26 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[July j, 1884 



been navigable by boats. From Koudrowawe a canal, 

 some five miles in length, more in cutting than in 

 embankment, conveyed the water, first to Minery 

 Lake, and then afterwards to Kanthalay tank, formerly 

 called Gantalawe, the whole length of the canal being 

 57 miles. 



The most interesting engineering feature, the old 

 stone dam across the " Ambanganga," was thus built ; 

 its breadth at the top is 33 yards, its height above 

 the level of the water at ordinary seasons is 40 feet ; 

 it is built throughout of huge blocks of hewn stone 

 embedded in mortar, which still remains in the in- 

 terstices ; the stones in the interior of the work were 

 carved with figures, and evidently had formed part of 

 a building of an earlier date ; great engineering skill 

 is shown in preparing the rock to receive the found- 

 ations of this stone dam. Upon the outer side these 

 consist of a trench cut into the solid rock to re- 

 ceive the first layer of masonry ; at a distance of 25 

 feet inwards is a continuous row of holes 2 feet square 

 and 3 feet apart, and sunk to a depth of about 3 feet ; 

 into these were fitted large stone pillars, the remains 

 of some of which, broken short off, are still to be seen, 

 one of them protruding above the surface of the 

 rook to a height of about 2 feet, (o) 



The system by which these ancient works were con- 

 structed was that which from time immemorial had 

 existed in Ceylon, " Rajacaria*" (p) or forced labour. To 

 what extent and under what safeguards this system 

 was enforced in early times is not known.but wherever 

 labour was required for public works, tanks, or buildings, 

 " Rajacaria" was, as a matter of course, resorted to. 

 A marked exception to this rule is related of King 

 Tissa, (q) who, in a. D. 201, caused the monuments at 

 Auuradhapura to be restored with paid labour. 



The former production of rice and the decay of 

 rrigation works in Ceylon are thus alluded to in a 

 report of a Committee of the Legislative Council of 

 that island in 1S67 : — (r) 



" At a period long anterior to European inter- 

 course with the East, Ceyh.u, under the rule of its 

 native sovereigns produced rice suliicieut to support a 

 resident population, far more numerous than it 

 possesses at present. Of the extent of that popul- 

 ation, and of the amount of grain required for their 

 consumption, some general idea may be formed from 

 the many remains of extensive irrigation works to be 

 met with in almost every district of the island. To 

 what degree these works, initiated for purposes of 

 national utility, may have become the mere monu- 

 ments of regal ambition, it is not necessary to inquire 

 but it is indisputable that the Sinhalese monarohs 

 vied with each other in the construction of irrig- 

 ation works, ond in giving every possible encourage- 

 ment to agricultural enterprise. Vast tracts of coun- 

 try, now covered with the vegetation of centuries, 

 once abounded in grain. The district of Pomparipo, 

 in the north-western province, yields at the present 

 time but a scanty and uncertain return to the 

 ' husbandman ; yet its name, signifying ' The Golden 

 Plains,' is indicative of the bountiful harvests it once 

 produced. In like manner the district of the Seven 

 Korlee was known in ancient times as the 'Granary 

 of the Kandiau Kings.' 



" The epoch at which the larger irrigation works 

 of this island fell into disrepair, and the causes of 

 their abandonment, are subjects which scarcely belong 

 to the present inquiry, but it is worthy of record 

 that the period most fruitful in disaster to these 



o Report by Mr. Churchill, M. Inst. 0. E., Mr. Adams, 

 and Mr. Bailey in Sessional Paper iv. of 1807, dated 19th of 

 September, 1855. 



p 'ferment's Ceylon, 4th ed., vol. i. pp. 869, 427. 



q Tennent's Ceylon, 4th ed., vol. i. p. 428.' 



T Sessional Paper iv. -of 1867. p. 5, 



works, within modern times, was coincident with 

 the abolition of ' Rajicaria,' or about thirty years 

 ago. (That is, forty-seven years from this present 

 date.) 



" However opposed to European ideas of social polity, 

 the system of forced labour was not altogether un- 

 suited to the character of the rural population of 

 this island. Its abolition left them freedom, but it 

 gave them no substitute for the system under which 

 the nation had lived from time immemorial. Accus- 

 tomed to be led like children, and to look up to 

 a strong central influence for guidance and help, 

 they found themselves suddenly deprived of all 

 power of action for the commou good. Wanting 

 the strong will which once led them, combination 

 became impracticable. The tanks and water-courses 

 hitherto .maintained under the action of 'Rajacaria, 

 were allowed to fall into disrepair. Slight damages 

 were unheeded, and the unfailing influence of success- 

 ive monsoons rapidly converted small fissures into 

 extensive breaches. Cultivation being thus prevented 

 in consequence of damaged embankments, the imposs- 

 ibility of raising sutfioient food on the spot, added to 

 the increasing unhealthiness of the locality, compelled 

 the villagers to disperse, and to seek a scanty sub- 

 sistence by the production of grain of an unwhole- 

 some character." 



Probably the last great work undertaken by " Raja- 

 caria" was the road constructed for military purposes, 

 from Colombo to Kandy, and completed in 1831. 



On this a certain number of natives were forced 

 to work for a week at a time, strict care being 

 taken that they were fed and fairly paid for their 

 labour. 



By an order in Council, dated April 12th, 1832, 

 " Rajacaria" was abolished, and slavery, which for 

 ages had existed as an "abstract right, but mitigated 

 for many years in the forms of its practical eutorce- 

 ment," ceased, in December 20th, 1844, to exist in 

 Ceylon, (s) 



Much more can be said in defence of "Rajacaria" 

 than is at first apparent. The natives of the East 

 are very indolent, and in Ceylon they delight to 

 repose all day under the shade of a tree, thus en- 

 joying a terrrestrial " Nirwaua," that is, a " state 

 of blissful unconsciousness akin to annihilation, which 

 is regarded by Buddhists as the consummation of 

 eternal felicity." 



Being incapable of self-government, the natives 

 should be governed as children, patriarchally, by an 

 intelligent and benevolent despotism. Statute labour 

 on the roads, in other words, " Rajacaria," has ex- 

 isted in many countries for centuries, and, as regards 

 the maintenance of roads, it is Btill in force in Cey- 

 lon, where every man, between the ages of eighteen 

 and iifty-five, is compelled to perforin per annum 

 six consecutive days' labour on the roads, or to com- 

 mute the equivalent by a payment of one and one- 

 half or of two rupees. 



In the North Central Province the system of "Raja- 

 caria " has been to some extent revived, for the 

 sole and immediate benefit of the persons by whom 

 the forced labour is performed. Every owner of 

 paddy-land is required to give what labour is re- 

 quired for the repair and improvement of the village 

 tank on which the cultivation of his land depends, 

 provided that the labour to be elemanded in any one 

 year shall not exceed a certain fixed rate, which is 

 about equivalent to fifteen days' labour for each 

 acre of paddy land. This labour may be commuted 

 for a payment of 50 cents a day, which is about 30 per 

 cent more than the local price of labour. This system 

 has been found very successful, and the only means of 

 stopping the decay into which the village works had 

 been allowed to fall. The value of the work done 



I a See ordinance No. xx. of 1844. 



