwards. In 1857, the total number of districts 
was 27, of separate estates 403, of total extent 
in cultivation 80,950 acres. Now, we hare 
63 districts, 1949 separate properties (1,439 cul- 
tivated estates) and over 380,000 MM in cul- 
tivation. It is of interest, however, to refer to 
the very earliest statistical return of the kind 
in 1857 which was afterward extended so as 
to give the main particulars for each plant- 
ation in the lirst Observer Directory, that of 1859. 
But it was not until we had personally travelled 
over all the planting districts in 18G9, that the 
cultivated, as well as total, acreage for eacli estate 
was first compiled. On duly 19th, 1857, the 
death of his first wife, Alice, in Colombo, was a 
sore affliction to Mr. Wall. 
IS THE LEGISLATIVE COUH&L ' 1858-9. 
The proceedings of the Planters' Association 
bear witness to the activity of Mr. Wall in 
respect of roads, labour supply and all legislation 
affecting planting interests in the early days. 
It is impossible for us to enter into a con- 
sideration of the different discussions or move- 
ments in which he bore a part during the first 
decade of his residence. In 1858 he became for 
the first time Planting Member of the Legis- 
lative Council. This was in succession to Capt. 
H. C. Bird and during the administration of Sir 
Henry Ward. Of this great Governor, Mr. Wall 
has been the greatest possible admirer— at any rate 
of recent years. He acquired the habit in the 
"sixties" of constantly referring to Sir Henry 
Ward as a most liberal-minded Governor and 
model ruler and of quoting his policy and admin- 
istration ; but during his term in the Legislative 
Council up to 1858, Mr. Wall does not seem to have 
been quite so enthusiastic about the Governor, at 
any rate, in his role of President of the Council. 
Distance in this, as in so many other cases, it may 
be, lent " enchantment to the view." At any rate 
here is the letter (of historic as well at practical 
interest) in which Mr. Wall conveyed his resig- 
nation to the Planters' Association written just 
as he was embarking at Galle for England and the 
publication of which attracted a good deal of 
attention at the time: — 
To R. B. Tytler Esq. Chairman of the Planters' 
Association. 
Galle, April 16th, 1859. 
Sir, — As I am about to proceed to England and 
shall be absent from Ceylon for several months. I 
have felt it my duty to resign my seat in Council. 
Elected by the planters, whose energy and enter- 
prise have raised the Colony to its present scale of 
importance and on whom its future progress and 
prosperity depend, I have ever felt the responsibility 
as sensibly as I have appreciated the honor of re- 
presenting in Council the planting interest. 
I regret that I have not been able to accomplish 
so much as I should have wished for my constituents. 
An unofficial member, however, has not much influence 
in the Council as it is now constituted. It may have 
been otherwise formerly, when we had Governors of 
little power,' but, in the hands of an able, resolute 
