chap vii. CAPABILITIES OF CEYLON. 143 



Flat plains and thorny jungles, in the vicinity of 

 the coast. 



Open down country, extending over a small portion 

 of the interior. 



Open park country, extending over the greater 

 portion of the Veddah district. 



The mountains, forming the centre of the island. 



The latter are mostly covered with forest, but they 

 are beautifully varied by numberless open plains and 

 hills of grass land at an altitude of from three to nearly 

 nine thousand feet. 



If Ceylon were an open country, there would be no 

 large game, as there would be no shelter from the 

 sun. In the beautiful open down country throughout 

 the Ouva district there is no game larger than wild 

 hogs, red-deer, mouse-deer, hares, and partridges. 

 These animals shelter themselves in the low bushes, 

 which generally consist of the wild guavas, and oc- 

 cupy the hollows between the undulations of the hills. 

 The thorny jungles conceal a mass of game of all 

 kinds, but in this retreat the animals are secure from 

 attack. In the vicinity of the coast, among the ' flat 

 plains and thorny jungles,' there is always excellent 

 shooting at particular seasons. The spotted deer 

 abound throughout Ceylon, especially in these parts, 

 where they are often seen in herds of a hundred 

 together. In many places they are far too numerous, 

 as, from the want of inhabitants in these parts, there 



