CEYLON. 



feylon. tare, with only a imall mixture of clay. In the 

 V' south-west parts, however, particularly about Co- 

 lumbo, there is a cmmderab! iju;uitity of mar.-hy 

 ground, which is exceedingly rich and productive-. 

 The ordinary season of sowing in Ceylon, IB the 

 yionths of July and August, and the harvest is about 

 February ; but if the land is well supplied with wa- 

 ter, the natives do not pay much attention to this, 

 but BOW and reap at all seasons of the year. Rice is 

 the principal grain which they cultivate ; and as this 

 requires water to grow in during the whole time it 

 stands in the ground, they are at particular pains in 

 procuring a sufficient supply of this necessary article, 

 in making proper conveyances from the rivers and 

 ponds into their lauds, and in levelling their corn 

 fields, which must be as smooth as a bowling-green, 

 that the water may completely cover them. By an 

 ingenious contrivance, they are even able to overflow 

 their lands on the hills. For this purpose they level 

 them into narrow allies from three to eight feet wide, 

 and they surround these with banks, so <.s to form 

 the appearance of a stair up the declivity. The wa- 

 ters at the top fall into the first ally, and afterwards, 

 by successively running over, one into another, the 

 whole are watered. The instruments which the Cey- 

 lonese employ in their husbandry, are rude in the ex- 

 treme. The plough consists merely of a crooked 

 piece of wood, of such a form that the one end serves 

 for a handle, while the other, (which is shod with 

 iron to prevent the wood from wearing,) tears up the 



f round. After the first ploughing, the fields are 

 ooded ; and when they have lain some time in this 

 state, the water is let off, and they are ploughed a 

 second time. The other instruments of the Ceylonese 

 are a board for smoothing their fields, and a piece of 

 wood fastened to the end of a long pole, which serves 

 them in place of a rake. When the season for 

 ploughing arrives, each village makes the operation a 

 common concern ; and every one attends with his 

 plough and his oxen till all the fields belonging to 

 the whole society are finished. The same method is 

 employed in reaping the corn ; but each person af- 

 fords provisions to the whole during the time they 

 are cultivating his fields. Oxen are employed both 

 in ploughing and in treading out the corn. This 

 method of separating the rice from the straw is both 

 an easy and an expeditious mode of thrashing grain. 

 It is evident, however, from this sketch of the agri 

 culture of Ceylon, that the country does not produce 

 a crop by any means equal to what, by proper cul- 

 tivation, it might be made to bear. In consequence 

 of these defects, it does not raise a quantity of rice 

 sufficient for the consumption oi the inhabitants, but 

 requires an annual supply from Bengal and other 

 places on the continent of India. The cultivation 

 of this article, however, has been considerably aug 

 mented since 1800, and many tracts on the western 

 coast, which were formerly wild and marshy, have been 

 brought into a state of cultivation. See Knox's 

 IL'xlorical Rclnlinn of Ceylon. Percival. 



Vegetables. This island is particularly abundant in fruits. Al- 

 most all those plants which are peculiar to tropical 

 climates are found in Ceylon in great plenty, and of 

 a superior quality. Most of those fiuiis which are 



natives of the inland, grow spontaneously in the woods 

 without culture or care ; and the only labour nrces- 

 ary is to pluck and bring them to market, where 

 they are of course sold at a very moderate price. 

 Among them are most of those which constitute the 

 greatest delicacies in the deserts of our European 

 tables, such as pine apples, pomegranates, melons, 

 citrons, limes, oranges, almonds, &c. Besides these, 

 Ceylon produces a great variety of valuable and deli- 

 cious fruits. Among the vegetable productions of 

 this country, cinnamon is the most important. The 

 principal woods or gardens of this tree lie in the 

 neighbourhood of Columbo. They approach within 

 half a mile of the fort, and fill the whole surrou: 

 prospect. The grand garden near the town is so ex- 

 tensive, as to occupy a tract of country from ten to 

 fifteen miles in length, and in this space nature has 

 concentrated all the beauty and the riches of the 

 island. The low cinnamon trees which cover the 

 plain, allow the view to reach the groves of ever- 

 greens, which are interspersed with tall clumps, and 

 bounded by extensive ranges of cocoa nuts and other 

 trees. The whole is diversified with small lakes and 

 green marshes, or skirted by fields of rice and pas- 

 ture. One large road, which proceeds from the west 

 gate of the fort, and returns by the gate on the 

 south, makes a winding circuit of seven miles among 

 the woods. It is here that the gentlemen belonging 

 to the garrison of Columbo take their morning ride, 

 and enjoy one of the finest scenes in nature. The 

 quantity of cinnamon raised on other parts of the 

 island is now very small, unless around Negumbo 

 Caltura, Point de Galle, and Matura. Of late years r 

 little is procured from the interior, and what is 

 brought thence is coarser and thicker in appearance*, 

 and of a hot and pungent taste. The internal partj 

 of the country are not so well adapted for the pro- 

 duction of this plant ; and the exactions and avarice- 

 of the Dutch, at length reduced the king of Candy 

 to such desperation, that he resolved to secure him- 

 self against their future attacks, by leaving nothing 

 in his dominions which could excite their covetous- 

 ness. With this view he has, since the conclusion 

 of the treaty with them in 1766, employed every 

 means to prevent the growth and propagation of the 

 cinnamon tree.* In other respects, however, the 

 state of husbandry in Candy does nut appear to be 

 despicable. Mr Cordiner informs us, that all the 

 way from Geeriegamme to the capital, the country 

 is extremely beautiful, and probably in a higher state 

 of cultivation than any part of India. Many of the 

 hills are cleared to the summit, formed into ridges^ 

 and sown with grain. The fields below are terraced 

 in the most regular manner on different levels, so that 

 not a drop of water can be lost. The vailies are or- 

 namented with groves of cocoa nut, arcka, orange, 

 lime, pimplemose, and plantain tree. See Perca\il. 

 Gardiner, vol. i. Asiatic Register, vol. vi. For a 

 more particular account of the vegetable productions 

 of Ceylon, see Pennant, vol. i. p. 215 252; Per- 

 rival, p. 312 351 ; Cordimr, vol. i. p. 3-k> i 

 and Thunberg's Travels, vol. iv. 



Ceylon is much celebrated on account of its mi- 

 neralogy, and particularly for the number and variety 



Ceylon. 





The whole quantity of cinnamon sent annually to England amounts to 4000 bags, or 363,000 Us. for which the Eat In. 

 dia Company pay to government a stipulated price yf L. 60,000 sterling. 



