590 
TtlE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.  [Mapch  i,  1897. 
was  separated  from  the  pulp  I put  it  to  ferment  in 
a cistern  made  for  the  purpose  and  dried 
it  oil  mats;  buc  leaving  the  dried  j) archment  the 
difficulty  was  a substitute  for  a pcclii",/  mill, 
and  1 liad  to  resort  to  the  old  paddy  pounder  ; buc 
had  a winnowing  machine  from  the  ol  1 Ganipola 
estate.  I then  had  planks  sawn  of  the  koena  tree 
and  made  into  sijuaie  boxes.  These  I lined  with 
talipots  to  keep  out  the  damp,  and  i=,Qnt  1111/  /irtif  cro/i 
down  to  (Jolombo  for  shioment  to  Messrs.  Price  ife 
Son  this  being  the  tirsit  shipmciif  of  Coy  Ion  coffee 
consigned  to  them,— afterwards  Price  & lioustead. 
My  total  crop  was  cwt.  167  or  just  about  cwt.  21  /)"r 
acre  off  my  8 acres.  It  sold  in  London  for  108s 
per  cwt.  or  a total  of  fl670,  which  was  just  about 
double  the  amount  of  expenditure  in  the  purchase  of 
105  acres  of  land  the  eultiration  and  curinrj  of  the 
coffee,  erection  of  a shed  in  place  of  a store,  and  the 
building  of  a bungalow  for  my  family  in  the  hot 
season  at  a cost  of  £26.  The  heavy  crop  was  doubt- 
less owing  to  the  high  cultivation  of  the  land,  and 
the  high  price  obtained  was  probably  due  to  the  fine 
greenish  blue  color  of  the  bean  similar  to  the 
mountain  coffee  of  Jamaica. 
The  cultivation  of  the  Black  Forest  Estate  w’ent  on; 
additional  land  was  purchased  and  it  finally  amounted 
to  *260  acres  of  coffee  when  it  was  sold  to  the  Vene- 
rable Archdeacon  Glenie  for  Count  Septiniir,  a friend 
of  the  Baron  Delmar  for  the  sum  of  £25,000. 
The  grooved  new  cylinder  suggested  the  idea  to 
Mr.  John  Brown,  then  engineer  to  Messrs.  Worms,  of 
the  Crusher  to  be  combined  with  the  Pulper,  which 
was  afterwards  found  to  work  so  well. 
THE  KEKUNA  GKINI1ER. 
It  was  supposed  by  Sir  Edward  Barnes  that  the 
kakuna  nut  which  contains  a large  quantity  of  oil 
might  bo  utilized  as  a new  product  from  Ceylon  in 
the  maur.facture  of  cotton  cloths  at  Manchester  and 
the  experiment  was  tried,  but  the  oil  was  rejected 
by  the  Trade,  and  the  kekuua  trees  were  found  to 
be  injurious  to  the  coffee  instead  of  being  beneficial  by 
their  shade. 
PERSONAL. 
My  object  is  not  to  write  my  personal  history, 
bub  I may  mention  that  when  the  Governor  Sir  Henry 
Ward  gave  the  nomination  of  the  member  of  the 
Legislative  Council  to  the  Planters'  Association,  I 
had  the  honour  of  being  the  first  elected  member 
and  occupied  that  honourable  position  for  about, 
seven,  years,  and  I was  afterwards  appointed  by  Sir 
Hercules  Robinson  as  one  of  the  Commissioners  to 
report  on  the  Military  Expenditure  of  the  island, 
the  proceedings  of  which  form  a voluminous  docu- 
ment in  the  annals  of  the  Councils  of  Ceylon. 
My  colleagues  in  this  were  Colonel  Lsffan,  (r.e.) 
Major  Skinner,  Sir  Charles  Peter  Layard,  and 
others,  and  our  report  was  received  with  favour. 
I might  take  some  credit  to  myself  for  having  been 
the  first  to  introduce  or  import  Indian  coolies  to 
work  on  a Coffee  Estate  in  Ceylon,  but  that  this 
was  dictated  by  self-interest.  My  Conductor  at  Black 
Forest  was  a man  from  Trincomalee,  half  Tamil  and 
half  Sinhalese,  and  I sent  him  to  Trincomalee  to 
obtain  the  services  of  a Tamil  to  go  over  to  the  Coast, 
to  bring  some  coolies.  My  Sinhalese  friends  from 
Gampola  having  in  the  season  their  own  work  to 
attend  to,  my  coast  messenger  in  due  course  returned 
with  11  men  from  South  India  which  formed  the 
nucleus  of  the  gangs  which  supplied  the  Black 
Forest  Estate  in  after  years,  with  200  to  300  labourers, 
the  descendants  of  whom  have  followed  the  fortunes 
of  the  Byrde  family  for  the  last  50  years,  and  I 
believe  that  some  of  the  descendants  of  the  same 
villagers  are  now  with  one  of  my  sons  at  Awissawella, 
proving  their  faithfulness,  so  long  as  they  are  well 
treated  and  cared  for. 
