78 



CEYLON 



Extreme length from north to south, from Point 

 Palmyra to Dondera Head, 266 miles ; greatest 

 width, from Colombo to Sangemankancle, 140 miles. 

 Area, 24,702 sq. m., of which more than one-fifth 

 is under cultivation. 



Bhysical Features. In natural scenery Ceylon 

 can vie with any part of the worm ; and as it rises 

 from the ocean, clothed with the rich luxuriance of 

 a tropical vegetation, it seems to the voyager like 

 some enchanted island of Eastern story. Its hills, 

 'draped with forests of perennial green,' tower 

 grandly from height to height, till they are lost in 

 clouds and mist. Near at hand, a sea of sapphire 

 blue dashes against the battlemented rocks that 

 occur at isolated points, and the yellow strands are 

 shaded by groves of noble palms. In shape Ceylon 

 resembles a pear, but its inhabitants more poetically 

 compare it to one of their elongated pearls. Un- 

 dulating plains cover about four parts of the island, 

 and the fifth is occupied by the mountain-zone of 

 the central south, which has an elevation of from 

 6000 to 8000 feet above the sea-level. Pedrotalla- 

 galla, the highest mountain in the range, attains 

 the height of 8260 feet ; the celebrated mountain of 

 Adam's Peak, 7420 feet ; and the tableland of 

 Nuwara-Eliya, 6210 feet. 



Geology. The mountain-system is mainly com- 

 posed of metamorphic rocks, chiefly gneiss, fre- 

 quently broken up oy intrusive granite. With the 

 exception of some local beds of dolomitic limestone, 

 the gneiss is everywhere the surface rock, and the 

 soil is composed of its disintegrated materials. 

 The northern part of the island is rising ; and the 

 immense masses of corals continually increasing, 

 retain the debris brought from the Indian continent 

 by the currents of the sea, and thus form a flat, 

 ever-increasing madrepore plain. 



Metals and Precious Stones. Iron can be obtained 

 in great quantities, and anthracite and rich veins 

 of plumbago exist on the southern range of hills. 

 Gold has recently been found. The gems of 

 Ceylon have been celebrated from time immemorial. 

 Sapphires, nibies, the oriental topaz, garnets, 

 amethysts, cinnamon stone, and cat s-eye are the 

 principal gems and precious stones of the island. 

 The declared value of the precious stones exported 

 is about 10,000 annually ; but as large numbers 

 are purchased by passengers calling at Colombo 

 and by native merchants for sale in Southern India, 

 the actual value is doubtless very far in excess of 

 the sum named. The pearl-fisheries of Ceylon were 

 known at a very remote date in the commercial 

 history of the world. Under the Portuguese and 

 Dutch governments, and now under the British 

 government, the pearl-fisheries form a monopoly, 

 and are under the inspection of an officer, who 

 reports when a sufficient number of pearl-yielding 

 oysters have reached maturity, and when the pro- 

 spect of a successful fishing is thus probable. 

 The fishings are intermittent and occur at irreg- 

 ular dates. In 1863 the value of pearls obtained 

 was 56,000; in 1874, it was 10,000; in 1877, 

 19,000; in 1879-80, 29,500; in 1881, 59,800; 

 in 1887, 39,000 ; and in the intermediate periods 

 practically nothing. In 1890 the value was 17,000, 

 in 1891 about 52,000, but in 1892-95 nothing. 



Rivers. The most important river in Ceylon is 

 the Mahavila-ganga. It has its source in the 

 vicinity of Adam's Peak, and after draining more 

 than 4000 sq. m. , it separates into several branches, 

 and enters the ocean near Trincomalee. The south 

 side of the island is watered by ten rivers of con- 

 siderable size. 



Harbours. Galle, at the southern extremity of 

 Ceylon, and Trincomalee on the eastern coast, are 

 the only natural harbours capable of containing 

 ships of large draught. The construction of a 

 breakwater at Colombo, the capital of the island, 



which provides safe anchorage for ships of any size 

 in all weather, has concentrated the commerce of 

 the island there, and has also attracted from Galle 

 the mail and passenger steamers from Europe, 

 India, Australia, and China, which used to coal 

 and tranship at Galle. At Trincomalee are the 

 naval stores and dockyard, and the harbour is the 

 finest in eastern waters. 



In climate, Ceylon has a great advantage over 

 the mainland of India, and as an island enjoys a 

 more equable temperature. The average for the 

 year in Colombo (q.v. ) is 80 in ordinary seasons. 

 April is the hottest month ; and in May the south- 

 west monsoon commences amid a deluge of rain, 

 and continues the prevailing wind till October, 

 when the north-east monsoon sets in : 80 inches is 

 the average annual fall of rain, though in an 

 exceptional year 120 inches have been registered. 

 The beautiful tableland of Nuwara-Eliya was first 

 visited by Europeans in 1826, and is now used as 

 a sanatorium. Here the thermometer in the shade 

 never rises above 70, while the average is 62 ; the 

 nights are cool and refreshing. The north of the 

 island, including the peninsula of Jaffna, the 

 plains of Nuwara-Kalawa, and the Wanny, may be 

 reckoned as a third climatic division. Here the 

 annual fall of rain does not exceed 30 inches, and 

 irrigation is largely employed in agriculture. 



Flora. The general botanical features of Ceylon 

 are in many respects similar to those of Southern 

 India. A very large number of the species of plants 

 is, however, peculiar to the island. About 800 species 

 ( nearly 30 per cent, of the whole number found in 

 Ceylon) are endemic that is, found nowhere else 

 in the world. The tree-vegetation of the forests 

 is almost wholly composed of such endemic species, 

 and not a few of endemic genera. The affinities 

 and near alliances of these are with the plants of 

 the Malay Islands and Peninsula. Hence, to 

 speak more correctly, the flora of Ceylon partakes 

 of an Indian as well as a Malayan character, but 

 is identical with neither. As may be expected 

 from the climatic peculiarities of the country 

 the flora is greatly diversified. In the south-west 

 mountainous parts of the island, with the excep- 

 tion of some grassy tracts called patanas and the 

 plantations of tea, coffee, and cinchona, the slopes 

 and summits are forest-clad. The trees are ever- 

 green, with thick coriaceous leaves, growing closely 

 together and forming dark jungles. The under- 

 growth is largely made up of gregarious plants 

 known as Nilu, species of the genus Strobilanthes, 

 which only flower at regular intervals of five, 

 six, or seven years. Tree-ferns, often 25 feet in 

 height, scarlet-flowering rhododendrons, numerous 

 tufted bamboos, melastomads, and orchids are 

 found in mountain forests. In the low country 

 the vegetation is marked by the prevalence of 

 palms, the cocoa-nut being pre-eminent. The 

 beautiful areca-palm, the feathery jaggery or 

 kitul, and the lordly talipat are the glories of 

 Ceylon lowland vegetation. In the recesses of 

 low-country forests the trees are high and closely 

 packed. Amongst the timber-trees the most 

 valuable are the calamander, satin-wood, and 

 ebony. Two very interesting and peculiarly 

 slender tree-ferns grow in the not steamy forests 

 of Ceylon, as also the most admired of Ceylon 

 orchids, Dendrobium Maccarthice. There has been 

 extensive cutting down of forest in the mountains 

 of Ceylon to establish plantations, and the low- 

 lands have suffered no less severely by the indolent 

 and improvident practice of native cultivation. 

 As a consequence numerous foreign weeds, such 

 as the lantana, white weed, and Spanish needle, 

 have established themselves to the exclusion of 

 native vegetation in the hills ; while in the low- 

 lands coarse grasses and worthless scrub have 



