620 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [March 1, 1901. 
JSDVENTUKE AYITH A LEOPAED. 
The :owii ot Nageicoil, ni Truvancore, was 
tlirown iiuo a state of wild excitement on Satur- 
day mi rning last when it was leported that a 
le")panl liit(i tound its way into ilie town and was 
hidinfi; in afield near the Oolu^'anaehery biiilge. 
Large numbers of people collected at the spot, 
and, taking up iiositions at convenient distances, 
watched the niuveuients of the biuie, which had 
already attacked two men. Word having been 
sent to Vadasary, Mr. J Duncan Roberts and 
Mr. F A Cox iiairied to the field, and while they 
were walking along the bund, without seeing any 
sign of the leopard, the bystanders called out to 
them that tlie brute was lurking in the grass. 
Turning round and walking a few paces, Mr. Cox's 
attention was arrested by a low snarl and on 
looking round he saw the brute spring on Mr. 
Roberts. A IShanar man who happened to be 
near rushed forward, and diverted the attention of 
the animal on to himself, while one of the shikaris 
present fired and killed the brute. Mr. Roberts 
was badly mauled on both hands and suffers a 
great deal, but his injuries are believed and 
hoped to be not dangerous. The leopard is a fair- 
sized one and well-marked. The presence of mind 
and pluck shown by the Shanar, in saving the life 
of another at imminent risk to his own, are beyond 
praise.— Marfj-as Mail, Feb. 14. 
PRESERVATION OF THE WILD ANIMALS 
OF THE SOUDAN. 
A CKVLON MAN TO THE FORE. 
The Anglo Soudanese Government is forming a 
•' Soudan Wild Anii^al De|)artnient,''" the object 
of which is to preserve the wild beasts of the 
Soudan, which between the time when the country 
was closed after the death of General Gordon and 
the capture of Khartoum had greatly increased. 
Indiscriminate slaughter in this, one of the few 
preserves left in the world, will be checked and 
regulated : and one of the branches of the depart- 
ment will be the supply to Zoological Gardens, 
'Museums, «&c., of live and dead specimens. The 
Soudan Government offered the post to Mr. 
Butler, who, 
SINCE HE LEFT CEYLON AND TEA-PLANTING 
font years ago, went on an expedition to the 
Andaman and Nicobar Islands, collecting birds 
for Mr. Walter Rothschild, of Tring. The work 
he found delightful, but it was very hard, and he 
resigned, taking up similar work in Ferak. He 
then obtained under the Selangor Government the 
curatorship of the Straits Museum, and occupied 
this position when he received the offer from the 
Soudan Government. As may be well imagined 
the number of candidates suitable for such a post 
is limited, but the offer made to Mr. Butler 
required his quick decision. He wired assent, 
threw up his post in the Straits, and booked a 
passage by the Japanese ss. " Shinani Maru " for 
Port Said, 
The action of the Anglo-Soudanese Government 
in taking steps to preserve the wild animals of the 
Soudan is most praiseworthy. It is only neces- 
sary to glance at the recent records of travel, not 
merely in Africa, but in other haunts of big game 
in various parts of the world, to see that valuable 
types are following the dodo and great auk into 
premature extinction. We need hardly dwell on 
the pity of this event. On the lowest ground it is 
extremely bad economy to use up in one great 
Vattue the sport of ijenerations to come : on higher 
grounds it is a crime against posterity to deprive 
tlii^ science of the futuie of the very elements of 
practical in vesiigat ion — Egyptian Gazette, J an . 28. 
PRODUCE AND PLANTING. 
The Movement fok Kesteictikg the Output or 
Tea. — The Calcutta correspondent of the Titties cables 
tinder date January 22: — "The Indian Tea Asso- 
ciaticn has adriressed a circular letter to all proprietors 
and agents of estates with a view to limiting the 
oniiput anil consequently enhauciug prices. Opinions 
are invited on the following proposals : The tem- 
porary abandonment of 10 per cent, of the area in 
full cultivation ; the fixing of a date for closing manu- 
facture in each district ; generally finer plucking ; and 
that a percentage of the crop consisting of low-grade 
teas be placed at the disposal of the AssociBtion, and 
utilised for encouraging the consumption of tea by the 
natives of India." 
A Wise Suggestion. — Mr. Cuthbert Burgoyne, 
writing from Blount Ophir Vineyards, Victiria, puts 
in a plea for Imperial products whii h will specially ■ 
commend itself to Indian and Colonial planters 
and producers, and he says : " At the b. ginning 
of a new century, when the civilised world is throb- 
bing with the growth of the Empire, a plna for patriot- 
ism, even in trade, may not be misplaced. In the 
daily struggle for existence patriotism should not be 
lost sight of. If 'self had dominated onr feelings, 
the British; Empire vrould no' hold the powerful sway 
it does today. By giving preference to Colonial pro- 
ducts, the grocer can assist in the augmentation of 
Britain's power without detriment to his own pocket. 
The British Empire produces from some corner of 
her vast dominions everything needful to mankind. En- 
courage, then, the tea-planters of India and Ceylon, 
the Colonial cane sugar mills, and push the cocoa 
of the British Colonies. New Zealand and Australian 
butters are quickly creeping into favour, and the full- 
bodied Australian wines have made their mark on 
French imports, and have come to Ftay. Spices are, 
to a very great extent, Colonial, and before many 
years the grocer will be able to place British dried 
fruits and cofiees before his customer. Whatever is 
good for the British Colonist is good for the Empire, 
Let us always bear in mind ihat Greater Britain has 
her vineyards, her tea and sugar plantations, her 
rice fields, and ber spice and orange groves, and, that 
in the present condition of tha world, commercial 
interest are all powerful. Give preference to 
Colonial products, overrule the Englisliman's preju- 
dice against a new article, and the commerce of the 
Empire will be strengthened. As unity is strength, 
if we all work to one end, the result must be to the ben- 
efit of the empire." This idea might commend it- 
self to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in connection 
with the tax on tea. While the Governmsnt does no- 
thing in particular to foster British-grown produce, 
we fear that individual members of the great trading 
community throughout the British Empire caunotbe 
expected to give such evidence of true patriotism as 
is indicated by the correspondent from Mount Ophir. 
The prosperity of the British Colonist or the Anglo- 
Indian weigh very little against the needs of the Im- 
perial Exchequer. — S. and O.JIail, JstiXt. 2b. 
♦ 
Cacao Cultivation. —We direct attention 
to a very suggestive letter on this subject 
by a practical cacao planter. It deserves 
the careful consideration of his brethren, 
whose criticism on any of the points raised 
will be welcomed. The problem submitted 
by "P.O.D.", as to what could be done with 
a limited number of trees per acre, specially 
treated as regards pollination, is eminently 
one adapted for experiment in the Peradeniya 
Gardens where the soil is, we suppose, no 
more than a fair average of our cacag 
districts. 
