4^ 
[July  r.  1895. 
TIIR  TROPICAI.  .\''.Rl(:U:;rU(UrV!' 
Colombo  tka 
A VIMl'l'OirM  LMIMtHSSToNS. 
“Surely  I have  come  to  the  wrou.ir’  place?” 
Avas  my  mental  remark  w lien  1 stooil  on  the 
tlireshohl  of  the  (.'hamher  ot  (’ommerce  Looms, 
to  which  1 ha<l  heen  ilireeteil  as  the  venue  of 
the  jrreat  ('e.ylon  tea  sales.  l!ut  for  the  positive 
iussertion  tif  the  hrass-])late  w hich  faces  the  street 
1 should  have  retraced  my  stejis  and  soipc’ht  for 
the  tea  mart  elsewliere,  so  dill'erent  was  e\ery- 
thiipc;  trom  my  prceouei'iveil  iileas.  With  tea 
sales  oue  naturally  associates  the  presence  of  tea. 
'I  here  was  not  an  ouime  (>f  it  aliout  ! Sealed 
in  free  and  easy  fashion  at  tables  were 
some  twenty  or  thirty  'rentlemanly  lookin;' men, 
w hose  disliii/jllc  of  white  duck,  deliciously  cool 
to  look  at,  with  the  accompanimeut  of  the  in- 
evitahle  cheroot,  appeared  str.ange  to  the  Britannic 
eye,  to  which,  Imsiness  and  a hlack  coat  with 
•‘tile”  hat  are  inseiiarahly  connected.  The  ri'stful 
liose  and  tln^  air  of  inacti\ity  are.  howexi'r,  only 
Rupcrlicial,  and  a close  ohserx  er  can  see  in  the  tea 
huyers  all  that  ’cntencss  and  mental  alertness 
whic.h  '’ousin  .Imiathan  is  ci'cditeil  with  possess- 
inc;  in  larj'or  measure  than  his  neijthhours.  For 
my  own  jiart  I should  say  that  if  .Jonathan  did 
«'ome  to  Ceylon  he  would  not  ha\e  a walk  over  ! 
’I'lie  .i^’entlcman  I use  the  term  adxisedly  and 
not  in  the  c-eueral  sense  so  often  employed — who 
who  at  the  moment  condticted  the  sale,  for  the 
Brokers  have  their  turns,  spoke  in  low  incisive  tones 
in  pleasinc-  contrast  to  the  oratorical  tiourishes 
often  to  he  h'/ird  under  similar  circumstances. 
The  hroker  was  there  to  sell,  funl  the  huyers  to 
huy  and  the  lots  wore  disposed  of  in  marvellous 
i|uick  time.  I should  not  forc'ot  the  native  huyers 
who  were  iwesent.  They  took  ,a  hack  se.at,  only 
.at  ion.c  intervaks,  hiddintf,  with  oriental  stoicism 
and,  to  oiitward  api)e;irance,  taking  no  interest  in 
what  was  coinit  <*u. 
I'or  fully  an  iionr  1 s.at  listening'  to  what,  to  me, 
was  f|uitc  unintellic'ihle — the  sale  of  Pekoe,  I*ekoe 
Souehoaif,  dust,  fanniu'ts,  I'cc.,  under  Brands  the 
name  of  which  is  h\e;ion.  And  as  I ]>repared  to 
leave  1 lellcctcd  these  are  the  men  who  Buy  .and 
sell  the  tea,  whicli  will  lind  its  w.ay  into  the 
hilly-can  of  the  .\nstrali.an  sipiattcr,  the  ]).annikin 
of  the  t 'anailian  xoyac'enr,  into  the  windows  of 
the  palatial  estahlishments  of  the  'treat  British 
cities,  into  the  highland  sheiling,  to  lie  alone-side 
Butter,  )iar;iHin  oil  and  matches,  and  to  .\merican 
tables,  I hope  in  c-re.ater  <|uantity  tlniTi  in  the 
]iast.  Because  in  this  matter  .lon.athan,  1 under- 
stand, has  show  n t Bo  l.amcntahly  Bad  taste  to  pi-e- 
fer  .Jap;in’s  and  ( 'hiiiii’s  to  ( 'eylon  tea. 
TLOUT  FISIIIXB  IN  THE  HOLTON 
PLAIN, S. 
We  do  not  think  the  introduction  of  trout  into 
the  stream  ]),assin't  throue-h  the  Nnw.ar.a  Eliy.a 
l)lains,  or  that  in  the  Barrack  plains  can  Be 
spoken  of  .as  yet  as  ,a  cfe.at  succe.ss.  Nor 
can  the  term  he  applied  to  any  of  the  streams 
in  the  neieliBonrhood  at  ahout  the  same  level, 
or  aw, ay  on  the  Elk  Plains  or  Bopatalawa.  But, 
certainly,  repeated  experience  seems  to  shew' 
that  in  the  Horton  Plains  river  and  Bilhnloyn, 
the  trout  are  prosiicrinc-  to  the  heari’s  conteni 
of  the  most  ardent  sportiny  lishcrimin  a'li  iuys' 
ns.  On  the  Horton  Plains  in  fact,  I he  cxpcrimciu 
can  Be  pronounced  an  nnijn.aliTu'd  success.  .And  it  is 
not  dillicnlt  to  cxphiin  why  this  should  Be  the 
case.  It  is  not  simidy  th.at  the  .addition.al  eleva- 
tion of  1,000  feet  above  .sea-level  constitutes  an 
advantage  with  thccooler  temperature  of  the  water, 
over  th.at  priwailin^'  in  the  lower  and  warmer  Nil- 
wara  Eliya  repdon.  Far  more  important,  however, 
is  the  e.'ccnqition  of  the  Horton  Plains' stream  from 
sud'leu  and  ilisturhinL'  Hoods.  The  watershed 
on  the  side  of  'J'otapella  or  the  neichhourinc' 
mountains  above  Horton  Plains  is,  comparatively, 
of  limited  e.xtent,  and  conse((nently  such  Hoods 
are  never  seen  in  the  streams  there  as  may 
occasionally  he  witnessed  in  the  Nannoya,  the 
Secta  Ella  ortho  Buluhal  Ella.  Then  a<;ain  there  is 
the  freedom  from  Bazaar  debris  which  is  a 
drawBaidt  in  Nuwara  liliya.  AVe  are  not  sur- 
prised tl  ei'etdre  to  learn  of  the  Horton  Plains 
stre.un  Bein^  comparatively  full  of  trout  and  of 
good  size  atl'ordiu''  e.xcellent  sport. 
