588 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  [March  i,  .897. 
ject  of  our  memoir  (then  “ Major  Bird  ”)  to  our 
“ Plantins;  Gazetteer”  of  1859,  of  his  uncle’s  career, 
and  the  history  of  his  life-long  struggles  against  an 
adverse  fortune.  Our  prosperous  planters  of  the 
present  day  may  well  regard  witli  respect  and 
honor  the  name  of  “George  Bird”  as  the  very 
earliest  plantation  pioneer  in  Ceylon — a man  of 
striking  character,  of  superb  physical  develop- 
ment and  strength,  unwearietl  energy  and  indomit- 
able pluck — and  that  honor,  in  a connected  degree 
may  be  extended  to  all  the  “ Birds  ” or  “ Byrdes” 
of  those  early  days  who  gave  both  time  and  money 
to  the  work  of  carving  coffee  estates  out  of  the 
primeval  jangle.  George  Bird  in  his  early  years 
made  a great  impression  through  his  work,  physical 
prowess  and  personal  character,  on  the  Kandyans 
who  both  respected  and  feared  him.  The  account 
supplied  to  us  in  1859  by  the  subject  of  our 
Memoir,  was  as  follows:— 
The  first  Coffee  Estate  in  Ceylon  was  opened  in 
this  District  so  far  back  as  the  year  1821,  by  Mr. 
George  Bird,  who  accompanied  his  brother  (Colonel 
Bird  of  the  16th  Regt.)  to  Ceylon  in  1823  for  the 
purpose  of  engaging  in  such  agricultural  undertaking 
as  inducements  in  the  Island  should  appear  to  offer; 
and  the  attention  of  the  brothers,  (Col.  Bird  being 
at  that  time  Commandant  of  Kandy.)  was  directed  to 
the  cultivation  of  Cojfee ; and  the  valley  of  Gampola 
was  selected  as  an  eligible  locality  wherein  to  carry 
out  their  intended  speculations. 
Sir  Jas.  Campbell,  then  Lieut. -Governor,  gave 
encouragement  to  the  proposed  undertaking  by 
promising  a grant  of  laud  for  the  purpose  which  was 
afterward  confirmed  by  Sir  E.  Barnes,  and  thus 
commenced  that  cultivation  on  the  site  of  two 
ancient  Kandyan  Places,  Royal  lands  (Singapetia  and 
VVeyang watte) — which  has  been  of  such  importance 
in  the  subsequent  history  of  our  Island. 
The  mode  of  cultivation  adopted  and  the  enormous 
protective  duties  then  in  favor  of  the  British  West 
Indian  Colonies,  rendered  this,  and  two  other  Coffee 
Estates  at  Ganga  Orowa  and  Matelle  that  soon 
followed  the  one  at  Gampola,  equally  unprofitable; 
and  Col.  Bird’s  death  of  cholera  in  1829*  so  paralysed 
the  operations  at  Gampola  that  Mr.  George  Bird 
was  induced  to  abandon  the  property  in  1833  and 
remove  to  Kondasally  and  subsequently  to  Imbool- 
pitia  in  Oudabulatgamma.  After  having  been 
engaged  in  the  production  of  Coffee  for  33  years  with 
singular  want  of  success  he  died  in  Kandy  on  the 
1st  March  1857,  liaving  been  the  means  of  conferring 
signal  advantages  on  others  by  the  energy  of  his 
character,  while  to  himself,  the  Pioneer  of  Coffee 
cultivation,  his  best  efforts  served  only  to  prolong 
his  disappointment. — Although  a good  practical  man 
and  possessed  of  great  experience,  accumulated 
through  many  years  of  toil,  his  experience  did  not 
avail  him  until  failing  health,  had  destroyed  that 
energy  which  repeated  disappointment  could  not 
impair. 
The  Gampola  Estate  being  beautifully  situated 
in  the  valley  of  Gampola,  was  in  1846  sold  to  Messrs. 
Hudson  Chandler  and  Co.  for  the  purpose  of  farming 
it  on  the  English  principle  and  combining  this 
with  the  cultivation  of  Sugar,  and  a farmer  and  his 
family  wei*e  brought  from  England  to  carry  out  the 
intention  of  converting  the  already  fiiie  pasture 
lands  into  a grazing  farm — when  the  decaying  stumps 
of  the  old  Coffee  trees  gave  place  to  guinea  grass 
to  maintain  a stock  of  horses  and  cattle,  with  the 
hope  of  eventually  securing  breeds  of  superior 
quality;— but  on  the  failure  of  Messrs.  Hudson 
* Col.  H.  C.  Bird  No.  1 died  of  cholera  in  Colombo 
in  1829  and  his  rt mains  are  interred  in  the  old 
military  cemetery  at  Gnlle  Face. 
