An island in the Indian Ocean, situated at the southern extremity of the Coromandel coast, from which it is separated by the Gulf of Manaar. It lies between N. Lat. 5° 54. and 9° 50., and E. Long. 79° 50. and 82° 10. Its length is 270 miles, and its greatest breadth 145 miles. It is of an oval form, pointing north and south; its broadest part being at its southern extremity, where also is to be found the great mass of its high lands. It is distant from Cape Comorin, the southernmost point of the Indian Peninsula, about 175 miles.

The N.W. coast of Ceylon is beset with numberless sand-banks, rocks, and shoals, and may be said to be almost connected with the continent of India by the island of Ramisseram and Adam's Bridge, a succession of bold rocks reaching almost across the gulf at its narrowest point. From its position and its geological character, Ceylon would appear to have been at an early period the southern extremity of the mainland, from which it has been doubtless separated by some great convulsion of nature. Between the island and the opposite coast there exist two open channels of varying depth and width, beset by rocks and shoals. One of these, the Manaar Passage, is only navigable by very small craft. The other, called the Paumber Passage, lying between Ramisseram and the mainland, has been deepened at considerable outlay, and is now used by vessels of 300 tons in passing from the Malabar to the Coromandel coast, and which were formerly compelled in doing so to make the circuit of the island.

The west and south coasts are uniformly low, fringed their entire length by cocoa-nut trees, which grow to the water's edge in great luxuriance, and give to the island a most picturesque appearance. Along these shores there are numerous inlets and backwaters of the sea, some of which are available as harbours for small native craft. The east coast from Point de Galle to Trincomalee is of an entirely opposite character, wanting the ample vegetation of the other, and being at the same time of a bold precipitous character. The largest ships may freely approach this side of the island, taking care to avoid a few dangerous rocks, whose localities are, however, well known to navigators.

Seen from a distance at sea, this "utmost Indian isle" of the old geographers wears a truly beautiful appearance. The remarkable elevation known as "Adam's Peak," the most prominent, though not the loftiest of the hilly ranges of the interior, towering like a mountain-monarch amongst an assemblage of picturesque hills, is a sure land-mark for the weary navigator, when as yet the Colombo lighthouse is hidden from sight amidst the green groves of palms that seem to be springing from the waters of the ocean.

The low coast-line of country encircles the mountain-zone of the interior on the east, south, and west; for a varying distance of from 30 to 80 miles; but on the north the whole breadth of the island from Calpantyn to Batticaloa is one vast sandy plain, teeming with low jungle, swamps, and sterile deserts.

The great central mountain range rises in most places with considerable abruptness. Its general direction is from north to south, but is nevertheless much broken up, sending off spurs of great size and extent in many directions. These ranges are clothed with verdure to their very summits; and along their base, stretching far into the beautiful fertile valleys which intersect them in every direction, are vast forests of gigantic trees now fast disappearing before the planter's axe.

For a long period Adam's Peak was universally supposed to be the loftiest mountain in Ceylon, but actual survey makes it but 7420 feet above the sea-level. This elevation is chiefly remarkable as the resort of pilgrims from all parts of the East, it being the belief amongst Buddhists and Musulmans that Adam on leaving Paradise rested upon one foot on this summit. To this day the print of a human foot on the rock, 5½ feet in length by 2½ in breadth, is shown, carefully protected from the weather and guarded by priests who have a shrine on this lofty peak. Pedrotallagalla, a bold abrupt rock between the valleys of Maturatta and Newere Ella, is the loftiest elevation in the island, being 8280 feet high. There are two other mountain peaks of great height, being respectively 7810 feet and 7720 feet.

The elevation of the greater portion of the fertile valleys and hill-sides of the interior, at present teeming with extensive coffee plantations, ranges between 2000 and 4000 feet. The plain of Newere Ella, the sanatorium of the island, is at an elevation of 6210 feet, and possesses many of the attributes of an alpine country. The town of Kandy, in the central province, and formerly the capital of the ancient kings of that country, is situated 1678 feet above the sea-level.

It might be expected that an island so completely within the influence of oceanic evaporation, and possessing an elevated table-land of considerable extent, should boast of some rivers of magnitude. This, however, is not the case. The rains which usher in each monsoon or change of season are indeed heavy, and during their fall swell the streams to torrents, the torrents to impetuous rivers. But when these cease, the water-courses fall back to their original state; the foaming streams are once more murmuring brooks, and but few of the rivers cannot be passed on horseback. The largest of the Ceylon streams, the Mahavilla-Ganga, has its source in the Pedrotallagalla mountain, whence it courses very tortuously through the Kotmale valley to Pashage; and thence winding to the south and west of Kandy, sweeps suddenly to the north, and finally falls into the wild and open country of Bintenne, through which it takes a course almost due north as far as Trincomalee, near which town it falls into the sea by two outlets after a course of about 200 miles. Like all the Ceylon rivers, this can only be passed with great difficulty during the rainy season, running as it does for 100 miles through a rocky and precipitous country. It is seldom wider than the Thames at Richmond, and generally of much less width. Surveys have shown that, at some outlet for blasting rocks, this river might be made navigable for a distance of 80 or 90 miles from Trincomalee. At Peradinesa, 4½ miles from Kandy, it is crossed by a beautiful bridge of satin-wood of a single span of 205 feet, erected by Colonel Fraser on the wedge principle.

The Kalany Ganga has its rise at the base of Adam's Peak, whence running almost due west as far as Ruanwella it takes its way more southerly to Colombo, where on its northern outskirt it falls into the ocean across a wide sandbar. This stream is navigable for about 40 miles by means of flat-bottomed boats. The Kalu Ganga and the Wallawe Ganga flow from the eastern vicinity of Adam's Peak through the district of Saffragam to the sea, the former south-westerly, the latter south-easterly; both are navigable for some distance by country boats. The Malwa Oya or "great stream" rises in the mountains to the southwards of the Hanguranketty valley, and after a winding course of 70 miles in a west, north-west, and south-westerly direction, falls into the sea at Kaymel, dividing the districts of Putlam and Negombo. There are many other streams within the interior tributaries of the above, but unless during the heavy rains they are of no magnitude, and are in no instance navigable.

There are some lakes of considerable extent and of great beauty. Those of natural formation are situated at Colom-bo and Negombo. The former is but a few miles in circumference, and was deepened and extended by the Dutch with a view to the defence of the town against the natives. In these days it is more valued for its picturesque beauty than its defensive qualities. The lake of Negombo is a fine sheet of water of great extent, and is connected with that of Colombo by means of canals, partly natural and partly artificial. The Dutch whilst in possession of the island did much to improve its water communication, and this was one of their most useful works. On the west coast as far as Calpentyn, on the N.W. shores, and also along the eastern coast, there are numerous and extensive salt-water lakes or lagunes, more or less connected by means of canals and streams.

Artificial lakes appear to have been constructed by the Sinhalese monarchs at very remote periods, for the purpose of irrigation. By damming across the mouths of valleys, the waters which in the rainy season would have flowed through them into the low country and have been lost in the ocean, were by these means saved until required during the time of drought, when they were allowed to flow through proper channels of solid masonry to the desired localities. The remains of some of these lakes, ruined as most of them are, attest the industry of the dense population which once filled regions that are now the abode of the buffalo and the cheetah. One of those, the lake of Minery, although constructed fifteen centuries ago, is still in excellent preservation, and serves to irrigate a large district between Trincomalee and Kandy. It is 20 miles in circumference, and has an embankment 60 feet wide at the top. Others, now in a state of dilapidation, were once of enormous extent and solidity. One appears to have had a wall of masonry 12 miles long by 100 feet thick, and in its dry bed are to be seen as many as a dozen villages, around which rice fields grow and bananas wave to the breeze that once swept over a little inland sea. The Kandy lake is built up in a similar way; and while it ministers to the convenience and salubrity of that town, adds not less to its beauty. Surrounded on every side by wooded hills, and skirted by an excellent carriage road, which is sheltered from the sun by palm trees, it offers to the visitor one of the most delightful tropical drives that can be met with.

