148 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTUKIST. 
[Seit. 1, 1898. 
Clinrch, and whose relationsliip to the descendants 
of the Hu;,'iienot branch is prohahly too distant to 
trace. Curiously enough, we may mention that 
the family (Durands) of the mother of the 
Messrs. SabonadiCre, as also that of the wife 
(Portal.*) of Mr. Wni. Sabonadiere, were of 
Hun;uenot descent. The father of tiie subjects 
of onr paper was the liev. C. C. A. M. L. J. A. 
Sabonadiere, ordained of the Church of En;;land, 
and a Pasleur in tlie IJeformed Church of 
France, residentin the town of Meaux in the De- 
partment of Seine & Marne. * Hi* wife was Sophia, 
daughter of the Very Reverend Dean Durand of 
Peter Port, Guernsey. Here, in Meaux, were 
born Francis Kichard Sabonadiere, on 8lli Feb, 
1823 and (six years later almost to a day) 
William Augustus Sabonadiere on 9th February 
1829. Soon after the latter year, their father 
was transferred to Paris, and there Francis 
was educated at the Lysee, until his father's 
further transference to St. Quentin, where 
the latter died in 1838. Their mother then 
aeturned with her family to her old home, 
Guernsey, and her elder son, F. 11., a lad of 15 
at the time, could hardly S])eaka word of English. 
A notable physical defect in F. K. Sabonadiere 
(big powerful frame as he eventually developed) was 
the absence of the right eye, and many in 
Ceylon, during h!s lifelong residence, thought 
this had occurred through some sporting accident 
But it really dates from his early cluldhooil, when 
daring an attack of measles (at the age of 4) a 
nuise wrongly treated the inllammation of the 
eyei in poulticing, and this proved fatal to the 
right one. The incident is worth recording 
as showing under what disadvantages school 
work, arjl still more a Colonial and Planting 
life was begun. Mrs. Sabonadiere, unable to make 
further provision for her son, bethought of her 
relative Capt, Bird (afterwards Colonel H. C. 
Byrde) in Ceylon, and it was to his care, young 
F. K. Sabonadiere was consigned in 18;!9 ; and 
under whom he began his planting career, a lad 
ot 16 years, on Black Forest Estate, Pussellawa, 
the property at the time of Capt. Cobbe, of the 
Ceylon Ritlo Regiment. The salary allowed 
to the " sinna durai " (Assistant Superintenden t) 
of that day was not more than a good native 
* From a memorandum in the late Mr. F. R. 
Sabonadiore's writing the followiuK private family 
reminiscence is transcribed : — " My grandfather John 
Scipio Sabonadie'e married Louisa Barbauld (a sister 
of the well-kaownauthoress) at the Parish Church of St. 
Jame.s, Westmiuster, on 7tli April 1789, and ha I issue 
Adelaide Henrietta born 1st January 1790 and my 
father Carey Charles Alfred Mary Louisa Jean 
Antoiue, bora 25th January 1791 in the Parish of 
8t. LuJce's, Chelsea, and baptised in the Church of 
the said Parish 25th February 1791, also John 
Richemont born 25th March 1792, baptifed in St 
ijuke's, Chelsea, aad died atOaeaJuue ISth 1S09. 
or Eurasian tea-maker now receives ; but on this, 
F. R. Sabonadiere managed to live williout 
incurring debt, by denying Iiiuiself any stimu- 
lant or tobacco. 
Wc usually date Hie beginning of (he regnlar 
CoHee Planting Enter|)rise in Ceylon from 1837, 
so that Mr. F. IL SibonadiCie was here almost 
from the outset by arriving in 1830. This arrival 
thenwas interesting from another cause ; for he saw 
the first crop of coflee— and a very remarkable 
one— taken from the earliest dealing on Black 
Forest. The estate f^ot this name from the 
Pus>ellawa jangle being all peculiarly heavy and 
of dark foliage and this being the first estate 
oi)ened in the district. It was Injgun on a 
sma'l scale in 18.3G, as an experiment in pUuling 
coffee at a comparatively high elevation— that is 
above 3,WX) feet— for the only estates previously 
opened— namely Ganguoowa, Wariagalla, Konda 
•alle and Rajawella— were from l,5uO to 1.700 
feet above the sea- The unopened distiict o 
Pussellawa must have presented a grand expanse 
of forest and patana in 18.36, and even so three 
years afterwards when young Sabonad it-re arrived. 
The experiment ot Colonel Byrde— (or as he was 
then Lieut. Bird)— at first was only over 8 
acres, but from this in three years was gathered 
the heaviest crop of coffee per acie perhaps 
ever Iiar\estcd in Ceylon, and F. R. SabonadiCre 
must have helped to gather it in. The return 
was 167 cwt. or nearly 21 cwt. (105 bushels) 
per acre. This result was due to the land being 
grubbad up, and all the roots and stumps of 
trees being burnt and the ashes spread over the 
surface ; but this work was found far too ex- 
pensive to be continued. The success of Black 
Forest clearing, however, soon caused a rush into 
Pussellawa; but, indeed, the larger and liner 
blocks had been taken up in 1836, owing not 
only to the fine forest and soil of the district ; 
but to the fact that the main roatl from Kandy 
to >iawara Eliya ran t'lrougli its midst. We 
have in our ])0;session a sketch in red pencil 
made for us by Mr. F. R. Sabonadiere of the 
various blocks and the dates of most of them 
being taken up. The first on the road (nearest 
(iampola) though not the earliest taken up is 
Old Kaloogalla (C. R. BuUer); next Melfort (Brook); 
Black Forest (Bird); Delta on the right 1836 
Archdeacon Glenie with Glenloch and Whyddon 
behind all making 2,29D acres ; on the left of 
the road Rothschild (Major Miany, 1836— we 
take it that the name was given ty the Messrs. 
Worms when they purchased this block of the 
black forest of Passcllawa three or four years later 
at £5 an acre) ; further on the road we have Helbodda 
bought in i836 by Co!. Macpherson 2,200 acres ; 
Kaiagastalawa, Capt. Fisher ; Tavalamtenm 