Chandler  and  Co.  during  the  crisis  of  1848,  this 
establishment  was  again  broken  up,  and  the  estate 
reverted  to  the  Bird  family.  Within  the  last  2 or  3 
years  it  has  been  again  formed  by  Major  Bird  into  a 
Coffee  estate  of  .300  to  400  acres  which  give  promise 
at  length  of  great  success,  now  (1859)  that  the  culture 
and  preparation  of  Coffee  are  better  known,  and  the 
equalization  of  duties  gives  the  agriculturist  in  the 
East  a fair  chance  of  competition  with  other  parts 
of  the  world. 
From  Mr.  Charles  Byrde  of  Ambalangoda,  son 
of  the  .subject  of  our  Memoir,  we  have  the  fol- 
lowing: — “ Mr.  George  Bird  spent  his  later  years 
at  Kondesale  Estate  with  his  daugliter,  Isabella, 
who  married  the  late  Mr.  W.  B.  K.  Wyllie  of 
Messrs.  Keir,  Dundas  & Co.  and  Mr.  Geo.  Bird 
died  at  Lake  House,  Kandy,  early  in  1857,  as  I 
was  living  at  this  time  with  my  father  and 
mother  who  went  to  England  in  May  1857  after 
Mr.  Wyllie’s  marriage  with  Isabella  Bird.” 
We  need  only  add  to  the  above,  that  when 
misfortune  overtook  Major  Byrde’s  firm  and  pro- 
perties generally,  Sinnapittia  had  to  be  taken 
over  by  Mr.  .Jolin  Boustead,  and  again  it  changed 
nands  when  the  final  collapse  of  Ceydon  cofi'ee  took 
place.  It  is  now  the  jmoperty  of  the  Oriental 
Est.ates  Co.,  Ltd.,  and  like  so  many  other  old 
collee  plantations,  has  been  turned  into  a 
flourishing  tea  garden  of  300  acres  out  of  the 
total  area  of  some  756  acres. 
We  cannot  do  better  next  than  repeat  some 
notes  written  at  our  request  by  the  subject  of 
our  Memoir,  Colonel  H.  C.  Byrde  (the  2nd)  in 
1895,  after  seeing  our  first  volume  of  “ Pioneers  ” 
in  which  he  was  greatly  interested.  The  old 
colonist  in  his  Welsh  retirement  retninded  us 
that  he  had  been  a reader  and  admirer  of  the 
Observer  from  the  first  day  it  appeared  in  1834, 
down  to  (what  proved)  the  closing  year  of  hia 
life,  and  with  his  “kindest  regards  to  the 
Editor”  he  sent  the  following  very  interesting 
autobiographical  sketch  accompanied  by  portraits 
of  himself  and  other  senior  members  of  hia 
fannly  from  which  we  were  to  select  the  one 
to  appear  in  our  Tropical  Agriciclturist  Gallery 
I was  transferred  to  the  Ceylon  Rifle  Regiment  in 
Julj'  1834,  and  waited  for  three  months  before  there 
was  a ship  sailing  for  Ceylon.  My  fellow  passen- 
gers in  the  “ Symmetry  " were  Mr.  (afterwards  “ Sir”) 
Chas.  Peter  Layard,  Lady  Layard,  James  Gay  Layard, 
Bevillo  Layard,  Miss  Sophia  Mooyart,  and'  Mt. 
Self,  passenger  for  Mauritius — all  gone  to  their  rest. 
My  uncle  George  Bird  came  down  to  Colombo 
to  greet  me  and  I returned  with  him  to  Nau 
Oya,  where  he  was  then  living,  having  commenced 
the  cultivation  of  his  estate  at  Kondasally,  which 
he  was  then  planting.  On  my  arrival  ht  Colombo 
I found  that  there  was  no  notification  of  my  appoint- 
ment. The  ship  with  Naval  stores  to  Trincomalee 
and  Military  stores  to  Colombo  I ad  been  ordered 
to  the  former  station  first.  There  were  about  two 
or  three  ships  in  those  days  that  graced  the  Colombo 
roadstead.  Letters  for  England  were  sent  by  tappal 
to  Madras  to  await  an  East  Indiaman  and  it  was 
considered  satisfactory  to  get  an  answer  to  a letter 
from  Ceylon  loithin  the  near.  What  a contrast  to  ths 
present  day: — when  mail  after  mail  is  advertized., 
the  open  road.stoad  enclosed  by  a break-water  and 