Although Ceylon is possessed of two excellent harbours, Harbours, one of them many miles in extent and easy of entrance, they are nevertheless of little importance, since the entire European shipping business is conducted at Colombo, the English seat of government, which possesses but an open roadstead. The harbour of Trincomalee is perhaps one of the finest in the world; but, situated on the north-eastern extremity of the island out of the track of ships and far removed from the productive districts, it is only employed as an admiralty station. The harbour of Galle, though much smaller, is still capacious, but difficult of access, and is open to the same objection of being too remote for a port of shipment, except of such few products as are grown in its neighbourhood. Open, however, as is the Colombo roadstead, it affords a safe anchorage for ships during all months of the year, even in June and October, when communication with the shore is difficult if not dangerous.

The policy of the Sinhalese rulers of the island having Roads, been directed to the exclusion of strangers from their country amongst the hills, they never attempted to construct roads, but rather aimed at rendering travelling a matter of impossibility to all but natives: tortuous foot-tracks were still the only means that existed of passing from one district to the other throughout the wild regions of the interior, when the British assumed the sovereignty of the Kandian country in 1815. In the low country of the maritime province, neither the Portuguese nor the Dutch had paid much attention to roads; preferring to trust to their canals for the transport of goods, and not caring to explore a country that seemed to offer nothing but hostility to them. The necessity of opening up the interior was first seen in a military point of view; and the construction of the road between Colombo and Kandy, 72 miles in length, carried over swamps, along the edges of precipices, and up the steep sides of mountain passes, attested at once the importance of the work, and the skill and industry of the constructors. It is as wide, and in most places as good, as any European road; whilst at distances of 8 miles, rest-houses and stabling for travellers were erected at the public expense, and are only now neglected because the daily mail-coach renders them no longer necessary. An equally good road connects Galle with Colombo, and the latter with Negombo.

The rapid extension of coffee planting in the Kandian country, since the year 1841 has led to large and constant outlay upon the construction of new roads, suitable for the transport of crops from the planting districts to Colombo.

Previous to 1841, the whole extent of carriage roads throughout the island was 1572 miles, one-third of which lay along the sea-coast, and consisted of little more than wheel-tracks over sandy plains. During the five years ending with 1846, there were nearly 800 miles of new road opened through a great variety of country, and differing in their costliness from an outlay of L20 a mile in flat country, to L300 a mile in some of the most elevated districts, where the blasting of rocks and building up the sides of precipices form heavy items in the outlay. The sums expended on roads during those five years amounted to a total of L201,621, the tolls collected for the same period having been L107,066.

From that time until the passing of the road ordinance in 1848, little more was done than to keep the existing roads in repair. By the working of the new law, which called upon every able-bodied male adult to labour for six days in each year upon the roads in his district, a great deal has been done towards opening up the interior; and there are now upwards of 3000 miles of carriage road in the island, of which 600 miles are principal roads, 1700 are second class, and 700 third class roads. The outlay upon the roadways of the island in 1852 amounted to L44,472, of which labour to the value of L17,951 was contributed under the road ordinance, and L36,521 was paid out of the public treasury. The latter was for skilled labour, a large force of Malabar artizans being kept up under a sort of military discipline in various parts of the country.

The seasons in Ceylon differ very slightly from those prevailing along the coasts of the Indian peninsula. The two distinctive monsoons of the year are called, from the winds which accompany them, the south-west and the north-east. The former is very regular in its approach, and may be looked for along the S.W. coast between the 10th and 20th of May. It is ushered in by heavy banks of clouds to seaward, and much lightning. Heavy squalls of wind and rain from the S. and S.W. usually prevail for three weeks, when the weather moderates, and smart showers continue to fall with more or less frequency until the beginning of August. The monsoon is then very pleasant until early in October, when the sea-breeze fails, and calms prevail until early in November. The N.E. monsoon visits this part of the island between the end of October and the middle of November less violently than the other, the rains being far more moderate, and seldom extending past December. To the north of the Kandian country the features of each monsoon are reversed; there the violence of the N.E. is greatest and first felt, whilst that of the S.W. monsoon is latest and least felt.

During the S.W. monsoon in Colombo, the temperature usually ranges about 83°, with seldom more than two or three degrees of variation during the 24 hours. In the N.E. monsoon, on the contrary, the thermometer ranges between 72° at day-break, and 87° at two p.m., which is the hottest time. At various altitudes, however, in the Kandian country, any temperature downwards to the freezing point may be attained early in the year. The sanatorium of Ceylon, Newere Ellia, during the cold season of January and February, shows a temperature of 31° in the morning; whilst the ordinary range upon the best coffee estates is between 56° and 80°. The quantity of rain which falls in some of the mountain districts of the interior in one month nearly equals the fall in England during an entire year—being 21 inches. During the dry season rain has been known not to fall for three months. The average annual fall of rain at Colombo is 85 inches. In the hills it often reaches 120 inches. The length of the day, owing to the proximity of the island to the equator, does not vary more than an hour at any season. Daylight may be reckoned as usually lasting from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m.

The salubrity of Ceylon greatly excels that of most parts of continental India. With ordinary care Europeans may pass many years in the island as free from disease as in any part of Europe. Natives attain to a great age, especially in the hilly districts, in the centre of which, at an elevation of 6000 feet is the sanatorium of the island, Newere Ellia, the favourite resort of Indian invalids.

The prevailing diseases of the country are cholera, dysentery, fever, and hepatic attacks. Elephantiasis, a disease attended by enormous swelling of the limbs, is peculiar to the natives, and of frequent occurrence. The first-named disease is mainly confined to natives and soldiers, the three following chiefly to Europeans. The only available returns of mortality showing the causes of death, are those of the English regiments doing duty in the island, tables which, looking to the reckless mode of living prevalent amongst soldiers, must not be taken as representing the average mortality amongst European residents. The following tabular statement of deaths at the central, western, southern, and north-eastern military stations of Ceylon, have been compiled from returns extending over a period of seventeen years—

| Annual Ratio of Mortality per 1000 of mean strength. | |-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------| | | Kandy. | Colombo. | Galle. | Trincomalee. | | By fever | 25·6 | 8·5 | 1·9 | 19·8 | | By diseases of stomach and bowels | 17·9 | 21·5 | 7·8 | 39·7 | | Do. lungs | 5·9 | 5·9 | 2·9 | 4·6 | | Do. liver | 3·1 | 4·5 | 3·9 | 7·4 | | By cholera | 8 | 5·8 | 6 | 14·1 |

The geological constitution of Ceylon, equally with other circumstances, goes to show that at a remote period the island formed the southern point of the Indian peninsula. Detached from the continent at some early geological epoch, it would appear that, unlike other countries possessing similar constituents, it has not been subject to alternate submersions and upheavals; indeed, it may well be doubted if it has even once been covered with water since the time at which it first became dry land; nearly the whole of the soil, with the exception of the alluvial deposits and the sandy plains of the maritime provinces, having been formed from the decomposition of the gneiss rocks.

It is at the same time believed that the whole island is undergoing a gradual elevation; in proof of which geologists point to extensive strata of sea-shells and corallines underlying many fertile alluvial plains in the southern province at a considerable distance from the sea. In the northern, eastern, and southern districts of the island, numerous instances of post-tertiary formations may be met with in the shape of elevated terraces of shells and masses of coralline rocks, intimately blended with marine shells in every respect similar to the living specimens inhabiting the neighbouring waters. Large masses of this rock may be seen at an ele- vation of seven or eight feet above the ordinary sea-level and a mile or two distant from the beach; indeed a large portion of the peninsula of Jaffna is formed of these marine remains in various stages of solidification. On the east and southern coasts the hardest of these formations are quarried and employed in ordinary works of masonry, some of the best dwellings being formed of them.

The Ceylon series of rocks are few in number. The lowest and most common is gneiss, overlaid in many places in the interior by extensive beds of dolomitic limestone. This formation appears to be of great thickness; and when, as is not often the case, the under surface of the gneiss series is exposed, it is invariably found resting on granite. Veins of pure quartz and felspar of considerable extent have been frequently met with in the gneiss; whilst in the elevated lands of the interior in the Galle districts may be seen copious deposits of disintegrated felspar, or kaolin, commonly known as porcelain clay. At various elevations the gneiss may be found intersected by veins of trap rocks, upheaved whilst in a state of fusion subsequent to the consolidation of the former. In some localities on the sea shore these veins assume the character of pitch-stone porphyry highly impregnated with iron. Hornblende and primitive greenstone are found in the vicinity of Adam's Peak, and in the Pusilava district.

