AND THE MALAY STATES 
19 
Very early in the day, I was introduced by my request to the dhoby 
man, who is the washerwoman of the East. He takes one's clothing out 
to the nearest stream, wades into the water, and pounds the dirt out on 
the rocks, then partially dries and irons them. He also has a habit of 
infesting them with a parasite which results in the “dhobies’ itch.” I 
had a mixture of starch, boric acid, and powdered zinc, which I desired 
to try on this parasite, and although I told him when he took the contract 
to be sure to give me my money’s worth of germs, I didn't get one. and 
I am sure he had some, for he was always scratching. I fancy he deliv- 
ered mine to the chap who had the room next to me, for I used to hear 
him scratching and “saying things” when night had fallen, and the “spicy 
breezes blew soft o'er Ceylon's is’e.” 
“hevea” at heneratgoda. 
f Large tree in foreground on which tapping experiments were 
made for several years.] 
The next morning I called on Mr. Ferguson, of the Tropical Agri- 
culturist, who for many years has been a high authority on tropical 
planting. To my regret, he was absent, being then in the United States, 
and. his nephew informed me, likely to call at mv New York office at 
any time. I learned, however, that Director J. C. Willis, f. l. s., of the 
Royal Botanical Gardens, Peradeniya, was then in town, and at the hotel 
familiarly known as the “G. O. H.,” meaning the Grand Oriental Hotel, 
where I found him, and was able to secure his assistance in planning 
mv visit to the typical Herca plantations. 
