Aug.  I,  1895.1  THE  TROPICAL 
ill  tlie  Cooly  DeixU — Nortli  of  tlie  Ivelani  river, 
or  vvlierever  it  iiiiylit  be  situated —we  tliiiik  we 
are  safe  in  takiii”-  ten  days  for  eoolies 
arriving  by  tlie  Xortliern  route  as  a very  mode- 
rate average  reekoning  for  tlie  total  loss  of 
time.  This  will  give  us  4Ud,0i)b  days  whieli  an 
Indo-Ceylon  Railway  is  likely  to  sa\e  to  eoolies 
audio  planters.  This  means,  to  he  again  on  tlie 
safe  side  the  |)lacing  of  K10I),0Q') — oni.  lumdred 
thousand  ncpecs  at  least — into  the  poekets  of  the  la- 
hourersand  giving  to  the  employers,  the  equivalent 
of  an  addition  to  their  total  cooly  force  of  from 
],60h  to  djUDO  eoolies.  These  great  advaiit.iges 
derivable  from  the  construction  of  an  Tiido-Ceylon 
line  are  patent  and  are  in  the  very  front  of  the 
undertaking.  Nor  should  the  saving  of  time  in 
travelling  back  to  Southern  India  be  lost  sight 
of.  tiiuite  so  many  coolies  do  not  travel  by 
land  to  the  Nortli  as  conic  in  that  way;  but 
do, OOP  may  be  taken  for  the  departures  and  we 
have  tlien  a further  saving  of  2o0,0tK)  days’ 
laliour  or  Jv(5d,d00  to  the  coolie.s  who.se  one  great 
object  in  coming  to  Ceylon  is  to  gather  in  as 
many  rupees  as  possible  to  carry  back  to  their 
villages. 
As  for  the  doubt  cast  on  the  opinions  or  desires 
of  Mr.  Edward  .1.  Young,  it  is  to  us,  w ho  know 
how  enthusiastic  Mr.  Young  is  about  the  early 
construction  of  an  Indo-Ceylon  Railway,  [lerfectly 
absurd.  .Mr.  Young  did  everytliing  in  his  power 
t.i  interiist  the  Ceylon  Covernment  in  the  pi'oject 
and  was  woefully  disappointed  when  he  found 
that  our  iiresent  ( lovernor  received  the  scheme  wuth 
disfavour.  However  he  secured  the  jmhlication 
of  all  the  paiiers  in  the  possession  of  the  Co- 
veriinient  together  with  a iireliminary  Report 
from  Mr.  Waring  and  an  expression  of  ojiinion 
on  the  part  of  the  Resident  Engineer  for  the 
South  of  India  Railway.  .Moreover,  .Mr.  Young 
hoped  while  in  England  to  increase  the  interest 
felt  there  in  the  proposal  ; and  wo  feel  sure  nothing 
will  delight  him  more  than  to  find  the  way  made 
clear  for  the  early  consummation  of  a Railway 
union  between  this  island  and  the  opjiosite 
Continent. 
As  for  the  time  when  this  important  under- 
taking should  be  taken  in  hand,  the  late  Duke  of 
Bnckingham — one  of  the  shrewdest  and  most  prac- 
tical of  British  administrators — would  fain  have  seen 
a commencement  made  twenty-two  years  ago  and 
Sir  Win.  Cregory  bitterly  regretted  he  could  not 
put  his  hand  to  the  work,  while  ho  intimates  in  his 
autobiography  that  had  Mr.  Kyle’s  scheme  for 
a steam-ferry  come  before  him  at  the  out.-et, 
the  woul'i  jirohably  have  been  able  to  stat 
the  Duke’s  proposal.  At  any  rate,  with  an  in- 
fluential Syndicate  now  in  existence,  whose  one 
object  is  to  promote  this  Indo-Ceylon  Railway, 
is  it  not  rather  absurd  to  be  told  that  the  proposal 
should  ho  relegated  to  some  unknown  limbo  of  the 
pitiire  ! In  answer  to  Mr.  Caine,  .Mr.  Sydney 
Ihixton  intimatoil  that  “ any  well-considered 
scheme  of  railway  extension  (in  Ceylon)  which 
may  be  brought  (by  private  enterprise)  to  the 
notice  of  the  Secretary  of  State  will  receive  at- 
tention.” We  trust  tliis  may  encourage  Sir  Ceo. 
Bru'ie  and  Mr.  Shelford  to  lay  a formal  jiro- 
posal  before  Lord  Rioon.  I’iiey  have  already 
secured  the  consent  ami  full  apiuoval  of  the 
Indian  authorities,  Mr.  Fowler  being  umlerstood 
to  he  especially  favourable  to  their  project,  and 
the  sooner  the  Enginoer.-i  formulate  a sclumie  of 
their  own — say  to  connect  Manaar  and  Colombo 
by  ,a  metre-gauge  line — fur  the  consideration  of 
the  Secretary  of  State  foi  the  Colonies,  the 
sooner  will  tiiey  get  a distinct  pronouncement 
by  the  local  as  well  as  home  authorities)  and 
AGRICULTURIST.  89 
know  exactly  how  they  .stand  in  regard  to  the 
( 'eylon  (lovernment. 
