130 The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon. 



so bad that the natives, by felling the forest and burn- 

 ing the timber upon the ground, can only produce one 

 crop of some poor grain ; the land is then exhausted, 

 and upon its consequent desertion it gives birth to an 

 impenetrable mass of low jungle, comprising every 

 thorn that can be conceived. This deserted land, 

 fallen again into the hand of Nature, forms the jungle 

 of Ceylon ; and as native cultivation has thus continued 

 for some thousand years, the immense tract of country 

 now in this impenetrable state is easily accounted for. 

 The forests vary in appearance ; some are perfectly free 

 from underwood, being composed of enormous trees, 

 whose branches effectually exclude the rays of the sun ; 

 but they generally consist of large trees, which tower 

 above a thick, and for the most part thorny, under- 

 wood, difficult to penetrate. 



The features of Ceylon scenery may, therefore, be 

 divided as follows : 



Natural forest, extending over the greater portion. 



Thorny jungle, extending over a large portion. 



Flat plains and thorny jungles, in the vicinity of the 

 coast. 



Open down country, extending over a small portion 

 of the interior. 



Open park country, extending over the greater por- 

 tion of the Veddah district. 



The mountains, forming the centre of the island. 



The latter are mostly covered with forest, but they 

 are beautifully varied by numberless open plains and 

 hills of grass-land at an altitude of from three to nearly 

 nine thousand feet. 



If Ceylon were an open country, there would be no 

 large game, as there would be no shelter from the sun. 



