CiiAP. I.] GEOLOGY. 13 



duction of the coral polj^oi, and the ciirrents, which 

 for the greater portion of the year set impetuously 

 towards the soiitli. Coming laden witli alhivial matter 

 collected along the coast of Coromandel, and meeting 

 with obstacles south of Point Cahmere, they have de- 

 posited their burthens on the coral reefs round Point 

 Pedro ; and these gradually raised above the sea-level, 

 and covered deeply by sand drifts, have formed the 

 peninsula of Jaffna and the plains that trend westward 

 till the}^ unite with the narrow causeway of Adam's 

 Bridge — itself raised by the same agencies, and an- 

 nually added to by the influences of the tides and 

 monsoons.' 



On the north-west side of the island, where the cur- 

 rents are checked by the obstruction of Adam's Bridge, 

 and still water prevails in the Gulf of Manaar, these de- 

 posits have been profusely heaped, and the low sandy 

 plains have been proportionally extended ; whilst on the 

 south and east, where the current sweeps unimpeded 

 along the coast, the line of the shore is bold and occa- 

 sionally rocky. 



This explanation of the accretion and rising of the 

 land is somewhat opposed to the popular belief that 

 Ceylon was torn from the main land of India ^ by a 

 convulsion, during wdiich the Gulf of Manaar and the 

 narrow channel at Paumbam were formed by the sub- 

 mersion of the adjacent land. The two theories might 

 be reconciled by supposing the sinking to have oc- 

 curred at an early period, and to have been followed 

 by the uprising still in progress. But on a closer exami- 

 nation of the structure and chrection of the mountain 



^ The barrier known as Adam's 

 Bridge, which obstructs the navifja- 

 tion of the channel between Ceylon 

 and Ramnad, consists of several 

 parallel ledges of conglomerate and 



rently accumulated by the influence 

 of the currents at the change of the 

 monsoons. See an Essay by Captain 

 Stewart on the Paumhem Passage. 

 Colombo, 1837. See Vol. II. p. 554. 



sandstone, hard at the surface, and ] ^ Lassen, IndMie Alterthums 

 growing coarse and soft as it descends ^ himde, vol. i. p. 193. 

 till it i-ests on a bank of sand, appa- ' 



