SS6 
THE TROPICAI. A^WtJOLTURIST. 
[February i, iSgat 
oently, at least, were untrained in the knowledge 
which would teach them how material may 
be most economieal!y applied ; and in many 
of our public structures there may, we are told, 
observed instances of the misapplication 
of both masonry and timber work. Such ro 
marks do not, of course, fipply to our noble Museum 
and similar structures. But it is mainly to the 
ignorance on this eubjfict shown by our native 
builders that we would desire to draw the attention 
of those who may hereaftpr be charged with 
tuition in our technical schools. We much fear 
that the tendency of these will be — as it was for 
many years in the schools at South Kensington 
and elsewhere at home — to confine instruction 
mainly to ornamental design. Now in an eastern 
country like this we can have no desire to 
European art grafted upon the technicalities of 
Oriental design. Nothing can exceed the latter in 
beauty, and if any attempt be made to give the 
taste which seems naturally inherent in orientals 
a bend towards the ornamental designs of the 
European schools, the result will probably be only 
to produce a bastard f fiect which will be anything 
but pleasing. Far wiser will it be for the course 
of instruction to be in the direction of teaching 
our natifes how to apply their material without 
waste : to learn how to proportion the support 
to the load. How constantly do we see the 
walls of houses made of undiminished thick- 
ness throughout, when the weight of the 
roofing these have to uphold is distributed over 
a few points only. Were it the custom to leave 
house walls in this country fully exposed to the 
Bun or weather, there would not be so much to 
urge against this universal unnecessary thickness. 
In Europe such a method is followed to keep the 
interior of dwellings either warm or cool, to 
prevent the interiors becoming readily subject to 
exterior influence. But in the East nearly all 
house walls are sheltered by verandahs, and con- 
Bequently nearly half the work put into our walls 
is wasted. Then, again, in the timber of our roofs 
and verandahs how constantly may we observe 
rafters either so slight aa to bend under the 
strain of the tiles they carry, or else the employ- 
ment of scantlings adequate to carry nearly three 
times the weight they are ever likely to be subject 
to. In the first ease there is wasteful application 
because the life of such work must be short ; and 
in the second there is equal waste because less 
than half the material would have sufficed. The 
instance cited will furnish the key to the matter 
to which we think the attention of those who 
may direct technical education in Ceylon should 
be specially directed. The A B C of such education 
must not be neglected by too exclusive a devotion 
to the cultivation of an artistic taste which may 
only result in spoiling the inborn disposition of 
Orientals to ornate design. Teaching which will 
enable its recipients to perform in the best possible 
manner the practical operations of every-day life 
in masonry, carpentry, turnery and engineering is 
what ought to ba mainly imparted. 
NOTES ON PRODUCE AND FINANCE 
Last Week's Tea Salkk. — Again there has been 
6ome abridgment from the excessively heavy sup- 
plies of Indian tea, s»ys the Grocer, put forward 
daring November, tlie total cjaautity lironght to 
auction this week, tbou^h still lar^je, not having 
more than ((jviallod Wfi.'m packagos which met a 
livelier demand than of late, an.i have nearly all 
been rtaliHcd at full to ratber better pricos. Almost 
each day has witnessed an improvement somewhere 
if) the tone of Ibo public Bales, and whilst the 
(owor grades, which arc lid, to 2d, per lb, cheaper 
than at this time last year, have been only slightly 
hardening up in value, the preferable and finer quali. 
ties above lOd. and le. per lb , forming the smaller 
proportion of the aggregate supply, have commanded 
a tangible advance on the irregular quotations recently 
current. Tbe latest advices from Calcutta, to Nov. 
18, report that oa the 12th inst. 11,650 chests were 
sold by auction. Good qualities are still m demand, 
and oceasioDall3' show a slight advance in price, but 
thin sorts are steady at about last week's prices. 
The imports iuto London during the week have been, 
per Bengal, 1,634,300 lb., and Nubia, 416,600 1b. A 
revival of demand for Ceylon tea has taken place 
this week, and prices are firm. Finer grades have 
been wanted at extreme rates, and though some 
low figures were recorded for the common kinds, 
there were a few cases where better values were 
realised. It is probible that supplies will be in- 
creasing soon, and it depends much upon the qua- 
lity how prices will rule. A few estates lately 
have sent forward teas of improved quality. Arrivals 
at this port have been I'mited, comprising only the 
Victoria, 336,500 lb., and the Bengal, 229,500 lb. 
There has been a further falling-off in the 'quantities 
of Indian tea offered, says the Produce Markets Review 
and a much firmer tendency has developed in most 
gardes. The demand generally continues extremely 
gcol for his period of the year, which ia en'irely 
attributable to the increasing consumption, and the 
good value offering in Indian growths. Although the 
stock at the end of last month was considerably in 
excess of the same time last year, at the present rate 
of consumption the supply will probably not prove ex- 
cessive. It is difiicult to forecast the course of prices 
during the text few weeks, as the supply in January 
bids lAt to be heavy, but the present tendency of the 
market certainly points towards the conclusion that 
the lowest prices have been touched. Although the 
demand for Ceylon teas baa ratber fallen off, the 
smalluess of the quantities brought forward on the one 
band, and anticipations of a better demand after Christ- 
mas on the other, have sufficed to raise prices fcr almost 
all grades. The commonest kinds have been the least 
effected, and cannot be said to be dearer, but Pekoes at 
from 8d and upwards sbiiw a rise of from \ A to |d, while 
really fine liquoring teas command Jd to Id more than 
a mouth since. Broken teas ef all grades are in good 
demand, Ihe general quality of the fuppliea has, un- 
fortunately, shown no improvement; hence the extreme 
prices realised for a few of the best parcels. 
Coffee Mixtures. — At the County Magistrates' Court, 
Liverpool, on Monday, the question as to the meaning 
of the term " French coffee," aa it is understood by the 
trade and by the pablio, arose out of the prosecution of 
a grocer for having sold to a person f ent by the police a 
mixture containing 65 per cent of chicory. The evidence 
showed that there was no attempt to deceive, but that 
on the contrary the mixture was plainly labelled as such, 
and that, moreover, the purchaser was distinctly told 
the nature of the compound. The bench dismissed the 
case, but inflicted a fine of 208 and cost in another 
instance wherein the nature of the article had not been 
thoroughly explaiued to the purchaser. 
The United States and the West Indies, — We 
le-rn from Washington that a commercial sgreement 
has been srrived at with the British West Indies and 
B itish Guiana, whereby in return for the continued free 
introduot'on int) the lJuiled States of sugar au<l coffee 
those colonies agree not only to enlarge greatly the free 
list of their customs tariff, but to make decided reduc- 
tions in thi duties imposed on the products of the 
United State?.— i^". and C. Mail, Dec. 18th. 
It must be gratifying to our planters to find 
that Ceylon and Indian tea ia rapidly driving the 
Chinese article out of the market in the Australasian 
ColoniQs. Ceylon tea particularly is rising in favour 
at the Antipodes, and the Indian producers have 
now much to fear from the competition in the 
Oeylon quarter. Before long it seems probable 
that both John Chinaman and his staple export 
will be practically excluded from Australasian 
BhoreBj— CoZyjiies aucJ India, Deo, 26th, 
