118 PHYSICAL GEOGRArHY. [Part I. 



Tlie Calamander^, the most valuable cabinet wood of 

 the island, resembling rose-wood, but much surpassing- 

 it both in beauty and durabihty, has at all times been 

 in the greatest repute in Ceylon. It grows chiefly in 

 the southern provinces, and especially in the forests at 

 the foot of Adam's Peak ; but here it has been so pro- 

 digally felled, first by the Dutch, and afterwards by 

 the English, without any precautions for planting or 

 production, that it has at last become exceedingly rare. 

 Wood of a large scanthng is hardly procurable at any 

 price ; and it is only in a very few locahties, the prin- 

 cipal of which is Saffragam, in the western province, 

 that even small sticks are now to be found ; one reason 

 assigned for tliis is that the heart of the tree is seldom 

 sound, a pecuharity which extends to the Cadooberia. 



The twisted portions, and especially the roots of the 

 latter, yield veneers of unusual beauty, dark wavings 

 and blotches, almost black, being gracefully disposed 

 over a dehcate fawn-coloured ground. Its density is 

 so great (nearly 60 lbs. to a cubic foot) that it takes 

 an exquisite polish, and is in every way adapted for 

 the manufacture of fi-irniture, in the ornamenting 

 of which the native carpenters excel. The chiefs 

 and headmen, with a full appreciation of its beauty, 

 take particular pride in possessing specimens of this 

 beautiful wood, roots of which they regard as most ac- 

 ceptable gifts. 



Notwithstanding its value, the tree is nearly eradi- 

 cated, and runs some risk of becoming extinct in the 

 island ; but, as it is not pecuhar to Ceylon, it may be 

 restored by fresh importations from the south-eastern 

 coast of India, of Avhich it is equaUy a native, and 

 I apprehend that the name, Calamcmder, which was used 

 by the Dutch, is but a corruption of " Coromandel." 



Another species of cabinet wood is produced from the 

 Nedun", a large tree common on the western coast ; it 



1 D. liirsiita. I ^ D.nlLerjiia lanoeolaiia. 



