14 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



[PART I. 



system of Ceylon, it exhibits no traces of submersion. 

 It seems erroneous to regard it as a prolongation of the 

 Indian chains ; it lies far to the east of the line formed 

 by the Ghauts on either side of the peninsula, and any 

 affinity which it exhibits is rather with the equatorial 

 direction of the intersecting ranges of the Nilgherries 

 and the Vindhya. In their geological elements there 

 is, doubtless, a similarity between the southern ex- 

 tremity of India and the elevated portions of Ceylon ; 

 but there are also many important particulars in which 

 their specific differences are irreconcilable with the con- 

 jecture of previous continuity. In the north of the island 

 there is a marked preponderance of aqueous strata, 

 which are comparatively rare in the vicinity of Cape 

 Comorin ; and whilst the rocks of Ceylon are entirely 

 destitute of organic remains l ; fossils, both terrestrial and 

 pelagic, have been found in the Eastern Ghauts, and 

 sandstone, in some instances, overlies the primary rocks 

 which compose them. The rich and black soil to the 

 south of the Nilgherries presents a strong contrast to the 

 red and sandy earth of the opposite coast ; and both in 

 the flora and fauna of the island there are exceptional 

 peculiarities which suggest a distinction between it and 

 the Indian continent. 



Mountain System. At whatever period the moun- 

 tains of Ceylon may have been raised, the centre 

 of maximum energy must have been in the vicinity 

 of Adam's Peak, the group immediately surrounding 



1 At Cutchavelly, north of Trin- 

 coinalie, there exists a bed of cal- 

 careous clay, in which shells and 

 crustaceans are found in a semi- 

 fossilised state ; but they are all of 

 recent species, principally Mdcroph- 

 tJudmus and Scylla, The breccia at 

 Jaffna contains recent shells, as does 

 also the arenaceous strata on the 

 western coast of Manaar and in the 

 neighbourhood of Galle. The ex- 

 istence of fossilised crustaceans in the 



north of Ceylon was known to the early 

 Arabian navigators. Abou-zeyd des- 

 cribes one of them as, "Un animal de 

 mer qui ressemble a l'e"crevisse ; quand 

 cet animal sort de la mer, Use convertit 

 en pierre." See REINAUD, Voyages 

 fails par Ics Arabes, vol. i. jp. 21. The 

 Arabs then, and the Chinese at the 

 present day, use these petrifactions 

 when powdered as a specific for 

 diseases of the eye. 



