174 COLOMBO. [Part YII. 



Ceylon lias trained but few civil servants of distin- 

 guished ability ; and the failm^e has been aggravated by 

 the pernicious system of promotion by mere seniority. 

 Exertion was felt to be ineffectual when advancement 

 was guaranteed to mediocrity, without an effort ; and 

 aspiring abihty was chilled by the consciousness that no 

 services, however zealous, were sufficient to achieve dis- 

 tinction when opposed to the claims of ante-dated incom- 

 petence. On more than on occasion, when offices had 

 faUen vacant requiring talents of a higher order than 

 those developed by routine, the Governor was unable to 

 recommend the advancement of any one of the indivi- 

 duals tlien serving in the island; and the duty devolved 

 on tlie Secretary of State of nominating persons duly 

 qualified from home. 



Impressed with the necessity for a remedy, the Earl 

 of Derby, in 1845, directed merit instead of seniority 

 to be the basis of promotion ; and in order to extend 

 the area of selection, he increased the number of the 

 civil servants to upwards of seventy. The experiment 

 is still in progress ; but coupled with the higher test of 

 prehminary quahfication which has since been requu'ed 

 from candidates for office, there is no reason to doubt 

 its ultimate success ; especially since the recent revision 

 of salaries has to some extent removed a just cause 

 of complaint on the part of the civil ser\dce, as to the 

 inadequacy of their emoluments, still singidarly dispro- 

 portionate to those awarded to corresponding function- 

 aries in India. 



Once in each year, shortly after the setting in of the 

 south-west monsoon, a fleet of small vessels arrives at 

 Galle from the Maldive Islands, the commander of which 

 is invested for the occasion with the dignity of ambas- 

 sador. He is the bearer of presents and a letter from the 

 Sultan to the Governor of Ceylon, soliciting the continued 

 protection of England, and giving assurances in return of 

 his llighness's anxiety to aflbrd eveiy succour to vessels 

 in the event of shipwreck. 



