306 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Nov. 1, 1891 
Canipola and Nawalapitiya were constructed— 
an immense boon, as the river was at times 
impassable after heavy rains. The Branch lloads 
Ordinance was also introduced by the tame 
Governor on Uie grant-in-aid principle which 
has done so much towards developing the country 
and openhij< up the planting districts. It was in 
his time also that a deputation of several of the 
leading planters and merchants offered to con- 
tribute Is. a cwt. on all cofiee exported from 
Ceylon towards the construction of a railway 
from Colombo to Kandy, the proposal being 
accepted with the remark that it was the first 
time he (the Governor) had ever heard of anyone 
asking to be taxed. 
In the interval between Sir Henry Ward and 
Sir Hercules Robinson's rule, when Sir Charles 
MacCarthy was Governor, public workd were 
neglected and many of the roads got into ex- 
ceedingly bad order. But under Sir Hercules 
Kobinson's able administration tliese evils were 
soon remedied and Grant-in-Aid roads were carried 
into the heart of the extensive districts of 
Dimbula and Dikoya where a large number of 
acres were being cleared each year and planted 
with coffee. During Sir Hercules Robinson's term 
of Government the districts of Madulsima and 
Morawak Korale were opened out and the latter 
was then supposed to contain such suitable land 
for coffee that the Government raised the upset 
price of the land to R20 per acre. The Morawak 
Korale, however, proved a complete failure as far 
as coffee was concerned and much good money 
was sunk there. Mr. S. LeCocq, a good planter 
and good man, pioneered there for some years. 
Before the railway was opened, 
KANUY 
was a much more important place than it is now ; 
and most planters transacted their business there 
instead of undertaking the tedious coach journey 
to Colombo. Several business firms had their 
head offices in Kandy, of which Keir, Dundas & Co. 
were the most influential. George Wall also 
had a branch in Kandy and he, Harrison and 
Leake spared no pains nor trouble to promote 
the planting enterprise in which they themselves 
were so deeply interested. The annual Planters' 
Association meetings were largely attended with 
generally a good fight for the Chairmanship. 
In 1871, Mr. Bowdeu Smith joined the firm 
of Sabonadiere & Co. On the ith April 1872, 
Mr. Bowden Smith married Louisa S. Prinsep- 
claughter of Mr. Justice Prinsep of Indian fame — 
at Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight. She was then 
living there with Mrs. Cameron from whose 
house they were married. Mr. Bowden Smith 
first met Mr. C. Hay Cameron senior, at Rahatun- 
godde, Upper Ilewaheta in 1860. Rahatungodde 
then belonged to Mr. Cameron and be was living 
there fur a short time with his son Ewen, then 
a boy. Mr. Bowden Smith walked over from 
Delta via the Gonavy Gap wiili J. Murray 
Robertson senior and Jack Tyndail to call oa 
Mr. Cameron. They stayed llie uiglit with hiui 
and returned to Pussellawa the following day. 
He did not meet Mr. Cameron again till the 
autumn of 1871 at Frestiwater Bay when lie was 
living at his pretty hou!>e " Dimbula " named 
after the well-known district in Ceylon where 
he owned a large tract of forest known ae 
"Cameron's Land." Mr. Cameron always loved 
Ceylon and often expressed a longing to spend 
the closing years of his life there. This wish 
was gratified later on and the remains of both 
Mr. and Mrs. C. Hay Cameron rest in the 
peaceful and pretty little churchyard at Boga- 
wantalawa. Mr. Bowden Smith returned to 
Ceylon in July 1872, with his wife and went to 
reside at Darley House, Colombo. 
In September 1873 Mr. Bowden Smith was 
unanimously elected by the Planters' Association 
as their representative in 
THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, 
an honour quite unexpected, as he did not even 
know that his n.ime was to be proposed at the 
meeting, and the first intimation he received was a 
congratulatory message from Sir W. Gregory, then 
Governor. In 1874 he induced the Government to 
amend the Branch Road Ordinaice which required 
several alterations to meet altered circumstances. 
That this ordinance was carefully considered is 
proved by the fact that it worked well for 22 years 
and only had to be altered last year to meet fresh 
requirements. He resigned his seat in Council 
when he went to England in 1876 and was suc- 
ceeded by old friend, R. B. Downall. Twice 
during Sir James Longden's rule and twice during 
Sir Artliur Gordon's (Lord Stanmore's) Government 
he was requested to take a seat in tiie Legislative 
Council, but declined the lionour as he felt he 
could not devote sufficient time to the extra work 
of the Legislative Council without neglecting his 
other duties, though always ready to do anything 
in his power to further the interests of the Colony 
especially in respect to roads and railways. After 
1873 he served on the different Railway 
Commissions appointed to report on the Nawala- 
pitiya-Haputale extension, Nanu Oya-Haputale 
extension and the Northern Railway extension ; 
and although he was in the first instance strongly 
in favour of a metre gauge he \\as converted by 
the vast amount of evidence he had heard and 
read against break of gauge if it can possibly 
be avoided and unless it can be shown that a 
very great saving can be effected both in construc- 
tion and subsequent working expenses. 
