453 Bibliographical Notice, 



forests, and its shores, till they meet the ripple of the waves, bright 

 with the foliage of perpetual spring. The Brahmins designated it 

 by the epithet of Lanka^ *the resplendent,' and in their dreamy 

 rhapsodies extolled it as the region of mystery and sublimity ; the 

 Buddhist poets gracefully apostrophized it as *a pearl upon the 

 brow of India ;' the Chinese knew it as the ' island of jewels ;* 

 the Greeks as the * land of the hyacinth and ruby ;' the Maho- 

 metans, in the intensity of their delight, assigned it to the exiled 

 parents of mankind as a new Elysium, to console them for the loss 

 of Paradise ; and the early navigators of Europe, as they returned 

 dazzled with its gems and laden with its costly spices, propagated 

 the fable that far to seaward the very breeze that blew from it was 

 redolent of perfume. In later and less imaginative times Ceylon has 

 still maintained the renown of its attractions, and exhibits in all 

 its varied charms * the highest conceivable development of Indian 

 nature.' " 



The general features of the country are given with an accuracy 

 the very truthfulness of which imparts beauty to the description, and 

 makes us wish, at least for once, in person to witness a scene so lovely, 

 to have one glimpse of a region so paradisiacal. 



The climate of Ceylon, from its physical configuration and insular 

 detachment, contrasts favourably with that of the great Indian pen- 

 insula. Owing to the moderate dimensions of the island, the eleva- 

 tion of its mountains, the very short space during which the sun is 

 passing over it in his regression from or approach to the solstices, 

 and its surrounding seas being nearly uniform in temperature, it is 

 exempt from the extremes of heating and cooling to which the neigh- 

 bouring continent of India is exposed. The range of the thermo- 

 meter exhibits no violent changes, and never indicates a temperature 

 insupportably high. The mean, on an annual average, scarcely ex- 

 ceeds 80° at Colombo, though in exceptional years it has risen to 86°. 

 The line is faint that divides the seasons. No period of the year is 

 divested of its seed-time and harvest in some parts of the island ; and 

 the ripe fruit hangs on the same brandies that are garlanded with 

 opening buds. Moreover, as every plant has its own period for the 

 production of its flowers and fruit, each month is characterized by its 

 own peculiar flora. 



April is by far the most oppressive portion of the year. A mirage 

 fills the hollows with mimic water ; the heat in close apartments be- 

 comes extreme, and every living creature flies to the shade from the 

 suffocating glare of mid-day. At the end of the month the mean 

 temperature attains its greatest height, being about 88° in the day, 

 and 10° lower at night. 



May is signalized by the great event, the change of the monsoon, 

 and all the grand phsenomena that accompany its approach. 



** Long before the wished-for period arrives, the verdure produced 

 by the previous rains becomes almost obliterated by the burning 

 droughts of March and k\)v\\. The deciduous trees shed their 

 foliage, the plants cease to put forth fresh leaves, and all vegetable 

 life languishes under the unwholesome heat. The grass withers on 



