INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. 119 



east parts receive but little rain, wldch is all deposited on the 

 intervening heights ; the belt of low land in the south is, on 

 the contrary, abundantly moist at the same season. During 

 the north-east (or winter) monsoon, the rain-fall on the moun- 

 tains, though considerable, is less than during summer, this 

 wind being cooler and having less capacity for moisture ; but 

 showers occur at this season throughout the northern parts of 

 the island. During winter, heavy rain falls along the south- 

 ern coast. 



The difference in climate presented by the various parts of 

 Ceylon is hence very great. In the mountainous districts, 

 where every wind is a moisture-laden sea-wind, it is tempe- 

 rate, equable, and humid throughout the year. The southern 

 parts experience the moist tropical heats of an almost equa- 

 torial climate, and this at a season when the north coasts are 

 scorched with dry heat. The mean temperature of Trinco- 

 mali hence rises to 81^°; and its climate is so dry, that when 

 Mr. Gardner visited it, he found there had been no rain for 

 nine m^onths, — both anomalous conditions, when the proximity 

 of the ocean is considered. Kandy, again, in the centre of 

 the island, which is only 1800 feet above the sea, and is situ- 

 ated in a mountain valley, has a mean temperature of about 

 73°, and that of Newera Ellia, elevated 7000 feet, is probably 

 about 60°. 



The coast of Ceylon is generally fringed with a belt of 

 Cocoa-nuts, which vegetate luxuriantly in the sandy soil of 

 the sea-shore. In the estuaries, mangroves (Rhizophora) in- 

 habit the muddy swamps, accompanied with Heritiera, Son- 

 neratia, Lmnnitzera, Avicennia, and Sccevola, but none of the 

 Phoenix paludosa and Nvpa fruticans, so characteristic of the 

 Sunder bunds. 



In the drier flat parts of the island, extensive sandy plains 

 covered with short grass alternate with undulating downs, 

 either bare or clothed with dense thickets of thorny shrubs. 

 The plants of these parts are generally those of the Carnatic, 

 the climate being the same. 



