THE  TROPIC\E  AGRICaLTQRtS  T. 
[Feb.  I,  1897. 
all  sides.  Still  there  was  no  lack  of  forestland 
at  the  upset  price  of  5s  per  acre;  and  any  coin- 
petititn  W’as  considered  such  “bad  form,”  that 
as  .soon  as  a pioneer  inaile  his  selection,  he  cut 
the  boundaries  and  began  forming  a nursery  as 
if  the  land  had  already  been  knocked  down  to 
him  and  the  Crow'n  transfer  made  out.  And 
that  there  was  a rapid  fortune  in 
“coffee”  in  thosh  early  days, 
let  the  following  illustration  testify:  — 
Here  is  an  estimate  we  find  in  the  Ceylon  Observer 
of  May  1842,  referring  to  Oduwella  estate,  in  Hantaue 
probably,  which  will  give  an  idea  of  the  yield  and 
profits  of  coffee  from  its  growth  on  virgin  forest-land 
m a favourite  district  in  those  early  dajs: — 
‘‘  The  0——  Estate  was  commenced  in  July  1837 
— Extent  of  Forest  1892  acres. 
Dr, 
“Total  Expenditure  up  to  31st  Decem- 
ber 1811,  including  purchase  of  forest, 
planting  305  acres,  stores,  machin- 
ery, &c.  ..  i’G,938  7 3J 
Cr* 
1839  Sale  of  seed  and  42 
bags  of  coffee  . . 445  18  6| 
),  Sale  of  176  acres  of 
forest . t . . 176  0 0 
1840  Sale  of  seed  and  796 
cwt.  of  cjffee  ..  3017  10  5 
1841  Estimated  value  of 
2,000  cwt.  shipped  83C0  0 0 
£11,6.39  8 Hi 
“The  crop  of  last  year,  2000  cwt.,  which  is  now 
going  home,  was  gathered  off  200  acres,  and  only 
about  .50  acres  of  that  in  full  bearing.  The  crop  of 
the  coming  season  is  estimated  at  3,000  cwt.  and  it 
will  be  gathered  off  about  250  acres.  Judging  from 
the  experience  of  these  two  years,  when  the  whole 
dlanted  part  (about  350  acres)  is  in  full  bearing,  it 
will  give  fnlly  5,000  cwt.” 
The  total  export  of  coffee  from  Ceylon  in  1841 
was  80,000  cwt.  ; in  1842  it  rose  to  120,000  cwt., 
but  it  went  to  a splendid  market  protected  at 
t'le  time  by  a differential  duty  as  may  be  judged 
from  the  prices  indicated  above. 
On  arriving  in  Colombo,  Mr.  Wliiie  at  once 
proceeded  upcountry  and  on  to  the  Knuckles  Dis- 
trict as  well  as  he  could — for  there  was  neither 
bridge  beyond  Kandy  nor  road  beyond  Katugas- 
tota,  in  tliose  early  days. 
IN  THE  KNUCKLE.S, 
however,  he  had  secured  through  tlie  agency  of  the 
then  well-known  Mr.  Donald  Davidson,  a compact 
block  of  400  acres  of  forestland  which  he  proceeded 
to  open  as  tlieKandekettia  estate,  which  is  in  exis- 
tence to  this  day,  though  it  has  long  ago  passed  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  original  owner.  At  the  same 
time,  Mr.  Wliite— young  (in  liis  24t!i  ye.ar)  and  en- 
ergetic—opened  Allacolla  estate  for  Mr.  Davidson. 
He  must  liave  had  for  his  neighbours  at  the 
time  Mr.  .lames  Wright,  still  of  Dimhula  and 
his  then  Assistant,  i»oor  “ Sandy  Ilrswn.”  Mr. 
