HISTORICAL. 
35 
His visit was but a brief one; be honoured tbe Governor by 
dining at Plantation House, attended a ball at tbe Castle, and sailed 
again on the evening of the same day that he arrived. 
Admiral Sir Ckailes Elliot, Iv.C.B., relieved Governor Drum- 
mond Hay on the 3rd July, 1863, and administered the Government 
for seven years, during the whole of which time his kind, courteous, 
and gentle manners won for him the highest esteem and respect 
from all classes. He was, perhaps, one of the most energetic 
Governors that ever ruled at St. Helena, and in every °way 
endeavoured to promote the advancement of the place; though 
struggling against great difficulties, viz., a diminishing revenue, he 
achieved many highly successful results. 
Almost his first act was to declare war against the termites or 
white ants, and he reconstructed nearly the whole of the public 
buildings in J amestown, which they had destroyed, in a substantial 
manner, with stone, iron, and teakwood. For the first time, a direct 
monthly mail communication from England by steamers was esta- 
blished. He largely augmented the water-works of the town, both 
for supplying ships and for a supply in case of fires. But no 
Governor, since General Beatson, has done so much to encourage 
the introduction of new and valuable plants. Amongst others, he 
imported a large number of Mexican pines, which have taken 
well to the climate and the soil at Plantation, and the quantities 
of Norfolk Island pines and Bermuda cedars which Sir Charles 
reared and distributed throughout the Island, give promise of a 
lasting memorial to his name. It was at this time that Dr. Hooker, 
the Director of the Itoyal Gardens at Kew, judging from his 
acquaintance with the soil and climate of St. Helena, advised the 
Government to undertake the culture of the Cinchona plant on the 
mountainous parts of the Island. Sir Charles Elliot most readily 
supported and assisted the scheme. A skilled gardener was sent 
out from Kew, and a plantation of Cinchona soon sprang up in 
the neighbourhood of Diana’s Peak, promising the greatest success 
and a source of much profit ; but, most unfortunately, Sir Charles 
Elliot’s successor being unable to see the advantage of such an 
undertaking, the plantation was neglected and ultimately aban- 
doned. 
Sir Charles Elliot was succeeded in the government by Admiral 
Patey, in the year 1870, who took out to the Island in his pocket the 
d 2 
