hie 
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PERCIVAL’S ACCOUNT OF CEYLON. 37 
it. “The junction of the Dutch with the 
French republic inthe late war, was the 
signal for the commencement of our opé- 
rations against their colonies in the east; 
a body of troops was detached for the 
conquest of Ceylon, in 1795, and the 
enterprise was crowned with success. It 
is tobe hoped, that we shall profit by 
the severe lessons received by the Portu- 
‘ gueze and Dutch: their system of ra- 
_ pacity and oppression must, by its inef- 
ficicy, teach usto adopt a more liberal 
and humane policy ; and as their relax-, 
ation of military discipline was fatal to 
their interests, it will warn us by no 
means to neglect any requisite measures 
of defence, 
«* The island of Ceylon lies between 5° 
40° and 10° 30’ north Jatitude; and between 
79° and 82° east longitude. It is situated at 
"the entrance of the bay of Bengal, by which 
itis bounded on the north. On the north- 
west itis separated from the Coromandel 
coast by the gulph of Manaar, a narrow 
strait full of shoals, and impassable by large 
ships. It is distant about sixty leagues from 
Cape Comoarin, the southern point of the 
peninsula of India, which divides the Coro- 
mandel and Malabar coasts. Its cireumfe- 
rence is computed to be about nine hundred 
miles; and its length. from Point Pedro at 
the northern extremity to Doaderhead at the 
southern is about three hundred miles. Its 
Dreadth is very unequal, being in some parts 
only from forty to fifty miles, while in others 
it extends to sixty, seventy, and even one 
hundred.’ 
The island of Ceylon is of the first 
consequence to Great Britain, whether 
considered in a commercial or political 
point of view; its mternal produce pre- 
sents several rich articles to commerce ; 
and it is remarkable, that with the ex- 
ception of Bombay, it contains the only 
harbour either on the Coromandel, or the 
‘Malabar Coasts, in which ships can moor 
in safety at all seasons of the year. As 
the whole of that large tract which we 
“possess along the Coromandel coast pre- 
“sents hothing but open roads, all vessels 
“are obliged on the approach of the mon- 
-soons to stand out into the open seas ; 
‘and there are many parts of the coast 
‘that can only be approached during a 
“few months of the year. The harbour 
_of Trincomalée is equally secure at all 
“times of the year: the next to this is 
Point de Galle: large ships, however, 
Moor securely at certain seasons of the 
“year, in the roads of Columbo. ‘There 
are several inferior ports distributed 
around the island, which afford shelser 
to the small coasting vessels. ‘The rivers 
which intersect the island, are for the 
most part broad and deep, but seldom 
navigable for any considerable distance : 
as soon as they enter the mountains 
which cover the native kingdom of 
Candy, they become rocky and rapid, 
and tumble down with such a headlong 
course, that it is impossible for the 
smallest canoe to navigate them. ‘The 
internal communication by land is bad ; 
the roads are in many places rugged and 
steep, and not only difficult, but dange- 
rous, from the numbers of wild hogs, 
buffaloes, and elephants, which infest 
them. Since the island has been in the 
possession of the English, the roads, 
however, have been greatly improved. 
The most lofty range of mountains 
divides the island nearly into two parts, 
and so completely separates them from 
each other, that both the climate and 
seasons on either side are essentially dif- 
ferent. These mountains also termi- 
nate completely the effect of the mon- 
soons which set in, periodically from 
opposite sides; so that not only the sea~ 
coast, but the whole country in the inte- 
rior suffers very little from these storms, 
Though Ceylon lies so near the equator, 
the climate upon the whole is more tem- 
perate than on the continent of India; 
this, Mr. Percival attributes to: the-con- 
stant sea-breezes, by which itis fanned, 
without being subject to. the .hot and 
suffocating land-winds,. which so fre- 
quently annoy the continent. , This tem- 
perate climate, however, is chiefly con- 
fined to the coast where the sea- breezes 
have room to circulate: in the interior, 
the climate is often extremely sultry and 
unhealthy. This inconvenience, how- 
ever, says Mr. P. might be in a great 
degree obviated by cutting down tne 
woods, and clearing the jungles, and 
drainmg the swamps and marshes, as 
has been proved by a Jarge tract inthe 
neighbourhood of Trincomalee, cleared 
and drained by colonel Champagne’ 
sin¢e it came into our possession, and 
thus rendered much less noxious to Eu- 
ropeans. ‘he garrison has suifered 
very little since from the climate. 
The British dominions in Ceylon, skirt 
the coasts quite round, so that the terri- 
tories of the king of Candy are com- 
pletely incloced within a circle. Mr. 
Percival follows the same direction, and 
leads his readers completely round the 
island in the same course he travelled i¢, 
setting off from Trincomal¢e, on which 
D3 