The substance known in Ceylon as cabook, and assimilating greatly to the kanker of the Indian peninsula, exists in vast quantities in many parts of the western province, and is quarried for building purposes.

As yet no traces of coal have been found, with the exception of a little anthracite; but looking to the position of the carboniferous deposits of northern India, lying as they do on the gneiss formation, it is not impossible that similar deposits may be here met with in like positions.

Specimens of tin, platinum, copper, and black oxide of manganese from the southern province, have been placed in the museum of the Ceylon Asiatic Society. Quicksilver mines existed at one time in the vicinity of Colombo, and the Dutch are said to have exported the article to Europe. Plumbago is quarried to a great extent in the Calcutta district of the southern province, and has for a series of years formed a considerable item in the exports of the island. It is almost entirely produced by natives, who, however, work the quarries in a very careless manner, mixing sand and stones with the mineral. It is found at depths varying from three to thirty feet, and generally exists in rich seams. In 1846 the shipments of this article amounted to 25,036 cwts., valued at L30,036. In 1851 they were 31,126 cwts., worth L47,566. Iron exists in vast quantities in the western, southern, and central provinces, of excellent quality, in many places cropping out at the surface in a state of great purity. The Singhalese have been accustomed to work the ore into tools and implements from the most remote times; and although the means they employ are rude, imperfect, and wasteful in the extreme, they nevertheless manufacture articles which are esteemed by them far above those imported from Europe. The rudely worked Singhalese iron is equal in temper to the finest Swedish metal, and English capital and skill are alone wanted to render the iron resources of the island equal in value to any other of its natural wealth.

Nitre and nitrate of lime are to be met with in many caves of the low country, whilst alum and sulphate of magnesia are known to exist, though in limited quantities. Natural deposits of common salt are found in many parts of the maritime provinces. It is also produced by artificial means in large quantities under the supervision of government, in whose hands its manufacture and sale form a monopoly which yields an annual revenue of considerable amount. In 1843 the sale of this article yielded L36,492.

In the Saffragam district precious stones are met with in great abundance; also, though less commonly, in the Badulla and Newere Ella districts. The most valuable are the ruby, sapphire, the amethyst, the cats-eye, and the carbuncle. Emeralds are rarely met with in any purity; but the moonstone, cinnamon stones, and garnets, are found in great abundance and variety.

The natural soils of Ceylon are composed of quartzose gravel, felspathic clay, and sand often of a pure white, blended with or overlaid by brown and red loams, resulting from the decay of vegetable matter, or the disintegration of the gneiss, hornblende, and cabook formations. The whole of the great northern extremity of the island consists of a sandy and calcareous admixture made to yield productive crops of grain, tobacco, cotton, and vegetables by the careful industry of the Tamil population, who spare no pains in irrigating and manuring their lands. Between the northern districts and the elevated mountain ranges which overlook the Bintenne and Ouvah countries, are extensive plains of alluvial soil washed down from the table-lands above, and where once a teeming population produced large quantities of grain. The remains of ancient works of irrigation bear testimony to the hygone agriculture of these extensive regions now covered by pestilential swamps or dense jungle.

The general character of the soil in the maritime provinces to the east, south, and west, is sandy. Large tracts of quartzose sand spread along the whole line of sea-coast, some of which, of a pure white, and very deficient in vegetable matter, is admirably adapted to the growth of the cinnamon plant. In the light sandy districts, where the soil is perfectly free, and contains a portion of vegetable and mineral loam, the cocoa-nut palm flourishes in great luxuriance. This is the case along the entire coast line from Calpentyn to Point de Galle, and farther eastward and northward to Matura, stretching to a distance inland, varying from 100 yards to 3 miles. From this light sandy belt as far as the mountain-zone of the Kandian country the land is mainly composed of low hilly undulations of sandstone and ferruginous clay, incapable of almost any cultivation, but intersected in every direction with extensive valleys and wide plains of a more generous soil, not highly fertile, but still capable, with a little industry, of yielding ample crops of rice.

The soil of the central province, although frequently containing great quantities of quartzose sand and ferruginous clay is, in many of the more elevated districts, of a fine loamy character. Sand sufficiently vegetable and light for rice culture may be seen at all elevations in the hill districts; but the fine chocolate and brown loams overlaying gneiss or limestone formations, so admirably adapted for coffee cultivation, are only to be found on the steep sides or along the base of mountain ranges at an elevation varying from 2000 to 4000 feet. Such land well timbered, contains in its elements the decomposed particles of the rocks above, blended with the decayed vegetable matter of forests that have for centuries scattered beneath them the germs of fertility. The quantity of really rich coffee land in these districts is but small as compared with the extent of country, vast tracts of open valleys consisting of an indifferent yellow tenacious soil interposed with many low ranges of quartz rock.

The characteristics of the low-growing plants of Ceylon Botany approach as nearly to those of the coasts of southern India as do the geological features of the island to those of the Mahabar and Coromandel districts. The Rhizophoraceae are numerous along the low muddy shores of salt lakes and stagnant pools. The acacias are equally abundant; and the list comprises *Eucalyptus fragrans*, *Epithinia malayana*, *Tessaria populacea*, *Feronia elephantum*, *Salvadora persica* (the true mustard tree of Scripture), *Eugenia bracteata*, *Eleocharis Roxburghii*, *Cassia fistula*, *Cassia Roxburghii*, &c. &c. The herbaceous plants of the low country belong mostly to the natural orders Compositae, Leguminosae, Rubiaceae, Scrophulariaceae, Euphorbiaceae, and Rubiaceae. Leaving the plains of the maritime country and ascending a height of 4000 feet in the central districts, we find both herbage and trees assume an altered character. The foliage of the latter is larger and deeper coloured, and they attain a height unknown to any in the hot low country. The herbaceous vegetation is there made up of Ferns, Cyrtandra, Compositae, Scitamineae, and Urticaceae. The dense masses of lofty forest at that altitude are interspersed with large open tracts of coarse wiry grass, called by the natives petanas, and of value to them, as affording pasturage for their cattle.

Between the altitudes of 4000 and 8000 feet, many plants are to be met with partaking of European forms, yet blended with tropical characteristics. The gaudier rose, St John's wort, the Nepenthes distillatoria or pitcher plant, violets, geraniums, buttercups, sun-dews, ladies' mantles, and campanulas, thrive by the side of Magnoliaceae, Ranunculaceae, Eleocharpse, &c. The most beautiful flowering shrub of this truly alpine region is the rhododendron, which in many instances grows to the height of 70 feet. It is met with in great abundance in the moist plains of the elevated land, above Newere Ellia, flowering abundantly in June and July. There are two distinct varieties, one similar to the Neilgherry plant, having its leaves broad and coriaceous, and of a rusty colour on the under side; the other, peculiar to Ceylon, is found only in forests at the loftiest elevations, and has narrow rounded leaves silvery on the under side, growing to enormous heights and frequently measuring three feet round the stem. At these altitudes English flowers, grapes, herbs, and vegetables have been cultivated with perfect success, as also wheat, oats, and barley. English fruit-trees grow, but do not bear.

The timber trees indigenous to Ceylon are met with at every altitude, from the sea-beach to the loftiest mountain peak. They vary much in their hardness and durability, from the common cashew-nut tree, which when felled decays in a month, to the ebony and satinwood which for many years resist the attacks of insects and climate. The known woods amount to 416 varieties: of these, 33 are valuable for furniture, house, and shipbuilding, and are capable of standing long exposure to weather; 80 varieties are less valuable, though still very useful for certain purposes when not exposed to weather; 160 kinds are inferior, and used only for light common purposes, whilst the remainder are used but for firewood, or for making fences, rafts, &c. The most beautiful woods adapted to furniture work are the calamus-der, ebony, flower-satinwood, tamarind, nadum, dell, ca-doemerge, kittool, cocoa-nut, &c.; some fine specimens of the far-famed upas tree of Java (Antiaris toxicaria) have been discovered in the Corregalle district of the island.

The Cocos nucifera, or cocoa-nut palm, is a native of the island, and may justly be considered the most valuable of its trees. It grows in vast numbers along the entire seacoast of the west and south sides of the island, and furnishes almost all that a Sinhalasese villager requires. Its fruit, when green, supplies food and drink, when ripe it yields oil. Its sap gives him toddy and arrack. The fibrous casing of the fruit when woven makes him ropes, nets, and matting. The nut-shells form drinking-vessels, spoons, &c. The plaited leaves serve as plates and dishes, and as thatch for his cottage. The dried flower-stalks are used as torches, the large leaf stalks as garden fences. The trunk of the tree sawn up is employed for every possible purpose, from knife-handles to door-posts; hollowed out it forms alike a canoe or a coffin. There are four kinds of this palm, the common, the king cocoa-nut, the dwarf, and the Maldive sorts.

