Feb. 1, 1900.] THE TROPICAL AGBICULTURIST. 
Elptiin»tone, Bart., occurs opposite the Westhall 
Group of three estates, 2,587 acres, of which 1,170 
are cultivated, all in tea ; and of Lady Elphinstone 
for Logie, Dimbula, SOO acres, with 282 in tea. 
Sir James Elphinstone re-visited Ceylon in 1869- 
70 when his son was in full flow 8s Manager of 
the old properties, besides opening estates of his 
own. From the Observer ot January, 1870, we 
quote a graphic description (also by " Old Colonist"), 
which carries its own story 
THE GREAT HAKVEST HOME BANQUET 
AT KADIANLENA. 
One afternoon some eight years ago a knot of burly 
farmers might have been seen gathering around the 
quiet country inn of Pitcaple in Aberdeenshire, their 
object being to meet and bid farewell to the son of 
a distinguished neighbour, who was about to proceed 
to and push his fortune in a foreign country. G. 
Dalrjmple Elphinstone was, we believe, without one 
dissentient voice, the acknowledged favourite of the 
parish, his " weel faart" face ever beaming with 
fun and kmdi'ess as familiar in the pauper's 
cot as in the Ha' and while always adding to the 
scanty stores of the auld widow wives, he never 
failed to increase hia own stores of racy anecdote with 
which he has ever since been brimful. Great were 
the lamentations when it became known that 
" Graemie," as he was familiarly called, had made 
up his mind to go to Ceylon, and many a lonely 
auld wifie at the "fit o' Beunochie " felt that she 
was losing her best friend. The farmers in Aber- 
deenshire are by no means very demonstrative in the 
respect they show for their " betters," but even they 
were not blind to the worth of young Graeme, and 
determined, before allowing him to leave, to invite 
him to a dinner at the inn— many a hearty shake 
did his hand get and many a sage advice did he 
receive. The chairman, weremember, waxed eloquent, 
and told him that. 
" The rank was but the guinea stamp " not to 
rely anything on the mere stamp, but on his own 
energy and the blessing of Heaven. 
Five weeks after this oitr athletic young friend 
found himself in the Central Province of Ceylon, 
his buoyant spirits somewhat damped by the first 
impressions. Coffee Estates, even in those latter 
days, were very differently worked from what they are 
now. Agents, like attorneys in the West, had not 
yet begun to discover that the interests of their con- 
stituents were identical with their own, and conse- 
quently it too often happened, as in this case, that 
valuable Estates, instead of being a source of profit 
to the owner, were only a source of annoyance 
and loss. 
Mr. Elphinstone was not long to be discouraged, 
he saw the cause and discovered the remedy. Fi- 
guratively and practically he put his shoulder to the 
wheel, and the result we now see to-day in old 
Baharundrah, which has tripled in value and pro- 
ductiveness, while by mere dint of hard work, pru- 
dence and economy he has added field to field and 
estate to estate till he is now one of the largest 
and most prosperous proprietors in the country. 
The coffee on "West Hall" now shows as deep a 
green as the sombre ivy on the turreted old castle 
of its namesake — "Logie" as much the centre of a 
highly prolific district as the family mansion in the 
centre of the Aberdeen Granary, while " Douside " 
smiles sweetly amongst the beautiful river-side pat- 
nas. These promising young properties have this 
year given their bumper crop, which having been 
successfully stored, the event has been celebrated 
in a manner never before attemped in the jungles 
of Ceylon. 
The Dinner. 
It was only on New Year's day that it occurred to 
the worthy proprietors of Logie and Donside, Messrs. 
Elphinstone and McLeod, to celebrate the snccessfnl 
storing of a good crop by a Harvest Home after the 
good old Scottish style, and no sooner did it occur 
than it was settled for the 7th and set about with their 
characteristic energy. 100 invitations were set afloat, 
and the servioes of that veteran purveyor, IMr. Hud- 
son, enlisted, as ■« ell as the kirg of appoos, old Francis 
of Kandy — both of whom did their respective duties 
in the most creditable manner. The dinner was laid 
in the Upper Flat of the Kadiaulena Store, richly 
decorated tor the occasion by the ingenuity and taste 
of Mr. Allan, surveyor. " Wellcome all" in large 
capitals was capitally painted over the entrance, while 
such mottoes as " We are a band of brothers," Let 
Kotmalie & Dimboola flourish," " Lanka for ever I " &c. 
&c. adorned the walls. At eight o' clock, some seventy 
gentlemen sat down to dinner, the chair being occu- 
pied by Sir James Elphinstone, on a visit to his son. 
Amongst those present we observed the whole of 
Kotmalie and Dimboola ; Mr. Dawson, O. B. C. 
Kandy ; Mr. Sinclair ; Mr, H. L. Forbes ; Mr. Charles 
Grant, &c. cfcc, and amongst the clans represented in 
the Highland costume we observed conspicuous the 
'■ Forbes " and McLellan." The hosts sat at either 
end of the table ; to those who know Kotmalie, the 
hospitability of Messrs. McLeod and Elphinstone 
and what the Ceylon Hotels company can do, it is 
needless to speak of the entertainment. The table 
literally groaned with a superabundance of the good 
things of this life, while " Mum's" flowed as freely as 
if drawn from yonder sparkling waterfall. 
Before the covers or viands were removed, the 
Chaibman, in accordance with the good old custom, 
proposed the usual loyal toasts, followed by "God 
save the Queen," "God bless the Prince of Wales" 
and '• Rule Britannia," which were rendered with 
such spirit and effectiveness as we have never before 
heard equalled in Ceylon. The following toasts were 
then proposed and most enthusiastically res- 
ponded to: — 
"Sir Hercules Bobinson " by the Chairman. 
" The Army and Navy " by the Chaiujian. Cap- 
tain Oldfield replied. 
"The Coffee Enterpri-eiu Kotmalie and Dimboola," 
by Mr. McLeod. Excellent original song by Mr. 
Allan, Mr. Hood replied. 
"Our Joint Host" Blr. Mcl.eod by Mr, Sjiith. 
" Our Joint Host" Mr. Eli:hinstone. by Mr. 
MORHISON. 
"The Mercantile Interest by the Chaieman. Mr. 
Dawson replied. 
"The Chairman" by Mr. Tyndall. 
' The Ladies" by Mr. McLeod. Mr. Anderson 
replied. 
We regret much not being able to give the 
speeches in detail, all of which were above medi- 
ocrity. In Sir James we of course had a great ac- 
quisition; — looking the very picture of health and 
soul of happiness himself he threw a geniality over 
the whole company which was reflected on every 
countenance. He gave a very graphic and interesting 
account of his first acquaintance with central Ceylon, 
now 24 years ago : hew he wended his way up 
from Colombo, got as far a Passbagey, how he met 
a bluff looking European whom he accosted with 
the hope of getting some information regarding the 
locality of his land, " I don't know where the d — 1 
your land may be," was the reply, " but if yon go 
up yonder hill you'll find an Elephant track — keep 
along it over the hill and down the other side you'il 
be somewhere near it." " Following these very 
definite directions, ' continued Sir James, " I plod- 
ded on, arrived at the ridge of the mountain and 
had just got into the Elephant track I remember 
when, out shot an Elk (here Craigy Lea became 
intensely interested). I scrambled down through the 
Forest and arrived at the patna knoll below ns. 
There 1 looked back and saw I had got a good ridge 
to shelter me from the S. W. So I set to work 
there and then and built me a hut. I lived chiefly 
on jnggery and fungi and I did not relish or long 
remain in Kotmalie then, simply because I could 
