Mav  I,  1S97.J 
THE  TROPICAI 
AGRICULTURIST. 
79X 
Tlie  Chairman,  in  moving  a vote  ot  thanks  to 
tlie  author  ami  the  reader  of  the  paper,  said  : — Mr, 
John  Ferguson  lias  done  wonderful  work  for 
Ceylon,  and  India  as  well.  (Ajiplause.)  It  is  no 
light  matter  to  get  up  all  this  information 
and  tliese  statistics  and  place  them  here  in 
the  City  of  London,  and  get  together  the 
practical  men  who  are  here  today,  and 
who  thoroughly  understand  the  evolution  of  this 
railway.  It  does  seem  an  e.xtraordinary  thing; 
it  is  many  years  since  I was  in  Ceylon  - before 
there  w.as  a harbour  there  at  all — and  jieople 
were  quite  sure  there  could  be  no  harbour  made 
in  Colombo  with  stones,  because  of  the  force 
of  the  se.a.  This  has  been  got  ovei',  and  here  we 
have  a small  break  in  between  two  large  masses 
of  country,  and  with  plenty  of  material — and 
we  hear  this  afternoon  that  it  is  just  a question 
of  gauge  ! Surely,  if  the  foundations  can  be  got 
in — and  we  know  in  England  wonderful  founda- 
tions have  been  laid  for  breakwaters— if  that  can 
be  done  it  won’t  matter  if  there  are  three  lines 
of  rails  doiwi,  because  if  they  can  get  one 
embankment  down  that  can  stanil  the  gauges. 
As  to  whether  they  should  eiul  in  India  or  Ceylon, 
that  is  quite  a separate  question  hardly  wortliy 
of  discussion.  The  great  question  is  how  we  are 
to  bridge  over  this  small  strait  between  the  Con- 
tinent and  Ceylon,  was  to  give  Sontherii  India 
th.e  full  advantage  of  the  Harbour  of  Colombo. 
(Hear,  hear.) 
The  vote  of  thanks  was  passed  by  acclamation, 
and  Mr.  Donald  F£RGU.S0N  briefly  responded,  tlie 
proceedings  closing  witli  the  usual  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  Chairman's  sendees. 
We  may  add  here  e.\ tracts  from  some  letters 
received  by  the  writer  of  the  Faper,  by  a recent 
mail ; — 
Sir  Thomas  Sutherland,  Chairman  of  the  P.  &0. 
S.  N.  Company,  in  a kind  note  of  apology  for  in- 
ability to  be  present,  remarks  : — 
“I  ought  to  have  been  at  the  meeting  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  today  to  hear  your  paper 
read  ; but  it  has  been  impossible,  for  1 have  had  so 
many  things  to  do.  As  you  have  an  excellent  Chair- 
man in  Sir  Albert  Rollit — a man  of  encyclopedic 
knowledge — my  presence  was  the  less  necessary. 
Your  idea  lies  undoubtedly  in  the  future,  it  must 
come  about.” 
Mir.  Matthews  (Harbour  Works  Consulting 
Engineer)  is  good  enough  to  write  us  by  the 
mail  : — 
“ I had  a most  important  engagement  fixed  for  today 
with  a gentleman  from  South  Africa,  who  has  come 
home  to  consult  us,  and  so  was  unable  to  get  away 
in  order  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  at  w'hich  your  paper  was  read.  I gather, 
however,  from  a letter  to  hand  from  Mr.  Kyle, 
that  he  was  present.  Mr.  Keurick  Murray  sent  u? 
some  cards,  and  I am  today  writing  him  a letter  of 
thanks,  informing  him  that  it  was  with  great  re- 
gret that  I was  unable  to  attend.  Had  I had  a few 
days’  longer  notice,  I might  have  made  arrange- 
ments accordingly,  but  I was  not  aware  until  yester- 
day morning  that  your  paper  had  been  fixed  to 
come  off  this  afternoon.  Had  time  permitted  I 
might  also  have  got  up  a cartoon  plan  for  the 
lecture  room.  If  you  require  a small  scale  plan  of 
the  Harbour  Wor-ks  to  illustrate  your  paper — as  no 
doubt  it  will  be  published — we  shall  be  very  pleased 
to  supply  the  same  if  you  will  let  us  hear  from 
yon.” 
A Ceylon  proprietary  planter,  present,  writes  : — 
“The  whole  thing  was,  I think,  a great  success, 
and  your  paper  highly  approved  of,  as  well  it  might, 
for  it  was  a very  able  document,  and  must  have 
taken  a lot  of  work  to  compile.  I have  no  doubt  that 
the  railway  will  follow  in  due  course,  but  let  us 
urge  quicJdjj,  for  there  is  no  use  waiting  till  we  go 
' }7ack  from  want  of  labour  on  our  tea  estates,  and  so 
let  the  island  lose  its  name  to  a certain  extent. 
Moreover,  with  this  plague  and  famine,  labour  ought 
to  be  got  on  a very  cheap  scale  for  the  work  on 
the  line.” 
