Jai4.  t,  1896. J 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
443 
THE  HILL-COUNTIIY  OF  CEYLON  : 
THE  BEST  OF  CLIMATES  AND  SCENIC 
ATTRACTIONS. 
To  see  our.selves  as  otliers  see  us  may  occasion- 
ally shock  our  vanity,  hut  it  not  infrequently 
produces  precisely  the  reverse  eflect,  and  acts  as 
a ijowerful  antidote  to  the  normal  tendency  of 
human  beings  to  undervalue  what  is  familiar  to 
them.  We  are^ll  aware  of  the  floral  and  scenic 
beauty  of  our  islanil.  E\-ery  passing  stranger 
sings  its  praises  in  our  ears,  and  yet  so  im- 
mersed are  we  in  the  race  for  wealtli  that  we 
scarcely  have  time  to  look  about  us  and  realise 
the  marvellous  gifts  of  climate  as  well  as  scenery 
with  which  nature  has  endowed  this  favoured 
isle.  A pamphlet  in  manu.scrii)t  lies  before  u.s 
by  one  who,  as  a recognised  Meteorologist  of 
high  repute  both  in  Europe  and  Asia,  and  a 
resident  in  many  climes,  is  (jualilied  to  judge 
and  speak  with  authority  upon  the  merits  of 
our  hill  Sanitaria.  The  author,  Mr.  Douglas 
Archibald,  a former  member  of  the  Bengal  Edu- 
cational Service,  has  good  I’eason  to  dread  the 
deadly  Beng.al  climate,  which  after  four  years, 
.sent  him  home  in  1878,  seriously  invalided  and 
no  one  than  he  can  better  judge  of  the  superi- 
ority of  even  our  sea-level  climate  over  those  of 
the' Indian  main  land;  and  tiunigh  he  has  re- 
cently returned  to  the  .scene  of  his  former  labours 
and  'been  engaged  in  important  meteorological 
work  for  the  Government  of  Imlia — amongst 
which  a Monograjih  on  the  Climate  of  Calcutta 
is  conspicuous,— he  has  wisely  resided  in  the 
Himalayan  Sanit.aria,  and  is  thus  .able  to  com- 
)iare  them  from  personal  knowledge  with  our 
own  Highlands. 
.Vmongst  the  points  which  se(Mu  to  havestrmdc 
Mr.  Airhibalil’s  im.aginal ion  most  torcibly  are 
the  .accessibility  ot  our  hill  lesorts  as  com|iared 
with  tiiose  of  'India.  The  journey  to  Simla  for 
example,  involves  eight  hours’  weary  jolting  in  an 
.antiipiated  tmiga,  which  occasionally,  as  he  has 
told  us  hai>peneil  to  himself,  breaks  down  and 
deposits  its  human  freight  in  the  road.  This 
after  48  houi's’  railway  journey  in  a May  sun 
is  (3nou*'^Ii  to  tinish  ott  tlic  truvcllor  alto^ctliGi. 
To  com'pare  this  with  the  delightful  journey  to 
Kandy,  Hatton,. and  Nuw.araEliya,  or  Bandarawela 
.seaterl  in  the  refreshment  car,  eating  iced  bana- 
nas, (luatling  cool  li<|uors,  and  gazing  at  our 
ooroeons  scenery  is  like  comparing  barb.arism 
with  civilization'!  Another  point  is  the  relative 
cost  of  reaching  our  Sanataria  from  say  Calcutta. 
The  journey  to  Simla  from  either  Calcutta  or 
Bombay  including  tonga  is  at  least  1H20  or 
R130,  'and  return  about  K160  or  K170. 
This  spread  over  three  days  is  U50  a day,  where- 
as from  Calcutta  to  Colombo,  it  is  B180,  letuin 
fare  by  P.  & 0.  steamers  spread  over  10  days,  or  at 
the  rate  of  R18  a day  wmOo'/my  fee.ling.  In  the 
other  case  the  feeding  by  the  w.ay  is  all  e.xtra 
Moreover,  the  sea-journey  itself  is  inconip.arablv 
pleasanter  and  alone  one  of  the  best  ot  health 
A further  ad  vantage  upon  which  the  author  lays 
crreat  stress  is  the'  vast  superiority  cf  our  hotels 
ncht  through  to  Bandarawela  over  the  cone- 
si^ndin*^  liouses  which  adopt  the  title  iii  Iiulia. 