The Palmyra and Areca palms grow luxuriantly and abundantly, the former in the northern, the latter in the western and central districts. The one is valuable chiefly for its timber, of which large quantities are exported to the Indian coasts; the other supplies the betel-nut in such common use amongst natives of the eastern tropics as a masticatory. The export trade in this latter to India and eastern ports is very considerable, amounting in some years to L12,000.

Next in importance to the cocoa-nut palm amongst the indigenous products of Ceylon, is the cinnamon plant yielding the well-known spice of that name. See Cinnamon.

The fruits indigenous to Ceylon are few and insignificant. Fruits. Others of more value have been introduced with success from various tropical and extra-tropical countries; amongst these are the citron, orange, lime, shaddock, banana, pomegranate, custard-apple, guava, grape, rambutan, alligator pear, &c.

Foremost among the animals of Ceylon is the elephant, Animals. which though far inferior to those of Africa and the Indian continent is nevertheless of considerable value when tamed, on account of its strength, sagacity, and docility. These creatures are to be met with in greater or less numbers throughout most unfrequented parts of the interior. Occasionally they make inroads in herds upon the cultivated grounds and plantations, committing great damage. In order to protect these lands, and at the same time keep up the government stud of draught elephants, "krels" or traps on a large scale are erected in the forests, into which the wild herds are driven; and once secured, they are soon tamed and fit for service. The oxen are of small size but hardy, and capable of drawing heavy loads. Buffaloes exist in great numbers throughout the interior, where they are employed in a half-tame state for ploughing rice-fields and treading out the corn. They feed upon any coarse grass, and can therefore be maintained on the village pasture lands where oxen would not find support. Of deer, Ceylon possesses three species of axis, and the porcine deer. The little Indian musk is common, and probably the larger musk is also found, though by some described as a deer. Hares very similar to our own are common, as are the squirrel and the porcupine; the wild boar, the bear, and the jackal. The panther is said to occur in the jungles, and the tiger was once common, but is now said by Dr Davy to be extinct in Ceylon. Among numerous monkeys the most remarkable are the purple-faced, the onanderow, and the rollaway, with the kindred tribes of the macaouco and the slow lemur. Pennant states that the two-toed sloth occurs in Ceylon, but this is considered as doubtful. One species of ant-eater is also found in this island; and on its coast the dugong is frequently seen.

The Ceylonese birds are numerous, and many of them have splendid plumage, though, as in tropical countries generally, deficient in song. The most remarkable are the Indian roller, the oriole, the hoopoe, the pompadour pigeon, the wild pea fowl, the yellow-crowned thrush, several parakeets, several fly catchers, the Ceylonese barbet, a pheasant with double spurs; and on the coasts the ibis, the anhinga, white snipes, and ducks are abundant in suitable localities. Crows of various species are numerous, and are protected by the inhabitants as being useful scavengers of the country; while hawks and eagles are found in the mountain districts. The hirundo esculenta, which furnishes in its edible nest the celebrated Chinese dainty, is said to build in the caves on the coast of Ceylon, and perhaps might supply an article of commerce. Serpents, according to Dr Davy, are not so numerous as generally is supposed, and most of them are harmless. The largest Ceylonese snake is the anacondaia of the natives, or the Python bivittatus—erroneously termed the boa constrictor, which is confined to America. This serpent grows to 20 or even to 30 feet. Davy describes four poisonous snakes, the Naja tripudians, or Cobra de Capello of the Portuguese. The next in frequency is the Trigonocophalus hypnale, a small irascible snake called carawilla by the natives. The Tice polonga or Vipera elegans is considered the most deadly snake of Ceylon, the island, but is fortunately rather rare. It grows to 4 or 5 feet in length. The *Trigonacophalus nigromarginatus* is the rarest of the poisonous species, and grows to above 2 feet.

The most noted of other reptiles are the crocodile; and of the smaller Lacertidae, *L. Iguana*, *L. calotes*, *L. gekko*, and the small flying lizard, the *Draco volans*. In the Kan-dian region one of the terrible pests to the traveller and to our soldiers is a very small leech that infests the swampy jungles and the banks of rivers. An interesting account of it is given by Davy. Scorpions, Scolopendra, and huge spiders of the genera Avicularia and Mygale, are the dread of new-comers, as they often enter houses or lurk near them.

Insects exist in great numbers. Mosquitoes are those which prove most annoying to Europeans, especially on their first arrival in the country. Several species of ant are common, the most troublesome of which are the large white ants which make their way through walls and floors, and in a few hours destroy every article of clothing which may be within their reach. Previous to the changes of the monsoon, vast flights of small yellow butterflies are observed passing over the island at a slight elevation, coming from the direction of the Indian continent, and going towards the ocean to the south. These swarms are often many miles in extent, and the migration will be kept up not unfrequently during several days.

A great variety of fish is met with in the rivers and bays of Ceylon, many of which are eaten by the natives alone, being coarse and full of bones. There are, however, some excellent varieties, equal at certain seasons to any fish in Europe: amongst these are a species of sole, the *Labrus zeylanicus*, a Scorpaena, and a country salmon called scer-fish. Large quantities of this latter, and a coarser description, are salted and dried for native consumption, the trade being very extensive. Besides these, three species of Balistes or trunk-fish occur on the coast, a curious Diodon, a large sword-fish, and the Tigrine shark.

Although the once far-famed and lucrative pearl fishery of this island has ceased since the year 1837, it will be well to give in this place a passing notice of the pearl-oyster, especially as a survey of the "banks" or beds off Aripo made in 1852 holds out promise of a good fishing at no distant date.

The banks on which these oysters are usually found, lay off the northern part of the west coast of Ceylon, at a distance of from 16 to 20 miles from the shore. They extend for many miles north and south, varying considerably in their size and productiveness. The oyster arrives at maturity in its seventh year; the pearl within is then of full growth, and if the fish be not then taken up, it will shortly die, and the pearl be lost.

The fishery, which is in the hands of the local government, took place in the month of March, when the water was perfectly calm and most favourable for the work of the divers. It was formerly rented to native speculators who paid a certain sum for the privilege of fishing with a fixed number of divers during a given period. In 1797, and the following year, the rental of the fishery realized L.123,982 and L.142,780 respectively. Since that time, the government have fished on their own account, selling the produce of each boat by auction on the beach before the fish could be examined. This mode, however, had not proved so lucrative as the old method; the annual returns never having exceeded L.87,000, and frequently falling as low as L.12,000; in some cases indeed amounting to but a few hundred pounds sterling. Various causes have been assigned for the failure of these fisheries. It may, however, be properly attributed to the mismanagement of an inspector of the pearl banks, who in 1836 took charge of them, and from neglecting to attend to the instructions given him by his predecessors, caused the wrong beds to be fished. The result was a complete failure of the fishery; the oysters which should have been brought up were left to die; young beds were disturbed, and from that time this large source of revenue has been lost to the island. A survey of the pearl banks made in March 1853 has induced the local government to look for a fishery of some extent in 1855 or the following year.

The island of Ceylon was known to the Greeks and Romans under the name of Taprobane, and in later times Serendib, Sirindhil, and Zeylan, have been employed to designate it by writers of the western and eastern worlds. Dib being the Sanscrit for island, Serendib is literally the island of Serei or Selen. Like most oriental countries, Ceylon possesses a great mass of antiquarian records, in which the real is so intimately and largely blended with the ideal, that the student finds it difficult to determine the respective limits of history and fable. The labours of Turnour have, however, helped to dissipate much of what was before confused and contradictory, and in his admirable translation of the "Mahawansa" we may trace the true current of Singhalese history.

The first colonization of Ceylon is by no means well ascertained, though, if we allow, as there is reason for doing, that the island was at a remote period joined to the Indian continent, it will not be difficult to conceive whence it derived its first inhabitants. In the great Hindu epic, the Ramayana, we learn of the conquest of a part of Ceylon by the hero Rama and his followers, who besieged and took the capital of its king Rawana. No permanent occupation of the country took place at this time, and the island continued to be governed by a number of petty sovereigns until the advent in 543 B.C., of Hyara an Indian prince who, arriving from the mainland with a small band of followers, succeeded in establishing himself as sole ruler of the country.

