228 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Oct.  i,  1S92. 
periodical  entirely  devoted  to  the  products  grown  in 
the  tropics,  including  coffee,  tea,  cacao,  fruit  trees, 
sugar,  rice,  cinchona,  tobacco,  cinnamon.  Ac.,  etc., 
and  calling  it  The  Tropica ' Agriculturist.  This  publi- 
cation, unique  oi  its  kind,  is  now  circulated  all  over 
the  world,  and  is,  we  believe,  regu'arly  filed  in  the 
Agricultural  Department  at  Washington,  by  the 
different  West  Indian  and  Co’onial  and  by  some  of 
the  Australian,  Central  and  South  American  Govern- 
ments, and  in  all  the  Indian  Agricultural  Depart- 
ments, besides  circulating  freely  amongst  the  planters 
of  India,  the  Straits  Settlements,  Java,  Sumatra, 
Borneo,  West  Indies,  Queensland,  Florida,  California 
—in  short  throughout  the  whole  tropical-agricultural 
world. 
Besides  being  an  indefatigable  worker  m the  held 
of  journalism,  Mr.  John  Ferguson  has  indu'ged  in 
authorship  in  other  directions.  He  is  the  author  of 
a popular  illustrat  d work  on  ( Jcylon , which  has 
passed  through  three  editions,  a fourth  being  now  in 
the  press;  and  for  many  years  he  has  been  respon- 
sible for  the  compilation  of  the  Cei/lon  Handbook  a -id 
Jh  rector j/,  which  is,  perhaps,  the  most  complete 
volume  of  agricultural  statistics  published  for  any 
colony.  To  this  Handbook  Mr.  Ferguson  specially 
contributes  a “ Review  of  Planting  and  Tropical  Agri- 
culture," including  in  its  main  features  the  sub- 
tropical world.  He  has  also  edited  and  aided  in 
compiling  a series  of  -‘Planting  Manuals,"  and  other 
works. 
Mr.  John  Ferguson  is  Hon.  Corresponding  Secre- 
tary for  the  Royal  Colonial  and  Imperial  Institute 
in  Ceylon,  and  in  the  former  capacity  read,  as  already 
mentioned,  a paper  on  “ Ceylon,  before  a crowded 
assembly  in  the  Wnitenall  Rooms,  in  March  last, 
when  Lord  Aberdeen  occupied  the  chair,  and  a num- 
ber of  colonial  authorities  took  part  in  the  proceed- 
ings. Mr.  Ferguson  is  also  to  read  a paper  on 
“ Tropical  Products  ” before  the  London  Chamber 
of  Commerce  about  the  end  of  July. 
It  is  interesting  to  add  that  Mr.  A.  M.  Ferguson, 
c.m.g.,  is  the  oldest  British  editor  in  Asia,  having 
been  born  in  Wester  Ross  in  181(5,  arriving  in  Ceylon 
in  1837.  After  being  in  business,  trying  planting  and 
Government  service,  he  became  co-editor  of  the 
Observer  in  184(5  with  Dr.  Elliott,  purchased  the  paper 
from  him  in  1859,  and  was  joined  in  18(51  by  bis 
nephew,  who  relieved  him  from  office  duties  in  1879, 
though  he  has  continued  to  take  an  acti\e  pait  in 
writing  for  the  Observer.  In  1882,  in  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  services  as  Commissioner  for  the  Colony 
at  the  Melbourne  Exhibition,  Mr.  A.  M.  Ferguson 
was  made  a C.M.G.  He  began  the  series  of  Cct/lon 
Handbook  and  Directory  in  1859,  since  18(53  continued 
by  his  colleague.  He  published  his  illustrated  Souv e- 
■n'irs  of  Cch  I on  in  18(54,  and  has  since  written  many 
papers  which  have  been  published  in  pamphlet  form. 
In  colonists  of  the  stamp  of  Messrs  A.  u.  and  John 
Ferguson,  we  find  those  who,  by  ceaseless  energy, 
abundance  of  mental  resource,  tact  and  tenacity  of 
purpose,  have  contributed  more  than  the  conquer- 
jner  and  destroying  sword  to  make  our  colonies  what 
they  are,  and  our  Empire  as  a whole  the  mighty 
fabric  which  dominates  the  world. 
Beautiful  Ceylon. 
It  goes  without  saying  that  Mr.  John  Ferguson  is 
a great  admirer  of  Geyion.  To  him  that  land  of 
“ the  hyacinth  and  the  ruby,  that  "pearl  drop  on 
the  brow  of  India " is  a sort  of  materialised  fairy 
vision  of  tropica  beauty.  As  has  been  said  by  a 
visitor  whose  words  formed  the  c osing  sentences  of 
the  paper  read  before  the  Colonial  Institute,  " 1 he 
way  there  is  in  these  days,  as  easy  as  rolling  off  a 
lo<r ; it  is  only  the  way  back  that  is  hard— hard, 
because  as  the  low,  palm  fringed  shores  sink  beneath 
the  horizon,  and  the  Beak  of  Adam  c oaks  itself 
afar  in  a mantle  of  majestic  mystery,  you  fee'  and 
know  that  yonder  flashing  point  of  light  in  you; 
wake  keeps  watch  by  the  gateway  of  an  Eden  w.icre 
you  fain  would  have  lingered,  and  marks  the  portal 
of  a summer  isle,  where  the  brain-fagged  workman 
may  stand  apart  from  the  strain  and  stress  of  life, 
and  the  lotos-eater  may  take  his  fill. 
