of attention had been paid to his merits as a gardener. In a
letter received from the late ingenious Mr. Charles Campbell, belonging
to the medical establishment of Fort Marlborough, whose communications I
shall have future occasion to notice, he writes on the 29th of March
1802: "I must not omit to say a word about my attempts to cultivate the
land. The result of all my labours in that way was disappointment almost
as heartbreaking as that of the unlucky Chinaman, whose example however
did not deter me. After many vexations I descended from the plains into
the ravines, and there met with the success denied me on the elevated
land. In one of these, through which runs a small rivulet emptying itself
into the lake of Dusun Besar, I attempted a plantation of coffee, where
there are now upwards of seven thousand plants firmly rooted and putting
out new leaves." this cultivation has since been so much increased as to
become an important article of commerce. It should at the same time be
acknowledged that our acquaintance with the central and eastern parts of
the island is very imperfect, and that much fertile land may be found
beyond the range of mountains.)

The natives, it is true, without much or any cultivation raise several
useful trees and plants; but they are in very small quantities, and
immediately about their villages, where the ground is fertilised in spite
of their indolence by the common sweepings of their houses and streets
and the mere vicinity of their buildings. I have often had occasion to
observe in young plantations that those few trees which surrounded the
house of the owner or the hut of the keeper considerably over-topped
their brethren of the same age. Every person at first sight, and on a
superficial view of the Malayan countries, pronounces them the favourites
of nature where she has lavished her bounties with a profusion unknown in
other regions, and laments the infatuation of the people, who neglect to
cultivate the finest soil in the world. But I have scarcely known one
who, after a few years' residence, has not entirely altered his opinion.
Certain it is that in point of external appearance they may challenge all
others to comparison. In many parts of Sumatra, rarely trodden by human
foot, scenes present themselves adapted to raise the sublimest sentiments
in minds susceptible of the impression. But how rarely are they
contemplated by minds of that temper! and yet it is alone:

For such the riv