To this king is attributed the introduction of caste into Ceylon, an institution which, although far less rigorously observed than on the continent, is still maintained.

Under him and his successors Ceylon attained a degree of civilization scarcely to be looked for in that remote age of oriental despotism. The purity of the religious and moral code, the strict administration of justice, and the well-defined and carefully protected rights of the king and his many classes of subjects, excite our admiration not less than our astonishment. It is impossible however, to follow the subsequent current of Singhalese history through its many intricate windings. It must suffice if we say, that the descendants of Hijaya the conqueror continued to hold the reins of government with varied ability and unequal success. Some of them were distinguished for their learning, their military prowess, their benevolence, and the length of their reigns. Others lived amidst civil dissensions and foreign invasions, which not unfrequently cost them their lives. The incursions of the Mahabars upon their territories were not less frequent and fatal than those of the Danes in our own country; during a period of four or five centuries, these marauders continued to pour their bands of armed men into the island; and so far had the country fallen off from its ancient prosperity and strength, that when in the year 1505 the Portuguese adventurer D'Almeida landed at Colombo, he found the island divided into seven separate kingdoms.

The first settlement of the Portuguese was effected in 1517, when Albergaria succeeded in obtaining permission from the king of Cotta, whose territories closely adjoined Colombo, to erect a small factory on the latter spot for purposes of trade. Once established, the new-comers lost no opportunity of strengthening their position and extending their intercourse with the natives. Stone walls quickly took the place of palisades, the factory became a fort; whilst bristling cannon commanded alike the approaches by land and the entrance by sea. Alarmed at these unequivocal signs of military possession, the Singhalese kings attempted to expel their newly-formed friends from the island, in which they were joined by the Moorish and other traders. opposed to the progress of the Portuguese. But their efforts were both late and ineffectual; and after a series of unequal and sanguinary conflicts, the Europeans found themselves in secure possession of the west coast of Ceylon.

The bigotry and intolerance of the Portuguese were the constant source of dissension with the natives; and when, in the year 1601, the Dutch, under Admiral Spilbergen, landed on the east coast and sought the alliance of the king of Kandy, in the interior of the island, every encouragement was held out to them with the view of inducing them to aid in expelling the Portuguese. Nothing seems to have come of this until 1639, when a Dutch expedition attacked and razed the Portuguese forts on the east coast; and in the following year landed at Negombo, without, however, establishing themselves in any strong post. In 1643 Negombo was captured and fortified by the Dutch, and fifteen years later the fall of Colombo gave that people entire possession of the sea-board of Ceylon.

Pursuing a wiser policy than their predecessors, the Dutch lost no opportunity of improving that portion of the country which owned their supremacy, and of opening a trade with the interior. More tolerant and less ambitious of military renown than the Portuguese, they so far succeeded in their object as to render their commerce between this island and Holland a source of great profit. Many new branches of industry were developed. Public works were undertaken on a large scale, and education, if not universally placed within the reach of the inhabitants of the maritime provinces, was at least well cared for on a broad plan of government supervision.

That which they had so much improved by policy they were, however, unable to defend by force when the British turned their arms against them. A century and a half passed within seven degrees of the equator had wrought great changes in the physical and mental status of the Dutch colonists. The territory which in 1653 they had slowly gained by undaunted and obstinate bravery, they as rapidly lost in 1796 by inactivity and cowardice.

The first intercourse of the English with Ceylon took place as far back as 1766, when an embassy was despatched from Madras to the king of Kandy, without, however, leading to any result. On the rupture between Great Britain and Holland in 1795, a force was sent against the Dutch possessions in Ceylon, where so slight was the opposition offered, that by the following year the whole of their forts were in the hands of the English commander.

At first the island was placed under the care of the Honourable East India Company, but in 1802 reverted to the crown, whose dominion, however, extended no further than the maritime provinces. The central tract of hilly country, hedged in by impenetrable forests and precipitous mountain ranges, remained in possession of Wickrama Singha, the last of the Mahabar dynasty of kings, who showed no signs of encouraging communication with his European neighbours.

Minor differences led in 1803 to an invasion of the Kandian territory; but sickness, desertion, and fatigue proved more formidable adversaries to the British forces than the troops of the Singhalese monarch, and peace was eventually concluded upon terms by no means favourable to the English. The cruelty and oppression of the king now became so intolerable to his subjects, that disaffection spread rapidly amongst them. Executions of the most horrible kinds were perpetrated. The utmost stretch of despotism failed to repress the popular indignation; and in 1814 the British, at the urgent request of many of the Adigars and other native chiefs, proceeded against the tyrant, who was captured near Kandy, and subsequently ended his days in exile. With him ended a long line of sovereigns, whose ancestral pedigree may be traced through upwards of two thousand years.

By a convention entered into with the Kandian chiefs on the 2d of March 1815, the entire sovereignty of the island passed into the hands of the British, who in return guaranteed to the inhabitants civil and religious liberty. The religion of Buddha was declared inviolable, and its rights, ministers, and places of worship were to be maintained and protected; the laws of the country were to be preserved and administered according to established forms; and the royal dues and revenues were to be levied as before for the support of government.

With the exception of a serious outbreak in some parts of the interior in 1817, which lasted for upwards of a year, and of two minor attempts at rebellion easily put down, in 1843 and 1848, the political atmosphere of Ceylon has remained undisturbed since the deportation of the last king of Kandy.

The affairs of the colony are administered by a governor, receiving his appointment from the crown for a period of five years. He is assisted by an executive and legislative council. The former is composed of the governor and four of the higher civil servants, and the commander of the forces; the latter is presided over also by the governor, and consists of fifteen members, nine of whom are official and six unofficial, selected by the governor from the English commercial and planting body and the native and burgher community. All legislative enactments are originated in the executive council, and must be published in the local gazette for three weeks before being adopted by the legislature, and when agreed upon require the sanction of the imperial government before they can become law.

A certain portion of the colonial expenditure is fixed by the home authorities, but a large amount is left for the votes of the legislative council. The executive of the island is carried on by a civil service, the members of which enter it at an early age, and have recently been called upon to undergo an examination in the Singhalese and Malabar dialects previous to promotion. The old routine system of rising by seniority has to a great extent been abolished, and merit professedly made the door to promotion.

The island is divided into six provinces, each having its chief and assistant government agent, who carry on the affairs of the district under the direct authority of the governor; receiving the local taxes and imposts, attending to the public highways and buildings, and seeing to the general welfare of the province. These provinces are the central or Kandian, the western, the southern, the eastern, the northern, and the north-western; which divisions are again parcelled out into minor districts, under native chiefs and headsmen of various ranks, called in the Kandian country Adigars, Dessavas, and Corales, and in the maritime provinces Modeliars, Mohandirans, and Aratchies.

The administration of justice is conducted by a supreme court of three judges, one of whom is chief justice; by district judges, by police magistrates, and commissioners of courts of request. Attached to the supreme court is a Queen's advocate, assisted by a deputy, the former having a seat in the executive and legislative councils. In each of the provinces is another deputy-advocate, who conducts the legal business of the government for the district. There is also a proctor paid by the crown to defend such prisoners as may be too poor to engage counsel.

The judges of the supreme court go on circuit twice in each year for criminal cases, as well as to hear civil appeals. Trial by jury prevails in all criminal cases, and sentence of death must be confirmed by the governor before being carried into execution.

The district judges are assisted by three native assessors chosen by rotation from the community, and have civil and limited criminal jurisdiction. The functions of the police magistrates and commissioners of courts of request assimilate to those of this country, the jurisdiction of the latter extending to all cases of the value of L50 and under. A police force, composed of natives, has been established in the towns, on the model of the London police. These men are habited in strict metropolitan garb, a dress so foreign and inconvenient as seriously to impair their efficiency.

In the central province, the Kandian law is administered under the convention of 1815, and in the maritime districts the Roman-Dutch law prevails; but in the present altered state of society in the island, there are many cases which the above fail to reach: all such are disposed of according to the law of England, which has been applied in a number of ordinances enacted by the local legislature, recently published in a collected form.