Nor  is  Mr.  Ferguson  alone  in  his  eulogy  of  the 
glories  of  Ceylon.  Its  praises  were  sung  even  by 
ancient  Greeks  a d Romans,  and  it  v.as  the  “ Seren- 
dib  " of  Arab  and  Persian  geographers.  The  Portu- 
guese historians  of  four  centuries  ago  wrote  of  it  as 
“ the  island  of  spices."  In  later  years  its  almost 
j every  aspect  has  been  written  upon  over  and  over 
again,  and  it  lias  even  been  seized  as  a picturesque 
setting  for  romantic  fiction.  Of  its  natural  beauty, 
all  who  have  visited  it  speak  in  rapturous  terms. 
“ It  is  one  botanic  garden,"  says  Mr.  Ferguson,  and 
his  statement  needs  no  confirmation.  It  would 
seem  to  be 
■ An  Eden  of  the  Eastern  wave 
alike  for  the  tourist,  the  health-hunter,  the  sports- 
man, the  naturalist,  the  antiquarian,  the  Orientalist, 
or  the  sociologist ; in  short,  as  Mr.  Ferguson  puts  it. 
it  is  "a  paradise  ....  for  the  intelligent  tra- 
veller" of  every  sort  or  condition.  The  time  may 
come  when  it  will  be  all  this  and  something  more  to 
the  British  mining  engineering  and  the  British  min- 
ing investor. 
The  Mineral  Resources  of  Ceylon. 
With  the  multifarious  natural  resources  of  Ceylon 
we  cannot,  obviously,  deal  on  this  occasion,  but  it  will 
serve  a useful  purpose  to  investigate  its  mineral  pro- 
ducts and  its  mining  possibilities.  To  do  this  we  fall 
back  on  Mr.  Ferguson's  encyclopaedic  knowledge  of 
the  island. 
“ What,  Mr.  Ferguson."  asked  our  Editor  as  soon 
as  onr  visitor  was  comfortably  seated  in  the  edi- 
torial sanctum  at  Finch-lane  with  his  memoranda 
before  him.  ready  for  the  imminent  extraction  pro- 
cess. “broadly  speaking,  are  the  mineral  resources 
of  Ceylon?" 
“ The  only  commercial  mineral  of  importance," 
replied  Mr.  Ferguson,  "is  graphite  or  plumbago." 
"And  it  is  extensively  worked.  I think  ?" 
“ Yes." 
“ The  industry  is  progressive,  is  it  not?  " 
“ Yes.  Of  late  years  there  has  been  considerable 
development,  as  you  will  see  from  the  figures  1 hand 
you  (given  farther  on).  Geologically  speaking,  a 
large  portion  of  the  island  is  composed  of  ancient 
sedimentary  beds.  Our  mountain  ranges  are  primary 
metamorpiiie  rock.  The  principal  rock  is  gneiss 
with  beds  of  laterite  and  dolomite.  There  is  plenty 
of  iron  ore  in  Ceylon,  some  of  it  yielding  up  to  9u 
per  cent.,  but  there  is  little  or  no  trace  of  coal. 
The  only  professional  mineralogist  we  have  ever  had 
inspecting  (Gy'gax),  about  40  years  ago,  left  a report, 
in  which  lie  stated  there  was  plenty  of  anthracite 
coal,  but  since  then  we  have  never  been  able  to  find 
it.  It  is  now  thought  I10  made  a mistake." 
“Has  anything  been  done  in  the  way  of  iron 
mining  ? " 
" Nothing  European.  Cheap  iron  coming  from 
England  has  long  ago  cut  native  iron  out  completely. 
The  Sinhalese  had  been  accustomed  for  hundreds  of 
years  to  work  their  own  iron,  and  they  have  shown 
wonderful  skill  in  making  tools  and  muskets  from 
imitation.  Traces  of  their  smelting  furnaces  are  to 
be  found  all  over  the  country.  Manganese  and 
platinum  are  found  in  small  quantities,  as  well  as 
abundant  traces  of  gold  in  many  of  our  rivers,  hut 
too  fine  to  pay  as  far  as  we  have  yet  discovered. 
The  Sinhalese  must  have  worked  gold  in  ancient 
times,  from  their  names  for  a number  of  places  we 
know.  Of  recent  years  we  have  had  experts  who 
declared  that  the  rocks  showed  very  promising  quartz, 
but  we  have  never  yet  mad'  a thoroughly  system- 
atic investigation. " 
What  is  your  own  view . Do  you  think  it  would 
pay  to  prospect?" 
“ If  I had  the  money  to  spa 'e  personally  I should 
scarcely  feel  justified  in  tailing  the  risk.  It  is  a 
tiling  only  a syndicate  could  manace." 
“Do  you  attach  any  importance  to  Ceylon  as  a 
place  for  prospecting  for  gold?  " 
•‘Seeing  the  success  of  the  gold  mining  in  certain 
parts  of  Southern  India,  I do  think  there  is  encourage- 
ment to  extend  operatic  n,  after  c ireful  investigation, 
I'ar'-her  south,  and  to  the  Ceylon  hill  ranges.  I 
