34 Dr Kelaart's Notes on the Geology of Ceylon. 



gravel. The colour, too, of the decomposed particles would 

 not be dark brown or black, but whitish or yellowish. The 

 loam and gravel lie so conformably on the lithomargic sur- 

 face of the hills and valleys, that it is unreasonable to suppose 

 that they were deposited from any other source than from a 

 large sheet of water.* The heavier particles in the form of 

 gravel sinking first, and then the lighter particles held in 

 suspension in the water were deposited over the bed of 

 gravel, or, as in some places seen, on layers of various sized 

 pieces of quartzite and gneiss. The loam is not mixed with 

 gravel, it is composed of fine sand, just such as mud of rivers 

 or lakes is composed of. In the lower layers this loam is of 

 a brown colour, but becoming darker as it approaches the 

 surface, and after being mixed with the decomposed matter 

 of the grasses which grow on it, the loam becomes nearly of 

 a peaty nature and of a blackish colour. 



In sections along the different roads which traverse the 

 plains, a continuous layer of gravel, from one inch to two or 

 three feet in thickness, is seen lying over the lithomargic 

 hills, and on this gravelly surface the brown or blackish loam 

 is seen of various thickness, generally from one to three feet ; 

 in some places even five or six feet of loam is found. In a 

 section near the Governor's cottage an interruption appears 

 to have taken place after about a foot of mud was deposited, 

 and then came over the pure mud masses of gneiss and 

 pebbles now lying several feet thick mixed with loam of a 

 brownish colour. Over this mixed deposit is again seen a 

 thin layer of loam such as is found in other parts of the 

 plain — the whole forming a curious variegated structure. 



The above observations lead me to conclude that the plains ■ 

 of Nuwera Ellia, and perhaps those of higher parts, have 

 once been the channel of a slow winding river or bed of an 

 extensive lake. And it is probable that the lower hills, 

 which look like inverted tea cups, were elevated by subse- 



* May not this account for the want of luxuriant vegetation on these patnas, 

 the water having washed and carried away to the lower parts of the island the 

 alkalies and phosphates, so necessary to plants ? The black soil of Nuwera 

 Ellia, however rich in appearance, requires much manuring; the best potatoes 

 are the products of well-manured grounds. Guano is as much required here 

 as anywhere else. 



