6 
WILLIS : HISTORY OF THE 
Indigenous and Exotic Plants growing in Ceylon.” Of the 
1,127 plants native to the Colony there enumerated, 164 are 
new species described for the first time. He made a consi- 
derable herbarium, now mostly at Kew, and commenced the 
library of the Department. In 1818 Harmanis de Alwis 
Seneviratne was appointed writer under him, and displayed 
such talent for drawing that Moon had him taught at his 
own cost and appointed as draughtsman in 1823. This was 
the beginning of the splendid series of coloured drawings 
of the Ceylon flora and of other plants cultivated in the 
gardens, which has been steadily continued to the present 
time by H. de Alwis and his two sons, one of whom, William 
de Alwis Seneviratne, Muhandiram, is at present the 
draughtsman of the Department. In May, 1825, Moon died 
of fever, and for some time the gardens were in charge of 
Andrew Walker as Acting Superintendent. He was suc- 
ceeded in 1827 by James Macrae, who collected many plants, 
especially orchids From this time till 1844 the Department 
languished, being chiefly used as a Government market 
garden, the produce of which was sold in Kandy. Macrae 
died in 1830, and after another interregnum under G. Bird, 
James George Watson was appointed Superintendent in 
1832. He collected plants at Jaffna and Puttalam and died 
in July, 1838. The rubber avenue at the entrance to the 
gardens was laid out by him in 1833, Another period of 
interregnum under J, G. Lear," who came to Ceylon in 1837 
or earlier as collector for Messrs. Knight of Chelsea, followed, 
lasting till the appointment in 1840 of H. T. Normansell, 
“ a clever young surgeon.” Lear collected and described a 
number of orchids, and was one of the earliest tea planters ; 
he planted tea at Nuwara Eliya in 1837. He laid out the 
beautiful group of palms at the entrance of the gardens. 
In January, 1843, Normansell died, and W. C. Ondaatje 
acted as Superintendent till the arrival in May, 1844, of 
* Many letters of his on garden matters are reprinted in “ Literary 
Register,” 1890. 
