CEYLON BRANCH — ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY. I'SI 



into this branch of the revenue, and the farmer of the rent con- 

 stantly complained to Government that the various officials in 

 the district employed Looms the produce of which yielded 

 him no tax. 



The Salt Pans were at one time in the exclusive hands of 

 the Government : the sale of the salt being on their account. 

 Afterwards the privilege of retailing it in particular districts 

 and at certain fixed profits, was bestowed upon a number of 

 poor w idows for their support. During the Government of Falck 

 this system was changed, inasmuch as the right of sale was 

 then farmed out to renters, and the proceeds of this rent ap- 

 propriated to the maintenance of the widows of poor persons, 

 chiefly old servants of the Company. At that time the Renters 

 paid the Government 2j fanams the parah, and were allowed 

 to retail it at 4 J fanams ; there were however, certain privi- 

 leged persons and classes who had the right to purchase their 

 Salt from the Renters at 3 fanams. 



At these rates it may be imagined that the farm could not 

 yield any large sum. £200 appears to have been the total 

 realized by all the Salt Pans of the island. It certainly forms 

 matter of surprize that the Dutch should have made so little 

 by this monopoly since a great portion of the supply was fur- 

 nished to their hostile neighbour the Kandyans against whom we 

 might have expected they would have raised the price on the 

 occasion of any infraction of treaties and which frequently hap« 

 pened. It does not seem to have occurred to them that by increas- 

 ing this one source of revenue they would have been enabled 

 to have abandoned many trifling and comparatively unprofitable 

 taxes. The probable reason of this moderation was that the 

 supply of Cinnamon from the Kandyan country was of too 

 great value to them to risk by any addition to the selling 

 price of Salt* 



