XXX 



INTRODUCTION. 



tory of the colony, I found an equal want of reliable 

 information ; and every work that even touched on the 

 subject was pervaded by the misapprehension which I 

 have collected evidence to correct ; that Ceylon is but a 

 fragment of the great Indian continent dissevered by 

 some local convulsion ; and that the zoology and botany 

 of the island are identical with those of the mainland. 1 



Thus for almost every particular and fact, whether 

 physical or historical, I have been to a great extent 

 thrown on my own researches ; and obliged to seek for 

 information in original sources, and in French and 

 English versions of Oriental authorities. The results 

 of my investigations are embodied in the following 

 pages ; and it only remains for me to express, in terms 

 however inadequate, my obligations to the literary and 

 scientific friends by whose aid I have been enabled to 

 pursue my inquiries. 



Amongst these my first acknowledgments are due to 

 Dr. TEMPLETON, of the Army Medical Staff, for his cpr- 

 dial assistance in numerous departments ; but above all 

 in relation to the physical geography and natural his- 

 tory of the island. Here his scientific knowledge, suc- 

 cessfully cultivated during a residence of nearly twelve 

 years in Ceylon, and his intimate familiarity with its 

 zoology and productions, rendered his co-operation in- 

 valuable ; and these sections abound with evidences of 

 the liberal extent to which his stores of information 

 have been generously imparted. To him and to Dr. 

 CAMERON, of the Army Medical Staff, I am indebted for 

 many valuable facts and observations on tropical health 

 and disease, embodied in the chapter on " Climate" 



1 It may seem presumptuous in 

 me to question the accuracy of Dr. 

 DAVY'S opinion on this point (see 

 his Account of the Interior of Ceylon 



ifc., ch. iii. p. 78.), but the grounds 

 on which I venture to do so are 

 stated, Vol. I. pp. 7, 27, 160, 178, 

 208, &c. 