The indigenous language of the island is the Singhalese, the present dialect of which is the Pali or sacred language of Ceylon, and in which all their Buddhistical annals are recorded. Singhalese is the current language throughout all the maritime provinces, except in the north and northwest, where Tamil is employed: it is likewise the dialect of the Kandian country. The Tamulian tongue is derived from the Sanscrit, and is employed by the Moors and Malabars of Ceylon, who are to be met with in great numbers on the sea-board, and who constitute almost the entire population of the northern portion of the island. The Dutch and Portuguese languages are spoken by the Burghurs or mixed descendants of the early colonists from Holland and Portugal.

The Singhalese possess an extensive literature, comprising sacred and scientific works in Pali and Sanscrit, as well as many plays and poems in their ordinary tongue. The "Mahawansa," their great historical epic, was translated from the Pali by the late Mr Turnour, and the labours of Mr Gogerly have since familiarized the reading public with Ceylonese Buddhistical literature. The Malabars possess a complete version of the Puranas in Tamul verse, besides numerous works on grammar, chemistry, pharmacy, astrology, magic, &c., and a number of tragedies and comedies. The Moors are not without works of considerable merit in the Tamul tongue, on various subjects. Their great epic poem, entitled "Seera," is pronounced by competent judges a more than ordinary composition.

The religion of Buddha is the dominant creed in Ceylon, professed by the entire population of the interior, and the greater portion of the Singhalese of the low country. Buddhism is essentially atheistic, placing belief in the eternal existence of matter alone, which matter possesses within itself the power of reproduction of beings without any other agency. Transmigration of a certain kind is a leading feature of this creed, and a series of distinct existences spent in austerities and good works has helped to form a superior order of beings called Buddhas. There have been many of these, and the last, called Sakya or Gotama Buddha, revealed the present faith. Gotama was born at Pataliputra, in India, B.C. 623; and after a long course of penance, prayer, and meditation, in strict solitude, is said to have attained his Buddhishood about B.C. 588. From India the ascetic passed to Ceylon, where he succeeded in establishing his faith, and finally died at the age of eighty.

The extensive ruins to be seen on the sites of the ancient cities of Anuradhapura and Polonaruwa, bear testimony to the former estimation in which Buddhism was held in this island, and in some respects bear comparison with the remains of the sacred edifices of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The Buddhist acknowledges no Supreme Being, and although we meet with a carved effigy of Buddha in almost every temple, no worship is offered to him as a deity; he is regarded but as a type of earthly goodness, wisdom, and beauty, deserving the imitation of his followers. He is believed by his perfection to have attained the sublime excellency of Nirvana, or cessation of existence, a state capable of being attained through many successive existences by every member of the human race. This Nirvana is peculiar to Buddhism, and differs from the Brahmins' absorption of the spirit into the supreme divinity. It is neither eternal repose, nor destruction of being, but a complete and final cessation of existence.

The code of morality established by Buddha is one of great purity; but since his advent the sacred writings have been so overlaid with commentaries as completely to destroy the original purity of the faith. The taking of the meanest life is strictly forbidden, while falsehood, intemperance, dishonesty, anger, pride, covetousness, are all denounced as incompatible with Buddhism. At the same time, the practice of charity, gratitude, contentment, moderation, forgiveness of injuries, patience, and cheerfulness, is as strictly enjoined.

The Buddhist priests are sworn to celibacy and poverty, and being incapable of possessing property of any kind are supposed to subsist on charity. They wear robes of yellow cotton, have their heads shaven, and walk barefooted and bareheaded. Service is performed daily in their temples, consisting of recitals of certain portions of the Pitakas, or Buddhist Scriptures, in the Pali dialect, which is unintelligible not only to the people but to the great majority of the priesthood. By degrees the Malabar conquerors of Ceylon incorporated the worship of Hindu deities with the simple religion of Buddha, and to most of the temples of the present day are attached buildings wherein this idol worship is carried on. Lands have been set apart from time immemorial to the support of these temples and their priests; and until a recent period annual grants for the maintenance of this religion were made by the local government, which also appointed the priests of the chief temples. This is no longer the case, and the management of the temples and temple-lands and the general affairs of their religion is now vested in the body of native chiefs and priests. At the same time, the government resigned to their custody the "Dalada," or sacred tooth of Buddha, a relic of much sanctity, and which was popularly believed to confer the sovereignty of the island upon its possessor. It had remained in charge of the British authorities since the convention of Kandy in 1815.

In the northern districts the Hindu religion prevails, the inhabitants being chiefly Malabars, who inherit from their ancestors the worship of Seeva.

Although Christianity was introduced into Ceylon as early as the sixth century, no remains of the faith or vestiges of churches were seen by the first Portuguese settlers. St Francis Xavier preached the Gospel, and permanently introduced Christianity in the middle of the sixteenth century. No efforts were spared by the Portuguese to induce the natives to embrace the Catholic religion, and they do not appear to have laid much stress upon the sincerity of their converts, who flocked to their churches in great numbers. The Dutch were equally zealous in the spread of the Reformed faith, but evidently with far less nominal success than their predecessors. The simplicity of the Presbyterian form of worship is but ill calculated to make any strong impression upon the senses of Oriental races; whereas the relics and ceremonies of the Romish Church appeal so warmly to their imagination, and have been made to approach so nearly to their own heathen ritual as even to insure a favourable reception amongst them.

Ceylon has recently been erected into a see, the junior bishop being Dr Chapman, who is assisted by an archdeacon and a number of chaplains, stationed at the chief towns. There are likewise a Scotch chaplain, a Dutch Presbyterian chaplain, and Malabar and Singhalese chaplains, appointed and paid by the government; the annual grants for ecclesiastical purposes amounting to about L8000. There are besides these, clergymen of various Christian denominations employed as missionaries and teachers by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, the Church Missionary Society, the Wesleyan and the Baptist Missionary Societies.

Although caste formed no part of the institutes of Buddha, it has been generally adopted, and the Sinhalese, equally with the Malabars and Moors, divide themselves into four great divisions, viz., the rajas or princes, the priests, the merchants, and the labourers. In this latter class there are not fewer than twenty-four castes, the lowest of whom are the rhodias or outcasts. The Malabars, besides the three chief divisions of priests, merchants, and landlords, have twenty-eight lower orders of persons. Between all of these there is much jealousy, intermarrying being considered a disgrace to the family of the higher caste; still this sometimes happens, and on the whole there is a gradual weakening of these barriers of native society, attributable to the spread of education and the civilizing influence of European residents.

The character of the Sinhalese of the low and hilly country, if presenting no very pleasing traits, at least possesses nothing very repulsive. The religion of Buddha is not disgraced by rites such as render Hinduism so degrading to the mind of its followers; its mildness is reflected in the Sinhalese disposition, wherein may also be traced the chilling apathetic influence of the creed of Nirvana. The most detestable vice is that of falsehood, which appears to have taken such a deep root in the native character as to bid defiance to teaching or example. Industry is a quality extremely rare amongst them; they are good agriculturists, but are averse to trade, the whole of which is in the hands of Burghurs, Tamils, Moors, and other foreigners. There is a desire for improvement springing up amongst the Kandian and low country chiefs, and modeliers, who evince a great desire to send their sons to the government schools. This feeling, however, has not yet reached many below them.

The criminal statistics of Ceylon show some remarkable results. Of 539 prisoners in one year, 368 only were brought to trial, and of those not more than 158 were convicted. Amongst these there were but two females, and not a single Burghur. Of this number 9 were found guilty of murder, 8 of manslaughter, 27 of other offences against the person, and 111 of offences against property. In the central province the prisoners were found in the following proportions:—Buddhists 100, Mohammedans 10, Roman Catholics 2, Protestants 2. In the northern province, the figures were Gentoes 95, Buddhists 5, Mohammedans 2, Roman Catholics 7, Protestants 1.

The educational work, so admirably begun by the Dutch colonists of Ceylon, although for a long period neglected by the early English governors, has been actively followed up during the past fifteen years. Convinced that the surest means for rooting out the atheistic heathenism of the natives is by the diffusion of sound knowledge, and that Christianity will often work its silent way through the printing-press when making no progress from the pulpit, the missionaries of all classes have laboured zealously in the establishment of schools for instruction in English and the native tongues. Government money-grants are made to aid the various missionary schools which are conducted in union with, and on the model of those maintained by the authorities. For carrying out this aid as well as for supervising the educational establishments of the government, a “school commission” has been formed of clerical and lay members of various churches who make an annual report upon the progress of education throughout the island.