One  thing  is  very  certain,  namely,  that  oniv 
the  ]uo.<]iect  ol  interest-and-sinking-fund  as  well 
as  working  expenses  being  fiiliy  covered,  is 
likely  to  induce  the  Colonial  Odice  to  sanction 
further  additions  to  the  Ceylon  Railway  Debt 
for  new  Extension.s.  If  this'  be  true,  as  'we  be- 
lieve it  to  be — to  judge  from  information  from 
home— the  time  would  appear  to  he  most  .sea- 
sonable for  the  introduction  of  “private  eiiter- 
jir.se  and  it  therefore  behoves  the  Symlicate 
that  has  taken  the  Indo-Ceylon  Railway  in  hand 
to  furmulate  a proposal  wit'liout  further'  delay  for 
the  consiileration  of  the  Secretary  of  State. 
0. — 
A CEYLON  PLANTER  IN  CALIFORNLA 
We  take  the  following  interesting  extracts  from 
a letter  just  received  from  Mr.  T.  A.  Cockburn  : - 
The  dennnd  for  your  teas  continues  here,  but 
doss  not  increase  so  rapidly  as  I would  like  ; the 
great  want  seems  to  be  some  attractive  method  of 
.4.dv'ertising,  something  out  of  the  common  rut,  and 
I need  not  again  enlarge  on  the  tremendous  sensa- 
tion caused  by  Natives,  men  and  women,  appearing 
on  the  streets  in  their  striking  and  picturesque 
costumes  and  jewellery,  and  serving  tea  in  the  high 
class  stores  free  of  charge : I have  Very  fully  explained 
hovv  these  natives  could  very  profitably  be  employed 
between  the  large  Expositions  being  constantly  held 
in  some  part  or  other  of  this  vast  country,  and 
of  course  I include  Canada. 
I have  had  enquiries  for  Ceylon  cinnamon  and 
other  produce,  through  a friend  connected  with  a 
large  tea  house  and  general  importing  business  of 
very  great  extent,  and  I furnished  him  with  a list 
of  well-known  Ceylon  firms  and  some  of  their  London 
Agents.  I also  handed  him  a copy  of  your  Ov,eiiand 
Ohnerner,  containing  a list  of  those  firms  connected 
with  Ceylon,  so  I hope  something  will  come  of 
this  enquiry  : some  250  bales  of  cinnamon  alone, 
were  required  immediately,  I don't  know  if  this  is 
a large  quantity  but  presume  it  is  a fairly  good  order. 
I have  heard  from  three  only  of  those  to  whom 
awards  were  given  at  the  late  Midwinter  International 
Exposition,  as  to  their  wishes  re  medals  and  dupli- 
cate diplomas,  and  I trust  that  those  who  have  not 
yet  communicated  with  me,  will  do  so  as  soon  as 
convenient,  as  the  authorities  w'ould  like  all  matters 
connected  with  the  Exposition,  disposed  of  as  soon 
as  possible  now. 

THE  RUSSIAN  TEA  COMMISSIONERS 
IN  CEYLON; 
TEA  CULTURE  NEAR  BATOUM. 
The  Riisshin  Com  mission  sent  out  to  inquire  into 
and  report  on  the  cultivation  and  preparation 
of  tea  in  the  E.a.st  consists  of  four  members. 
But  it  <loes  not  seem  to  he  considered  requisite 
that  they  .--hould  travel  together.  M’e  ha\e  al- 
re.ady  referred  to  the  visit  of  Air.  Klingen  and 
the  interest  he  took  in  our  Colombo  tea  sales, 
as  well  as  in  tea  cultivation  and  preparation  iip- 
c.ountry.  'I'wo  other  Commi.ssioners,  Mr.  Simonsen 
and  another,  devote  their  attention  chielly  to 
prep.ar.ation  and  machinery  and  thej'  have  also 
been  taking  notes  in  Ceylon,  feeling  that  nowhere 
have  factories  been  more  fully  or  admirably 
litteil  up  than  here.  They  will  jirobahly  be  back 
in  November  to  decide  on  what  machinery  they 
shoiihl  recommend  for  the  Caucasus.  But  mean- 
time, they  feel,  that  the  Ceylon  and  Indian 
system  of  fermenting  and  liring  do  not  give  the 
teas  which  are  desired  in  Russia  and  they  think  they 
can  learn  more  under  these  head.sfrom  the  Chinese. 
And  so  all  three  have  gone  off  to  the  Ear  East. 
Meantime,  we  have  had  a call  from  the  fourth 
Commissioner,  M.  Krasnov,  Professor  in  Charkov 
University,  a learned  Ethnologist  as  well  as  Natu- 
ralist and  an  authority  yu  Soil  and  Cultivatioih 
