ii. Appendix: — Proceedings of 



whose absence that night he (Mr. Layard) regretted, spoke 

 in a letter which had been just received, of the assistance, 

 which the Society might, if properly encouraged, derive from 

 its Native members. He also referred to Mr. de Alwis, 

 who was prepared with several papers on subjects of interest, 

 and to Mr. de Zoysa, whom he thought competent to under- 

 take the translation of the portion of the Mahawanso, which 

 had been left untranslated by Mr. Turnour. Mr. Neitner 

 had some very valuable papers on the Natural History of the 

 Island, and he (Mr. L ) believed there were others in 

 the Island, who would, with the opportunity afforded of 

 doing so, render much assistance in various other branches 

 of Science. It was therefore necessary, that the Secretary 

 should be instructed to call a General Meeting for the pur- 

 pose of electing Members and Office bearers. He (Mr. L.) 

 had entertained hopes of obtaining for the Society the 

 services of Captain Old field as Secretary ; but he regretted 

 to say that that gentleman, who was prevented from attend- 

 ing the meeting by an indisposition, had communicated that 

 his contemplated removal from Colombo would render it 

 impossible for him to accept the office. He had, however, 

 kindly promised, that while at Trincomalie, he would at all 

 times be ready to devote a portion of his time to the Society's 

 service. They had therefore, not only to select a gentleman 

 for the office of Secretary, but also to elect members for a 

 Committee. It would be desirable, to ask His Excellency 

 the Governor to be the Patron of the Society, and the 

 Hon'ble the Chief Justice, who he, (Mr. L.) was glad to 

 find took a deep interest in the Society's welfare, as Vice- 

 Patron. Among other matters of difficulty which the 

 Society had to contend with at present, the want of a place 

 to transact business in, was perhaps not the least. He, Mr. 

 Layard, had spoken to several gentlemen on the subject, and 

 it was suggested by some, that this want might be remedied 



