1 94 Mineralogy of the Island of Ceylon. 



lows 3 and lately, an attempt has been made by Govern- 

 ment to establish a forge in Handy. 



Of the above minerals, and of almost all others, indeed, 

 the part of this Island which we occupy is entirely desti- 

 tute. The District of Jaffna is a perfectly level bed of 

 sand, sometimes of a clayey order, on a continued substra- 

 tum of a Coral. This species of stone (if it may be called 

 such.) is almost the only one in Jaffna. In those parts of 

 the District where the land is higher and drier, there ap- 

 pears occasionally a kind of stone, a little resembling, at 

 first sight, the limestone ; but which, on examination, seems 

 to be composed principally of alumine, with an addition of 

 silex and, perhaps, a small part carbonate of lime. It is 

 of a greyish color, very hard and brittle, without any grit. 

 Wherever found, it is evidently worn by the attrition of the 

 Waters, the surface being generally very smooth, but une- 

 ven, and in case of any thing like a considerable stone or rock, 

 it is full of holes, andsharp points, as one would expect to find 

 in stones,subjected to the action of falling water. Indeed, 

 there is no want of evidence, that the whole of the District 

 has been redeemed from the sea, and some part of it, at no 

 very remote period. The land is all evidently of seconda- 

 ry formation. In many places near the sea, it is still noth- 

 ing but a confused mass of coral and sea-shells, with a small 

 mixture of common earth. This is particularly the case on 

 the southern and western shore, where the water is very 

 shallow, and discloses at the bottom increasing beds of co- 

 ral, which threaten still greater encroachments upon the 

 sea. 



What is here called (improperly enough perhaps,) ^'Co- 

 ral Stone,^^ appears to be a calcareous formation from coral 

 or coralline, broken and reduced by various degrees of at- 

 trition, until it is deposited, with other marine substances, 

 in layers of different consistence, resembling stone. It is 

 light, spongy and easily cut with the axe or saw, but when 

 taken from its watery bed, and exposed to the air, it har- 

 dens so as to form an excellent rnaterial for building. It is 

 burnt for lime, and when the proportion of shells in its com- 

 position predominates, it forms an excellent cement, supe- 

 riour to that of the limestone of our country. The coral- 

 line, which goes into the composition of this stone, is of the 

 most ordinary kind. It grows in the shallow waters all 