Our  Latest  report  has  come  from  Capt.  Bayley 
who,  on  a recent  visit,  much  enjoyed  tishino  in 
the  stream,  capturiny  of  ,a  morninjf  with  the 
roil,  a coiiiih'  of  extreimdy  nice  lish  from  1 to 
U 11).  e.aeh.  His  son,  lower  down  in  the  Bil- 
hoohiya  obtained  one  of  no  less  than  4 IB. 
and  this  pi-oved  later  on,  thoutth  not 
observed  at  the  time,  to  Be  full  of  sliawn 
— an  evidence  of  how  thoroughly  the  trout  are 
Becoming  .acclimatised.  C.apt."  Bayley  states  that 
more  delicious  eating  th.an  the  fish  he  c.aptnred, 
could  not  Be  desired  ; But  he  c.msiders  it  x'eiy 
necessary  there  should  Be  some  check  on  indis- 
criminate lish  ng  iind  even  on  n.atixxs  .and  othres 
n.sing  nets,  in  the  higher  stre.ams.  It  .seems 
th.at  while  a Loc.al  Board  rule  exists  th.at  no  one  can 
lish  in  Nuwar.a  Eliya  without  .a  license  costing 
LHO  per  annum — the  money  B'cing  dex  oted  to  the 
Trout  Fund— no  su(di  regulation  can  legally 
ap])ly  Beyond  the  Bo.ard’s  limits  .and  conse- 
nuently  .any  one  is  ,at  liberty  .at  i>resent  to  the 
go  .and  lish  on  Horton  Plains.  So  far  .as  all 
ntelligerst  penions,  and  especially'  Euro|)eans  .are 
concerned,  xve  unst  a .sense  of  honour  xvill 
prevent  their  going  to  fish  there  or  in  .any'  other 
stream  in  xvhich  troiit  h.ave  Been  placed,  nnlcss 
they'  have  in-eviously  given  substantial  snj)- 
port  to  the  Trout  Fund  By  taking  (Uit 
,a  license  or  By'  ]),ay'ing  a speci.al  subscription.  It 
should  not  Be  ditlicult  through  the  rcsthonse- 
kee[)er  to  le.arn  the  munes  of  all  xvho  visit  Hor- 
ton Plains  xvith  rod  oi  not,  .and  xve  should 
Be  gl.ad  to  publish  the  same  if  it  xvill  help  the 
purposes  of  the  Trout  Fund.  It  m<ay  h.ave  Been 
observed  from  the  report  of  our  Nnxvar.a  Eliya 
correspondent,  published  the  other  d.ay,  that  the 
hast  Batch  of  trout  ov.a  imported  xv.as  not  x ery  suc- 
cessful, and  that  3(1, (lOU  moi-e  ova  have  Been 
ordered.  This  means  continued  exi)enditure 
.and  the  necessity  for  liBei-.-il  suppoi  t : and  cer- 
t.ainly  .all  xxho  are  able  to  enjoy  the  sport  t)f 
the  resulting  trout  fishing,  xvhetlnu-  on  the  Hor- 
ton IHains  or  elsexxhere,  ought  to  Be  foremost 
in  extending  their  support.  ' If  all  interested 
c')ine  forxvard  Jis  t hey  should,  the  continued  sncce.ss 
of  t'l"  I rout-hr,'ciling  (‘■.pcrimeiit  must  Be  assurcil  ; 
and  pei-sevei-ance  in  sui)plying  the  streams  xvith 
fresh  stock  sliould  secure  a very  satisfactory 
m->asnre  of  su'vess  in  the  loxvcr streams,  althongii 
the  trout  may  nevo-  Be  so  lixely  iind  numerous, 
or  the  sport  s>  g.ao.d  .as  in  the  higher  Horton 
Pl.ains’  river. 
Tk.v  Skei)  in  Dem.vnm). — A seller  of  xvcll- 
known  local  tea  seed  rcj)')rts  : — 
“ i'll.:  deni.iiid  for  ton.  see.l  i.s  iis  k.ren  as  ev.w. 
We  arc  tall  up  of  ordews  for  tin-  next  four  months. 
AVo  have  just  completed  twenty  m umds  Singlo  for 
.[ '.va  ! Tiio  propos.il  tli.it  the  Phvniors’  Association 
should  huy  an  1 hold  land  is  sph  ndid.  I wonder 
if  they  woxdd  care  to  huy  up  tea-soed  bearers,” 
