C I P 



477 



era 



Cinnamon the month* of April and August, and it called the 



I great harvest ; the second lasts only one month, from the 



Cipoli. en< j O f November to the beginning of January. The 



^"" "Y"* 1 whole barking is carried on by a particular class of the 



natives, called Schjalias by the Dutch, and Choliahs by 



the English. These are again divided into different 



ranks, and are all subordinate to a man, that receives 



the title of Capitain Canaille. Every district furnishes 



a quantity of cinnamon proportionate to its extent, and 



the number of its inhabitants. 



The branches which are three years old are lopped off ; 

 the epidermis is scraped off with a Icnife, having one side 

 concave, and the other convex : the true bark is then 

 ripped up, loosened by the convex side of the knife, and 

 separated from the wood. The smaller portions are then 

 put into the larger. They are then dried in the sun. 

 When the drying is complete, the cinnamon is packed 

 into bundle*, which weigh about 30 pounds. These 

 bundles are bound with bamboo twigs. They are then 

 marked and numbered. These different processes are 

 performed by different classes of the choliahj. 



When the cinnamon is brought to Columbo, previous 

 to its shipment for Europe, it is examined by the sur- 

 geons in the Company's service in rotation ; and this is 

 a most painful duty, as the only test is the taste. The 

 continued chewing of this pungent substance, excoriates 

 the mouth in spite of the utmost precaution. Experi- 

 ence has shewn, that the evil effects of the chewing is 

 best alleviated, by occasionally eating bread and butter. 



The best cinnamon should not be thicker than thick 

 writing paper. It should be rather pliable, of a yellow- 

 ish colour. It should have a sweet taste, and not be so 

 pungent as to produce pain. The inferior kinds are 

 thicker, darker, more pungent, and bitter. After the 

 examination at Columbo has been finished, and the dif- 

 ferent kinds of cinnamon separated, they are packed into 

 bundles four feet long, and weighing eighty-five pounds, 

 five of which are allowed for waste in the passage. The 

 bundles are wrapped up in coarse cloth made of hemp, 

 or of the fibrous part of the cocoa nut tree, and the in- 

 trrstices are filled up with black pepper. This latter 

 practice is said to improve the flavour of both spices. 



The refuse is put into tubs in quantities not exceeding 

 oe hundred weight, and being covered with water, they 

 are allowed to macerate for six or seven days. A small 

 portion of the incumbent liquor is distilled from a copper 

 alembic into glass vessels. One tub requires twenty-four 

 hours for distillation. The fluid which passes over has 

 a milky appearance, the oil floats on the surface, from 

 which it is skimmed off, bottled, sealed, and locked up. 

 The finest has a bright gold yellow colour, and the fla- 

 vour of cinnamon in a very high degree. 



From the distillation not having been carried on since 

 the British have been masters of the colony of Ceylon, 

 the price is risen from three-fourths of a Dutch ducat to 

 JO/, or more per pint. 



The Dutch were accused of deteriorating their cinaa- 

 non, by substituting the distilled bark, and cassia bark ; 

 but this fraud is easily distinguishable. 



Captain Perceval considers the cultivation of this valu- 

 able spice to be susceptible of much improvement. 



Cinnamon is one of the molt agreeable of the spices. It 

 it valuable in household ccconomy, and the oil is also use- 

 ful to the medical practitioner. It is stimulant, and may 

 be employed in cramp of the stomach, &c. ; but it 13 

 chiefly employed to conceal disagreeable odours and taste 

 1n other drugs. See Perceval's Account of Ceylon (c. M.) 



CINTR A. See BRITAIN, p. 696, and ESTHEMADUMA. 



CIPOLI. S< " 



CIRCJEA, a genus of plants of the class Dianana, 

 and order Monogynia. See BOTAN 4', p. 93. 



CIRCARS. See INDIA. 



CIRCASSIA, a country of Asia, situated between 

 40 and 50 degrees E. Long, and between 45 and 50 de- 

 grees N. Lat. It is bounded on the north by the river 

 Don ; on the east by the Caspian Sea, and the mouths of 

 the Volga ; on the south by Mount Caucasus, and the 

 Black Sea ; and on the west by part of the Black Sea, 

 and the Lake of Azof. The face of the country is plea- 

 santly diversified with mountains, valleys, woods, lakes, 

 and rivers, and in respect at least to its natural state, the 

 soil is far from being devoid, in a reasonable degree, of the 

 elements of fertility. The defects that in this particu- 

 lar present themselves, appear to be the consequence chief- 

 ly of a want of proper culture. 



Circassia is inhabited by a warlike race of people, 

 who having expelled or subjected to their dominion the 

 greater part of those tribes, which at earlier periods 

 had obtained possessions in it, spread themselves by 

 degrees over the whole region. They now constitute 

 one of the most considerable of the seven nations in- 

 habiting the Caucasian mountains, and the territory in 

 their environs. Among this people, there seems to be 

 established a complete system of feudalism, not unlike 

 that formerly exercised, though with still greater seve- 

 rity and cruelty, by the German knights, in Prussia and 

 Livonia. The princes and nobility here, accordingly, 

 may be considered alone to constitute the nation, who, 

 both in their intercourse with one another, adhere rigidly 

 to the principles of a feudal subordination, and are guided 

 by the same views in the treatment of their subjects. The 

 latter almost uniformly are captives, subjugated in war, 

 but from adopting the language, and accommodating 

 themselves to the wishes of their conquerors, they are 

 usually treated with lenity. The chiefs and knights a- 

 mong the Circassians pursue ordinarily no other business 

 or recreation, than war, pillage, and the amusements of 

 the chase. They live a lordly life, wander about, fre- 

 quent carousals, and concert and undertake freebooting, 

 or military excursions. The knights keep the lower 

 classes of the people in a due state of order and submis- 

 sion, but are themselves no otherwise subject to the 

 chiefs or princes, than by the obligation of yielding their 

 personal service in war. Vassals, or boon, are considered 

 as hereditary property, and are bound to yield an impli- 

 cit obedience to their masters, holding, indeed, at theip 

 disposal, not barely their possessions, whatever these may 

 be, but even their persons, and their lives. Few instan- 

 ces, however, occur of their being actually sold into bon- 

 dage ; for generally, though not restrained by any posi- 

 tive laws, the prince considers it his interest to secure th 

 affection of his subjects, and entitle himself to their fide- 

 lity in war, by a liberal and benevolent conduct. The 

 peasantry, consisting of vassals naturalized, and slaves 

 more recently taken in war, who fall afterwards into the 

 tame class, plough the land with large ploughs drawn by 

 tix or eight oxen ; they attend to the pasturage of their 

 flocks, carry the necessary timber and fuel from the fo- 

 rest, build the houses, get in the harvest, and make hay, 

 which during winter is commonly consumed on the spot. 

 In the time of harvest, they are assisted in their labour 

 by the women and grown up girls. When in the course 

 of such occupations, the^e people have occasion to remove 

 to some distance from the villages, they immediately con- 

 struct huts, by joining poles, which they cover with bran- 

 ches of trees and long grass, so that they almost resemble 

 hay. stacks. It is in nuts of a construction somewhat 

 similar to these that the princes encamp, when in tbe 



General 

 aspect. 



Manners 



f the in- 

 habitants... 



