Sod 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURlSr. 
[May  I,  1897. 
DUTCH  BAY  F.  HARE  ISLAND  AS  COOLY 
ARAN  TINE  STAITUN. 
We  liad  only  time  recently  to  allude  to 
the  opening  slip  in  Mr.  Harcourt  Skrine’s  long 
and,  in  tlie  main,  instructive  as  well  as  inter- 
esting letter.  Clearly  he  know.s  as  much  about 
his  subject  as  any  one  in  or  out  of  the  island, 
unless  it  be  Capt.  Donnan  and  Mr.  Ingramcotton. 
^yith  Hare  Island,  Tuticorin,  he  has  had  an  in- 
timate personal  ac(iuaintance  ; but  his  state- 
ments about  Dutch  Bay,  we  infer,  are  made  on 
hearsay  and  inference  from  i)0])ular  notions  of 
the  locality  and,  therefore,  as  we  said,  his  criti- 
cism and  comparisons  in  this  direction  would 
have  been  better  withheld,  until  the  official 
Report  on  the  recent  official  inspection  and  con- 
sultation had  appeared.  Neverthele.ss,  it  is  (^uite 
possible  that  a useful  purpose  may  be  served 
by  the  appearance  of  Mr.  ISkrine’s  very  lull 
letter  at  the  present  moment  when  the  whole 
subject  is  likely  to  be  under  the  consideration  of 
the  (Jovernment. 
Now,  we  do  not  profess  to  be  in  a position  to 
discuss  “ Dutch  Bay  ” in  the  familiar  way  in  which 
Mr.  Skrine  treats  of  Hare  Island.  But  we  are 
certainly  prepared  to  traverse  .some  of  his  state- 
ments or  inferences.  He  is  probably  unaware 
that  while  the  richest  coconut-growing  and  one 
of  the  most  populous  native  regions  in  the 
island,  lies  between  Negombo  and  Chilaw, 
beyond  the  latter  station  tlie  same  great  indus- 
try has,  of  late  years  very  rapidly  ex- 
tended in  the  ilirection  of  I’uttalam.  The 
Rajakadaluwa  distiict  on  the  Northern  side  of 
the  Deduruoya  is  likely  to  be  a specially  favorite 
coconut  district  : it  has  been  very  largely  taken 
up  and  estates  seven  years  oUl  and  upwards 
are  most  promising.  So  much  so,  tliat 
the  deuraird  for  land  has  carried  wealthy  enter- 
prrising  natives  and  some  Europeans  well 
towards  Futtalam  ; while  our  inform  ition  goes 
to  show  that  thei’c  is  good  soil  and  heavy 
forestland  for  some  distance  beyond  that  station. 
It  is  quite  true  that  the  annual  rainfall  of 
Oh.ilaw  does  not  exceed  o4  inche.s  and  that  of 
Puttalam  46  inches ; but  the  coconut  ])alm  in 
many  parts  at  least  of  those  di.stricls  does  not 
depend  altogether  on  rainfall  ; for,  there  is  water 
at  no  great  depth  in  the  soil — a Inackish  de- 
posit iir  winch  the  roots  seonr  to  luxuriate.  >So 
much  for  the  character  of  the  country  in  the 
Puttalam  and  Dutcli  Bay  district  aiul  .\ir.  .Skrine 
will  understand  that,  psr.sonally,  we  should 
much  prefer  to  see  any  line  of  railway  run  (not 
from  Polgahawela  or  Kuruuegala  through  a 
“ miserable” country,  but)  from  Colombo  due  North 
to  Puttalam  and  Dutch  Bay  -a  line  that  would 
pay  splendidly  for  by  far  the  greater  jiart  of 
the  way,  on  its  own  local  account.  The  cooly 
trattic  would  add  to  its  success : coolies  meant 
for  upcountry  Avoulci  join  at  Kelani  station, 
and  there  would  be  little  difference  in  the  jour- 
ney, as  Polgahawela  is  only  a few  feet  above 
Colombo. 
