^38 
THE TROPICAL 
/VGRICULTiyPtlST. 
[May 1, 1902. 
The following reiuaiks are taken from the reports 
of locomotive engineers of tlip Ceylon Railways, which 
have recently largely used ludiaa coal: — 
" In 1897 the increased expenditure was chiefly 
broiisht about by the cost of Welsh coul having jumped 
from an avernge of K18-50 per ton in 1896 to R27-C2 
in 1897. Tills tremendous increase in the price of 
British conl would he.ve had a still more serious 
effect upon the working, had it not enabled Indian coal 
to compete snccessfully with it, and d^iring the year 
8,081 tons of ludian coal were consumed at an average 
cost of R13-(i9 per ton. Indim cop.1, under the moat 
favour:;ble conditions, sh .ws an infei iority to the best 
Cardiff coal of 17 per cent on the low-country main 
line, and on the upper main line sections on the grades 
oflin 44, from 30 to 33 per cent inferior. The use 
of this coal on these grades gave considerable trouble, 
as the larae consumption per mile on the np journey, 
namely, 140 1b per mile, left so much residue in the 
firt boxes after ft 20-mile run, that it was ab=!oiutely 
necessary to clean the fires to such an extent that 
time was invariably lost. 
"The altered grate arrangements also permitted con- 
Bideiable quantities of burnins; coal to drop into the 
ash pans and ftora them on to the sleepers, which 
gave rise to several complaints from the permanent 
way staff. The coals burned were Borrea, Anthracite, 
Giridih and Singaveui, the most economical and 
suitable being Giridih, but the continued usf, even 
on the lower sections, will to a great extent be gov- 
erned by its relative cost compared to Welsh coal. 
At the price paid for it during the year it is in very 
close competition with firewood. . 
" A saving of EIIS.OOO was eflected in the running 
charges by the use of Indian coal during 1898. The 
general adoption of Indian coal instead of We'sh coal 
has very considerably reduced our locomotive ex- 
penses; so much so iii fact that the consumption for 
the year shows an increise of 3,800 lb per train 
mile, yet in cnnseqnenoe of the cost of Indian coal 
(including handling) having been less by 10 per 
cent per train mile, the result has been a saving of 
R113,000. 
" In 1898 fuel consumption increased to 99 lb per 
English mile and 5-30 per train mile. This increase 
was due" to the large use of Borrea coal, which gave 
considerable trouble throughout the year." 
ladian coal at the pit's month is probably lower 
in price than in any other country, often reaching 
2 rupees a ton. The local wholesale selling price of 
Bengal coal was 43. 5d. a ton in 1901, as against 
4s. 2d. in the previous year. The wholesale price 
for imported coal in Calcutta averaged 32s. Id. per 
loxK— Iron and Coal Tradevit' Review. 
PROFESSOR HERDMAN IN CEYLON. 
(To the Editor of the Liverpool Daily Post) 
Sir,— Enclosed is a third letter from Professor 
Heidiiian, just received, as full of interest as the 
former ones,— Yours, &c. 
Isaac C. Thompson. 
53, Cioxleth-ioad, Livei|i'iol. 
Gulf of Manaar, January 30th, 1902. 
My dear Thompson,— I have now b.en ten d lya in 
Ceylon and, aUhnugh first impressions are not always 
correct, still I should be ungrateful were I not ro say 
how interesting pveiy thing is, and how exceedingly 
kind and helpful I have f .und everyone fr nii ihe 
governor downwards. They all seem to take a per- 
sonal interest and pleasure in fiicilitating my arrange- 
ments and, as the result, the Oriental tendency to 
delay, and difficulty in getting unusual things done 
in ahnrry, of which I had heard so much, has been re- 
duced to a minimum. They have chartered a fine 
stf uiner for my work — tlio " Lady Ilavelock" — of over 
300 tons, with a crew of 40, and we have made a start 
today. We dredge from a boom lashed to the boat 
davits at the stern, and trawl from a derrick on the 
fore-mast. I look after these 'operations, and Mr 
Hornell works the tow nets. We have a laboiatory 
with twogood work-tables on deck under an awning, 
and the microscopes, dissecoiog instruments, tanks, 
jars, note-bonk^ and specimenj scattered about give 
the pluce a familiar and home-like appearance, re- 
minding one of the deck of the old "H_>£eia," ez ;ept 
that most of the faces round me are black instead of 
white. 
