Gross Collection 

 Bus. AcJm. Lib. 



CONTENTS 



THE PIRST VOLUME. ^' ' 



PART I. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



CHAPTER I. 



GEOLOGY.— MINERALOGY. — GEMS. 



Page 



I. General Aspect. 



Singular beauty of the island . 3 

 Its ancient renown in conse- 

 quence 4 



Fable of its " perfumed winds " 



(jiote) 4 

 Character of the scenery . . 5 



II. Geographical Position ... 6 

 Ancient views regarding it a- 



mongstthe Hindus, — "the Me- 

 ridian of Lanka " , . .6 

 Buddhist traditions of former 



submersions . . . Quote) 7 

 Errors as to the dimensions of 



Ceylon 8 



Opinions of Onesicritus, Eratos- 

 thenes, Strabo, Pliny, Ptolemy, 

 Agathemerus . . . . 8, 9 

 The Arabian geographers . . 9 

 Sumatra supposed to be Cevlon 



(note) 10 

 True latitude and longitude . 11 

 General Eraser's map of Ceylon 



{7iote) 1 1 



Geological formation . . .12 



Adam's Bridge . . . .13 



Error of supposing Ceylon to be 



a detached fragment of India . 14 



III. The Mninitaiti Si/steni . . 14 

 Remarkable hills, Mihintala and 



Sigiri 15 



Little evidence of volcanic action 16 

 Rocks, gneiss . . . . IG 

 Rock temples . . . .17 

 Laterite or " Cabook " . .17 

 Ancient nameTamba-panni {iiote) 17 

 Coral formation . . .19 



Extraordinary wells . . .21 

 Darwin's theory of coral wells 



examined . . . (^note) 22 

 The soil of Ceylon generally poor 24 

 " Patenas," their phenomena ob- 

 scure 24 



Rice lands betAveen the hills . 2G 

 Soil of the plains, " Talawas " . 27 



IV. 3Ietals.—Tm ... 29 

 Gold, nickel, cobalt . . .29 

 Quicksilver . . . (iiote) 29 

 Iron 30 



v. Minerals. — Anthracite, plumbago, 



kaolin, nitre caves . . .31 

 List of Cej'lon minerals . (note) 32 



VI. Gems, ancient fame of . . 32 

 Rose-coloured quartz . . (note) 33 

 Mode of searching for gems . 34 



Rubies oG 



Sapphire, topaz, garnet, and 



cinnamon stone, cat's-eye, 

 amethyst, moonstone . ' 37, 33 



Diamond not found in Cevlon 



\note) 38 



Gem-finders and lapidaries . 39 



VII. Rivers. — Their character . . 40 

 The Mahawelli-ganga . . 41 

 Table of the rivers . . .41 



VIII. Singular coast formatio7i, and 



its causes . . . .43 

 The currents and their influence 44 

 Word "Gobb " explained 44, (note) 46 

 Vegetation of the sand forma- 

 tions 48 



Their suitability for the coco- 

 nut 51 



IX. Harbours. — Galle and Trinco- 



malie 52 



Tides 52 



Red infusoria . . . .53 

 Population of Ceylon . . .53 



CHAP. IL 



CLIMATE. — HEALTH AND DISEASE. 



Uniformity of temperature . . 54 



Brilliancy of foliage . . • . 5G 

 Colombo. — January — long shore wind 56 

 February — cold nights . . («ofe) 57 



March, April 58 



3Iay — S.W. monsoon . • .58 



Aspect of the country before it . 59 



Lightning 60 



Rain, its violence . . . .61 

 June ....... 62 



A 3 



1622072 



