426 THE XORTHERN FOEESTS. [Pakt IX. 



liis boats had to be dragged along the bank. These rocky 

 obstructions extend for fourteen miles, after which the 

 river recovers its former character and is easily navi- 

 oable as far as Bintenne and Pans-raoamme ; but above 

 this the reefs become so formidable that they effectually 

 prevented further progress ; and here ]\ii\ Brooke ter- 

 minated the portion of his journey practicable by boats, 

 and explored the remainder of the channel to Kandy on 

 foot. 



The result of his expedition was satisfactoiy, in so 

 far as it served to establish the fact that, by preventing 

 the abstraction of the water now diverted into the 

 Vergel, and by removing some sand banks and minor 

 obstructions below the present junction, the MahaweUi- 

 ganga miglit be easily rendered navigable for eighty 

 miles from the bay of Trincomahe to Calinga, an impor- 

 tant locahty in the centre of one of the most fertile and 

 productive districts of Ceylon, where, however, in con- 

 sequence of the absence of roads, or any other means 

 of intercommunication, the soil can scarcely be said to 

 be under cultivation, except in the immediate vicinity of 

 the Moorish viUages, which are scattered over the district 

 of Tamankadua. For thirty miles above Cahnga, the re- 

 moval of the rocks and impediments woidd be difficult ; 

 but even here a communication might be estabhshed for 

 a moderate expenditure, and inland na\dgation rendered 

 possible from the eastern coast, almost to the foot of the 

 Kandyan hills, and the \Ticinity of the coffee plantations 

 in the mountain zone. To the latter the conveyance 

 of rice and stores from the low country would be a sig- 

 nal advantage ; and the transport of coffee to a shipping 

 port, at a reasonable charge, woidd reduce one of the 

 most formidable difficulties ^vith which the planters have 

 to struggle in their competition with other countries. 



To the Kandyan people the realisation of such a pro- 

 ject would be productive of simultaneous advantage, by 

 opening up a market for the agricultural productions 

 of the interior, as well as an outlet for its mineral 



