42 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. [Part I. 



of wliicli are the Arive and the Moderegam, which flow 

 into the Gnlf of Manaar ; the Kala-oya and the Kanda- 

 lady, which empty themselves into the Bay of Calpentyn ; 

 the Maniek or Kattragam, and the Koombookgam, oppo- 

 site to the Little Bass I'ocks ; and the ISTaveloor, the 

 Chadawak, and Arookgam, south of Batticaloa. The 

 extent of country drained by these latter streams is little 

 short of thirteen thousand square miles. 



Very few of the rivers of Ceylon are navigable, and 

 these only by canoes and flat-bottomed paddy boats, 

 which ascend some of the largest for short distances, 

 till impeded by the rapids, occasioned by rocks in the 

 lowest range of the hills. In this way the Niwalle at 

 Matura can be ascended for about fifteen miles, as far as 

 Wellehara ; the Kalu-ganga can be traversed from Cal- 

 tura to Eatnapoora ; the Bentotte river for sixteen miles 

 to Pittagalla ; and the Kalany from Colombo to the foot 

 of the mountains near Ambogammoa. The Maha- 

 welh-ganga is navigable from Tiincomahe to within a 

 short distance of Kanda^ ; and many of the lesser 

 streams, the Kirinde and WeUawey in the south, and 

 the Kaymel, the Dedroo-oya, and the Aripo river on 

 the west of the island, are used for short distances by 

 boats. 



All these streams are hable, during the fury of the 

 monsoons, to be surcharged with rain till they over- 

 flow their banks, and spread in wide inundations over 

 the level country. On the subsidence of these waters, 

 the intense heat of the sun acting on the surface they 

 leave deserted, produces a noxious and fatal malaria. 

 Hence the rivers of Ceylon present the curious anomaly, 

 that whilst the tanks and reservoirs of the interior dif- 

 fuse a healthful coolness around, the running water of 

 the rivers is prohfic of fevers ; and in some seasons so 

 deadly is the pestilence that the Malabar coohes, as well 



^ For an account of the capabilities j Geocj. Journ. vol. iii. p. 223, and jwst, 

 of tlie INIahawelli-ganga, as regards Vol, II. p. 428. 

 navigation, see Bkooke's Report , Roy. I 



