m THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURrST. [Sept, l, 1902. 
company like this I can only try and beseech yon 
that you will not put out any more area, and, if you 
can by any chance, throw some of the ground out 
of cultivation— throw it into the Brahmapootra, if you 
like. 
Mr Sanderson : And let other companies extend 
theirs ! 
Mr Seton : I am speaking in the interests of all 
the shareholders, and what is the mind of the great 
leaders of the industry who are actually meeting 
together in solemn conclave to find out a scheme 
whereby they can take a certain amount of their tea 
oS the market. 
Mr Densham:— You are comparing sovereigns to 
pennies; 
Mr Seton : — I hold that there is too much tea at 
a certain period of the year; but we have had a 
rude awakening in the last six months as to the ex- 
traordinary price to which good Assam tea can fall, 
In 1901-2 we had an extraordinary fall in fine Assam 
tea to tenpence, and now Assam is selling at seven- 
pence. That is a worse fall relatively, because the 
cost is so much greater. 
Then came a question, to which no answer was 
given : — 
Colonel Nowell: I want to ask one question. Is 
it not a fact that the quality of Assam teas baa 
not deteriorated during the last few years, but that the 
quality of the Ceylon teas has deterioratedi and is 
deteriorating year after year ? 
A practical planter, Mr. Jackson, stated : — 
No doubt, while the difficulty of obtaining labour 
is so great, and the price of tea so low, it would 
be wise to stop all extension for a bit, but as soon as the 
opportunity offers extensions should be gone on with on 
that side in preference to the other side, I think that 
the present position of the company is chiefly owing to 
the fact that the difficulties of opening up in such a 
place as Makum were under-estimated at the very 
Btart. (Hear, hear.) The original scheme of the 
company was 2,200 acres for about £63,000 ; or 
£30 an acre; the actual scheme has been 1,860 
acres for £150,000, or £80 per acre. On £80 an acre 
it is difficult to make tea pay, and if any tea could 
pay it would be Makum tea. Then, again. I think the 
extensions were originally pushed on so fast that in- 
stead of being able annually to fill up all occurring 
vacancies, young plants have been taken afterwards to 
fill up the vacancies left. The young plants are taken 
from the nursery ; they are taken from virgin soil to 
virgin soil, but when you take them from virgia soil to 
five-year old tea gronnd and fill in, they never get up 
to the tea originally put in, and to a great measure 
t hat accounts for the small outlay . , . The old 
garden, 1 consider, is unwieldy. As a rule we find 
that 1,000 acres is big enough for any garden, and on 
flat land there are generally two factories. In Makum 
matters are considerably worse, because it is out up 
by small ravines and streams. Even 1,0U0 a;ores 
would be unwieldy, but on one block we have there 
1,400 acres, and the distance the coolies have to go 
causea tremendous waste. 
All this is instructive; and finally the Chairman 
explained the over-supply of tea : — 
It is entirely the result of the enormous extensions 
that were made four or five years ago when there was 
a 13d rupee. At that time tea was very profitable 
and extensions cost very much less than they 
would cost now. The result was that tea was pat out 
to the extent of thousands and thousands of acres, and 
these thousands of acres are only coming into bearing 
now, and therefore the market for tea, I am afraid, will 
be gorged for the next two or three years, and that 
the weak companies will have to go to the wall. . . . 
There is plenty of Ceylon tea, but the quantity of 
Makum tea — tea of the quality of the Makum garden 
— is comparatively small, and we got a very good price 
for it last year. 
And so the meeting no doubt got the idea that all 
Ceylon tea is inferior : a very foolish notion, 
PEARL DIVING ON THE NORTHWEST 
AUSTRALIAN COAST. 
One of our soldier readers, Mr Alexander 
Macdonald, late lieutenant of the Australian 
Bushmen, writes :— There are still a few corners 
of the earth which remain but little known to 
those who are content to glean their information 
of far-off lands from tourist guide-books and 
out-of-date geographies, and for a long 
time to come they are likely to remain immune 
from the visits of the orthodox traveller. One 
of the most interesting of these remote districts 
is that part of the North-West Australian coast 
which runs north-north-east from Cossack, under 
the 20th parallel towards Port Darwin, and 
thence further to eastward into the Gulf of 
Carpentaria. This vast "corner" of the Globe is 
but the fringe of the great Terra Incognita of 
Australia, whose grim mountains and trackless 
deserts have lured many an explorer to his doom. 
The shadowy Leopold Ranges in the north are 
known to contain much gold and other mineral 
treasure, but fiercely hostile tribes of aborigines 
infest the mountains and rigorously guard their 
domain, so that only strong parties dare venture 
near their chosen haunts. But if this dangerous 
division of the Island Continent demands only 
the reckless pioneer's attention ins seaboard is 
comparatively free from the besetting risks of 
the interior and here a fascinating industry is 
carried on, the very existence of which is probably 
unknown to most people. 
WHERE THE PEARL DIVERS WORK. 
Seldom do strangers journey so far distant from 
civilisation as this lucrative coast of which I 
particularly write ; even in the great Australian 
cities little knowledge can be gained of the North- 
West, and those who periodically return fiom 
that region are never inclined to b« communica- 
tive regarding their work. And yet, alone this 
mangrove- lined beach, extending seawards in some 
places for many miles, some of the world's finest 
gems are found. The rich "shallows " stretch 
right round the coast and into the Gulf, but the 
main area of operations lies between Cossack and 
King Sound ; and Roebuck Bay, about midway 
between these boundaries, is recognised as the 
pearling centre for all the fleets engaged. 1 he 
largest settlement on these waters is that of 
Broome, which is situated at the opening of a 
mangrove-fringed creek at the head of Roebuck 
Bny, and though my description of it will doubt- 
less give much offence to thoss who have grown 
to love their reeking and evil smelling " metro- 
polis," still I cannot but say that it is one of the 
most " God-forgotten " camps it has ever been 
my lot to strike, and I speak as one who knows 
the world well. 
THE pearl-divers' TOWNSHIP OF BROOME. 
The population of this township is composed 
for the most part of Malays, Japanese and Mani- 
laraen, who form the crews of the various lugger 
craft. The Manilamen, as the natives of the 
Philippine Islands are termed, makd good divers, 
and their wonderful vitality has been proved on 
many occasions when accidents lo the pumps and 
diving-gear made their existe ice belotv water 
rather doubtful. When many ships come into pork 
at one time, or when the Monsoon season renders 
diving work impracticable, the various nationaii- 
ties'combine in making day and night — especially 
the night — hideous with their drunken squabbles, 
and not infrequently knives are drawn and bri^tal 