The government scholastic institutions comprise the Colombo Academy, consisting of an upper and a lower school, to which pupils are admitted on payment of very small fees, a normal training school at Colombo, English schools of good standing at Kandy, Galle, Trincomalee, and Jaffna, and upwards of eighty other schools chiefly mixed and vernacular. In 1846–7 the number of pupils in the Colombo Academy was 252, whose education, after deducting the monthly fees paid by the scholars, cost the government Ls.4, 10s. each. Since that period the fees were raised to thrice their former amount, the effect of which was that in 1851 there were but 19 pupils in the academy, costing each Ls.26, 10s. The students in the normal institution cost Ls.18, 10s. each; those of the central school at Galle cost Ls.8, 19s. 9d. each; and those at the Kandy school cost Ls.2, 16s. The scholars at the vernacular establishments cost annually but nine shillings each.

The Church Mission have principal stations at Cotta, Baddegamme, Kandy, and Nellore. At two of these places they board and educate a number of youth of both sexes gratuitously, and at Cotta they impart a very superior education to young men and women to qualify them for missionary and scholastic labours. The American missionaries have similar establishments in the northern province, where a most complete education in the English tongue is bestowed upon upwards of 150 Tamil students of both sexes. The Wesleyan and Baptist missions are equally active throughout the island, chiefly, however, in vernacular education. In addition to these there are some regimental schools, and upwards of 900 village seminaries, mostly of a very inferior grade, in which it would be difficult to ascertain that anything really useful is taught. From the majority of these no returns exist by which we can judge of the number of their pupils.

The latest educational returns published show that in 87 government schools there were 1721 boys and 580 girls; in 314 missionary schools there were 8660 boys and 2320 girls; and in 263 private schools, mostly native, the pupils numbered 4912 boys and 64 girls; giving a total of 15,293 boys and 2965 girls, a result which shows that whilst of males 1 in every 98 of the population is being educated, of females the proportion to the whole population is not more than 1 in 500. The government expenditure in aid of education was, in 1852, Ls.7526, 10s. 5d.

The fine arts have no existence in Ceylon, and the sciences, Arts and though not unknown, are in the lowest possible state. Sciences, Sinhalese astronomy is little else than astrology, whilst the native medical science is so overlaid with senseless theories and superstitions, so compounded of absurdities and contradictions, as to be wholly unintelligible to European practitioners.

Although the Sinhalese of the low country are by no means deficient in mechanical skill, as carpenters, cabinet-makers, wheelwrights, smiths, carvers on wood and metal, &c., they cannot be said to be a manufacturing people. Their cotton cloths, coir rope, and cocoanut oil, were all produced in the most primitive manner and with little doubt by precisely the same rude methods as were employed a thousand years ago.

The manufacture of coarse cotton towelling, table-linen, and other white goods, is carried on along the east, north, and north-west coasts, whilst the make of coloured goods is chiefly confined to the vicinity of Jaffna in the north. There are about four thousand looms in the island, each of which on an average will produce about Ls.3 to the weaver, who is in most cases of the Chalia caste. The towels made at Batticaloa are remarkably good and very durable, the best being made from native cotton. Dyeing is practised, but in a very slow and indifferent manner. Some of the best white cloths worn by native headmen are elaborately and neatly painted by hand, in a variety of picturesque patterns, and sell for several pounds sterling each.

It would be difficult to conceive any ruder method of making rope than that practised in a Sinhalese rope walk, which is usually a long strip of open ground, shaded from the noon-day heat by lofty palm trees. When the coir fibre is of good quality, and the work-people are attentive, a very fine and serviceable rope is produced, admi- Ceylon. rably adapted for use in salt water. The country trading vessels employ no other cordage or rope than this, and indeed the planks of their small vessels are held together solely by coir yarn, without the aid of a single nail. The quantity exported from the island to all parts in 1850 amounted to 32,308 cwt., and in 1851 to 28,204 cwt.

The Singhalese mode of extracting the oil from the dried kernel of the cocoa-nut is of the most primitive kind. The checkoo or native mill is simply a clumsy wooden mortar in which a heavy pestle of hardwood is made to revolve by means of a pair of oxen at the end of a long pole, secured to the upper part of the pestle. The dried kernel being placed, finely cut, within the mortar, is by slow degrees squeezed free of its oil, which collects in the lower part of the mortar, and is thence removed by cocoa-nut shells. There are about five hundred checkoos at work during most part of the year at Colombo, Negombo, Galle, Trincomalee, and other chief towns, but chiefly at the three former places. Each checkoo usually produces above one gallon of oil per diem. Steam-power is employed in Colombo by European merchants in manufacturing this oil, which is now produced by them of superior quality, and in large quantities. The shipments of cocoa-nut oil from the ports of Colombo and Galle amounted in the year 1850 to 792,791 gallons.

The Singhalese are more attached to the pursuit of agriculture than any other occupation; and although their implements are of the rudest kind, and their processes the most simple, they nevertheless succeed in rearing successive crops of grain of good quality, from soil of no very great fertilizing powers. The chief culture in every part of the island is that of rice, the staple food in all eastern countries. The comparative poverty of the soil in the maritime districts is a barrier to the extensive production of grain; added to which the decay of the ancient works of irrigation in the eastern, northern, and north-western provinces, so essential to rice cultivation, renders large tracts of land which were formerly highly productive utterly valueless. In the western and southern provinces the presence of numerous rivers, canals, and lakes, enables cultivators to produce alternate crops of various kinds. In the Kandian country the soil is more generous, the climate less exhausting, and the supply of water from hill-streams far more certain and abundant. The agriculturists of those regions are thus frequently enabled to raise two crops of rice within the year from the same ground. Not only is every valley and open plain capable of tillage made to yield its crop of grain, but the steep sides of lofty hills are cut into terraces from base to summit, on which may be seen waving patches of bright green rice watered by mountain streams, conducted often from a great distance by means of earthen water-courses and bamboo aqueducts, stretching across rivers and over deep valleys, from hill to hill, attesting at once the patience, the industry, and the skill of the simple Kandian villagers.

When the ancient monarchs of Ceylon held their imperial court at the now ruined city of Anuradhapura, the hum of agricultural industry was heard from the confines of Bintenne to the northernmost point of the island. Artificial tanks and embankments for the supply of water equal in extent to the present areas of London, Liverpool and Manchester, imparted fertility to a region now known but as one vast desert. In those remote times, with a population of three or four millions, Ceylon was able to export large quantities of rice as her surplus production. Since the European period, with a population of barely a million and a half, the island, unable to grow sufficient for its own wants, has been in the habit of importing grain to the annual value of a quarter of a million sterling. There are eleven varieties of rice grown, of which five are sown in March and reaped in July; four are sown in May and gathered early in August, whilst two kinds are sown in June and November, one requiring five and the other two months to arrive at maturity. The yield of crops varies from four-fold in poor sandy soils to forty-fold from rich land. Many superstitions are observed by Singhalese cultivators, both in preparing the ground, sowing the seed, and harvesting the crop.

Tobacco is extensively cultivated in Jaffna, Negombo, Tobacco, and some parts of the Kandian and Bush country; but although well grown it is imperfectly cured and is not of much value as an article of export. Cotton has long been a product of some importance to the villagers, who, however, grow it only for their own consumption, and thus it is not found in the list of exports. There are many other vegetable productions reared with more or less skill for local use, such as arrow-root, cassava, yams, chillies, and several varieties of pulse. Of these the only exportable item is the chili, a small species of capsicum.

The export trade in cinnamon will be found noticed under Cinnamon.

