436 THE XORTIIERX FORESTS. [Part IX. 



record tliat, " because the fertility of tlie land had de- 

 creased, Idngs were no longer esteemed as before."^ 

 Notliing is more natural than the disaffection of the 

 Kandyans to a government under which this indiffer- 

 ence to their interests is perpetuated, and notliing 

 would so much endear to them tlie name and authority 

 of Great Britain as an energetic and successfid effort 

 to emulate the ancient Idngs in the encom"agement and 

 protection bestowed on the agricultural industry of the 

 island. 



The tank at Horra-bora presents singular facihties 

 for commencing the attempt. From its superior state 

 of preservation its repah^s might be effected at a com- 

 paratively small cost, and the experiment derives pe- 

 culiar encourasrement from the fact that the reservoir 

 is siuTounded by a vast expanse of government land 

 suitable for rice cultivation, and that it hes within a 

 distance from Kandy and the coffee estates so incon- 

 siderable as to offer no appreciable obstacle to the 

 ready sale of almost any amount of produce derivable 

 from it. 



' Rftjavali, p. 239. 



