applications and surveys. 
'«mall amount, when the after expenditure of felling and 
' clearing is taken into consideration. The intending 
purchaser, having selected a tract of land, handed in his 
-application for the same to the Surveyor General’s office, 
■giving a description of its locality, boundaries, and 
extent in acres required. In course of time a Govern- 
ment surveyor was sent out, who cut out the bound- 
aries and measured the land, not however being pledged 
to the exact boundaries or acreage, as desired by the 
intending purchaser. The object was to connect the 
^ surveys as much as possible, as also, while paying due 
respect to the wishes of the intending purchaser, to 
dake care that a due proportion of waste or un- 
suitable land is also included, on the same principle as 
dhe old Scotch proverb, “Buy beef, buy bone.” Were 
this not attended to, the plan survey of the country 
would present an unsightly appearance with many 
intersecting portions of useless and unavailable land. 
The application of the intending purchaser gives him 
no right or claim upon the land. When the survey is 
• completed, the block is advertised to be sold by public 
auction, at the Kandy court-house, on a given day, 
■ one month from the date of the first advertisement. At 
vthe commencement of the planting interest, about 1840, 
the ups^t price of these lands was five shillings per 
acre. Subsequently it was increased to, and still is, £1. 
V On the day of sale, the applicant proceeds to Kandy, 
where the Government Agent, at the court-house, puls 
it up to jjublic auction. If there are no bidders, the 
apxjlicant has it at the upset price. If there are, he 
takes his chance in the bidding, along with others, un- 
til it is knocked down to the highest offer. Then, in 
addition to the cost of land, the purchaser has to pay 
cost of survey, cost of plans and title-deeds ; a deposit 
of one-tlrrd of the purchase money has to be paid 
down, the ])alance within a month. Failing payment 
of the balance, or in event of the purchaser changing his 
onind, the deposit is forfeited, and the land lapses to the 
crown, again to be put up on the application of any 
-one else. When the upset price of land was five shillings 
per acre it gave rise to a great deal of speculation. 
Par sis in Bombay, civilians of Bengal, and many others 
who had plenty of money, sent orders to agents in 
Ceylon to purchase frequently thousands of acres, wdiich 
they had no intention of cultivating, but merely to hold 
and resell at a profit. In after years some made money 
in those blindfold speculations, and many lost. To the 
poor, industrious, and practical planter, this system 
liad its drawbacks. Probably after years of honest labour 
lie would save as much as would buy himself a piece 
4>f land. Those with money and no experience would 
