April  i,  1893.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
645 
of  triokery  on  the  part  of  the  complainant,  and  finally 
settled  on  the  faot  that  the  land  did  not  belong  to 
him,  and  therefore  no  responsibility  attaches  to  him. 
For  the  reasons  I have  given  above,  I think  differ- 
ently. I find  the  aocused  guilty  on  the  charge  framed 
against  him  by  me, — of  theft  of  about  400  tea  plants, 
— and  I seutenoe  him  to  undergo  rigorous  imprison- 
ment for  a period  of  three  months. 
(Signed)  J.  H.  Eaton,  P.  M. 
In  Appeal  the  conviotion  was  affirmed  by  Withers, 
J.,  who  held  as  follows  : — “ This  conviction  must  be 
affirmed.  The  identity  of  the  tea  plants  was  suffi- 
ciently well  established,  and  their  possession  by 
aooused  was  of  such  a oharaoter,  and  in  time 
recent  enough,  as  to  justify  the  inference  of  theft” 
26th  January  1893. 
LONDON  SALES  OP  PRODUCE : 
MOTHER-O-’PEARL  SHELLS. 
(Monthly  Report  from  M,  L.  Spiegel  & Son.) 
London,  Feb.  14th,  1893. 
A generally  good  demand  prevailed  and  nearly  the 
whole  sold.  Unusually  large  supplies  of'  Queens- 
land sold  steadily  for  good,  but  5s  to  10s  cheaper 
for  the  lower  kinds  ; thin  medium  brought  firm 
rates.  The  moderate  supply  of  West  Australian 
met  a good  demand,  bold  sizes  about  5s  dearer, 
thin  medium  steady,  chicken  5s  to  7s  6d  higher. 
Manila  sold  at  steady  prices.  Larger  supplies  of 
Bombay  mostly  sold,  bold  at  irregular  prices, 
medium  and  small  at  full  rates  to  5s  dearer.  An 
increased  supply  of  Egyptian  was  also  offered  and 
with  a good  demand,  nearly  all  sold,  bold  at 
firm  prices,  medium  and  small  5s  to  10s  dearer. 
Black-edged  met  a strong  demand,  and  the  few  lots  of 
Tahiti  sold  dearer,  Gambia  and  Auckland  full  to  10s 
higher,  Fiji  5s  to  10s  and  Banda  about  5s  dearer. 
Panama  brought  about  previous  rates. 
Queensland  and  Sydney.— 2,036  cases,  18  boxes,  1 
cask,  29  bags  almost  entirely  sold,  bold  and  medium 
shells,  chiefly  Torres  Straits  character,  fair  to  good 
white  mostly  clean,  at  £7  7s  6d  to  £8  5s  one  lot 
fine  white  at  £9  7s  6d  ordinary  partly  wormy  £6  5s 
to  £7  5s  inferior  £5  10s  to  £5  17s  6d  thin  medium 
selected,  ordinary  to  good  £8  5s  to  £9  5s  a few 
lots  fine  £9  7s  6d  to  £9  12s  6d  ; 2 cases  chicken 
£10  to  £10  2s  6d  bold  wormy  pickings  72s  6d  to 
97s  6d  stale  and  dead  29s  to  77s  6d,  broken  pieces 
£5  5s  to  £6  7s  6d,  one  lot  £6  12s  6d. 
Manila. — Bold  and  medium,  fair  part  yellow  to 
good  fair  £7  15s  to  £8  2s  6d,  ordinary  £7  7s  6d 
chicken  £6  17s  6d  to  £7  bold  wormy  defective  90s  to 
95s,  broken  £5  5s, 
Macassar. — Of  19  cases  indirect  import  8 cases  de- 
fective picking  sold  at  90s. 
Penang. — Heavy  bold  partly  wormy  at  £6  5d  to 
£6  7s  6d,  thin  medium  £7  to  £7  7s  6d,  chicken 
£7  7s  6d  to  £7  12s  6d,  heavy  wormy  defective  70s 
to  72s  6d. 
