o< MONTHLY. P>* 
Vol. XVIII. 
COLOMBO, APRIL 1st, 1899. 
I No. 10. 
"PIONEERS OF THE PLANTING ENTERPRISE IN CEYLON." 
(Third Series,) 
JOHN STEPHENS: 
CINNAMON, COCONUT, COFFEE AND TEA PLANTER. 
HE subject of our biogra- 
phical it notice and por- 
trait in this month's Tro- 
pical Agriculturist (to be 
ready in a few days) is 
the well-known "Patri- 
arch of Dolosbage" where 
he has resided on his own property for a 
long series of years. A more venerable or 
more esteemed pioneer planter there does not 
exist in or out of Ceylon, at this moment. 
We have known Mr. John Stephens for a 
great many years anc^ have always esteemed 
him as a most careful and upright man of 
business and a truly industrious planter. 
Long may he continue to flourish in retire- 
ment, enjoying his well-earned otium cum 
dUjnitatc. 
Mr. Stephens was born on England on the 
2Gth August 181G ; so that he has now at- 
tained the truly patriarchal age of well-nigh 
&3 years; but, it may be said, in the lan- 
guage of Scripture, that "his eye is not dim 
nor his natural force abated." Mr. Stephens 
was in his 2r)th year when he was first 
cniraged in England to proceed to Ceylon in 
the service of Messrs. Ackland, Boyd& Co., the 
largest Colombo iirni in ciuuumou, colfoc, &c., 
during the "thirties" and "forties." Mr. 
Stephens voyaged to Ceylon in the well-known 
clipper sailing vessel "Symmetry," Capt. Abel 
Mackwood, brother of the founders of the 
firm of Messrs. Mackwood & Co. (Caps. 
Wm. and Francis Mackwood, well-known 
and esteemed in the Ceylon trade in the 
early days.) The arrival in Colombo took 
place on 26th July 1841, so that our friend, 
if he survives till that date in 1899, will 
have rounded off no fewer than 58 years' 
residence in the island. There were four other 
young men as passengers for Ceylon in the 
"Symmetry," namely, Messrs. Preston, Hicks 
(a Surveyor) and W. H. Walters, The first 
two joined the majority long ago; but Mr, 
Walters lived to be himself an esteemed 
patriarch among proprietary Ceylon planters, 
and regularly once a year were greetings 
exchanged between Hewaheta (Gona\-y) and 
Dolosbage (The Diggings) as the two fellow- 
voyagers by the "Symmetry" advanced 
towards old age. Mr. Walters was, how- 
ever, the first to go, his death occurring 
about two years ;igo. Mr. Stephens' first 
appointment was to the still well-kno\vn 
cinnamon plantation of Goluapokuiia, Kadi- 
rana, in the Negombo district. He was at 
the tune almost the only white man— or 
