84 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



[PART I. 



curiosities from a single tree in the old Botanic Garden at 

 Caltura, are now found to thrive readily, and they occasion- 

 ally appear at table, rivalling in their wonderful delicacy 

 of flavour those which have heretofore been regarded 

 as peculiar to the Straits. 



Up to the present time the botany of Ceylon has been 

 imperfectly submitted to scientific scrutiny. Linnasus, 

 in 1747, prepared his Flora Zeylanica, from specimens 

 collected by Hermann, which had previously constituted 

 the materials of the Thesaurus Zeylanicus of Burman and 

 now form part of the herbarium in the British Museum. 

 A succession of industrious explorers have been since 

 engaged in following up the investigation l ; but, with the 

 exception of an imperfect and unsatisfactory catalogue by 

 Moon, no enumeration of Ceylon plants has yet been pub- 

 lished. Dr. Gardner had made some progress with a 

 Singhalese Flora, when his death took place in 1849, an 

 event which threw the task on other hands, and has 

 postponed its completion for years. 2 



From identity of position and climate, and the apparent 

 similarity of soil between Ceylon and the southern 

 extremity of the Indian peninsula, a corresponding 

 agreement might be expected between the vegetable 

 productions of each : and accordingly in its aspects 

 and subdivisions Ceylon participates in those distinctive 

 features which the monsoons have imparted respectively 

 to the opposite shores of Hindustan. The western coast 



1 Amongst the collections of Cey- 

 lon plants deposited in the Hookerian 

 Herbarium, are those made by General 

 and Mrs. Walker, by Major Cham- 

 pion (who left the island in 1848), 

 and by Mr. Thwaites, who succeeded 

 Dr. Gardner in charge of the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens at Kandy. Moon, 

 who had previously held that appoint- 

 ment, left extensive collections in 

 the herbarium at Peradenia, which 

 have been largely increased by his 

 successors ; and Macrae, who was 

 employed by the Horticultural So- 

 ciety of London, has enriched their 



museum with Ceylon plants. Some 

 admirable letters of Mrs. "Walker 

 are printed in HOOKER'S Companion 

 to the Botanical Magazine. They 

 include an excellent account of the 

 vegetation of Ceylon. 



2 Dr. Gardner, in 1848, drew up a 

 short paper containing Some Remarks 

 on the Flora of Ceylon, which was 

 printed in the appendix to LEE'S 

 Translation of Ribeyro ; to this essay, 

 and to his personal communications 

 during frequent journeys, I am in- 

 debted for many facts "incorporated 

 in the following pages. 