Ceylon  is  so  much  indebted  to,  and  dependent 
on  labourers  from  Southern  India,  that  planters  have 
reaped  the  boiiolit  and  all  fiiends  of  the  Coffee  onter- 
))rize  h.ive  had  full  consideration  for  them  which  has 
been  the  (;liiira<'lerl,tic  of  the  treatment  of  the  Colfoe 
planters  of  my  time,  |)re-omim  ntiy  of  our  good  Irioud 
Tyt'cr  at  I’allakcllv,  and  of  that  steady  old  Scotch 
planter  of  Matt'-rkolle,  our  friend  Mr.  Smith. 
ENGLISH  EXPERIENCES. 
After  nearly  30  years  of  ups  and  downs  in 
Ceylon,  I took  to  English  life.  On  my  arrival  in 
England,  I was  asked  to  take  the  command  of  a 
Coips  of  Volunteers  which  grew  to  a Battalion,  of 
which  I became  the  Lt.-Cok,  and  when  I retired, 
after  a number  of  years  of  Command,  I was  ap- 
pointed Hon.  Col.  of  ihe  4th  I'.  Battalion  Sottth  ]\'alcs 
Borderers,  which  position,  I have  now  the  honour 
to  fill.  I was  appointed  J.P.  for  the  County  of 
Monmonth  and  subsequently  Depmty  Lieutenant  for 
the  County.  I have  been  Chairman  of  the  Pontypool 
Court  for  27  years  in  which  the  trials  number  from 
1,000  to  1,200  per  annum.  I have  also  been  Chairman 
of  the  Pontypool  U.S.A.  Highw-ay'  Board  for  a 
number  of  jmars,  also  of  the  Rural  Sanitary  and 
School  Attendance  Committees,  and  for  the  last  30 
years  a Commissioner  of  Inland  Revenue. 
On  the  County  Council  being  formed  I was  elected 
a member  representing  7 parishes,  and  became 
Chairman  of  the  Asylum  Committee  of  which  I had 
been  a member  for  30  years,  it  belongs  to  3 
Counties  and  has  about  1,000  members.  I was  ap- 
pointed by  the  Quarter  Session  one  of  their  Represen- 
tatives on  the  Joint  Police  Committee. 
But  niy  own  responsibilities,  and  our  work  prostrated 
me,  and  I have  now  been  confined  to  my  bed-room 
for  the  last  18  months ; but  by  the  mercy  of  Divine 
Providence,  my  health  is  now  improving. 
My  experience  as  the  first  Coffee  Planter  on  Black 
Forest  laud  was  in  many  respects  quite  unique  and 
made  me  one  of  the  Pioneers  of  that  enterprise 
which  raised  Ceylon  from  a mere  Civil  Military  Station 
to  a Colony  of  European  settlers  and  Colombo  to  a 
shipping  port  of  the  first  importance. 
Colonel  Byrde  was  married  at  Cotta  near 
Colombo  on  the  otli  January  1837  to  Rebecca 
dangliter  of  Mr.  Charles  Mais  of  Bristol.  After 
paying  one  or  two  visits  to  the  old  country^  Mr, 
and  Mrs.  Byrde  retired  thither  in  the  early  sixtic.s» 
In  1871  Col.  Byrde  paid  his  last  visit  to  Ceylon,  wlicn 
he  came  out  on  business,  and  took  back  one  of  his 
grand-children  witli  him — the  eldest  son  of  Mrt 
Charles  Byrde  of  Amhlangoda.  Tlie  deceased 
lost  tens  of  thousands  of  pounds  in  the  downfall 
of  coll'ee,  but  up  to  the  last  w*as  interesteil  in  tea, 
ow’ning,  in  conjunction  with  liis  youngest  son,  tlie 
Rev.  R.  A.  Byrde,  of  Honiton,  Devonshire,  Honi- 
ton  estate,  in  the  Kelani  Valley,  besides  being 
interested  in  other  propertie.s.  In  tlie  fall  of  1891^ 
Mrs.  Byrde,  was  so  ill  that  the  doctor, s thought 
that  she  would  not  la.st  through  the  winter  tlien 
approaching.  Her  devoted  husband  during  that 
period  was  in  attendance  on  her  day  and  night, 
and  her  life  was  prolonged  for  two  years.  Col. 
Byrde,  however,  never recoverded  Ids  formerrobust- 
ness,  and  when  Ids  wife  died  on  the  *23rd  of 
December,  1893,  at  the  advanced  age  of  84,  and 
he  lost  the  partner  of  57  years  of  Ids  life,  he  felt 
tlie  bereavement  very  mucli. 
After  his  retirement  to  England,  in  the  ” sixties,” 
Colonel  Byrde  made  more  than  one  visit  to 
Ceylon  connected  with  the  settlement  of  his 
lu'opertics.  Tlieso  included,  among  otliers,  a good 
(leal  of  tlie  land  on  which  tlie  famous  Mariawatto 
T(m  Canlcn  is  now  .«itnated  ; hut  as  a cnllee  estate 
it,  was  deemed  of  little  or  no  value,  the  land 
being  too  Hat  and  tlie  sidl  too  still';  in  tea  it 
has  proved  a veritable  gold  mine. 
