PROPEIETOEY MANATEES. 
prietor!” This class of planter managed (?) his own 
■estate, during his brief, uncertain, and periodical visits; 
during his absence, a conductor mismanaged it. He 
was always short of coolies, and the neat, well-kept, welh 
furnished bungalow used to present a contrast to the cof- 
fee, all covered with weeds, unpruned, uncultivated. Dur- 
ing crop a great loss must have taken place. I have 
known estates, with say eight hundred to a thousand 
cwts of crop on the trees, and only thirty or forty 
coolies on them. No wonder the proprietor could not 
bear the sight, and, as a last resource, ordered his 
conductor to beg or borrow coolies where he could, 
packed up his travelling-box, and took himself off. On 
his return, knowing from past experience that he would 
feel dull and lonely, he could bring troops of friends 
with him, and have a regular “ kick-up.” 
It w^as a curious fact, that estates managed by their 
proprietors and conductors were nearly always short of 
coolies : one would be apt naturally to suppose that 
it would have been quite the reverse. And no doubt 
it would have been had the proprietors acted in a 
different manner, for how can, or could, any one at- 
tend to his business, espe' ially such a business which 
requires such constant and careful supervision, when 
he was never at home ? There used to be a current 
saying, that no proprietor could manage and wnrk 
his own property. If you substitute the word would 
for could, you would be nearer tlie mark. The same 
or much about the same principle applies to laud- 
owners at home. A landed proprietor farming his own 
property frequently can’t make ir pay. He gets into 
debt and ditticidty, and lets it out to an enterprising 
practical tenant at a good rent. He, after paying 
Ids rent, and his own personal expemlitui e, makes it 
ysiy ; he saves money. The principle is the same in 
both eases. The landed proprietor at home or abroad 
is his own master, ametiable to no one, he can do 
what he likes, ancl it is only human nature that he 
should prefer amusement to work. Theie is little or 
no excuse for the landed proprietor at home, but great 
for the one in Ceylon. The latter is in an. unsuit- 
able climate, where it requires some incentive power 
to work; the constitution gets dowm, and work is 
not advisable, if it can be avoided — hut it • is no use 
going on, we know ail about it. Many who read this 
will, like myself, probably have had some very prac- 
tical feelings in this experience. The superintendent 
must rouse up and exert himself, or he will he roused 
out of his place, lose his character, and find d dif- 
ficult to procure another situation; not so with the 
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