Another  ex-Ceylon  resident  writes  : — 
“ On  Tuesday  I was  in  London  and  heard  your 
paper  read  by  Mr.  D.  W.  F.  It  was  a capital 
gathering,  representative  both  of  the  City  and  Cey- 
lon. The  room  was  quite  full  and  all  listened  at- 
tentively. Very  pleasing  references  were  made  to 
yourself  personally  and  the  work  you  have  done 
and  there  was  a general  feeling  which  found  expres- 
sion in  some  words  that  fell  from  the  Chairman 
that  the  reading  of  the  paper  before  the  London 
Chamber  of  Commerce  meant  a definite  step  in 
helping  to  the  carrying  out  of  the  scheme.  One 
heard  with  pleasure  the  speeches  of  the  Chairman, 
Mr.  Kiraber,  m,  p.,  Mr.  Waring,  Mr.  Corbet, 
and  Mr.  Cave,  though  one  regretted  that  others  in 
the  room,  w'ell  qualified  to  speak,  did  not  make 
an  utterance.  Mr.  D.  W.  F.  read  the  paper  well,  and 
Mr.  A.  M.  F.  helped  ns  in  following  his  comments  by 
pointing  to  the  map.  The  paper  was  followed  with 
evident  interest  by  all  present.” 
Mr.  D.  W.  Ferguson  write.s  : — 
“ I was  glad  there  was  a good  attendance,  but 
sorry  more  did  not  speak.  You  will  see  what 
Mr.  Kimber  said  about  the  intention  of  the  S.  I.  R.  to 
extend  the  line  to  Pamban.  He  also  said  the  money 
had  been  deposited  for  it.  I went  to  Spottiswoode’s 
to  try  and  get  the  Parlimamentary  paper  he  refer- 
red to,  but  the  only  one  I could  get  (which  I send) 
docs  not  give  anything  about  a new  prop'tsal.  Mr. 
Corbet  is  anxious  that  your  paper  shotild  be  read  before 
the  Imperial  Institute  !” 
One  of  the  most  sensible  criticisms  on  the 
Lecture  was  that  offered  by  a City  merchant, 
who  has  never  been  in  the  East  ; but  who 
writes  to  ns  by  this  mail  : — 
“ 1 listened  to  yonr  paper  on  the  23rd  inst.  with 
much  pleasure.  It  appears  to  me  tliat  you  have 
made  out  a fine  case  for  Colombo  as  the  great 
Entrepot  of  the  East.  But  if  I might  make  the 
observation,  there  are  two  points  which  might  be 
more  fully  dwelt  upon,  namely  : — (1)  The  importance 
already  of  Colombo  by  reason  of  its  own  trade; 
(2)  The  trade  between  India  and  Australia  which 
greatly  needs  such  a facility  as  Colombo  (with  the 
propo.sed  railw'ay)  would  provide.” 
Mr.  H.  W.Cave  writing  to  a friend,  says: — 
“I  greatly  appreciated  Mr.  Ferguson’s  able  paper. 
He  dealt  with  the  railway  question  in  the  clearest  and 
most  forcible  manner,  so  that  it  was  no  trouble  to 
grasp  the  points  urged  from  considerations  so  various. 
I ventured  on  a very  few  remarks  in  favour  of  the 
Anuradhapura  route.  The  seacoast  route  would 
benefit  India  most,  but  the  inland  route  would  do 
much  more  for  Ceylon,  both  for  the  native  and 
European  population.” 
[Mr.  Cave  has  not  been  up  the  Chilaw  road 
to  see  its  industry  and  population  and  the  lore.st 
re.scrves  towards  Pnttalam  : a divergence  theaec 
to  .Anuradhapura  would,  however,  meet  his  views. 
— Kn.  7’. A.] 
The  accomplished  London  Correspondent  of 
the  JFc-Acni  Daily  Vtnew  wrote  of  the  lecture  as 
follows  : — 
“The  last  lecture  delivered  at  the  London  Chamber  of 
Commerce  for  the  season  was  prepared  by  Mr  John 
Ferguson,  the  propLietor  of  the  Cculon  Obneyver,  and 
was  read  by  his  cousin,  Mr.  Donald  Ferguson.  He 
impressed  upon  the  audience  the  imp  ortance  atta  .hed 
to  a railway  which  would  connect  India  with  the 
“ pearl  island.”  With  conciseness  Mr.  Ferguson  had 
traced  the  social  advantages  it  would  give  to  resi- 
dents in  Madras,  besides  accelerating  their  mails. 
The  Empire  would  benefit  its  construction,  for 
Colombo  was  the  best  and  moat  accessible  harbonr 
to  the  South  of  India,  which  served  as  a counectii’g 
link  with  England,  South  Africa,  Australia,  and  the 
Chinese  ports.  It  would  also  be  of  material  import- 
ance to  the  island  itself,  for  at  preseirt  the  tea 
planters  found  a dillicnlty  in  securing  enough  coolie 
labour,  Qa  the  other  hand,  the  Taiuils  in  the  ISoutb 
