8o 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
fAUG. 2 , 1897 . 
he maintained his faith in coffee up to the 
very end. We have a letter dated Fehruary, 
1887, in which he got quite angry w:*:!! the 
Observer for publishing a correspondent’s sneer 
at coffee in Uva as being as niach doomed tliere 
as anywhere else in Ceylon ; tlie writer went 
on to say that tea would more than fill the place 
of coffee and fully justify the railway; but still 
Mr. Downall was not satisfied. He wrote : — 
“ Many estates have just given the best autumn 
“crop that has been gathered since 1878, and 
“ the coffee looks in fust-rate vigour after it.” 
Alas ! for the ever-saiiguine as well as energetic 
proprietor of Dambetenne in the “eighties ” : well 
would it h.ave been for him to have lost faith 
in the old staple, or rather to have gone in 
more extensively for the new king, a little 
earlier. But still he did a good deal in “ tea” 
—he was never tne obstinate or prejudiced planter 
who would learn nothing from his neighbour, and 
had only life been spared, there is no reason to 
suppose that he would not have reaped the benelit 
of the new st.aple to the full extent of clearing 
off all liabilities and finding himself sole owner 
of plantations which are about the most valuable 
in tea that Haputale can show in the present day. 
And now in conclusion as to what kind of man, 
in person and character, was Mr. R. B. Downall. 
It has been well said that when a friend, loved 
and admired, passes away from us, there is a 
natural desire for something which may serve to 
give distinction and permanence to the impres- 
sion which he made upon us in his lifetime. 
We trust that end has been in some degree 
met by what has been written above, and more 
especially by the contributions of two of Mr. 
Downall’s nearest and dearest friends. It may 
he well though that we should recall in a few 
words the outward appearance z below the 
middle height, slender and active, — indeed in 
his early days “ hard as nails” would best describe 
K. B. Downall in view of his constant exercise, 
riding and walking over plantations, cricket and 
hunting. He had a strikingly frank counte- 
nance, marked with lines indicating decision 
and responsibility and crowned by a notable 
forehead. It was natural that one who 
had made his way to tlie , top of the 
planting “ tree ” at so early an age entirely through 
his own character and exertions, should be dis- 
tinguished by an air of lesponsibility and com- 
mand ; but no one could be five minutes in hig 
presence without discovering the really genial and 
kindly social character of tlie man. His smile 
brightened all about him and his laugh was 
contagious. But it is to the solid chaiacter and 
bright example of industry, energy and pluck 
that we would point at this time. No one 
could ever dream of associating a mean or dis- 
honourable act even in the slightest degree with 
R. B Downall ; while many acts of benevolence 
an 1 of kindness to the bereaved and poverty- 
stricken will never be known till the day shall 
declare. No estate inspector or proprietor was 
more considerate towards those under him, or 
more desirous that Superintendents, conductors 
and labourers in liis employment should all be con- 
tented and prosperous. .Such then was this Ceylon 
Planter-pioneer of the “ sixties,” — the chosen 
representative of his community in the “seventies ” 
and “ eighties,” — and we m.ay .add the most 
truly esteemed and widely loved of all the 
second generation of PL.tNTER.s in Cevlon 
“Peace to th: memory of a min of worth,” 
MEXICAN TOBACCO. 
Ever since the dawning of what is called the 
“American Epoch” of Mexico, there has been a 
steady and continuous development in the exports of 
that country. The American Consul at the City of 
Mexico says, “That striking as are the facts with 
regard to the increase of the cultivation of coffee and 
the growth in the United States of a great apprecia- 
tion of the Mexican berry and its sterling qualities, 
these can be paralleled in many points by the 
development of Mexican tobacco.” Although France 
has not profited commercially by this increase, it is 
only simple justice to say that it is due very largely 
of Frenchmen and to the exiles from Cuba whom 
they employed. A French writer, Louis Lejeune, 
was the first to point out that the tobacco grown in 
the upper valley of the Papaloapam River produced 
leaves as fine, as silky, and even more aromatic and 
perfumed than those of the “Vuclta Abajo” in 
Cuba. He showed that the Plantations in the Pinar 
del Bio district of Cuba were exhausted, and that 
not even the most lavish use of fertilizers could 
enable them to produce leaves of the real Habana 
quality. He compared the western end of the island 
of Cub i to a dying fire, where one could find here 
and there points of living flame, but everywhere else 
ashes and blackened embers. M. Lejeune in his 
pamphlet made an elaborate comparison of the re- 
lative cost of starting a tobacco plantation in Cuba and 
in Mexico, and showed that, supposing silver to be at 
par, which it was when he wrote, the expenses in 
the latter were only one half of the former, without 
taking into consideration the price of land or the 
cost of transportation. He adjured his countrymen 
who were enterprising, not to wander off to Cochin 
China, but to establish themselves in Mexico on 
tobacco plantations. Borne did so, and at the last 
French exhibition those who had followed his advice 
received gold medals for the excellence of their pro- 
duction. For some reason or other the French Regie 
did not, until the fiscal year 1894-95. except Mexican 
tobacco, and, therefore, France has lost the benefit 
to which it was fairly entitled through the energy and 
skill of Frenchmen who created the initiative which 
has resulted in ranking the Mexican leaf with the 
Habana. Prior to 1889 the export of Mexican 
tobacco rarely amounted in value to 900,000 Mexican 
dollars in any one year (say £90,000), but in 
1895 96 the value amounted to 1,700,000 dollars 
(£170.050). At first foreign countries imported 
Mexican cigars, but they did nob give complete 
satisfaction, because boxes marked “ Colorado ” 
“ Colorado Claro, ” and even the “ Claro' ” 
when opened were found to contain “ Maduros ” 
and even “Oscuros. ” The supposition was that 
this was due to negligence in making the 
boxes, or even to fraud, because the light-coloured 
