( 3 ) 
men he had ever seen with a sombrero hat and 
stout walking-stick coming along the short cut, 
a cooly with a wooden case following behind. True 
to his orders he shouted :—" Halloo— I say— you 
are not to come by that path : you must go 
round by the road." The stranger advanced 
and smiled: — "Do you know who I am?" he 
asked, and on receiving a negative answer he 
said, "Well, you come over and breakfast with 
me on HoragaUa tomorrow morning, and it will 
be alright." The young Superintendent complied 
and enjoyed a breakfast not common "in the 
jungle " ; for Visiting Agents were few and far 
between at the time, and those of the " old school 
generally provided for themselves and were very 
particular— especially about their " wines," 
according to Mr. Grant ! Those were the days 
of funny experiences in rough and ready 
planting work: George Mackenzie insisted 
on 60 acres of Horagalla being holed ready for 
manure ; but the manure never came— no carts to 
be got (in pre-railway days) , and when we saw^ the 
field a little later, the holes having been filled up, 
we asked what very special manure had been 
ap(.;lied to make the one field of coffee so 
superior in appearance to the other ! There was a 
young planter in Pussellawa at this time who, 
when ordered from Colombo to cut drains, did so 
straight up-and-down the hill side, to the utter 
astonishment of his V. A. on the next inspection. 
The Oodoowellas in those far-ofi days had the largest 
cattle establishments for manuring purposes, ever 
seen in Ceylon; and when Mr. J. N. Grant got a 
request from a neighbour for a bottle of milk, his 
reply often was " We don't deal in bottles, but can 
give you a bucketful er two if you send the buckets" 
Going back to Wavendon, Mr. Gordon gave over 
charge to Mr. Agar {who had been on Hanagalla for 
six years) in September, 1863, and the following 
year he sold out of his share of the property — no 
doubt in accordance with the rule of the leading 
Agency Firm* that none of its partners should 
hold any interest of their own as proprietors in 
a plantation. For the next fifteen years Mr. 
Gordon's career was that of a Colombo resident, 
in mercantile life, varied by annual or biennial 
visits to the hills and tours of inspection of estates, 
as well as by one or two visits to Europe. Mr. 
* The firm of Geo. Stenart & Co. was founded in 
1843 (though, in reality, Mr. James Steuart acted as 
business 8gent for Messrs. Arbnthnot & Co., Madras, 
from 1835), and at once took a leading place as an 
Agency Firm for Estates. From the time we began 
compiling the Agency returns in our Directory, the 
record runs as follows, and it shows how the era of 
Tea— say 1888 19C3— eclipses that of Coffee :— 
Agency of Firm : 
No. of Total 
Year. Estates. Cultivated. 
1875 ... 68 ... 18,451 
1878 ... 84 ... 23,214 
1881 ... 89 ... 38,749 
1882 ... 89 ... 33,749 
1884 ... 8G ... 25,450 
1886 ... 97 ... 28,151 
1888 ... 331 ... 34,173 
1891 .. 112 ... 33,789 
1892 ... 110 ... 34.727 
1894 ... 128 ... 39,083 
1896 ... 131 ... 42,055 
1897 ... 132 .. 42,4.-6 
1899 .. Ill ... 41,131 
1901 ... 117 ... 48,996 
1903 .. 124 ... 51,104 
Gordon resided with his family in Steuart Plao 
Kollupitiya, and was noted for keeping up his old 
planting habit of early risiirg. His tall figure was 
frequently prominent on Galle Face, and he was often 
surrounded in the early morning not ouly by his 
own children, but by those of his neighbours Mr- 
and iVIrs. R. Tatham" and Dr. and Mrs. Charsley. 
When Mr. Wm. Anderson, now the respected manag. 
ing partner of Messrs. George Steuart & Co. was the 
Firm's Visiting Agent, he called on Mr. A. Sinclair, 
("Old Colonist") to act for him during a health trip 
he (Mr. Anderson) had to take to Europe; and like 
every one else who came in close contact with Mr. 
Gordon, Mr. Sinclair conceived the highest esteem 
and regard for his temporary chief. "One of nature's 
noblemen" was his description when we lately 
asked him what he thought of John Lewis Gordon—^ 
" as honourable a man of business and as courteous a 
gentleman in all his relations in life as ever came to 
Ceylon." With such testimony we may well wind 
up our imperfect narrative. Personally, in the 60's 
and 70's we frequently met and interchanged a 
few words with Mr. Gordon in his promenades 
on Galle Face, and were charmed by his pleasant 
manner and fine handsome bearing. Like all the 
early partners in the Firm, Mr. Gordon was a great: 
friend of our then senior, Mr. A. M. Ferguson, 
who had visited him at Eamboda, and who was 
full of regret when Mr. Gordon finally quitted 
Ceylon to enjoy, in the north of Scotland, the 
otimn cum digjiitate, he had so fully earned by 
his .32 years of work in the tropics. No one was 
better fitted for the role of a country gentleman 
in the North, and Mr. Gordon thoroughly enjoyed 
the sport which Morayshire and the Highlands 
afforded, while he and Mrs. Gordon were always 
glad to see Ceylon friends in their Scottish home. 
The great affliction of Mr. Gordon's life came on 
the 16th September, 1897, when Mrs. Gordon died 
after 41 years of married life, Mr. Gordon 
survived five years, passing away on 27th September, 
1902, when in his 76th year, and leaving a 
familyof five sons and five daughters. Two 
sons are maintaining the Ceylon tradition, one 
being the manager of Kandenewera Estate, Matale, 
and the other in the Firm with which his father 
was so long connected. Two brothers are in the 
Indian Staff Corps, namely, J. L. R. Gordon, Capt, 
15th Sikhs and R. S. Gordon, Lieut. 4th Punjaub 
Infantry. The youngest son and sisters are in the 
old home in Scotland . Both as Planter and Merchant 
Mr. John Lewis Gordon was a sterling example 
to the Ceylon men of the 40's, 50's, 60's and70's, and 
his career ought to act as an incentive to young 
Colonists of the present generation ; for, nothing but 
probity, perseverance and intelligence brought Mr. 
Gordon the stead}' promotion and the increasing 
affluence which enabled him to retire from Ceylon 
in his 52nd year, and to enjoy a quarter of a century 
of comparative rest in his native land. To John 
Lewis Gordon as Planter, Merchant and Colonist 
we may apply the poet's lines more fittingly and with 
less exaggeration than is usually the case : — 
" He was a man, take him for all in all. 
We shall not look upon his like again." 
Ajstecdotes of John Le'wis Gordon. 
(From Mr. Walter Agar.) 
Of his early days in Ceylon, I can now remember 
but few of the anecdotes he told me from time 
to time. He spoke much of his Dimbula friends — 
Fred and Edward Palliser, Fairholme. Captain 
Charles O'Brien (Cob), Planter and Surveyor, 