The most important cultivation is that of coffee, a branch of industry which, since the year 1841, has assumed a position of great and growing prominence. Coffee was an article of growth and export from Ceylon so far back as the time of the Portuguese, but like the cinnamon it grew wild without any attempt at cultivation. Patches of it were to be seen around the Kandian villages in wild luxuriance, and the berry gathered before ripe, and imperfectly cured, seldom possessed much flavour, and was lightly esteemed as an article of European commerce. Coffee cultivation on the West Indian plan was first commenced by Sir E. Barnes, the then governor of Ceylon in 1824, who hoped by his example to introduce coffee-planting by Europeans into the island. Until 1834, however, public attention does not seem to have been occupied with the subject, but in that year the falling off in the supplies from other quarters brought capitalists into the field, and when in 1836 the home duty on East India coffee was reduced to 6d. the lb. a great impulse was given to coffee planting in Ceylon. During that and the following year about 7000 acres of forest land were purchased for this object; and when at the end of a few years it became matter of notoriety that the soil and climate of Ceylon were capable of yielding a coffee equal in value to most kinds, the influx of capital from England for investment in this new branch of Ceylon industry became very great. The following quantities of crown land were thus disposed of during the periods indicated:—in 1840, ac. 42,841; in 1841, ac. 78,685; in 1842, ac. 48,533; and in 1843, ac. 58,336. Since that time the sale of land has sunk to a very low amount, owing to apprehensions as to the effect of free trade on the coffee market.

There are at the present moment about 300 estates under coffee culture, comprising in the aggregate 40,000 acres. Of these 35 are of 300 acres and upwards; 230 under 300 and above 100 acres; and 35 of less than 100 acres. The heaviest yield upon any estate has been one ton per acre, but few plantations exceed 15 cwt.s the acre, and the majority of them are far below that return. The heaviest shipments in any year, those of 1853, give but 250,000 cwt.s of plantation coffee, which being the produce of the 40,000 acres of planted land, shows an average of not more than 6¼ cwt.s per acre. An annual yield of 10 cwt.s per acre is considered a very favourable return for the capital invested.

The commercial crisis of 1847 gave a great check to coffee planting in Ceylon, and added to the extravagant outlay and ill-judged operations of previous years, caused the abandonment of some estates and the neglect of many others. The economy thus taught has been productive of much good, and at the present time plantation coffee is shipped at Colombo of better quality and 20 per cent. below the cost of crops seven years since. An estate of 300 acres may now be cleared, planted, and brought into bear- The labour on coffee estates is performed by Malabar coolies, who annually emigrate from the coasts of India in large numbers; about 40,000 are usually employed in this manner at one time. The superintendence of the plantations is entirely in the hands of Europeans, who receive salaries varying from L300 to L100 a-year. The labour is paid for at the rate of 18s. a-month. The blossom appears in February. In October the gathering of the crop commences on most estates, and by the end of December the whole will be off the trees, when pruning at once takes place. The crops are partially dried on the plantations, but the curing is completed in Colombo, and by the end of May very little coffee remains for shipment. It is packed in casks of from 6 cts. to 8 cts. each; a very small quantity going in bags. The native grown crop, however, still goes home in the latter packages.

The cultivation of sugar was commenced in the neighbourhood of Kandy in 1826, and since in several other parts of the island, but without any permanent success, and there is now not more sugar grown than can be consumed in the island.

Cocoa-nuts. Cocoa-nut planting has proved very lucrative to some English capitalists, but owing to the slow growth of the tree this has never been a very favourite investment. The land planted by Europeans with cocoa-nuts has been as follows:—in the northern province 5000 acres; western province 4000 acres; eastern province 2000 acres; southern province 800 acres; this extent is included in 104 plantations chiefly superintended by Europeans. The palm tree begins to yield in its fifth year, and does not come into full bearing before its tenth or eleventh year.

Commerce. The trade of Ceylon has been greatly augmented since the opening of the cinnamon trade and the commencement of coffee planting. In 1832 the imports amounted to L351,222; the exports to L163,587. In 1842 the imports and exports amounted to L622,447 and L421,413 respectively. In 1852 those amounts were L1,000,474 and L948,400. The largest increase in exported produce has been in coffee, which from 17,287 cts. in 1831 grew to 77,475 cts. in 1841, and to 287,910 cts. in 1851. In 1854 the crops of native and plantation kinds are expected to amount to 500,000 cts.

The cinnamon trade of Ceylon forms a remarkable exception to the rule that by the removal of fiscal restrictions the consumption of articles will be increased. Cinnamon is now exported from Ceylon duty free, yet the annual demand for the spice is found to be no greater than when burdened with an export duty of 3s. the lb.

When the island was transferred from the administration of the East India Company to that of the crown in 1802, the government entered into a contract with the company, by which the latter acquired the exclusive privilege of exporting cinnamon from the colony. It was agreed that the Ceylon government should deliver annually 400,000 lb. of cinnamon; for which the company was to grant a credit of L60,000, making the price of the cinnamon 3s. per lb.

In 1814 the company agreed to allow to the Ceylon government a sum of L200,000 sterling for surplus profits on their sales of cinnamon; and to give in future, L101,000 sterling annually, instead of L60,000, for a supply of 400,000 lb. of that commodity. This contract was entered into for seven years, and it does not appear that during this period the stipulated quantity of cinnamon was ever delivered. In 1821 the exclusive privilege of exporting cinnamon was given up by the company; and in 1833 the government abandoned their monopoly of the trade, throwing it open to the public, but levying a duty of 3s. per lb. on its exportation.

In 1835 inferior or third sort was allowed to be shipped on payment of 2s. the lb. Two years later the duty on the best sorts was lowered to 2s. 6d.; and in 1843 the duty on all kinds was fixed at 1s. It was since reduced to 4d.; and in 1853 the article was declared duty free. These periodic reductions of duty were in all cases followed by heavy shipments of the spice; the sole effect of which has been to overstock the European markets, and reduce its price beyond the reduction of duty. The annual European consumption is at the present time precisely what it was fifty years ago; thus proving that articles of mere luxury are not affected by the laws which govern the consumption of the necessaries of life. Of the exports, four-fifths are to Great Britain; of the imports, one-third is from the United Kingdom, and the remainder chiefly from India. The imported goods from Great Britain consist of cotton manufacture, glass-ware, hardware, millinery, hosiery, metals, tools, beer, wines, &c.; those from India are mainly rice and coarse cotton cloth. The exports to Europe being larger than the imports thence, the balance of value is drawn for by bills of exchange, a part of which are negotiated in India to pay for rice, the rest for rupees sent down to Ceylon to pay the Mahalahr coolies on the coffee estates, who carry three-fourths of their earnings out of the island.

The trade of Ceylon is carried on by upwards of twenty European firms, and eight or nine native houses; the latter confining their transactions to British India. Besides these, there are nearly a dozen European estate-agents in Kandy, and a great number of small native dealers, called "Chitters," in connection with Madras and Bombay firms.

There are no export duties, and the duty on imports is five per cent. on the declared value, with some few exceptions, such as arms, wines, spirits, and grain. In 1852 the revenue derived from customs duties was L121,354, 8s. 9d.

The coasting and Indian trade is carried on by country-built brigs and dhonies, a craft peculiar to Ceylon. Of the former there are 56 of 3176 tons in the aggregate, and 559 dhonies, of a tonnage equal to 24,270 tons, belonging to the island. The value of the former is L6 per ton, and of the latter L1 per ton. In 1836 the custom-house shipping entries gave 1331 vessels inwards, and 1200 outwards; in 1852 they gave 3140 inwards, and 3074 outwards.

The banking business of the island is conducted by banking branches of the Oriental Bank Corporation of London, and the Mercantile Bank of Bombay in Colombo and Kandy. The former establishment possesses the privilege of issuing notes of 10s. and upwards.

Although the figures composing the revenue of Ceylon, as compared with former years, would appear to be unfavourable and expensive, they are nevertheless not so when it is remembered that duties, upwards of L150,000 once derived from the pearl fishery and cinnamon monopoly are no longer available. In 1821 the revenue was L459,699; in 1831 it was L420,170; in 1841 it was L341,937; and in 1852 it was L411,806.

An analysis of the income and expenditure for 1848 gives the following results: Expenditure—civil, L177,673; military, L75,219; judicial, L65,224. Revenue, L58,480; ecclesiastical, L10,806; educational, L9873; pensions, L34,100; total, L431,325. Income: Taxes on food, salt tax, import duties, grain tax, &c., L166,108; excise and stamps, L91,143; customs duties except on food, L43,345; tolls, L20,571; total taxation, L311,167; sales of crown lands, government property, rations to troops and arrears, L103,589; total income, L414,756. A further analysis of the above shows that the proportion contributed by the Singhalese population of 1,491,000, is at the rate of 2s. 2d. for each individual per annum, which is paid by the various districts in the following ratio: Western province, 380; central province, 220; southern province, 140; northern province, 110; north-western province, 100; eastern province, 050. (Parl. Papers on Ceylon, 1848 to 1852;