After a couple of days spent in ■ ffl;ial visits and 
business in Colombo I found th tt the uecessaiy ar- 
rangemtnts on th--^ steamer would cake a week to 
complete, bo, le :ving Mr Hornell to superintend these, 
and see to the unpacking of our scientific gear, I set 
off to find several men in the island from whom I 
knew I could get importnnt information bearing on 
the pearl-oyster work. First, there were two foi raec 
studen's of mine at University Coll ge, both now 
occupying important scientific positions here, viz., 
Dr. A J Chalmers, Registrar of the Medical College 
and lecturer on biology and allied subjects, and Mr 
J C Willis, Director of the Botanic Gardens at Pera- 
deniya. Hoth those gentleman kindly met me on ray 
arrival, and have been most hospitable and helpful. 
Dr Chalmers has given me the use of a room in hit 
laboratory at Colombo, and Mr Willis his offered a 
work place in his luboratory at the magnificent Pera- 
deniya gardens. I went to Kandy and Peradeniya to 
see what use could be made of the laboratory, and to 
meet Mr Oliver Collett, who has written cn tlie pearl 
fisheries. Then I found upcouutry, at Anuradhapura, 
(one of the "buried cities'' of Ceylon) the two Ger- 
mans, Dr Paul and Dr Fritz Sarasin, who have been 
exploring for years in Ceylon, and were the only 
people who could give me information about Trin- 
comalee, where I wish to dredge. Fmally, I met 
Professor Alex. Agassiz, just returned from hia ex- 
pedition to the Maldive archipelago, and he kindly 
lent me 600 fathoms of especially strong and flexible 
steel rope, which will be a valuable addition to our 
tackle. Professor Agassiz, you will be interested to 
hear, says he has had a most successful trip, and 
has secured all the information, photographs, and 
specimens of the Coral Reefs that he desired. He 
says the MaMives is the last of the great coral 
archipelagoes which he had set before himself to 
examine and that now he is prepared to write hia 
book on the general subject, " Coral Reefs and 
Islands." There can be no doubt that he has a 
much more extended personal knowledge of the reefs 
of the world than Darwin, Murray, or any other 
previous writer. 
Anuradhapura, where I met the Sarasins, is an 
extraordinary place, consisting of the magnificent 
ruins of a very ancient city, which until a few years 
ago was buried in jungle. Many miles of it are still ia 
the junple and unknown, I was told by the Archseo- 
logical Commissioner, who is digging it out with about 
ninety coolies, half of whom are down with malaria 
every day. [I noticed that my mosquito curtains at 
the " Rest House " had large holes in them.] This city 
was the capital of the ancient Cingalese kings, and was 
commenced, 1 believe, in the third or fo'irth century 
B.C. — lot us say the time of Aristotle. It was deserted 
when the Tamils invaded the northern pirt of Ceylon. 
The most remarkable pieces of work are the enormous 
temples, the bathing tanks, and the beautifuUy-cai-ved 
stones, showing kings, qui^ens, Buddhas, seven-headed 
cobras,' and curious little fat dwarfs, who may be meant 
to represent the aborigines — the Veddas. One of tks 
temples (D fgobas) is said to contain enough bricks 'o 
build a wall ten feet high and one foot thick from 
London to Edinburgh. 
The last matter I can mention now is the jungle, 
and I have found my first experience of it most fasci- 
nating. I wish the Biological Society could come and 
have a day of it with me, and see the Wanderoo 
monkeys come crashing down from the tops of the 
trees one after another, swinging themselves up agtia 
