5-2 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



[PART I 



requires a light and sandy soil, and the constant presence 

 of water in large quantities. All these essentials are 

 combined in the sea-belts here described, lying as they 

 do between the ocean on the one side and the fresh-water 

 lakes formed by the great rivers on the other, thus 

 presenting every requisite of soil and surface. It is 

 along a sand formation of this description, about forty 

 miles long and from one to three miles broad, that 

 thriving coco-nut plantations have been recently com- 

 menced at Batticaloa. At Calpentyn, on the western 

 coast, a like formation has been taken advantage of for 

 the same purpose. At Jaffna somewhat similar pecu- 

 liarities of soil and locality have been seized on for this 

 promising cultivation ; and, generally, along the whole 

 seaborde of Ceylon to the south and west, the shore 

 for the breadth of one or two miles exhibits almost con- 

 tinuous groves of coco-nut palms. 



Harbours. With the exception of the estuaries above 

 alluded to, chiefly in the northern section of the island, 

 the outline of the coast is interrupted by few sinuosities. 

 There are no extensive inlets, or bays, and only two 

 harbours that of Point-de-Galle, which, in addition to 

 being incommodious and small, is obstructed by coral 

 rocks, reefs of which have been upreared to the surface, 

 and render the entrance critical to strange ships *; and 

 the magnificent basin of Trincomalie, which, in extent, 

 security, and beauty, is unsurpassed by any haven in 

 the world. 



Tides. The variation of the tides is so slight that 

 navigation is almost unaffected by it. The ordinary 



villages of the interior ; but the fruit 

 bears no comparison, in number, 

 size, or weight, with that produced 

 in the lowlands, and near the sea, on 

 either side of the island. 



1 Owing to the obstructions at its 

 entrance, Galle is extremely difficult 

 of access in particular winds. In 

 1857 it was announced in the Colombo 

 Examiner that "the fine ship the 



' Black Eagle ' was blown out of Galle 

 Roads the other day, with the pilot 

 on board, whilst the captain was tem- 

 porarily engaged on shore; and as 

 she was not able to beat in again, she 

 made for Trincomalie, where she has 

 been lying for a fortnight. Such an 

 event is by no means unprecedented 

 at Galle/' Colombo Examiner, 29 

 Sept. 1857. 