Bombay.— Heavy  bold  and  bold  at  £5  to  £5  7s  6d, 
thin  bold  and  medium  £6  2s  6d  to  £7,  medium  £6 
10s  to  £6  15s,  thin  medium  and  small  £5  15s  to  £6 
7s  6d,  small  sizes  £5  to  £5  17s  6d,  thin  small  and 
oyster  80s  to  90s,  oyster  60s  to  72s  6d,  broken  55s 
to  65s,  stale  and  defective  pickings  25s  to  57s  6d. 
Lingah  Shells.— Fair  to  good  small  12s  to  17s, 
ordinary  7s  to  10s  6d,  one  lot  fine  22s  6d.  Of 
1,542  bags  ordinary  Ceylon  1,000  bags  sold  at  3s 
6d  to  4s  3d.  100  eases  Japan  partly  sold  at  7s  6d 
per  cwt. 
Mussel  Shells. — The  large  supply  of  692  cases 
17  casks  2,553  bags  met  a good  demand  at  a de- 
cline of  2s  to  3s  medium  and  small  at  35s  to  38s, 
medium  sizes  40s  to  44s  6d,  bold  and  medium  45s 
to  47s  6d,  good  to  fine  bold  49s  to  57s  6d  per  cwt. 
Lab  Shells. — 480  cases  sold  at  previous  rates  to 
soke  advance  for  the  better  kinds,  trimmed  bold 
and  medium  good  to  fine  stout  70s  to  90s,  mixed  part 
crinkly  42s  to  67s  6d,  inferior  thin  and  small  18s  to  39s 
per  cwt. 
Gbeen  Snail  Shells  met  a good  demand  at  firmer 
rates.  Of  121  baskets  373  bags  Penang  and  Singa-  , 
pore  40  baskets  300  bags  sold,  bold  100  shells 
weighing  192  to  211  lb.  at  7J  to  7jjd,  170  lb.  at 
7d  ; medium  100  shells  110  lb.  at  5d  to  5jd,  and 
100  shells  92  lb.  at  4Jd  ; small,  66  to  73  lb.  per 
100  shells  at  3d  to  3Jd,  56  to  59  lb.  at  2|d.  39 
bales  Japan  sold,  210  lb.  per  100  at  8jd  to  8gd, 
120  lb.  per  100  at  5Jd  to  5|d  ; chicken  3d.  19  bags 
Sydney  sold,  256  lb.  per  100  at  6d  each. 
Tortoiseshell. — The  supplies  of  all  kinds  brought 
forward  in  auction  on  the  9th  were  moderate,  and 
with  a good  demand  nearly  everything  sold,  in 
several  instances  at  higher  prices.  Nas  au  and  West 
India  ; shell  very  firm  to  2s  advance.  Hoof  2s  to  4s 
dearer.  Yellowbelly  very  irregular  and  3s  to  6s  dearer 
on  the  average.  Zanzibar  and  Bombay  ; sound  shell 
Is  to  2s  dearer;  defective  steady.  Sydney  and  Fiji; 
shell  par  to  Is  dearer.  Penang  and  Macassar  ; 
shell  about  Is  to  2s  dearer.  Seychelles  Is  to  2s 
dearer. 
West  India  Shell. — (Nassau,  Havana,  Honduras, 
&c.)  Selected,  part  reddish  31s  to  42s  ; Nassau, 
Honduras  and  Belize  sorts,  fair  to  good  mottle  part 
stout  20s  6d  to  23s  6d  ; W.  I.  sorts  with  heavy 
plates,  good  dark  mottle  (one  lot  good  bold  heavy 
25s),  18s  6d  to  23s  6d  ; pickings  fair  to  good  heavy 
14s  to  17s  6d  ; ditto  part  thin  9s  6d  to  13s  6d  ; 
chicken  11s  to  12s,  Hoof — about  880  lb.  offered  and 
sold ; Nassau  and  Belize  pale  clean,  fair  to  good 
(one  good  clean  lot  28s  6d),  24s  to  26s  ; W.  I.  pale 
heavy  part  scabby  (3  lots  of  good  heavy  26s  6d  to 
27s  6d),  13s  6d  to  22s  ; scabby  and  burnt,  ordinary 
to  fair  10s  to  15s.  Yellowbelly — About  597  lb. 
