[Dec. I, 1897. 
372 THE TROPICAL 
man of about my own age, who was going 
to Bombay. He bad been appointed Chaplain to 
the 2nd Queen’s Regiment ; he was a very good 
fellow, having been educated for the Medical pro- 
fession, but cpialilied for the Church, on the offer 
of an a](pointment. However, all this has no- 
thing to do with my experiences of Ceylon, 
but it illustrates the length to wliich Memoirs 
of my life would extend, if I amplified the in- 
cidents upon which you wish me to expatiate.” 
[We only regret that Mr. Shand has not given 
some more of his travelling experiences in these 
eirly days, especially of his journeying through 
France. — E d.] 
“We left Cairo at 5 o’clock one afternoon, in 
the middle ot March, travelling on donkeys, as 
all the vans were at Suez waiting for the arrival 
of the steamer in which we were to take our 
departure for Bombay. W e reached Suez at 8 p. m. 
the next day, having made the 84 miles’ journey 
in 27 hours ! We changed donkeys only once. 
We arrived more dead than alive ; hut I insisted 
upon our agreement not to stop more than two 
hours at the half-way house, being adhered to, 
much to the indignation of my companion. 
By travelling in this way, instead of waiting 
for the vans to arrive at Cairo, we secured the 
choice of berths in the Government steamer. 
“ On arriving at Bombay I met the Messrs. 
Worms and Rigg, and we were fellow-passengers to 
Colombo in the Ceylon Government steamer 
‘ Seaforth,’ commanded by George Steuart, who 
afterwards became the head of the firm of 
George Steuart & Co., under the (egis of his 
brother James, who was the Agent of Arbuthnot 
& Co., of Madras, and Master Attendant of 
Colombo.” 
What follows conveys a vivid description of coffee 
planting in the “forties On my arrival,” 
Mr. Shand continues, “ I travelled about the 
country (Kandy and Badulla) in company with 
my uncle, the late Sir William Reid. After 
looking about me in search of land, I went 
down into Sabaragamuwa via Haputale ; and, 
after visiting the different parts of the district, 
I bought 600 acres ot land and settled down at 
Rakw'ana, which 1 planted as a coffee estate.” 
[The joke used to be that Sir Wm. Reid— an 
experienced Hemerara coffee i)lanter — who chose 
the finest block of land in the country for his 
own estate, in Spring Valley, Badulla, — selected 
a very poor lot for his nephew and passed through 
all Haputale in order to settle on much inferior 
Rakwana; but the fact was that there being no 
roads, the frightful distance of Haputale from 
any port, and the difficulty of getting coolies to 
stay there in the early ‘ forties,’ drove the pros- 
pectors nearer to Colombo. — E d ] 
AGRiCDLTURIST, 
“ There was a good deal of sugar planting going on 
at that time. I bought 1,200 acres of land in the 
Rayigam Korale with the intention of trying sugar 
planting, bub afterwards gave up the idea and 
sold the land. Before I planted the sugarcanes, 
I ascertained that the climate and the soil of 
Ceylon was not adapted for the profitable cul- 
tivation of sugar. It grew well enough, but the 
yield was only about 2 tons an acre for the 
first year, and afterwards even less. The canes 
would nob rattoon and required replanting every 
two or three years. Consequently, all the sugar 
estates came to grief, and about half a million 
sterling was lost by the planters. I went to 
Colombo to wait until the Rakwana land was 
ready to be opened. There was no way of getting 
to the land at Rakwana, which was about 90 
miles from Colombo, but by walking. The roads 
were impassable for horses for want of bridges. 
I commenced to open the Rakwana land at the 
end of 1842, and planted it in June of the following 
year, when I was joined by my brotlier, Mr. T. 
L. R. Shand. I remained a coffee planter until 
1848, when, owing to tlie commercial panic of the 
previous year, all sorts of produce went down to 
a very low point. I then commenced business 
as a merchant, and in 1850 I established a firm in 
Madras, sending my brother there to manage it. I 
continued in business in Colombo until 18G2, when 
I came home to England and remained at home till 
1875, when from circumstances well-known I went 
out again for three months. I returned again with 
my family in 1876, and remained there till 1890, 
and have now been at home seven years.” 
In 1849 Mr. Shand went over to Cochin, 
passed over the Nilgiri.s, stopping at Oota- 
camund about a month, and paid his first 
visit to Madras. The travelling dawk was 
i,i those days a very comfortable and easy way 
of travelling, all that was necessary being to 
deposit £25 with the Government at the Rost 
Office, and they put all the relays of bearers 
on the road at the traveller’s disposal, and 
he never had any trouble. Mr. Shand evi- 
dently had a very pleasant recollection of his 
journey by dawk down from Madras to Tuticorin, 
where he embarked on a native boat for Ceylon. 
The boat being, however, unable to make head- 
way against the S.-W. monsoon, they had to put 
back, and on the return voyage— [tell it not to 
Mr. Harcourt Skrine !]— were shipwrecked on 
Hare Island. Mr. Shand had therefore to dawk 
down to Pamban and go from Paniban on to 
Negombo. In 185.3 Mr. Shand married Miss 
Symons, daughter of Mr. Symons (father of the 
present popular Secretary to the Colombo Chamber 
of Commerce). All the nine children of the mar- 
riage are still alive. 
