ll 
The east side of the Island being much drier than the west, 
its vegetation has more the character of that of the Northern 
province than of the opposite coast. It must, however, be re- 
marked that, with the exception of the immediate neighbourhood 
of Trincomalee and of Batticaloa, the eastern side of the Island 
is a ferra incognita to the Botanist. 
Generally speaking, the first two thousand feet of the moun- 
tain range are covered with a dense forest of large trees, cha- 
racterized by foliage of a much larger size than the low-country 
forests, and nearly of a uniform dark green colour; except, 
indeed, when the large Iron-wood tree (A/eswa Ceylanica) is 
putting forth its young leaves, which are blood red, and at that 
season give a remarkable aspect to the scene. To the general 
observer the trees of the next two thousand feet appear little 
different from those of the first; but the eye of the Botanist 
can at once detect many species peculiar to each. The mass 
of the herbaceous vegetation of both is made up of Feras, 
Scitaminee, Urticacee, Cyrtandree and Composite. One of 
the most marked features of the second two thousand feet is 
the existence of large open grassy tracts on the sides of the 
hills, to which the natives give the name of Pattanas. Such. 
tracts extend to the highest parts of the island, differing more 
or less at different elevations in the nature of their vegetation. 
Scattered through the lower ones, and giving them an orchard- 
like appearance, are two trees almost peculiar to them. They 
are the Careya arborea, and Emblica officinalis. The herba- 
ceous vegetation consists chiefly of numerous tall coarse grasses, 
growing chiefly in tufts; the most common is the Lemon-Grass 
(Andropogon schoenanthus), intermingled with several Composite, 
principally consisting of several species of Blumea, Knowia corym- 
bosa, the representative of the old and accurate historian of 
Ceylon, the broom-like Atylosia Candollit, and Impatiens Bal- 
samina, the origin of the common garden balsam. On the 
forest land of this tract the principal Coffee estates have been 
established. 
The next two thousand feet, which bring us to an elevation 
of 6,000 feet above the level of the sea, and into a region which 
has a much lower temperature than any of the preceding, is still 
covered with forest having occasional patches of Pattana, but 
both give support to a very different vegetation. The trees are 
much smaller, closer together, and have their stems and branches 
covered with pendulous masses of lichens and mosses, and many 
kinds of small Orchidee@. ‘Their leaves are mostly small; and 
their varied tints remind one of the autumnal forests of more 
