Chap. IV.] AGEICULTURE AT BATTICALOA. 463 



but were taken down and stored away on the departure 

 of the mdividual in honour of whose arrival they had 

 been hung up. 



After leaving the rice grounds in the vicinity of Bin- 

 tenne, and passing through the long extent of unin- 

 habited forest which Hes to tlie eastward of them, where 

 for thirty miles no human dwelling meets the eye on 

 any side, the first symptoms of life and activity which 

 we encountered were the " natties " or patches of what 

 is called " Chena " cultivation \ scattered through the 

 woods as we drew nearer to Batticaloa. Large spaces 

 in the forest of two and three hundred acres suddenly 

 appeared cleared of the timber, and enclosed by rustic 

 fences, with a few temporary huts run up in the centre, 

 and all the surrounding area divided into patches of 

 Indian corn, coracan, gram, and dry paddi : with plots 

 of esculents and curry stuffs of every variety, onions, 

 chilhes, yams, cassava, and sweet potatoes ; whilst cotton 

 plants, more or less advanced to maturity, are scattered 

 throughout the whole space which had been brought mto 

 cultivation. 



The process of Chena cultivation in this province is 

 uniform and simple. The forest being felled, burned, 

 cleared, and fenced, each individual's share is distin- 

 guished by marks, huts are erected for the several 

 families, and in September the land is planted with 

 Indian corn and pumpkins ; and melon seeds are sown, 

 and cassava plants put down round the enclosiure. In 

 December, the Indian corn is pulled in the cob and 

 carried to market ; and the ground is re-sown with 

 millet and other kinds of grain, cliilhes, sweet potatoes, 

 sugar-cane, hemp, yams, and other vegetables, over 

 which an unwearied watch is kept up till March and 

 April, when all is gathered and carried off. But as 

 the cotton plants, which are put in at the same time 



^ The custom of "Chena'" farms I It is aUudod to in tlio Mahmvanso 

 is of extreme antiquity in Ceylon. | li.c. 101, ch. xxiii. p. 140. 



