142 THE RIFLE AND HOUND IN CEYLON, chap. vn. 



bad soil. There are no minerals except iron, no lime- 

 stone except dolomite, no other rocks than quartz 

 and gneiss. The natural pastures are poor ; the 

 timber of the forests is the only natural production of 

 any value, with the exception of cinnamon. Sugar 

 estates do not answer, and coffee requires an expensive 

 system of cultivation by frequent manuring. In fact, 

 the soil is wretched ; so bad that the natives, by 

 felling the forest and burning the timber upon the 

 ground, can only produce one crop of some poor 

 grain ; the land is then exhausted, and upon its con- 

 sequent desertion it gives birth to an impenetrable 

 mass of low jungle, comprising every thorn that can 

 be conceived. This deserted land, fallen again into 

 the hand of Nature, forms the jungle of Ceylon ; and 

 as native cultivation has thus continued for some 

 thousand years, the immense tract of country now in 

 this impenetrable state is easily accounted for. The 

 forests vary in appearance ; some are perfectly free 

 from underwood, being composed of enormous trees, 

 whose branches effectually exclude the rays of the sun ; 

 but they generally consist of large trees, which tower 

 above a thick, and for the most part thorny, under- 

 wood, difficult to penetrate. 



The features of Ceylon scenery may, therefore, be 

 divided as follows : — 



Natural forest, extending over the greater portion. 



Thorny jungle, extending over a large portion. 



