His visit was but a brief one; be honoured the Governor by
dining at Plantation House, attended a ball at the Castle, and sailed
again on the evening of the same day that he arrived.
Admiral Sir Charles Elliot, K.C.B., relieved Governor Drummond
Hay on the 3rd July, 1863, and administered the Government
for seven years, during the whole of which time his kind, courteous,
and gentle manners won for him the highest esteem and respect
from all classes. He was, perhaps, one of the most energetic
Governors that ever ruled at St. Helena, and in every way
endeavoured to promote the advancement of the place; though
struggling against great difficulties, viz., a diminishing revenue, he
achieved many highly successful results.
Almost his first act was to declare war against the termites or
white ants, and he reconstructed nearly the whole of the public
buildings in Jamestown, which they had destroyed, in a substantial
manner, with stone, iron, and teakwood. For the first time, a direct'
monthly mail communication from England by steamers was established.
He largely augmented the water-works of the town, both
for supplying ships and for a supply in case of fires. But no
Governor, since General Beatson, has done so much to encourage
the introduction of new and valuable plants. Amongst others, he
imported a large number of Mexican pines, which have taken
well to the climate and the soil at Plantation, and the quantities
of Norfolk Island pines and Bermuda cedars which Sir Charles
feared and distributed throughout the Island, give promise of a
lasting memorial to his name. I t was at this time that Dr. Hooker,
the Director of the Boyal Gardens at Kew, judging from his
acquaintance with the soil and climate of St. Helena, advised the
Government to undertake the culture of the Cinchona plant on the
mountainous parts of the Island. Sir Charles Elliot most readily
Supported and assisted the scheme. A skilled gardener was sent
out from Kew, and a plantation of Cinchona soon sprang up in
the neighbourhood of Diana’s Peak, promising the greatest success
and a source of much profit; but, most unfortunately, Sir Charles
Elliot’s successor being unable to see the advantage of such an
undertaking, the plantation was neglected and ultimately abandoned.
Sir Charles Elliot was succeeded in the government by Admiral
Patey, in the year 1870, who took out to the Island in his pocket the
d 2