But  this  is  all  by  the  way.  What  we  are 
chiefly  concerned  with  today  is  to  set  D'lr  Skrine 
right  in  reference  to  Colombo  and  the  cooly 
tratlic.  It  is  not  only  absolutely  wrong,  but 
almost  childish,  to  write  of  the  press  or  intelli- 
gent jniblic  of  the  capital  as  being  op|)osed  to 
the  use  of  this  port  for  cooly  trallic  i>cr  sc,  or 
to  suppose  that  anj'  such  motive  as  odi  pro- 
fannni  vidffus  el  arceo  has  actuated  any  section 
of  our  community  in  desiriTig  to  see  a convemient 
{uid  suitable  separate  cooly  port  established 
apart  from  the  metropolis.  Childish,  we  say, 
because  there  is  assuredly  no  one  in  Colombo, 
otlicial  or  unoflicial,  wdio  has  discussed  this 
question,  wdio  is  not  as  convinced  as  any  planter 
can  be,  that  on  Cooly  Immigication,  more  than 
on  any  other  element,  depends  the  prosperity 
of  the  Colony.  Any  policy  calculated  to  check 
or  discourage  such  immigration  is  only  worthy 
of  comlemnation.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  let 
the  jdanters  remember  that  on  the  healthine.ss 
of  Colombo— on  steamers  being  able  to  call  and 
go  freely  from  this  port  with  clean  bills  of 
healtb,  flepeiul  issues  of  the  greatest  pos- 
sible moment,  directly  affecting  their  great 
industry  and  equally  striking  at  the  pros- 
perity of  the  island  Now,  it  is  in  the  inter- 
ests of  botli  elements  to  the  prosperity  of  tlie 
Colony — free  immigration  and  unrestricted  steamer 
freight — that  we  should  like  to  see  a separation 
elfecteil  through  the  establi.shment  of  a distinetCooly 
Port.  Suppose,  forinstance,  the  plague  was  reported 
to  have  reached  Madras  and  to  be  extending  fartlier 
South,  that  iuileed  a case  had  reached  Colombo, 
and  that  therefore  the  need  for  extremely  re- 
strictive measures  was  recognised  on  all  sides, 
svould  not  the  liability  to  interfere  with  the 
cooly  trallic  be  vastly  increased,  no  matter 
wdiat  local  quarantine  arrangements  were 
made  ? And,  on  the  other  hand,  would 
it  not  be  a vast  relief  on  such  a (plague) 
crisis  arriving,  to  feel  that  cooly  immi- 
gration could  not  be  prejudiced,  becau.se  it  had 
its  own  port,  quarantine  station,  and  depots  in 
the  island  at  a point  widely  separated  from  the 
metropolis?  Our  illustration  .so  far,  is  that  of 
a case  of  plague  arriving  here,  through  no 
fault  of  the  coolies  ; but  suppose,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  a case  or  cases  of  plague  were 
directly  traceable  to  the  coolies,  how  much 
more  serious  a thousand  time.s  such  immigration 
would  then  become,  when  associated  with,  oi  in  the 
vicinity  of,  a city  like  Colombo,  over-crowded 
and  insanitary  in  many  parts  in  spite  of  all 
that  is  being  done— than  if  the  plague  cases 
appeared  among  coolies  landing  at  Dutch  Bay 
or  any  other  similar  isolated  cooly  port  ? But 
Mr.  Harcourt  Skrine  will  reply  to  this — as  in- 
deeil  he  has  already  done — that  we  cannot 
divest  ourselves  of  such  traffic  at  this  port: 
‘•the  coolies”  (like  the  poor)  must  be  always  with 
us — always  coming  and  going  by  hundreds,  if  not 
thousands,  to  sucli  a city  as  Colombo.  That  is 
very  true ; but  of  how  far  less  importance  that 
the  ordinary  cooly  trafiic  of  the  city  should  be 
hampered,  or  even  temporarily  suspended  alto- 
gether, than  that  the  large  and  vital  How  of 
Immigration  for  the  plantations  should  come 
under  the  ban  of  the  Port  Surgeons  of  the 
great  central  Mail-steamer  Port  of  the  East. 
On  due  reflection,  we  think  it  will  be  found 
that  the  planters  ought  to  lead  the  way  in 
asking  the  Government  to  provide,  if  at  all’  pos- 
sible, a separate,  convenient,  and  accessible  port 
for  their  coolies  to  and  from  Southern  India, 
so  as  to  relieve  all  concerned  of  the  risks  at- 
tending the  use  of  Colombo. 
— 
OUR  ESTATE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 
(Communimted.) 
Our  Estate  Sunday  School  is  unique,  has  been 
both  neculiar  and  erratic,  for  although  it  now 
dates  back  for  several  year.s  since  it  was  founded, 
yet  it  has  not  always  been  active,  given  alas  ! 
to  hibernate,  as  a supply  of  teachers  failed.  We 
have  had  times  when  the  pulse  of  its  life  w^a 
