Chap. L] 



SAND FORMATION. 



43 



as the native peasantry, betake tliemselves to precipi- 

 tate flidit.i 



Few of the larger rivers have been bridged, except 

 those wliicli intersect the great high roads from Point- 

 de-Galle to Colombo, and thence to Kandy. JSTear the 

 sea this has been effected by timber platforms, sustained 

 by piles sufficiently strong to withstand the force of the 

 floods at the change of each monsoon. A bridge of 

 boats connects each side of the Kalany, and on reach- 

 ing the MahawelH-ganga at Peradenia, one of the 

 most pictm'esque structures on the island is a noble 

 bridge of a single arch, 205 feet in span, cliiefly con- 

 structed of satin-wood, and thrown across the river by 

 General Fraser in 1832. 



On reaching the margin of the sea, an appearance is 

 presented by the outhne of the coast, near the em- 

 bouchm^es of the principal rivers, wliich is very remark- 

 able. It is common to both sides of the island, though 

 it has attained its greatest development on the east. 

 In order to comprehend its formation, it is necessary 

 to observe that Ceylon Hes in the course of the ocean 

 currents in the Bay of Bengal, which run north or 

 south according to the pre- 

 valence of the monsoon, and 

 with greater or less velocity 

 in proportion to its force at 

 particular periods. 



In the beo-innino; and dur- 

 ing the strength of the north- 

 east monsoon the current sets 

 strongly along the coast of 

 Coromandel to the southward, 

 a portion of it frequently en- 



CDKRENi' IN THE N.E. MONSOON. 



^ It has been remarked along' the 

 Mahawelli-gano-a, a few miles from 

 Kandy, that during the deadly season, 

 after the subsidence of the rains, the 

 jungle fever generally attacks one 

 face of the hills through which it 



winds, leaving the opposite side en- 

 tirely exempted, as if the poisonous 

 vapour, being carried by the current 

 of air, affected only those aspects 

 against which it directly impinged. 



