May  i,  1893.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST, 
675 
very  fine  specimens  ; two  tine  entire  horses  were  like 
an  imtaeDse  cart  horse  to  give  bone,  also  two  proof 
asse5,  and  a familiar  friend  in  the  shape  of  a big 
Bramini  ball,  appropriate^  named  “Kamen,”  who  is 
doing  hi  i best  to  improve  t ho  breed  of  cattle.  With 
so  many  irons  in  the  fire,  all  doing  well,  and  under 
such  able  and  experienced  management,  assisted  by 
two  European  Superintendents  (in  feet  the  Company’s 
employes  are  all  white  men)  the  Company  oannot  but 
be  prospering,  and  I consider  they  are  very  fortunate 
in  possessing  such  a manager  as  Mr.  de  Oourcy 
Hamilton,  for  they  would  find  it  diffioult  _ho  find  an- 
other of  so  varied  experience  and  capabilities.  Mr. 
Hamilton's  work  has  been  thoroughly  done  Ceylon 
fathioD,  and  it  reminded  me  of  old  times  so  see  his 
well-traced  roads,  his  lining,  holing,  and  planting  all 
after  the  old  famil;ar  sort. 
On  the  Sunday  we  attended  service  at  the  looal 
Parish  Ohnrch,  the  Reotor  is  a Welshman,  by  the 
name  of  Evans;  the  service  pleased  me  muoh  better 
than  that  at  Barbados,  it  was  hearty,  and  the  singing 
was  good,  the  sermon  practical.  I should  think  Mr. 
Evans  was  much  liked  and  esteemed  by  his  parish- 
oners,  for  be  is  undoubtably  a sincere,  zealous,  and 
hardworking  man,  who  at  once  wins  one’s  respect 
and  good  opinion.  As  to  the  people  they  appeared  to 
me  more  respectful,  less  bumptious,  and  Dot  so  over- 
dressed as  ours  in  Jamaica  ; the  faot  is  they  are  not 
so  well  off,  and  are  content  with  lower  wages,  and 
“ bread  kind”  appear  to  be  cheaper  than  it  is  here, 
milk  plentiful  and  sheep  mutton  not  a luxury  as  it  is 
in  these  parts. 
The  last  four  days  of  my  stay  in  Montserrat  were 
unfortunately  marred  by  my  getting  a bad  twist,  and 
straining  a muscle  in  my  side  when  riding  one  of  the 
Company’s  large  Amerioan  horses,  which  put  an  end 
to  all  walking  and  riding.  Then  a sad  accident  befell 
on  board  the  R.  M.  S.  “ Esk”  which  was  to  have 
brought  the  mails  and  passengers  from  St.  Thomas  to 
Barbados,  for  when  three  hours  out  from  the  former 
port,  some  pipes  connected  with  the  boiler  burst,  killed 
two  stokers,  and  very  badly  scalded  two  of  the  en- 
gineers who  went  to  the  resoue : so  the  “ Esk”  had 
to  put  back.  A delay  of  two  days  was  thus  oaused, 
as  the  little  steamer  “ Tyne”  whioh  plies  from  island 
to  island  of  the  Leeward  group  had  to  be  requisitioned 
to  take  the  “ E<k’s”  place  and  had  to  be  sent  np  to 
St-  Thomas  for  the  mails,  aud  as  there  was  no  tele- 
graph to  inform  us  of  her  movements,  I had  to  spend 
not  a very  pleasant  three  nights  and  two  days  at  a 
local  hotel  with  the  sobriquet  of  “ the  house  that 
Jaok  built,”  as  it  is  owned  by  one  John  Smith,  an 
old  sailor  and  boatsman.  At  last  the  “ Tyne”  arrived 
in  the  very  early  hours  of  the  Saturday  morning, 
and  being  new  and  fast,  indeed  quite  a yaoht  of  a boat, 
about  700  tons  burdeD,  made  a very  fast  run  to  St. 
Luoia,  picking  up  the  mails  on  the  way,  and  made  the 
voyage  to  Barbados  in  48  hours,  inclusive  of  delay 
iu  transferring  mails  and  taking  in  coal  and  water  at 
St.  Luoia.  Meanwhile  the  “ Orinoco’’  had  been 
ordered  to  meet  the  “ Tyne”  at  St.  Luoia,  we  arrived 
first  on  the  Sunday  morning,  and  she  soon  oame  in 
sight,  and  we  transferred  the  mails  and  passengers, 
and  thus  one  day  of  the  delay  was  saved,  and  it  ap- 
pears the  “ Orinoco”  saved  her  time  arriving  at  Ply- 
mouth on  the  ooutraot  Wednesday. 
The  accident  to  the  “ Esk”  thus  spoilt  my  second 
visit  to  Barbados.  I was  to  have  visited  a Mr.  Green- 
idge,  of  Greenwich,  St.  James,  who  is  about  to  try 
coffee  planting  iu  the  Scotland  district  of  the  Island, 
and  who  was  desirous  of  obtaining  my  opinion  on  his 
venture. 
The  “ Atrato”  is  a noble  steamer,  over  5,000  tons 
burden,  with  a bad  name  for  rolling,  and  for  “ bad 
look,”  but  she  gave  us  no  oause  of  oomplaint  as  the 
weather  was  perfect,  and  we  arrived  at  Kingston  on 
Friday  morning  “ all  well,”  . after  a very  enjoyable 
“ jaunt,”  not  exactly  a “ frolio”  whioh  was  the  word 
used  by  the  daughter  of  my  nautical  landlord  at  Mont- 
serrat when  she  was  recouutiDg  to  me  her  travels  to 
Barbados,  Trinidad,  and  the  Spanish  Main,  lamenting 
she  feared  such  good  luok  was  not  again  in  store 
for  her.  W.  S. 
