484 THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [Jan. 1, l902. 
One, two, three minutes pass, then he frantically 
pulls at the life-line as a si«nal to bo drawn up ; but 
too late ! They pull him up, and what was but a 
few minutes before a healthy, living man is an inert 
paralysed mass. The Japanese seem to be the most 
reckless in this respect ; probably it is on account 
of their greed and eagerness to make money quickly 
but more than likely it is because, being fatalists, 
they regard death as a mere nothing, and as soon 
as one man is brought up dead in the dress another 
is eager and willing to put it on, and take his chance 
as a divor. They tell you that ' There are plenty 
more Japanese in Japan,' and if one dies it does not 
matter so very much. 
About a month after I hai been on board, m which 
time I had acquired a fair knowledge cf Malayo, and 
a smatteriGg of Spanish— picked up from the Filipi- 
nos—and was well on the way to becoming a fair 
seaman, a lugger came out from Thursday Island with 
the captain's wife on board. She, I learned, often 
used to make these trips, spending sometimes three 
or four weeks on board, and could steer and give 
orders for the sailing of the vessel after the manner 
of tbe skipper himself ; but one day her nautical 
knowledge received a f^reat shock. It was beauti- 
fully calm, and she was whistling, as is the wont of 
sailors, for the wind to spring up. She was gazing 
over the starboard side, when suddenly she espied a 
a great green turtle floating along asleep on top of 
the water. 
' Oh, Captain,' she called out to her husband, who 
was in the cuddy, ' throw a tow-line over ; there is 
such a big turtle out there.' 
' Get some salt,' said the captain to a nigger who 
was standing by, 'and jump over and put some 
on that turtle's tails.' 
Two of the coloured men jnmped over and 
caught the turtle, but did not need any salt. The 
augh, however, was very much against the skipper's 
wife when in due course the yarn got round Thurs- 
day Island that she had tried to catch turtle with a 
hook; and so I haveheard lately tbe mere mention 
of " turtle " one her enemy for life. 
We used to fare pretty well out on the water 
owing principally to having a splendid cook. This 
man coald make fine bread, beautifully light and 
well cooked. He made his own yeast out of rice and 
salt water. The " Bombay curry " that he served 
up was a savoury thing, and contained besides apples 
and coconuts about 20 diiferent insredints. Then 
there were " beche-de-mer " soup and all kinds of 
fish as our crew were always catching hundreds of 
them. 
In; hose tropic^ waters aquatic snakes are very 
numerous. They are great " flabby things mostly 
about 9£t or 10ft in lenght, and when they are 
captured and placed on the deck of a ship they 
wriggle about, but cannot move an inch ahead. 
They appear to be adapted for water for 
water only. 
I had a slight attack of fever, which I must have 
contr''cted on one of the mangrove islands, at which 
wewere in the habit of landing ; and feeling life 
getting monotonus I resolved to return to my 
native State— New South Wales. 
If the Alien Restriction Act does force the 
majorityof the pearlers to relinquish their business, 
it will be a very good thing, as these beds are now 
nearly tota lly worked out, and cessation of work for 
at least five or six years is required. By this 
time the young shell will have grown a good size 
and there probably will be enough of it to Jinduce 
while men to dive for shell once moxe.— Sydney Mail, 
Nov. 23. 
NATAL RUBBER, 
(To Uie Editor NafM Mercury.") 
Sir, — fiespectinf^ ilie paragraph fronj the Agri- 
cidturul Journal, rej^ardiug Professor Duiistau 
experiments with rubber grown in Znluland, I 
think the professor mast be sadly mistaken re- 
garding its value. Ac the present time Para 
rubber is selling at 4s and 4s Id. per lb. It is a 
well known fact that Para rubber is worth twice 
as niuf.h per lb as any A.facan rubber. In 1895 
and 1896 I had Natal rubber offered me repeatedly 
at Is 8d per lb, but I always thought it coo dear 
at the price. I remember Para rubber going up 
to 4i 91 per lb just before the Baring Bank 
failure ; and at that time there was some splendid 
Madaga-'car rubber on the inarket, for whicli they 
werd asking 3s per lb, but it would not sell at 
the figure, althougli it is the cleanest Hnd strongest 
rubber next to Para. I have bought Hake rubber 
as low as 6d per lb. I do not know any African 
rubber which does not lose from 2.5 to .30 per cent 
in washing and masticating. 1 have known 
Mozimbi()ue rubber to lose 60 per cent in wa-shing 
and masticating, and all African rubbers lose frorn 
23 to 60 per cent. I was never a&ked above 2i 
per lb, either in London or Liverpool, for Congo 
Ball, and it is one of the cleanest and strongest 
African rubbers known. Let bim (the Professor) 
send a sample to Moseley's. of Manchester, or 
iMaelellan's, of Glasgow, or W Warner, Tottenham, 
and they will give its proper market value. 
Rubber-frowing ought to pay in Natal, if kept 
clean, and not too rnueU sand is put in. — I am, &c., 
.JAMES GREGSON. 
P.S. — [ simply write so that people niay not 
be disappointed if they invest their money in 
collecting rubber, and then get half the price they 
expected. African rubbers run from Is to 2s per 
lb, both in London and Liverpool, according to 
quality. — Natal Mercury, Nov. 28. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
A.SSAM Tea Rktailed in Calcutta.— It is a 
healthy sign of the times to find energetic tea 
planters turning their attention to the retail sale 
ot their product. The latest recruit in this line 
is Mr D H P Madden Manager of the Singtijan 
Tea Estate, Lahoal, Assam, who has opened a 
depot at Calcutta for the retail sale of Assam tea. 
—Indian Gardening and Planting, Dec. 5. 
Anti-Mosquito Work and the Healthiness 
OF Sierra Leone. — The Governor of Sierra Leone 
Sir Charles King Harman has stated in a letter 
which he has w)itten Co Major Ross of the Liver- 
pool School of Tropical Medicine that out of four 
hundred public servants, only three were on the 
sick list towards the end of October, and those 
were not suffering from malarial disease. The 
Nursing Home was empty. His Excellency added 
that he bad inspected the work which was being 
done by the Liverpool expedition under Dr Taylor 
in draining and clearing up the town, and wai 
surprised at the improvement Dr Taylor had 
efi'ected. The population are much interested in 
this anti-mosquito work, and have the intelligence 
to understand the good that is being done for them 
by the united forces of the Liverpool School and 
of the Government of Sierra Leone, The figures 
quoted suggest that tiic sick rate in Sierra Leone 
has fallen below I per cent. This, if it last, will be 
phenomenal. Even in [ndia the sick rate amongst 
European troops is about 10 per cent, and among 
native troops about 3 per cent. — Renter, Nov 20. 
