Chap. VI.] JAFFNA SHEEP. 531 



when dried, wliicli in turn will produce twenty-five gallons 

 of coco-nut oil. 



Mingled Avitli the palm-trees, the forests of Jaffna 

 present the usual undergi'owth of jungle brushwood, mi- 

 mosas, mustard-trees, and the hardier timbers which flou- 

 rish in unpromising soil. In the vicinity of the villages 

 and houses, the artificial gaixlen mould produces mangoes, 

 oranges, citrons, tamarmds, and all the ordinary fruit-trees 

 of Ceylon in abundance. In spite of all the difficulties of 

 soil and irrigation, a large quantity of rice is grown, 

 though not enough to suffice for the actual consumption 

 of the inhabitants. The flat surface of the ground is in 

 many places an obstacle to the extension of rice cultivation, 

 inasmuch as it prevents the water from flowing down over 

 the necessary terraces ; — and to ob\'iate this difficidty, 

 the natives of many districts are obhged to reduce the 

 level of their fields ivith incredible labour and toil, holloAv- 

 ing them to the depth of several feet, heaping up the 

 excavated earth in high mounds, and thus admitting the 

 rains and collected water to flow into the cavities, where 

 it is retained tiU the grain is ripe. 



Black cattle are pastured in large numbers, and the finest 

 sheep in Ceylon are reared upon the dry plains which 

 overhe the hmestone and coral rock, on the northern and 

 western coasts. There sheep, instead of being coated ^dth 

 wool, are covered with long hair, resembhng that of 

 goats, and the horny callosities that defend theii" knees, 

 and -which arise from their habit of kneeling down to 

 crop the short herbage, serve to distinguish the Jaffna 

 flocks from those of the other portions of the island.^ 

 At the time of oiu' visit, a sandy road from Pallai to Ko- 

 digammo ran almost continuously between the palmyra 

 fences of the recently opened coco-nut estates, a great part 

 of which are the property of Bengal civihans and others 



^ At Jaffiaa a sheep may be piu-- I the Tamils, they are probably Icopt 

 chased forasliillinp' oreightoenpeiu-e. to fold in the fields for the stilie of 

 Their flesh being little in demaud by j maum'e. 



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