14 
RUBBER PLANTING IN CEYLON 
of Old Sol. There have been cases even of sunstroke through the 
eyes, from the intense glare reflected from white roads or from the 
water, while a single shaft of sunlight, entering a crevice in a shutter, 
and falling on a man’s temple, has been known to result fatally. 
Where the heat is so great, it seems almost absurd to talk of chills, 
but when the sun goes down, and it still remains so hot that collars 
wilt, and the whole body is wet with perspiration, there comes that 
danger. The breath of the northeast monsoon, the regular wind of the 
winter months, while not cold, has brought on many a fatal chill, and 
resulted in fever and death. Hence most of the Europeans wear flannel 
bands about the abdomen (cholera belts they are called), and are very 
careful not to sleep in a draught, or to cool off too suddenly when very 
warm. 
The natives, on the other hand, seem to be almost invulnerable both 
to the sun and to the “ ’soon.” They go about bareheaded, and almost 
bare-bodied, and sleep when and where they will, and rarely suffer from 
•such exposure. 
Equipped though I was to stand the heat, I was not proof against 
surprise, nor the delight that I felt when I saw standing in the hotel 
lobby, my good friend, Henry Ml Rogers, of Boston, one of the directors 
of the Revere Rubber Co. He did not see me, and as my sun helmet 
would be a sort of disguise, I went up to him, and said : 
“Do you wish a guide, sir?” 
“No, I thank you,” he responded politely. 
“But you do!” I insisted, “You are lost now, and don’t suspect it. 
I will not only guide you for nothing, but will be glad to pay for the, 
privilege.” 
I saw a gleam of recognition come into his eyes, as he said : “My 
•dear boy, the rubber trade of the United States sent me over here to 
watch over and guide you. It is you who are lost, and I am delighted 
to find you.” 
Then we had a love feast, and instead of feeling far from home, 
kindred, and friends, it seemed as if the miles between Ceylon and the 
"States were few, and most easily annihilated. At the same time, it did 
seem a bit unusual that we two, starting from the same city, and circling 
the globe in opposite directions, without any knowledge of the other’s 
absence from home, should meet as we did. It was also very jolly. 
