g
standing, and I was suddenly called to join in the mournful procession
to her grave. This was indeed a loss which I deeply deplored.

At length death left the little settlement, and a ray of sunshine shone
through the gloom which would have made many despond. Fortune smiled
upon everything. Many acres of forest were cleared, and the crops
succeeded each other in rapid succession. I had, however, made the
discovery that without manure nothing would thrive. This had been a
great disappointment, as much difficulty lay in procuring the necessary
item.

Had the natural pasturage been good, it would soon have been an easy
matter to procure any amount of manure by a corresponding number of
cattle; but, as it happened, the natural pasturage was so bad that no
beast could thrive upon it. Thus everything, even grass-land, had to be
manured; and, fortunately, a cargo of guano having arrived in the
island, we were enabled to lay down some good clover and seeds.

The original idea of cultivation, driving the forests from the
neighborhood of Newera Ellia, was therefore dispelled. Every acre of
land must be manured, and upon a large scale at Newera Ellia that is
impossible. With manure everything will thrive to perfection with the
exception of wheat. There is neither lime nor magnesia in the soil.
An abundance of silica throws a good crop of straw, but the grain is
wanting: Indian corn will not form grain from the same cause. On the
other hand, peas, beans, turnips, carrots, cabbages, etc., produce
crops as heavy as those of England. Potatoes, being the staple article
of production, are principally cultivated, as the price of twenty
pounds per ton yields a large profit. These, however, do not produce
larger crops than from four to six tons per acre when heavily manured;
but as the crop is fit to dig in three months from the day of planting,
money is quickly made.

There are many small farmers, or rather gardeners, at Newera Ellia who
have succeeded uncommonly well. One of the emigrants who left my
service returned to England in three years with three hundred pounds;
and all the industrious people succeed. I am now without one man whom
I brought out. The bailiff farms a little land of his own, and his
pretty daughter is married; the others are scattered here and there,
but I believe all are doing well, especially the blacksmith, upon whose
anvil Fortune has smiled most kindly.

By the bye, that same blacksmith has th