PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



[PART I. 



pearl upon the brow of India ; " the Chinese knew 

 it as the "island of jewels;" the Greeks as the "land 

 of the hyacinth and the ruby ; " the Mahometans, in the 

 intensity of their delight, assigned it to the exiled 

 parents of mankind as a new elysium to console them 

 for the loss of Paradise ; and the early navigators of 

 Europe, as they returned dazzled with its gems, and 

 laden with its costly spices, propagated the fable that 

 far to seaward the very breeze that blew from it was 

 redolent of perfume. 1 In later and less imaginative 

 times, Ceylon has still maintained the renown of its 

 attractions, and exhibits in all its varied charms " the 

 highest conceivable development of Indian nature." 2 



Picturesque Outline. The nucleus of its mountain 

 masses consists of gneissic, granitic, and other crystalline 



which is their elephant honoured by 

 a naturall acknowledgement of ex- 

 cellence of all other elephants in the 

 world). These all have conspired 

 and joined in common league to pre- 

 sent vnto Zeilan the chiefs of worldly 

 treasures and pleasures, with a long 

 and healthful! life in the inhabitants 

 to enjoye them. No man-ell, then, 

 if sense and sensualitie haue heere 

 stumbled on a paradise." 



1 The fable of the " spicy breezes " 

 said to blow from Arabia and India, 

 is as old as Ctesias ; and is eagerly 

 adopted by Pliny, lib. xii. c. 42, 

 and repeated by several voyagers in 

 the middle ages, and even in later 

 times. (See MEUDELSLO'S Travels 

 A.D. 1639. b. ii.) The Greeks bor- 

 rowed the tale from the Hindus, 

 who believe that the Chandana or 

 sandal-wood imparts its odours to 

 the winds ; and their poets speak 

 of the Malayan as the westerns did 

 of the Sabrean breezes. But the 

 allusion to such perfumed winds 

 was a trope common to all the 

 discoverers of unknown lands: the 

 companions of Columbus ascribed 

 them to the region of the Antilles; 

 and Verrazani and Sir Walter Ra- 

 leigh scented them off the coast of 

 Carolina. Milton borrowed from 



Diodorus Siculus, lib. iii. c. 46, the 

 statement that 



" Far off at sea north-east winds blow 

 Saba-an odours from the spicy shore 

 Of Araby the Blest." 



(/>. L. ST. 163.) 



Anosto emploj-s the same imagina- 

 tive embellishment to describe the 

 charms of Cyprus : 



" Serpillo e persa e rose e gigli e croco 

 Spargon dall' odorifero terreno 

 Tanta suavita, ch' in mar sentire 

 La fa ogni vento chc da terra spire." 



(Oil. Fur. xviii. IH8.) 



That some aromatic smell is percep- 

 tible far to seaward, in the vicinity of 

 certain tropical countries, is unques- 

 tionable ; and in the instance of Cuba, 

 an odour like that of violets, which is 

 discernible two or three miles from 

 land, when the wind is off the shore, 

 has been traced by Poeppig to a spe- 

 cies of Tetracera, a climbing plant 

 which diffuses its odour during the 

 night. But in the case of Ceylon, if 

 the existence of such a perfume be not 

 altogether imaginary, the fact has 

 been falsified by identifying the al- 

 leged fragrance with cinnamon ; the 

 truth being that the cinnamon laurel, 

 unless it be crushed, exhales no aroma 

 whatever ; and the pecidiar odour of 

 the spice is only perceptible after the 

 bark has been separated and dried. 



2 LASSEX, Lulische Alterthtnns- 

 kmtde, vol. i. p. 108. 



