THE PIONEERS, 1825-1900: THE EARLY BRITISH TEA AND COFFEE PLANTERS AND THEIR WAY OF LIFE. by Weatherstone, John - 1986

London: Quiller, 1986. 224 pp, 4to (11 15/16" H). Map endpapers. Profusely illustrated in b&w and colour with photographs, reproductions. "One hundred and fifty years ago the British planter arriving in India or Ceylon could hardly expect a bungalow, a deep freeze, a television - let alone an orderly estate of tea bushes. The scene would rather be the dense tropical jungle, disease-carrying insects, and prowling beasts of prey. He would work and live alone, and bivouac for months on end under tropical rains with but the scantiest of provisions. Nearly a million acres of jungle were felled for tea and coffee between 1825 and 1900. Who knows how many animals were shot for the pot and for sport during the clearing operations in the same period. When opening out a new plantation, the planter lived under nothing more than the broad leaves of a tree; or in a crude mud and wattle hut; with progress in later years, came the log cabin, and by the year 1900 a large and comfortable bungalow. British Raj characters proliferated and stamped an indelible mark on areas now run by Indians and Sri Lankans. John Weathestone, who was a planter in Ceylon, has done much research covering the pre 1900 period, putting together a description in words and pictures of how these pioneers lived. Apart from his personal reminiscences, he has used a wide reading among a library of early books to bring the pioneers back to life. With a vast array of nearly 350 of the most interesting illustrations from these sources reproduced, many in colour, the result is beautifully and graphically supported." Slight wrinkling at bottom of spine. Dust jacket has very light edge wear, light edge wrinkling, minor rubbing. . First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good+/Very Good.