White  continued  to  reside  for  several  years  in  the 
Knuckles  district  and  he  there  experienced  tlie 
financial  crisis  of  1 845-0  and  the  dark  j)eriod  of 
depression  which  followed,  when  one- tenth  of  al 
the  coffee  estates  opened  in  Ceylon,  were  aban: 
doned  and  many  more  were  forced  to  sale  for  a 
fraction  of  their  value. 
MR.  WHITE  A.S  PROPRIETARY  PLANTER  AND 
MERCHANT— HI.S  MARRIAGE. 
Mr.  White  next  moved 
TO  PUS.SELLAWA 
wliere  he  took  up  land  and  opened  the  well-knoWh 
properties  of  Dawatagas  and  Doragalla.  Early  in 
the  “ fifties”  we  find  Mr.  White  had  his  own 
Firm  of  “ A.  C.  White  & Co.”  in  Kandy  ; but 
very  soon  after  he  became  partner  in  tlie  Colombo 
House  of  “ Kicol,  Cargill  & Co.”  which  included 
besides  Mr.  Andrew  Nicol,  C.  B.  Cargill  and 
S.  T,  Richmond.  Mr,  White  had  by  this  time 
married  and  we,  personally,  recall  his  handsome, 
stalwart  figure  on  Galle  Face  early  in  the  “six- 
ties,” Mr.  and  Mrs.  Whitebeing  always  on  horseback 
of  an  afternoon.  The  adventurer  “ P,  Hudson,”  at 
one  time  a large  estate  proprietor  in  Ceylon,  got 
Nicol,  Cargill  & Co.  into  trouble  by  obtaining  heavy 
advances,  and  eventually  about  1868,  there  was  a 
dissolution  of  partnership  and  the  coffee  estates 
of  the  Firm  were  divided  between  Messrs,  White 
and  Nicol.  The  former  got  for  his  share  the  now 
splendid  property  of  Mount  Vernon  which  then 
included  Hudson  or  Fairfield,  the  whole  aggre- 
gating 840  acres  (with  538  acres  in  coffee),  Mr.  John 
Martin  being  Superintendent  ; while  Mr.  Nicol 
took  Union  and  Niagara  740  acres  (with  480  in 
coffee),  Mr.  John  Stronach  being  Manager.  The 
latter  now  form  the  Dimhula  estate  with  nearly 
600  acres  of  tea,  while  Mr.  "White  has  750  acres  of 
the  same  product  on  Mount  Vernon. 
HLS  RETIREMENT  AND  .SETTLING  DOWN  AT  HOME. 
Retiring  from  Ceylon  soon  after,  Mr,  A.  C. 
White  was  long  known  as  about  the  largest  (in- 
dividual) owner  of  estate  property  connected  with 
Ceylon.  For,  besides  his  Dimhula  and  Pussellawa 
plantations,  he  owned  Bukanda  near  Gampola, 
Delpottonoya  in  Medamahanuwara  and  with 
interests  in  .some  other  districts.  Were  there  time 
and  space,  good  stories  could  be  told  of  how 
the  once  famous  “ Wm.  F.  Forsyth”  of  Waita- 
awa  managed  for  Mr.  White  as  an  absent  pro- 
prietor, while  opening  Delpottonoya.  Still  Mr, 
White  was  one  of  the  fortunate  Colonists— every- 
thing  he  touched,  for  many  years,  “ turned  to 
gohl”  and  he  became  one  of  the  wealthiest  pro- 
jtrietors  connected  with  the  island.  After  set- 
tling down  at  home,  Mr.  M'f)ite  paid  occasional 
though  rare,  visits  to  the  island  in  the  “seven- 
ties” and  “ eighties,”  and  he  would  havecomeout 
again  and  again  since,  were  it  not  for  an  accident 
he  met  in  the  hunting-field,  through  falling  and 
breaking  his  collar-bone  some  years  ago.  It 
shows  what  a splendid  constitution  he  has  had,  that 
well  on  in  the  “ seventies”— perhaps  in  his  75th 
year— Mr.  White  should  Ixeable  to  continue  to  fol- 
