46 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



[Part I. 



tions present themselves on tlie east side of Ceylon at 

 Nilla-velle, Batticaloa, and a number of other places north 

 and south of Trincomahe. 



On the west coast embankments of this kind, although 

 frequent are less conspicuous than on the east, owing 

 chiefly to the comparative weakness of the cmTcnt. 

 For six months in the year during the north-east mon- 

 soon that side of the island is exempt 

 from a current in any direction, and 

 for the remaining six, the current from 

 the south not only rarely affects the 

 Gulf of Manaar, but as it flows out of 

 the Indian Ocean it brings no earthy 

 deposits. In addition to this, the surf 

 durins; the soutli-west monsoon rolls 

 with such turbulence on the level beach 

 between Colombo and Point-de-Galle, 

 as in a great degree to disperse the 

 accumulations of sand brought down 

 by the rivers, or heaped up by the tide, 

 when the wind is off the land. Still, 

 many of the rivers are thrown back 

 by embankments, and after forming 

 tortuous lakes flow for a long distance 

 paraUel to the shore, before finding an 

 escape for their waters. Examples of 

 this occur at Pantura, to the south of Colombo, and at 

 Negombo, Chilaw, and elsewhere to the north of it. 

 In process of time these banks of sand' become 



GOBBS" ON THE 

 W. COAST. 



^ In the voyages of Tlie Two 

 Maho7net(tns, the unique MS. of 

 which dates ahout A.D. 851, and is 

 now in the Bibliotheque Eoyale at 

 Paris, Abou-zeyd, one of its authors, 

 describes the "Gobbs" of Ceylon — 

 a word, he says, by which the natives 

 designate the valleys deep and broad 

 which open to the sea. " En face de 

 cette lie il y a de vastes Gohh, mot par 



lequel on designe une vallee, quand 

 elle est a la fois longue et large, et 

 qu'elle debouche dans la mer. Les 

 navigateurs emploient, pour ti'aver- 

 ser le gobb appele ' Gobb de Se- 

 rendib,' deux niois et nieme davant- 

 age, passant a travers des hois et des 

 jardins, au milieu d'uue temperature 

 nioyenne." — Reinatjd, Voyayes faits 

 par les Arabes, vol. i. p. 129. 