NOTES  FROM  THE  OCEAN. 
( By  Old  Colonist:  ) 
R.M.S.  “Oroya.” 
The  Kanaka  Labob  Question  continues  to  form  a 
subjeot  of  warm  disoussion  ; the  statements  and  con- 
clusions of  that  fervid  apostle  Mr.  Paton  have  been 
severely  handled  by  a series  of  artioles  in  the  Argus 
written  by  Mr.  Melvin  who  has  made  himself  better 
acquainted  with  tbe  subject  than  perhaps  any  other 
man,  and  whose  perfect  honesty  of  purpose  no  one 
who  knows  him  will  doubt.  Bishop  Montgomory  of 
Tasmania  agrees  with  this  clever  writer  and  testifies 
to  the  eagerness  of  the  islanders  to  get  to  Queens- 
land, and  the  benefit  they  derive  therefrom.  Dr. 
Rentoule  on  the  other  hand,  bears  out  the  contention  of 
Mr.  Paton  that  the  traffic  is,  aud  can  ODly  be  iniquitous  ! 
While  the  Samoan  Missionary,  who  has  an  intimate 
kDOwledge  of,  and  sympathy  with,  the  islanders,  says 
“ the  iniquity  exists  only  in  tbe  fervid  imagination 
of  Mr.  Paton.”  That  injustice  had  been  perpetrated 
by  recruiters  is  undoubted,  but  that  seems  a thing 
of  the  past,  and  sugar  planters  mnst  now  be  too 
keenly  alive  to  their  own  interest  to  badlr  use  the 
Kanakas.  The  labour  question  in  Australia  is  how- 
ever oq6  of  the  problems  these  dog-in -the- manager 
Colonists  have  yet  to  solve  and  whioh,  until  the  majority 
of  the  people  learn  to  be  less  selfish,  oannot  be  satisfac- 
torily solved. 
“ Tea,  Coffee,  Cocoa,  and  Mate  Analysis  ” is  the 
title  of  a book  handed  to  me  on  leaving  England. 
“ A praotioal  treatise  by  J.  Alfred  Wanklyn,  H.E.C.8.,” 
from  whioh  I make  tho  following  curious  quotation  for 
the  information  of  planters  (page  31): — “Coffee  is  a 
seed  whioh  grows  in  a pod  like  the  pea  or 
bean.  The  plant  whioh  produces  ooffee  is  a tree, 
Caffea  Ababica.— It  grows  in  Arabia,  Ceylon,  the 
W.  Indies,  Brazil  and  other  hot  countries.  Before  it 
is  imported  to  Europe  the  Coffee  is  deprived  of  the 
pod,  and  also  of  another  covering.” 
This  beats  the  pamphlet  I read  in  the  last  Mel- 
bourne Exhibition  wherein  Queensland  is  desoribed 
as  being  “ specially  adapted  for  the  growth  of  the 
finest  variety  of  coffee  called  peaberry.”  Ceylon 
tea  is  now  used  on  board  the  Orient  Liner  4 times  a 
day.  It  is  remarkable  how  few  now  drink  coffee.  The 
very  reverse,  however,  is  the  oase  on  the  Paoific 
routes.  Tea  and  “cocktails”  do  not  agree. 
I have  been  studying  with  the  greatest  interest 
“ The  Handbook  of  Information  fob  Intending  Set- 
tlers in  Bbitibh  New  Guinea”  by  Sir  William  Mac- 
gregor;  an  Aberdeenshire  ploughman  of  whom  we  are 
all  justly  proud;  I note,  by  the  way,  that  one  of  the 
prinoipal  mountains  has  been  named  after  our  friend 
Dr.  Alexander  of  the  Free  Press.  I am  very  muoh 
disposed  to  visit  New  Guinea  which  is  a mnoh  more 
get-at-able  and  promising  subject  than  Uganda. 
Tasmania  I mean  to  revisit  and  oarefully  note  the 
progress  it  has  made  during  the  past  five  years.  Will 
interview  the  new  members  of  the  Ministry,  mean  to 
spend  a few  weeks  in  N.  S.  Wales  and  hope  to  visit 
Mildura,  &o.  Will  endeavour  to  effect  a meeting  with 
our  oorreBpondent  “ Aberdonensis”  and  by  rubbing 
our  heads  together  something  may  be  got  oat  of  them. 
In  Visiting  the  Antipodes  I have  another  objeot 
in  view,  viz.  to  further  study  the  Chinese  Labour  Ques- 
tion with  a view  to  advocating  their  introduction  into 
the  Upper  Valleys  of  the  Amazon. 
COFFEE  PLANTING  NOTES  FROM  COORG. 
O00RG,  March  3rd.— In  my  Notes  of  the  20th  ultimo 
I alluded  to  the  precautions  taken  against  borer  on 
some  of  the  3outh  Goorg  Estates.  Catching  and  de- 
stroying tbe  insects  in  the  image  stage  has  been 
muoh  ridiouled,  is  looked  upon  as  hopelessly  futile 
to  make  any  impression  on  their  numbers  in  this 
way  as  it  would  be  to  bale  on1,  s«v,  Mip  Cauvery 
Rvcr  at  any  ^pot  without  ouiting  off  tho  inrush  of 
waters  from  above.  The  parallel  is  not  gtriotly 
