258 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
[Oct. 1, 1899. 
NYASSALAND COFFEE CO., LTD. 
The report was as follows : -- 
ACBEAtiE : 
10 acres Ooft'ee planted Deo. 1895. 
240 do do 1896 -Feb. 1897. 
38a do do 1897— Feb. 1898. 
<53:-i acres under ouUivatioii. 
2,843 acres reserve- 
Total. .3,476 acres. 
SuPKHTNTENDENCB. — Mv. Moggridge tendered his re- 
signation as Superintendent, under his agreement, 
which the Directors have nov/ agreed to accept, being 
satisfied with tlie arrangements that gentleman has 
made for the working of the estate during Mr. Robin's 
absence on furiough. 
The thanks of the Shareholders are due to Mr. 
Moggridge for the work he has done, although the 
Directors are of opinion that he did not attach 
sufficient importance to the advisability of opening 
with large enough plants. 
Mr. George Napier Barclay whom Mr. Moggridge 
appointed to act until Mr. Robin's return is re- 
ported as being a coffee planter of many years' 
experience in the Wynaad; and judging from his 
letters and that of the Visiting Agent, Mr. Henry 
JBcown, to the Company, the Directors are of opi- 
nion that the estate is in capable hands. 
PaoGRBss OP WoKK. — During the financial year un- 
der review no more land has been opened, the ener- 
gies of the Superintendents having been devoted to 
supplying. 
This work has been completed, although it is a 
matter for regret that the plants which had to be put 
out were of small size. 
However, Mr, Barclay in his last letter dated 7ttf 
June, 1899, states : " The young clearings are look- 
ing remarkably well and have made wonderful pro- 
gress the past month. I think that all plants alive 
now may be calculated to survive the hot weather, 
if we have any, there being no indication so far of 
the present weather changing." 
During the season a small crop of 341 bushels 
cherry v^as picked and sold in the cherry at 6a (id 
per bushel to a local trader. Of this Mr. Barclay 
remarks : — - 
'' The coffee I am pleased to say is of exceptionally 
good quality, and the trader referred to speaks very 
highly of it. There is no light berry to speak of, 
and the bean^ is a tine large compact one, as good 
a s I have seen anywhere. 
" The soil on this place being excellent there is 
no reason why this should not be the case with suc- 
eeding crops 
" Personally I think you have picked out an ideal 
phice for a coffee estate, though a slightly heavier 
rainfall would be an advantage." 
" With regard to next year's return there will 
bo pickings over an area of afeout 200 acres calcu- 
lated as fully planted up, and you ought to get at 
least 30 tons from it." 
Financial Position. — From the Balance Sheet it 
will be apparent that the capital of the Company 
is exhausted. 
In the meantime and pending further particulars 
from Nyaesaland as to the probable expenditure and 
crop for the two following years, the directors have 
arranged with Messrs. Uarson & Co., that the latter 
should lend ,£500 sterling to carry on with, until 
it is seen what furtlier additional capital is required 
and can 'oe raised, or whether a loan for the requisite 
amount cm be arranged in London. 
Financial Year.— It is proposed to alter this to 
Slst December instead of as at present. By the end 
of 1000 t)ia Directors hope to be in a position 
to Btato whether tiie success of the Company ia 
ai-.sured or not. 
x\lr. G. Kent Deakcr retires by rotation, but ia 
eligible for re election. 
The appointment of an Auditor fov the ensuing 
pat rtisttf with the Meeting, 
NOTES FROM NORTH BORNP:0. 
[B'l a Ceylon Correspondent.) 
When I last wrote you, 1 was on my way to the 
interior, using the 20 mile* of railway now open to 
Beaufort. Tliis line leaves Brunei Bay at Weston 
—named after Mr. A J West, the Engineer iu 
cliarge — a town in name only at present — situated 
on the Bukow River. It consists of a small num- 
ber of (15) native huts and a telephone office. 
It is not proposed^ to sell any shop lots until 
the ground has been raised a little. At the 
back of 
THE FUTUlUi TOWNSIIIP, 
therei.sa large gravel hill, excellent ballast, and 
this is now being used to form a mole out into 
the Bukow River, which at this point more re- 
sembles an inner bay. When the mole has suffi- 
ciently advanced, say 80 yards, a pier will be run 
out into deep water. From Weston to Bukow, the 
line runs for eight for miles through level ground, 
well-cultivated paddy fields and fruit trees abound- 
ing. This land is very well suited for coconuts. 
Bukow is the present headquarters of the railway 
oHicials, but its cluster of shops will probably 
have to be removed to Weston or up the line 
when the railway works are more advanced. 
Beaufort at the 20th mile, is situated on the great 
Padas River, which will require a bridge of some 
length, about 500 feet. 
THE RAILWAY WORKS 
are progressing up the Padas Valley, but, as the 
rails are only laid for a niile or so, I continue 
my journey by boat, talcing one and-a-half day to 
reach the foot of the Penotal Gorge. At Rayoh 
I met Mr. W To wer, the Railway Engineer, 
who is drawing up a report for an e-vten-sion 
of o)ir railway, and together we walked up the 
Gorge, taking two days insj>ecting the inoreditli- 
cult places and cimjiing half way. Ai the top of 
the Gorge, we stayed with the District Officer, 
Mr. Ciiaries Keasbcrry, in his comfortable new 
bungalow which overlooks the plains, or patanas 
as they ar- called in Ceylon. These plains con- 
tain numerous small villages, iriigated ;)addy 
fields, the water for which is sometimes brought 
along the contour of the land for miles, and 
chimps of coconut and other fruit trees. The 
plains are narrow — under ten miles broad— but 
they extend fully thirty miles and over. Tradi- 
tion says a great lake e.xisted here until the 
Genii of the lake lost his daughter who fell over 
the brim. This caused the Genii of the lake to 
break the brim so that he might join his daughter, 
which he could only do by allowing the water to 
convey him. This 
ACCOUNTS FOR THK GAP IN THE HILLS, 
through which the Padas flows in one continual 
roar, 13 miles down to Rayoh. The fall is abont 
400 feet, there are no actual waterfalls, and navi- 
gation is impossible. There is a story that 30 
Dyaks descended the Gorge — that only eight lived, 
and their boats and all their gutta were lost. 
The bridle-path through Gorge is a great boon 
to the natives, who formerly had to walk over 
Rayoh Hill 3,400 feet in elevation. Rayoh is 
only 150 feet and the path was so bad that no 
cattle could use it. Mr. Tower walked up and 
down the bridle path with me and he said it waa 
quite as good a bridle path as the hill paths of 
Ceylon. We could not ride it ; first, because we 
had no ponies, and second (if another reason is 
wanted) a small landslip aud a fallen tree barred 
the way, but these little difficulties could be ob» 
viated by the telegiaph coolies. There are tele* 
