( t9 ) 
" DAYS OP OT.D " 
On- the 4tli of next niontli— April, it will 
be exactly 40 years since I left Southampton in 
the P. & 0. ss, " Kipon* " : the last of the 
padJIe steamers belonging to tiiat Company. I 
was the only passenger for Ceylon and 1 can 
remember well my feelings, when, after " doiri^" 
Galle with my fellow passengers, accompanying 
them back to the steamer, and having to return 
ashore alone, having seen the last of my Eiiglish 
friends ; and so far as I knew there was not 
a soul in Ceylon that I had ever set eyes 
on. Of course, I had had letters of introduction, 
and that night dined with old Sonnenkalb, — I 
won't answer for the spelling !— slept at 
" Ephrauins Hotel,'' and next morning liad my 
first experience of the Galle-Colombo coach. To 
skip a bit, July of that year, 186.3, found u!e on 
Summerville in Dikoya, where goo l old W R 
Duff sent me to see new clearing wova done 
under John Smith, then of Oonoogaloya, Kot- 
niale. On arrival we found the " Uungalow " 
2 rooms 10 x 10 had not even been thatclied, 
or covered in any way ; the door frames so 
narrow, that we had to break back the legs 
of our couches, which were to answer the pur- 
pose of beds and ?hairs. It was whilst living 
on Summerville — 60 acres opening — that a special 
cooly arrived one day with a letter offering me 
my first billet of £100 a year, and which, of 
course, I accepted. It does one good to go back 
to one's teens sometimes, but the gaps left by 
those who are " gone before," shade over the 
otherwise pleasant picture. Once start me on 
the memories of by-gone days, and I would weary 
a Saint, and drive an ordinary mortal ma-J,t 
so we had better stop. I must thank you, how- 
ever, Mr Editor, for having given me the chance 
of this pleasant chat, as by the photo of the 
cricket teams you transported me to the happiest 
days of my life, which is on the eve of " thiee : 
score years." 
From Mr Humphrey Humphreys himself 
we have an appreciative letter under date 
5th February, from which we take a few 
sentences :— 
It was a first rate idea of your getting them 
printed and sent round with your paper, and I 
am very glad to know who all the men are 
save the one whom none of you can make out I 
should not wonder if some Ceylon man who was 
in Ceylon in 1870 will be able to fill that one 
gap in the two teams. I have anotijer group 
1 took when Sir James Elphinstone was over 
in Ceylon, that I took after a meeting we had 
at McLeod's, and move of these met.' have 
passed away than in the two cricket teams. 
This group was taken in December, 1870.J I 
heard from a Ceylon friend this week, and he 
very much appreciates the picture and your 
remarks upon it. 
• Oura was the Pera— also paddle— in October. 
1861.— Ed. L.B. 
f Not at all, we feel sure: nothing could bo more 
interesting, or nsefnl iu teanhiag tlie " creepers" 
and S. D.'a of the present day to ba thankful for 
their comforta as oorapired with the " lout{liiiif< " 
of early pioneers. — Ed. L.L', 
J This group we rtiproduced some years sga for 
oar Tropical Af/ricultwist : we must aeuci a copy 
soon to Mr. Humphreya to show biiu how it was 
done.— Ed, L.B. 
ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY ; 
CEYLON BRANCH. 
ANNUAL MEETING: TWO PAPERS READ. 
THE HON. TIJE LIEUT. ({OVEENOIl ON OYSTKB 
WASHING. 
Tlie annual general meeting'of^tho Ceylon Branch 
of the Royal Asiatic Socie'ty was held in the 
Library of the Colombo Mn^^euui at 9 p.m. on tlie 
9fch Mar. 1903. The Hon. Everard im Thurn, C.B., 
C.M.G. , President,, presided and there Avere alao 
present :— Tlie Hon. Mr John Ferguson, Vice- 
President, Dr. ami Mrs S C K Rutnani, Mr Adv, 
Pererfi, Messrs D BJayatilaka, B.A.,FC R des, MK 
Bamber, Dr. A J Chalmers, Dr. W A de Silva Di 
Savaranamuttii, Hon. Mr S C Obeysekera, Messrs 
P E Morgappah, G H Snhren, Mr Advocate 
Baiuwantudawa, Messrs B Vanderstraaten, W E 
Byles, W F Gunawardana, Mudaliyar, F D 
Jayasinhn,.! HarwanI, Gerard A Jnsoph, (Honorary 
Secretaries) and others. 
The minutes of the previous mpetinif were 
read and duly confirmed. 
THK ANNITAI. REPORT. 
Mr G A Joseph then read the annual report 
of the Society, as follows : — 
The Council of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal 
Asiatic Society have the honour to submit the fol- 
lowing Report for the year, 1902, 
Meetinos .%nd Papers.— The only general meetinjf 
held during the year was, the annual ;;onQral meetiog, 
held on Feb. 26, 1902, when the introdaction to the 
paper entitled " A descriptive catalogue of the more 
useful trees and flowering plants of the Western and 
Sabavagirauwa Provinces of Ceylou " by Mr Fred- 
rick Lewis, f l s, was read. Besides the above 'paper 
a paper entitled " Resolutions and sentences of the 
Council of the Town of Galle, 1640-4 edited by Mr 
R Q Anthonisz (not read at a meeting) has been 
printed in the Society's Jourual for 1>J02 ; and the 
following papers have been accepted for publication 
in the Jouroal for 1903, viz :—L "Two Ola Grafts 
of the 17ih Century " by Mr T B Pohath Kehelpan- 
nala. II. " Temporal and Spiritual Histor? of Ceylou 
compiled by Rev Fernao de Queiios, s j, of the Pro- 
vince of Goa,'' translated from the Portugueae by Mr 
F H de Vos. 
Mejibers,— During the past year 19 new members 
were elected:— The Hon. Mr Everard im Tuuju.cb 
c 51 G, (elected as a'member of R A S, Great Britain 
and Ireland, under Rule 45) Messrs .7 R Tosh V J 
Tambi Pillai, J S CoUett, P J do Mel, Dr Tha Do 
Oung, Sir W W Mitchell, Messrs R A Rama Pillai, 
C Batuwantudawa, Dr A J Chalmers, Messrs G B 
Leechman, D Montagu, GE Weerakoon, Dr: Arthur 
Willey, F R s, Messrs W F Gunawardana, W Java- 
wickrama, P C MaoMahou; N Bonaparte- Wvae and 
T P Ponuambalam Pillai. Thrfe members resignsd, 
viz :— Mr H T Gardiner, Dr P M Muttaoumaru and 
Mr H OB.rrnard. 
Mr. W H G Duncan baa become a non-resident life 
member. The Society now has on its roll 197 mem- 
bers including 24 lifo-members and 10 hon. members. 
The Council record with regret the death of the 
following members of the Sooiety, viz '.—Messrs J B 
Cull, 31 A, Oliver Collett, J p, r r m g, T B Pauabokke, 
J P, and Dr J S John P.dle. Mr P.^nabokke joined 
the Society in 18S4. f;o contributed to the Society's 
proceedinss for 1S82, the following paper; —" Addenda 
lio Professor Rby-; David's Trausbir.lon of the Juta- 
kiis 1 — 40, to .■■ upply car', liu omi.saicii':." 
Mr Collett .i-iiuod" the Society iu 1S93. Ha coa- 
tributod thf> f-dUnving papers t.< tna S?>.ie'-v'a Jour- 
ua!, viz;— 1. (1) Contributions to Ceylon Malacology 
Vo! XV No 13. 2. (II)Coutribatiou8toCoylonMala- 
