CHAP. I.] GEOLOGY. 13 



duction of the coral polypi, and the currents, which 

 for the greater portion of the year set impetuously 

 towards the south. Coming laden with alluvial matter 

 collected along the coast of Coromandel, and meeting 

 with obstacles south of Point Calimere, they have de- 

 posited their burthens on the coral reefs round Point 

 Pedro ; and these gradually raised above the sea-level., 

 and covered deeply by sand drifts, have formed the 

 peninsula of Jaffna and the plains that trend westward 

 till they unite with the narrow causeway of Adam's 

 Bridge itself raised by the same agencies, and an- 

 nually added to by the influences of the tides and 

 monsoons. 1 



On the north-west side of the island, where the cur- 

 rents are checked by the obstruction of Adam's Bridge, 

 and still water prevails in the Gulf of Manaar, these de- 

 posits have been profusely heaped, and the low sandy 

 plains have been proportionally extended ; whilst on the 

 south and east, where the current sweeps unimpeded 

 along the coast, the hue of the shore is bold and occa- 

 sionally rocky. 



This explanation of the accretion and rising of the 

 land is somewhat opposed to the popular belief that 

 Ceylon was torn from the main land of India 2 by a 

 convulsion, during which the Gulf of Manaar and the 

 narrow channel at Paumbam were formed by the sub- 

 mersion of the adjacent land. The two theories might 

 be reconciled by supposing the sinking to have oc- 

 curred at an early period, and to have been followed 

 by the uprising still in progress. But on a closer exami- 

 nation of the structure and direction of the mountain 



1 The barrier known as Adam's | rently accumulated by the influence 

 Bridge, which obstructs the naviga- j of the currents at the change of the 

 tion of the channel between Ceylon monsoons. See an Essay by Captain 

 and Ramnad, consists of several STEWART on the Paumbcm Pazsaqc 

 parallel ledges of conglomerate and Colombo, 1837. See Vol. II. p. 554. 

 sandstone, hard at the surface, and 2 LASSKX, Indkche Alterthums- 

 growing coarse and soft as it descends knnde, vol. i. p. 193. 

 till it rests on a bank of sand, appa- '' 



