Vol. XVIII. COLOMBO, FEBRUARY 1st, 1899. INo. 8. 
"PIONEERS OF THE PLANTING ENTERPRISE IN CEYLON, 
( Third Series.) 
CHARLES TOTTENHAM, 
CIVIL ENGINEER, SURVEYOR AND PLANTER :— 1859-1899. 
teresting to note that one young elephant caught 
by Mr. Tottenham developed into a very fine 
" tusker " and that he has figured prominently for a 
quarter of a century in the annual Perahara 
festival and procession in Kandy and still continues 
to do so occasionally. In his younger days, a 
planter christened him " Timothy " and his manner 
was perfect : he used to follow Mr. Tottenham about 
like a dog and got quite put out if his master 
had to leave him even for a short time, 
Mr. Tottenham's most noted connection with 
coffee-planting was as a pioneer in the district of 
Haputale. He was known to be a good judge of soil, 
and we well remember hearing how Colombo and 
Kandy capitalists were found ready to bid for certain 
blocks of land offered for sale at the Kandy Kach. 
cheri because they had been selected by, and sur- 
veyed at the instance of, Mr. Tottenham. This led 
to competition and high prices for some of the 
Haputale lots of forest-land. In the earlier daya 
of coffee, it was considered a point of honour not 
to oppose a purchaser who had gone into the jungle 
and selected and caused a lot of land to be surveyed 
and ofiercd for sale. But competition became too 
keen for this rule to bo observed after the early 
"sixties." Bo that as it may, soon after Mr. 
Tottenham's arrival, influenced by the coffco-fever 
and. in conjunction with his friends, \\m. Bain 
and jUesandcr Adaiu, he acquired tho Moncrakanda 
HE sabject of our present notice 
has had one of the most varied 
careers of any included in our 
list of pioneers. This will be 
seen when we mention that 
]Mr. Tottenham as a young 
man went out to try his fortune 
in 1851 in California ; thence 
he passed to Australia, and afterwards to China, 
visiting most of the TreatyPorts, while he was out 
again during the time of the siege of Canton. Mr. 
Tottenham also visited Persia and Arabia during the 
Persian War, and thence came to India during the 
Mutiny, visiting all the Presidencies; afterwards 
he travelled in Java, Borneo, the Straits Settlements, 
the Cape, Canada, and tho Eastern and Western 
States of the American Kepublic. 
Mr. Tottenham first landed in Ceylon in 1859, 
and his immediate object at that time was to shoot 
elephants which, forty years ago, were very numerous 
and destructive. So much was this the case that 
one elephant which fell to his rifle was declared by 
the headman who accompanied Mr. Tottenham to 
have killed no fewer than 27 men in his village 
alone . The short spell of sport then experienced 
made Mr. Tottenham always ready for more, and 
during his stay in the island he never missed an 
opportunity of a turn at tho elephants. It is in- 
