Jan.  I,  1897.]  THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
447 
aud  he  was  digging  a well ; I subsequently  learnt 
he  had  a habit  of  commencing  many  things  but 
seldom  finished  one.  Tiffin  over,  we  strolled  out, 
and  being  anxious  to  see  a vei  itable  tea  plant  I 
asked  where  they  were:  •‘Oh”  said  the  Manager, 
‘‘  here  you  are,  ” and  forthwith  plunged  into  the 
grass,  where  after  diving  about  for  some  little  time 
i was  invited  to  inspect  a small  single  stemmed- 
shrub  about  a foot  in  height.  “Oh  then,”  said  I, 
“tea  needs  shade?”  ‘‘No”  was  the  answer,  “but 
the  new  buildings  will  require  a lot  of  gras?,  so  I’m 
letting  it  come  on.”  It  certainly  was  coming  on, 
but  the  tea  did  not  appear  to  be  doing  much  in 
that  line.  I was  shewn,  however,  several  trees  of 
the  then  despised  wilder  indigenous  tea,  some  twenty 
feet  high,  which  the  Manager,  with  a view  to  mak- 
ing as  much  out  of  it  as  possible,  had  rung  near 
the  ground  to  get  the  Iqaf  from  the  shoots,  reserv- 
ing the  upper  branches  for  seed.  It  did  not  seem 
to  strike  us  professional  planters,  that  by  diverting 
the  sap  the  iruit  would  suffer.  A plentiful  dinner, 
washed  down  with  clean  water  brought  from  a mile 
away,  closed  my  first  day  on  a tea  plantation,  and 
we  were  up  betimes  next  morning  to  the  shrill 
crowing  of  the  jungle  cock  and  sundry  other  novel 
sounds.  We  were  soon  mounted,  riding  through  first 
heavy  forest,  then  grass,  an  occasional  clearing 
where  tea  plants  in  better  condition,  as  they  had 
plenty  of  room  for  development,  being  some  twenty 
leet  or  thereabout;  apart,  shewed  up;  then  through 
a largo  Kuki  poonji  (ruled  by  a most  grimy  unwashed 
potentate  called  Manji  How)  who  came  out  to  greet  us, 
and  on  hospitable  thoughts  intent  tendered  a bam- 
boo flagon  of  mood,  tipple,  when  fresh,  by  no  means 
to  be  despised,  though  being  somewhat  squeamish 
at  the  time  I should  have  preferred  a cleaner  drink- 
ing cup,  more  specially  as,  to  shew  his  good  will, 
the  tenderer  took  first  pull,  previously  removing  a 
ball  of  some  masticated  delicacy  from  his  mouth, 
in  which  by  the  way  he  only  partially  succeeded, 
ere  imbibing.  However,  it  was  the  custom  of  the 
country,  so  I explored.  The  worthy  old  fellow  had 
evidently  taken  several  stoups  ere  our  arrival,  for 
his  heart  was  so  much  opened  that  he  presented 
me — under  the  impression,  from  my  youthful  appear- 
ance and  dearth  of  hirsute  adornments,  that  I was 
one  of  the  sefter  sex — with  a very  handsome  piece 
of  amber,  much  to  the  mirth  of  my  companions. 
Settling  some  matters  as  to  contracts  with  His  High- 
ness, we  hurried.on,  shortly  emerging  on  the  Chutta- 
bheel  with  its  then  enormous  stretches  of  swamp, 
pool  and  seas  of  eka ; the  path  was  not  over  well 
defined  and  as  we  came  on  damp  places  we  had  to 
proceed  rather  gingerly,  for,  as  my  companion  said, 
there  was  a “ nag  tel  ” somewhere  about  but  they 
didn’t  know  the  exact  place.  “ What  is  a nag's  tail?" 
