( ni ) 
Martiueau sixty years ago wrote : — " The 
blue Lake of Colombo, whether gleaming 
in the sunrise or darkening in the storms of 
the monsoon never loses its charm ;" while 
Edward Carpenter when he looked in upon 
us twelve years ago, found nothing in 
Ceylon or India that attracted or interested 
him more than the Colombo Lake :— 
I don't know any moie delightful view of its 
kind — all the more delightful because so unex- 
pected — than that which gieets the eye on enter- 
ing the Fort Eailway Station at Colombo. You 
pass through the booking-office and find yourself 
on a platfoini^ which except for the line of rails 
between, might be a terrace on the lake itself; a 
large expanse of water with wooded shores and 
islands, interspersed with villas, cottages and 
cabins, lies befoie you; Avhite-sailed boats are 
going to and fro ; groups of dark figures, waist- 
d^ep in water, are washing clothes ; children are 
playing and swimming in the water ; and when, as 
I saw it once, the evening sun is shining through 
the transparent preen fringe of banana palms 
which occupies the immediate foreground, and the 
calm lake beyond, reflects like a mirror the 
gorgeous hues of sky and cloud, the scene is one 
■which for effects of color can hardiy be surpassed . 
Is all this to be lost to us ? Is the policy 
of the future to be the gradual filling up 
of the Lake which, has in the past, added 
so much to the attractions and, as we 
maintain, to the health of Colombo ? We 
trust not. Surely means can be found to 
stop any sewage from passing into the 
Lake, especially when the Drainage Scheme, 
already sanctioned, takes effect- Then with 
the duplication of our Water Supply, now in 
progress towards completion, there should be 
an abundance of surplus water to keep the 
Lake fairly full in our driest weather. Of 
certain further reclamations— such as at 
Captain's Garden, at corners lound Slave 
Island and at other points,— we are strong 
advocates, even though the total area be 
equal to the 66 acres estimated by Mr. 
Skelton. But to less than 320 acres (or half- 
a square mile) we trust it will never be 
necessary to contract our Lake. Meantime, 
however, let us know on indisputable 
authority as to its actxinl condition. Let 
its waters be analysed by Mr. Kelway- 
Bamber ; its vegetation examined by Mr. 
Willis ; the files and other animal life in- 
vestigated by Dr. Willey; and let Dr. Chalmers 
and Mr. Marshall-Philip tell us what the 
effect, as a whole, at this time, is likely 
to be on public health,— with any suggestions 
which such learned anct expert Commissioners 
may have to make as to the future policy that 
should be adopted in dealing with the Lake. 
CROWS ON AND FROM ABBOTSFORD. 
July 29. 
Deak Sir,— When "Common Sense" 
opened bis mouth and said "The crows, 
which frequent Abbotsford, are not (Colombo 
crows" he put his foot in it and clearly 
demonstrated to me he was writing on a 
subject he knew nothing whatever about. 
Here is another yarn. No (I'll not call it 
that this time as he doesn't understand the 
modern meaning of the word) I'll say story. 
In the spring of 1887 a crow settled him- 
self on the top of the upper AbbotsfortI 
Bungalow, and he croaked foraH he was worth. 
I thought it something unusual, so I went 
out and heaved a rock iit him not being 
then the proud possessor of a catapult. 
Soon after the Conductor came rtishing to 
the Bungalow to inquire if 1 had seen the 
crow as all the coolies said siich a bird had 
never been seen here before and that they 
felt quite certain I must be a very unlucky 
man as something dreadful was bound to 
happen. 
I was then acting for tlieir beloved master 
and was, by no means, a "persona grata" 
with them, so I had some pleasure in saying 
I am merely a lodger here, so this ill omen 
cannot possibly have ai:iy reference to me. 
Imagine my astonishment when I opened 
my paper next morning to see a telegram 
stating that the "Gooikha," in which the 
proprietor of Abbotsford, with his fa.mily, 
was then journeying out. had been in collision 
in the Red Sea and that as the sea was 
perfectly calm she was just able to safely 
scramble into Suakim ! 
That is the only crow which has ever 
been seen on Abbotsford and I have often 
wondered, was it a high caste crow, a 
Colombo crow, or a devil incarnate in the 
guise of a crow. Perhaps "Common Sense" 
can tell me.— Yours truly, 
JOHN FRASER. 
Capt. James Steuart— Master Attendant 
of Colombo from 1817 to 1855 when he retired 
on pension,— was in many respects, a very 
remarkable man, as his "Notes on Ceylon " 
show. He was like his brother George, 
Commander of a Commercial vessel, which 
indeed he owned, running between London 
and the East; and ir. it he brought out no 
fewer than three Governors of Ceylon be- 
fore he accepted the appointment ashore 
in Colombo. Then he became agent for 
Messrs. Arbuthnott & Co. of Madras, one 
of the leading Baiiking and Mercantile 
Houses in India, and as such he in reality 
laid the foundations of the Firm of Messrs. 
Geo. Steuart & Co. in April 1835 when he 
began buying merchants' drafts and shipping 
produce in connection with the Madras 
House. On the Government issuing a, pro- 
hibition against public servants engaging 
in trade. Captain James was grantecl a 
year's time to wind up; but rather than 
aliow the business he had worked up go 
to the only other local merchant of note at 
the time (Mr Boj'd), he resolved to settle 
his brother George at the head of a local 
Firm, and so the oldest of existing Colombo 
Mercantile and Agency Houses took its 
start about 1843. It is v.-ither a ctu'ious 
fact that two of the earliest of Ceylon 
Merchants should be Master Attendants : 
Mr AV C Gibson (father of the Colonial 
Secretary of the same name) at Galle from 
1814 or so, and Cajita'ti i - • -mart at 
Clolombo. 
