ISLAND OF CEYLON. 1S9 



tans out of refpedt to our common father ; the Clngakje under 

 the notion 1 have juft mentioned. Is there not a trace of Cbrif- 

 tianity in the opinion of the Cingalefe refpeding Buddo, of the 

 neceffity of a mediator, which they might have colleded from 

 the Chrijlia7is of St. Thomas f Here they hght lamps, and offer 

 facrifices, which, by antient cuftom, are given to tlie Moor;/!} 

 pilgrims. All the vifitants are, in places, obliged to be drawn 

 up by chains, fo rude and inacceflible is the way to this mount 

 of fandlity. 



From this mountain ruflies the great river Mavila-Ganga, or Ganger. 

 Ganges^ which pafles unnavigable, clofe to Candy^ a very long 

 and rocky courfe to the fea at Trhicomale. 



All the reft of the ille, except fome marfliy flats adapted to 

 the culture of rice, are broken into thoufands of hills, beauti- 

 fully cloathed with wood. The intervening valleys are often 

 moralTy, or confifting of a rich fat foil; but the fertility of the 

 open parts is aftonifhiagly great. 



The account given by Ptolemy of the mineral or foffil pro- Minerals. 

 duilions, is, in a great meafure, confirmed. Iron and copper 

 are found here, as is black lead. A gold mine is faid to be 

 latent in one of the great mountains, but the working prohi- 

 bited by the emperor. Of gems, the ruby, fapphire, topaz, the Gems. 

 electric tourmalin, Cronjledt. Ed. Magellan. fe6l. 85; and the 

 cat's eye, or Pfend-opal, and hyacinth, are met with. But what 

 occafions the neglect of the mines, and of the gems, is the at- 

 tention to the great ftaple of the ifland, the important bark of 

 the cinnamon. Dodlor 'Thunberg is very exadl in his account 

 of the gems of Ceylon, Travels, iv. 315. They are dug up 

 about Matura, and the liberty of fearch is farmed for no more 



than 



