76 THE TROPICAL 
as both the yomig men started from England 
about the same time — Mr. Downall leaving a 
month earlier but arriving a month later, be- 
cause his friend came overland — there was always 
a friendly rivalry as to how the two “boys” 
were getting on. The following was written 
for us to use with our own notes, but amal- 
gamation would spoil all its freshness and we 
trust we may be pardoned by the writer for giving 
the contents of his MSS. separately and vcrbatiin : — 
“Itwas eitherinFebruaryor March 1863 Downall 
left England in a sailing ship bound for Ceylon 
‘round the Cape,’ and reached Colombo at end of 
May or early in June: he was accredited with 
letters of introduction to the late G. Wall — 
amongst several others — and Wall sent him up to 
Matale as assistant to W. W. Wynn.* ‘ Dick 
Mackay,’ who resided in ‘Jolly’s Bungalow’ 
overlooking the Kandy lake, was then Visiting 
Agent to Geo. Wall & Co., and was evidently so 
much struck with Downall, that not only did they 
become great personal friends, but on Mackay’s 
leaving for England 18 months after Downall’s 
arrival, he so strongly recommended the ‘youth’ 
to Geo. Wall that the important post of Visit- 
ing Agent was offered to him. Well do I re- 
member his telling me about the offer, and his 
asking my advice as to his accepting it. Although 
I had had a month’s start of him in planting, 
I replied that I certainly could not accept it, 
as I did not feel competent, but that that was 
no I'eason wliy he should not. However, acce]>c 
it he did, and if there have been better V.A.’s in 
Ceylon I have not come across them ! His taste for 
sport soon showed itself, and in 1865 he took 
over from William Taylor— -then of Dolosbage— 
the following hounds Bluebell, Bashful, Moone- 
» Mr. Downwall's first, and only, “ Periya Durai,” 
Mr. Wm. W. Wynn, was himself an old, esteemed 
and notable planting Colonist of the well-knovyn 
Welsh family of his name. We met him first in 
the “sixties” on the Borders Estate, Matale, and 
we are tempted to quote from a letter written after 
retirement with reminiscences of his Ceylon days 
“ Myddleton House, Monmouth, England 19th June 
1894. 
“ bear Mr. Ferguson,— The last time I saw you 
was in your office in Colombo in July 1889, when 
I called to wish you goodbye on the eve of my 
leaving for the old country after an unbroken residence 
in Gwon of 43 years. And here I am now as hearty 
and strong as ever, and able to enjoy a day’s fishing, 
of which I get plenty and good. It -occurs to me 
at this moment to ask you if you remember ‘ the 
first time we ftiet,' the when, and the wherel — The 
w/(cre I well remember, but ihe when ’tis so ^ long, long 
ago ' that I have forgotten quite. The where was at 
good Abercrombie Swan’s Bungalow, The Borders, 
and I daresay you remember how his gallant army 
of sepoys charged down upon us, with fixed bayonets, 
when we were standing on the Barbecue, and how 
we took refuge under the store ! 
“Most extraordinary weather, June, ana no 
«et~not even one Bummer’s day. With kind 
Sds,-Yours very truly, ‘ Watkin Wm. Wynn.” 
Mr. Wynn died last year (1896) at Monmouth. 
AGRICULTURIST. [Aug. 2, 1897. 
andy, of course a great favourite with the ‘dog 
boy,’ and also Sailor and Fly, a pair of Kan- 
garoo hounds purchased in Colombo. The nucleus 
of a pack was tlms started in partnership with 
C. Fetherstonliaugli, who kept them on Kirk- 
o.swald : tlicn under the guidance of that cheery 
and most hi>si)itable planter James McDonald. 
The mysteries of ‘ elk hunting’ were soon ac- 
quired. In addition to hunting on Bogawantalawa 
and Bopatalawa, and afterwards in Nuwara Eliya, 
our friend seldom lost an opportunity of visiting 
the ‘ lowcountry ’ in pursuit of big game after 
which he met with a very fair share of success. 
Indian jungles, he also visited, and scored his 
‘tusker,’ in company with T. S. Dobree. During 
his sojourn in the East he also rvent in pretty 
heavily for horse-racing, both in Ceylon and 
India. Perhaps of all the horses he ever 
raced ‘ Grandmaster ’ rvas his favourite, and 
he -was only once beaten ar.d that was 
at Peradeniya, where with a crushing weight, 
he was kept a little too much in the rear to 
allow of his ‘getting up’ when the ‘pinch’ 
came. I think Toni Keynolds* was about the 
first to take in the situation, and I can hear 
now the shout Tom R, gave ‘Grandmaster 
has shot his bolt ’ ! and so the good horse had. 
I forget the name of his favourite Arab, a rare 
good one, and of which he was so fond that he 
shipped it home to improve the breed of the 
Exmoor ponies. 
“R.B.D.’s fn-st venture in coffee tvas ‘Middle- 
ton,” in Dimbula, for which I think he paid 
£2,000 — no trouble about ‘exchange’ in those 
days when all was £ s d. — and a right good 
purchase it proved.! Then in time he became the 
proprietor of CniwcH’s Haputale places— now- 
Lipton’s — which also did well for him so long 
as coffee remained ‘ King.’ His worst purchase 
was Monaragalla (or Monarakanda) 11-10011 prac- 
tically ruined him, for with the exception of the 
bumper crop it gave the year of his purchase, 
it simply absorbed all the annual profits of the 
other Haputale estates to keep it agoing. Few have 
met with a greater variety of the ups and downs 
of life, of sport, of success, than he of whom 
this is written. At one time he could have 
» “ Tom Reynolds,” well-known in those days and 
for years afterwards, as “T.K.” which came to him in 
this wise : a group of friends were critically examin- 
ing a newly imported Australian horse, branded on 
the near shoulder “ T.K,” when some one said what on 
earth can T.K. stand for? “Why, Tom Reynolds be- 
gorra!” says Tom Reynolds in a brogue, you could 
knock clumps out of with an old mamotie ! 
f Mr. Downall's favourite manager at this time 
and for many years was Mr. H. G. Mackenzie who 
was as much attached to, as he was trusted and 
liberally treated by, one of the best employers and 
proprietors in the long list connected with Ceylon. 
—Ed. T.A. 
