Chap. II.] 



CINNAJklON REGION. 



143 



perate coolness." ^ The Dutch took advantage of this 



cahn sheet of water to facihtate the 



system of canals by which they opened 



a continuous hne of navigation from 



CaltLu-a to Negombo. The works still 



exist, but their utility, however it may 



have been appreciated two centuries ago, 



when the country was as yet unopened 



by roads, is less demonstrable at the 



present day, when metalled highways 



have been constructed in their immediate 



vicinity. 



At Morottu, a few miles from Pan- 

 tura, the reijion of cultivated cinnamon 

 begins ; and thence to Colombo, for a 

 distance of eight or ten miles, the road 

 passes between almost continuous gar- 

 dens of this renowned lam'el, once 

 guarded among the treasures of the 

 Indies, but now comparatively neglected 

 for the homely, but more profitable, coco- 

 nut palm. The village of Morottu, wliich contains a popu- 

 lation of 12,000, is chiefly inhabited by carpenters of the 

 fisher caste, who devote themselves to the making of furni- 

 ture from the jak-tree, the wood of which, thougli yellow 

 when first cut, acquires in time the dark tint and^markings 

 of mahogany. 



Another source of the prosperity of this thriving com- 

 munity is the recent adoption of barrels instead of gunny- 

 bags for the export of coffee. The making of these, as well 

 as of casks for the shipment of coco-nut oil, has afforded a 

 new source of industrial employment and wealth. One 

 eminent native of the viUage, Jeronis de Soyza, has built, 



PANT UKKa 



■ GOBBS." ON THE 

 WEST COAST. 



1 Ibn Wahab, in the Voijai/cs 

 Arahcs et Persons, torn. i. p. 129; 

 Albyrofxt, in REiNArn's Frni/mcns 

 Arabes, cji'c., p. 119. For ca fiiil ac- 



count of these "gobbs," as thev exist 

 in Ceylon, see the present work, \o\. 

 I. Pt. I. ch. i. p. 44. 