offered  and  mostly  sold:  Nassau  and  Belize,  good 
pale  bold  stout  30s,  30s  6d  to  36s  6d,  ordinary  to  good 
fair  16s  to  25s,  very  ordinary  13s  6d  ; W.  I.  dark 
reddish  to  good  heavy  16s  6d  to  23s,  part  thin  9s  to 
13s,  very  common  2s  6d  to  7s. 
Zanzibar  and  Bombay. — Medium  to  bold  dark  not 
mottle  part  heavy  18s  6d  to  21s  6d  ; pickings  fair 
11s  6d  to  12s  6d,  ditto  Bombay,  ordinary  thin  to  fair 
8s  6d  to  10s  6d. 
Singapore,  Penang  and  Macassar. — Fair  to  good 
sorts  14s  to  19s,  defective  10s  : hoof  dark  and 
burnt  13s  6d. 
Sydney  and  Fiji. — Medium  to  bold,  fair  to  good 
substance  with  plates  19s  to  23s  6d  ; pickings,  de- 
fective common  to  fair  heavy  9s  6d  to  15s,  yellow- 
belly very  common  Is  ; hoof,  part  burnt  14s, 
SCARCITY  IN  RAMNAD:  REASON  FOR 
NOT  EMIGRATING  TO  CEYLON. 
Owing  to  the  scarcity  in  the  Ramnad  Zemindary, 
numbers  of  people  have  begun  to  emigrate  into  the 
adjoining  district  of  Tanjore  in  search  of  employment. 
In  his  fortnightly  report  submitted  to  the  Board  of 
Revenue  on  1st  February,  the  Collector  of  Tanjore 
wrote  as  follows: — “ I find  that  throngs  of  people  from 
Ramnad  are  streaming  northwards  in  search  of  work. 
They  follow  the  line  of  ckattrams  along  the  coast 
where  cooked  food  is  served.  At  Manmelkudi 
chattvam  alone  over  4,900  immigrants  from  Ramnad 
have  been  fed  during  the  last  two  months  on  their 
road  to  the  delta.  The  immigrants  arc  now  mostly 
travelling  in  companies  of  from  30  to  60,  the  men, 
being  followed  Dy  their  wives  and  children.  Some 
of  the  companies  are  taking  their  bandi  es 
cattle,  goats  and  iowls.  One  company  of  60  Maravors, 
whom  I have  just  spoken  to,  have  with  them  4 bandies, 
20  bullocks  and  about  40  goats.  They  say  they  left 
their  villages  five  days  ago  and  that  they  are  going 
to  Negapatam  “to  carry  rice  sacks.’  Yesterday  and 
today  1 have  spoken  to  five  or  six  gangs  of  this  sort, 
and  have  met  besides  a large  number  of  families  ami 
individuals,  all  of  whom  return  the  same  answer,  that 
there  is  no  food  in  their  oountry  for  man  or  beast,  and 
that  they  are  going  north  in  search  of  food  and  work. 
The  immigrants  are  chiefly  Maravars  and  Idaiyars,  but 
I have  also  met  Pallars,  Naikkars  and  Ravutharg.  The 
men  hope  to  get  work  as  porters  at  Negapatam  and  the 
women  hope  to  get  work  in  poundiDg  paddy.  I asked 
some  of  the  men  why  they  did  not  emigrate  to  Oeylon 
or  the  Straits.  The  answer  was  men  oan  emigrate  one 
by  one,  but  what  are  we  to  do  with  our  wives,  ohildren 
