CEYLON. L69 



crown in 1795. The two firs! nations never conquered 



the entire island, and the British forces underwent 

 manv hardships and met with fierce opposition in the 

 interior of the island before the last rebellion was sup- 

 pressed in 1817. Since that time the peace of the 

 island has never been disturbed and it has become, 

 under a wise, conservative government, the wealthiest 

 and most prosperous colony of the British empire. The 

 principal articles of export are tea, coffee, cinnamon, 

 cacao and cinchona bark. The cocoanut palm, which is 

 found here in all its productiveness along the seashore, 

 in the lowlands, valleys and high up on the hillside, 

 not only furnishes the natives with a considerable part 

 of their sustenance, but is an important source of reve- 

 nue. The annual value of the produce of this tree alone 

 amounts to $10,000,000. In looking at the palm forests 

 of Ceylon no one could forget what this tree does for 

 the untutored natives, as 



"It is meat, drink and clothes to us." — Rabelais. 



And one who would not think almost instinctively of 

 the beautiful words of the psalmist : 



"The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; 

 he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon." — 

 Psalms xcii, 12. 



Ceylon supplies the markets of the world with cin- 

 chona bark, amounting to about a million of pounds a 

 year. The cinnamon tree is indigenous and reaches a 

 height of from 40 to 60 feet and a circumference of 

 from 3 to 6 feet. The cinnamon bark, however, is not 

 obtained from the old trees, but from annual shoots 

 from a very short stump, which is pruned and sprouts 

 from year to year. Another important source of reve- 

 nue is the more than 4,000 gem quarries. Ceylon has 

 now more than 1,500 miles of railway, over 2,000 

 schools, 36 newspapers and upward of 100 hospitals and 

 dispensaries. The Ceylon tea is the best in the world, 

 and since it has been found that the hardy shrub which 

 grows this commodity will thrive best at an altitude of 