We  are“not  in  the  habit  of  considering  oius  ,alto- 
-ether  perfect  but  it  is  consoling  to  find  th.at 
they  .are  far  .ahead  of  most  of  those  on  the  main- 
land, and  though  our  prices  may  seem  somewhat 
high,'  we  at  all  events  appear  to  get  cur  moneys’ 
"^Tlie  Eulogium  pronounced  by  Mr.  Archibald 
on  Nuwara  Eliya  is  to  a gre.at  extent  deserved 
especially  ia  tegard  to  the  beauty  of  its  scenery, 
the  facilities  it  affords  for  recreation  of  .all  sorts, 
.and  the  aUsohite  purity  of  its  atmo.sphere 
and  in  these  respects  it  deserves,  as  the  author  points 
out,  to  be  better  known  and  advertised.  We  are, so 
bles.sed  with  beautiful  uplands  that  we  .are  apt  to 
underrate  their  supreme  merits  .and  forget  that 
the  enormous  territory  of  Northern  India  has 
only  one  line  of  refuges  from  the  heat  at  all  of 
which  the  monsoon  r.ainfall  is  far  more  dis- 
agreeable than  at  Nuwara  Elijm.  It  must  al- 
ways be  remembered  that  the  rainy  season  in  the 
districts  of  which  Hatton  is  the  centre  is  always 
declared  by  the  re.sident  jilanters  to  be  about 
the  healthiest,  due  to  the  ei|ii.ablene.ss  of  the 
tem[)erature,  so  that  visitors  sliould  put  this  to 
the  credit  side  even  in  the  few  months  when  the 
weather  m.ay  seem  to  be  against  them.  The 
“ perfection  of  climate  .as  we  have  frequently 
pointed  out,  is  in  the  uplands  of  Cva,  and  the 
author  fully  recognises  the  remarkable  feature  of 
the  climate  of  this  district  represented  by  B.an- 
darawela  in  .affording  a complete  shelter  from  the 
rains  of  the  .S.-W.  monsoon  while  at  the  same 
time  it  h.as  a me.an  temperature  of  only  .3  degrees 
above  tiie  ideal  of  ])erfection  viz.  65°.  This  means 
of  escaping  from  the  South-west  monsoon  rains 
is  as  ]\Ir.  Archibald  ])oints  out  a unique  feature 
of  Ceylon  due  to  its  insular  position  and  is  with 
a few  excei>tions  such  .as  Kashmir,  unatt.ainable 
in  Imlia,  and  he  draws  attention  to  the  peculiar 
ad\'ant.ages  possessed  by  Bandarawela  as  a resort 
during  June,  July  and  August — or,  indeed,  from 
J line  till  October. 
TINPLATE  TEA  CHE.STS. 
Mr.  Prank  Randpll,  of  Llanelly,  has  written  to 
the  Ironuioiii/r.r  on  the  .ahovo  subject,  which  is  at 
present  being  largidj'  disoussed  in  Swansea  tin-plate 
circles.  He  says  ; — “ 1 will  at  once  say  that  having 
had  over  twenty  years’  experience  in  the  tea  trade, 
the  new  stylo  is,  in  my  opinion,  a very  distinct  im- 
provement upon  wood  chests  lined  with  lead,  and  I 
am  convinced  that  it  is  the  tea-chest  of  the  future, 
now  that  I have  seen  the  actual  thing  and  the  several 
advantages  in  its  favour.  I notice  that  there  is  a 
marked  gain  with  regard  to  the  weight  of  the  chests 
or  tare — viz.,  10  lb.  in  every  100-lb.  chest — and,  there- 
fore, in  a cargo  of,  say,  10,000  chests,  there  is  a 
saving  of  freightage  of  100,000  lb.,  and  a further  gain 
of  1 to  2 inches  cubic  space  per  chest — two  most 
importent  items  in  cost  of  transit.  The  tin-plate 
chest  being  hermetically  sealed  is  a positive  safe- 
guard against  any  damage  by  water,  either  by  sea 
or  rail,  and  it  is,  moreover,  proof  against  the  possi- 
bilities of  contamination  by  microbes  or  other  germs 
of  disease,  to  say  nothing  of  a vast  amount  of  tea 
being  secured  from  running  out  through  the  cracked 
timber  and  other  crevices  often  found  in  the  wood 
chests,  it  being  a well-known  fact  that  several  thousand 
pounds  of  tea  are  lost  annually  in  this  way  during 
transit  and  handling  from  one  warehouse  to  another. 
The  use  of  tin  chests  further  prevents  the  damp 
air  getting  into  the  tea,  thus  retaining  its 
aroma  and  full  flavour  until  wanted  for  use.” 
In  view  of  an  alleged  scarcity  of  timber  he 
holds  that  in  cost  the  tin-plate  chest  will  compare 
favourably  with  the  wooden  article.  Commenting 
on  the  latter  the  Ironmonger  says  : — “ It  will  be  inter- 
esting to  note  whether  the  tin-plate  manufacturers  try 
to  make  a proper  use  of  the  opportunity.  They  seem 
to  have  a great  chance  of  creating  an  enormous 
demand,  and  as  China  has  lost  her  supremacy  in 
tea,  they  have  a magnificent  chance  of  gaining  con- 
verts in  Ceylon,  Assam,  Japan,  and  other  tea-grow- 
ing countries.  The  Chinese  may  possibly  adhere  to 
the  old  chests,  but  elsewhere  the  tea-growers  ai'e  pro- 
gressive men,  and  if  it  can  be  shown  that  the  tin- 
plate chests  can  be  had  at  nearly  the  same  prices 
at  the  wooden  ones,  they  will  almost  certainly  bo 
adopted.  Who  amongst  the  tin-plate  makers  will 
take  the  matter  up  in  an  iutcHigent,  level-headed, 
eaterprisiug  manner  'i  ” 