said  I,  imagining  it  to  be  some  animal  or  other; 
I was  soon  to  be  enlightened,  for  suddenly  my  pony 
plunged  his  forequarters  into  the  earth,  up  to  the 
girths ; “ Jump  off,  jump  off,”  cried  the  other  fellows : 
i was  saved  the  trouble,  being  precipitated  over  the 
struggling  creature’s  head,  where,  falling  sideways, 
I lormed  a stepping  stone,  of  which  he  at  once 
availed  himself,  as  planting  his  forelegs  on  my 
stomach,  with  one  desperate  plunge  he  extricated 
himself  from  the  abominable  quagmire.  Directing 
me  to  lie  fiat,  my  chums  hauled  me  out  on  to  terra 
iirma  by  my  legs ; having  thus  had  ray  curiosity 
gratified  as  to  nag  tels,  we  resumed  our  journey  till 
we  came  to  the  crossing  of  the  Gogra,  the  passage 
of  which  then  lay  in  the  open  bheel.  Bridges,  above 
the  water,  in  Cachar  were  then  rarities,  but  an 
elephant  bridge  had  been  put  down  here ; that  is  to 
say,  the  bed  of  the  dirty  stream  being  uncommonly 
boggy,  sundr  logs  of  wood  had  been  from  time  to 
time  thrown  in,  to  form  a foundation;  however, 
suitable  the  dodge  was  to  keep  the  ponderous  beasts 
for  which  it  was  intended,  from  getting  bogged,  it 
certainly  proved  trying  to  the  legs  of  other  animals, 
either  bipod  or  quadruped;  however,  it  had  to  be 
negociated : the  heaviest  of  our  number  went  first ; 
now  his  beast  almost  disappeared  underwater;  then 
scrambled  on  to  a tolerably  sound  log,  then  got 
stuck  between  two,  finally  scrambling  out  on  the  off 
side  pretty  well  blown ; performing  much  the  same 
evolutions,  we  followed,  1 again  distinguishing  my- 
self by  coming  over  the  tail  this  time,  as  my  steed 
mounted  the  final  log.  Nothing  of  any  ronsequence 
occurred  for  the  rest  of  the  ride  and  we  were  soon 
in  the  bungalow,  a far  superior  structure  than  that 
in  which  the  previous  night  had  been  passed.  The 
garden  ? stretched  away  at  the  back  while  in  front 
lay  the  open  bheel  and  hard  by  ran  the  Jalingacherra, 
a small  stream  of  what  I did  not  till  then  believe 
existed  in  Cachar,  viz,,  clean  water.  Present  planters 
might  have  objected  to  the  want  of  such  people  as 
dhobies,  sweepers,  etc.,  as  also  living  on  their  guns, 
the  absence  of  bread,  butter  and  modern  adjuncts 
to  the  table — for,  even  did  the  salaries  then  paid 
admit  of  indulgence  in  such  luxuries,  our  only  means 
of  obtaining  the  latter  were  by  the  monthly  boat 
from  Calcutta.  The  boat-club — there  was  then  one 
for  each  station — was  a great  institution,  aud  the 
secretary’s  honorary  appointment  by  no  means  a 
sinecure.  The  dak  took  thirieen  days  from  town; 
so  by  the  time  the  invoice  came  in  the  boat  should 
have  passed  all  danger  and  when  she  was  due  ex- 
pectation was  on  tip  toe.  During  the  cold  weather 
but  little  anxiety  was  manifested,  but  from  March 
till  October  there  was  gloom  on  many  faces  did  she 
not  turn  up,  and  earnest  confabs  as  to  the  ark's 
safety.  One  would  contemplate  his  dilapidated  boots, 
pondering  as  to  whether  the  expected  new  ones 
had  been  despatched,  or  whether  they’d  fit  when 
they  did  come  to  hand  ; as  for  clothing,  that  troubled 
us  but  little,  Munipoorie  cloth  being  cheap,  suitable, 
and  uncommonly  good  wear.  But  space  is  limited 
and  having  brought  this  opening  chapter  down  to 
arrival  in  the  district,  we  purpose  setting  forth  our 
efforts  in  actual  tea  planting  and  manufacture— 
according  to  our  then  lights— in  future  papers.— P/ie 
Indian  Planters'  Gazette, 

PLANTING  IN  LAGOS,  WEST  AFRICA. 
Fr  m t e JlsT  Repokt  For  the  quakteu 
ENDED  .30th  September,  1895, 
ON  THE  Botanic  Station,  Colony  of  Laoos, 
we  quote  the  following  passage  : — 
ECONOMIC  PLANTS, 
Many  new  aud  valuable  plants  have  been  intro 
duced  during  the  quarter,  my  thanks  are  due  to 
the  Kew  authorities,  who  have  helped  us  consider* 
ably,  also  to  other  establishments  who  have  assisted 
to  increase  our  collection. 
Before  leaving  England  the  Kew  authorities  placed 
in  my  care  a Wardian  case  of  Plants  that  I 
selected.  Since  then  two  cases  of  Para  rubber 
plants.  Hevea  brasiliensis  have  beeu  received  these 
plants  are  no  doubt  among  the  most  valuable 
plants  introduced  during  the  quarter. 
Puhber  Plants: — Most  of  these  that  have  been 
introduced  thrive  exceedingly  well,  especially  the 
Manihot  Glaziovii  which  yields  Cearar  rubber, 
any  soil  appears  to  suit  it  light  or  heavy.  The 
Castilloa  elastica,  West  Indian,  Guatemala,  and 
Honduras  rubber  trees  have  done  remarkably  well, 
and  promise  to  be  well  adapted  for  cultivation  in 
this  Colony,  some  of  these  have  been  attacked  by 
a borer,  which  if  not  destroyed  kills  the  tree. 
Hevea  Spruceana,  although  it  has  not  made  such 
robust  growth  as  some  of  those  previously  named,  yet 
it  has  done  fairly  well.  Ficus  elastica,  splendid  trees 
of  these  exist,  and  it  should  do  well,  as  numerous 
species  of  this  genus  Ficus,  are  represented  hero. 
Coffee,  Coffea  liberica.  As  Coffee  is  being  largely 
planted  in  this  Colony,  it  may  prove  interesting  to 
record  the  following  report  on  samples  prepared  at 
this  Station,  it  will  be  seen  that  they  are  not 
everything  that  could  be  desired,  this  was  duo  to 
my  departure,  and  being  anxious  to  take  the 
samples  with  me,  before  sufficient  time  was  given 
for  the  beans  to  be  properly  dried. 
Messrs  Lewis  and  Peat  to  Royal  Garden,  Kew. 
Mincing  Lane,  London 
11th  February,  1895, 
