March i, 1895. j 
THE TROPiCAL AGRICULTURIST. 
627 
tions. The Chuncho is never seen without his wallet 
containing a stock of dried leaves, a pot of prepared 
lime, or the ashes of the quinua plant, and he makes a 
halt about once an hour to replenish his capacious 
mouth. The flavour is bitter and somewhat nauseat- 
ing at first, but the taste is soon acquired, and if not 
exactly palatable, the benefit under fatiguing journeys 
is very palpable. Cold tea is nowhere, and the best of 
wines worthless in comparison with this pure unfer- 
mented heaven-sent reviver. 
Among the tropical plants more especially noted 
and described by Mr. Sinclair, was found growing 
he homely potato : — 
Specially interesting is it to note the luxurious 
patches of that prince of vegetables, the potato, 
growing in its own native home, and to think what 
a marvellous influence this little plant has had upon 
the world since first it found its way to Europe, so 
late as the seventeenth century, where it was at fiist 
so little appreciated that Frederick the Great, we are 
told, had to compel his people to give it a fair trial. 
Scotchmen refused to eat a tuber not mentioned 
in Scripture, while " The Complete Gardener," pub- 
lished in 1719, contemptuously declares that " this 
tuber is of less value as a food than horse radish 
or scorzonera " ! Now, from the Orkney Islands to 
distant Tasmania, it is the one universal favourite; 
probably mankind would rather give up any plant in 
the vegetable kingdom than the potato. It is in- 
teresting also to learn that in this its native locality 
the potato blight has never been so much as heard 
of. The productive power of the potato here is not 
more than in Britain, but the quality is very fine, 
the favourite variety throughout Peru being the Papa 
amarilla, or yellow potato. It is said, however, that 
this beautiful tuber loses its distinctive characteristic 
on being transplanted to Europe, This, however, I 
hope to test definitely in a few months. 
In a footnote, Mr. Sinclair reports that, as the 
result of an experiment in his garden at Cults, he 
finds that "the quality of the tuber is found to 
he quite as good as in its native Peru, but the 
distinctive yellow is somewhat paler." 
Hut we cannot, here follow further in his 
account of the wondrous vegetation of the eastern 
Andean shore, nor do more than refer to his 
picturesque sketches of the people and their ways, 
his glimpses at the condition of the country under 
its ancient rulers, the Incas, his description of 
life at Lima, or his account of the West Indian 
islands visited by him in the course of his tour. 
Nor of his chapter on his own particular "tropical 
land," Ceylon, need we say more than that it 
presents to the reader, in brief compass, an in- 
teresting view of the more salient feature of the 
planter's life, and of the recent economic history 
of the island as affected more particularly by the 
disastrous collapse of the coffee, and the remark- 
able development of the tea industry. To the 
general reader the book will be found to be one 
of much) and to t he? class of whom the author is 
himself a notable representative of special, interest. 
The book is dedicated to the memory of Dr. 
William Alexander, ".for thirty -seven years the 
warm and steadfast friend of the atithor." — Aber- 
deen Free Press. 
♦ 
MARKETS FOE AUSTRALIAN PRODUCE: 
ON OETLON. 
11V EDMUND MITCHKLL. 
Utilising the opportunities during a voyage on 
board tin- "Oimui/,' between Naples and Albany, 
afforded by a full day's stoppage both at Port 
Said and at Colombo, and being armed, through ibo 
kindness of Mr. M. D. M'Kacharn, of MTIurailh. 
M'Kacharn ,V Co., with letters of introduction to 
leading merchants in both paits, I was enabled to 
gather together a considerable amount of useful 
information, ia regard to the actual iteiults aqhieved 
I with Australian produce in Egypt and Ceylon, and 
I to the prospects of still further extending Australian 
trade in these markets. I was further fortunate in 
having as fellow-passengers two gentlemen, each pos- 
sessing a life-long experience of one of the two 
countries. Mr. R. Ditch burn is a contractor and 
engineer who has resided for over thirty years in 
the city of Cairo, and Mr. H. M'Kenzie is one of 
the best known men in the Ceylon planting industry. , 
These gentlemen were also voyagers on the " Ormuz," 
the former as far as Ismailia, and the latter to 
I Colombo ; and in them I had founts of information 
in regard to local requirements aud openings, of 
j which I freely availed myself preparatory to paying 
my visits on shore. The facts I garnered from all 
quarters I shall condense in as brief compass as 
possible.* * * * * 
Now, for Ceylon. In addition to my conversation 
with Mr. M'Kenzie on board ship, I interviewed 
at Colombo the managers of the following important 
firms : — Messrs. Krawehl & Co., Messrs. Cargill & Co., 
and Messrs. Venn & Co. I also had interviews 
with Mr. John Ferguson, editor of the (,'eylnii Observer, 
and Sir John J. Grinlinton, Commissioner for 
Ceylon at the Chicago Exhibition — two gentlemen 
possessing knowledge of almost every fact con- 
nected with the island, its resources, and re- 
quirements. On the whole, the chances of Aus- 
tralian fresh beef and mutton being taken by 
Ceylon in any appreciable amount are very small. 
The European population of Colombo is only 1500, 
of whom 050 are soldiers. The rest of the Europeans 
are scattered over the island on the plantations, and 
would be quite inaccessible as regards supplies of 
frozen meat. At present the planters send their meat 
boxes twice a week to the nearest township or rail> 
way station — often twenty to thirty miles away. 
They pay for mutton one rupee a pound, say Is 2d 
aud for beef fiom 4d to 5d per lb. The meat is of 
fairly good quality, and the supplies seem to be 
adequate to all requirements. Therefore, it is only 
Colombo, and more especially the garrison, that 
would justify the opening up of a frozen meat trade 
with Ceylon. To commence with a fixed contract 
with the military authorities' for a prolonged period 
would be the first essential preliminary to the erec- 
tion of a cold storage depot. I believe the, general 
in command favours the introduction of Australian 
meat, and would be prepared to pay a higher price 
for the article than is at present given. The native 
grown beef is retailed at 3Ad per lb., and the mutton, 
most of it imported from Southern India in the live 
state, 4d per lb. This constitutes such a chep supply, 
although admittedly far inferior to Australian meat 
in quality, that overtures for the imported articles 
are blocked almost at the outset. Double the present 
figures would hardly suffice for the risks of such a 
resticted trade, the heavy freight, and the erection 
of cold stores, aud it is absolutely certain that such 
a price will never be forthcoming. Moreover, the 
shipping companies show a natural reluctance to 
open their cold holds at Colombo for the disem- 
barkation of such an insignificant amount as would, 
under any circumstances, be taken. As for the 
civilian section of the community, thev probably 
consume much less butcher's meat than the military. 
Poultry and fish are very cheap and of excellent 
quality in Ceylon, and these constitute the staple 
dishes at most meals. The natives, as possible 
consumers, may be wholly disregarded ; they could 
never afford to purchase the imported article. Al- 
together, there is no real demand at present for 
Australian fresh mutton or beaf in Ceylon. 
With tinned goods, the case is different. Largo 
quantities of these are imported, for the plantations 
that are remote from lines of communication, and 
also as table delicacies in Colombo and elsewhere 
throughout the island. I saw numbers of Queensland 
brands in the several stores I visited — boiled, roast, 
and corned beef; boiled, roast, and corned mutton; 
beef brawn, ox marrow, beef dripping, ox tail soup, 
sheep tongues, mid also lard. The retail price of 
the beef and mutton is one rupee pei •J ib. tin, or, 
at tnesent rate of exchange. 7d per lb. The Queens, 
land goods arc spoken very highly of, although, J 
