INTRODUCTION. XXXV 



its native woods. Opportunities for observing the 

 latter, and for collecting facts in connection with them, 

 are abundant in Ceylon, and from the moment of my 

 arrival, I profited by every occasion afforded to me 

 for studying the elephant in a state of nature, and 

 obtaining from hunters and natives correct informa- 

 tion as to its oeconomy and disposition. Anecdotes in 

 connection with this subject, I received from some 

 of the most experienced residents in the island ; 

 amongst others, Major Skinner, Captain Philip Payne 

 Gallwey, Mr. Fairholme, Mr. Cripps, and Mr. Mor- 

 ris. Nor can I omit to express my acknowledgments 

 to Professor Owen, of the British Museum, to whom 

 this portion of my manuscript was submitted previous 

 to its committal to the press. 



In the historical sections of the work, I have been 

 reluctantly compelled to devote a considerable space to 

 a narrative deduced from the ancient Singhalese chro- 

 nicles ; into which I found it most difficult to infuse 

 any popular interest. But the toil was not undertaken 

 without a motive. The oeconomics and hierarchical 

 institutions of Buddhism as administered through suc- 

 cessive dynasties, exercised so paramount an influ- 

 ence over the habits and occupations of the Singhalese 

 people, that their impress remains indelible to the 

 present day. The temire of temple lands, the compul- 

 sory services of tenants, the extension of agriculture, 

 and the whole system of co-operative cultivation, derived 

 from this source organisation and development ; and the 

 origin and objects of these are only to be rendered intel- 

 ligible by an inquiry into the events and times in which 

 the system took its rise. In connection with this subject, 

 I am indebted to the representatives of the late Mr. 



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