CEYLON COCOA ESTATE 163 



" length of six or seven feet and the thickness of 

 "a finger. In the interim, the only cultivation 

 M required is repeated cleaning. The whole 

 " plantation is cut down at the proper period, and 

 " the sticks are then stripped of their bark by 

 11 the peelers. These men are called M Chalias," 

 " and their labour is confined to this particular 

 " branch. Their practice in this employment 

 " naturally renders them particularly expert, and 

 " in far less time than is occupied in the descrip- 

 M tion they run a sharp knife longitudinally along 

 " a stick, and at once divest it of the bark. On 

 u the following day the strips are scraped so as 

 11 to entirely remove the outer cuticle. One strip 

 "is then laid within the other, which upon becom- 

 " ing dry, contract and form a series of enclosed 

 11 pipes. It is subsequently packed in bales and 

 M carefully sewed up in double sacks for exporta- 

 " tion. 



These Sinhalese cinnamon men are allowed to 

 occupy a disused store not far from the bunga- 

 low, and seem a cheerful happy set — indeed 

 rather too cheerful for our comfort, for when 

 not at work, they amuse themselves by either 

 playing on a flageolet, or else reading aloud at 

 the top of their voices, with a curious up and 

 down cadence, reminding me more than any- 

 thing of the sounds proceeding from a Welsh 

 dissenting chapel when the minister is en- 

 dowed with an extra portion of " Hwyl." 



