No. 12.— 1860-1.] BADULLA AND ITS PRODUCTS. 117 



earth and mix it up with wood-ashes of the Erythrina 

 Indica and Terminalia alata, or the petiole of the coconut ; 

 putting the whole into a large talipot leaf previously 

 shaped into the form of a funnel ; they then proceed to 

 pour water over and filter this mixture of earth and ashes. 

 This operation is continued until the water begins to look 

 turbid, when it must at once cease, as this is an indica- 

 tion of the purely earthy character of the particles yet 

 remaining in the leaf. The washing obtained in the way 

 above described is generally very clean, possessing a strong 

 ammoniacal odour, and containing nitrate of potash in 

 solution. To crystallize this, they remove the washing 

 into a large chatty in which it is boiled till it thickens 

 and presents the appearance of " a mixture of flour and 

 water ; " in this state it is transferred to another earthen 

 chatty having a rough surface within, called kovaha, where 

 it is left until crystallization takes place. Bat as the 

 crystals thus formed do not look white and nice, they 

 are dissolved once more in water, and allowed to crystallize 

 again, when fine large crystals are produced. The saltpetre 

 obtained in this way was used by the Kandyans chiefly 

 for making fireworks ; indeed the native term for it, 

 Vbdilunu would indicate this much. Great attention 

 appears to have been paid by the Sinhalese to the Pyro- 

 technic art, on which they have numerous and elaborate 

 compositions. The Chinese it is well-known have always 

 been famous for their fireworks, which are superior to 

 those of other nations in variety and beauty. They likewise 

 used saltpetre for this purpose before they became ac- 

 quainted with the art of making gunpowder. 



Dr. Davy's early scientific researches in Ceylon ought 

 to be more generally known than they have been among 

 the residents and others who are engaged in similar re- 

 searches. The learned Doctor travelled through the length 

 and breadth of the Island ; he had excellent opportunities 

 for making personal observations, and his descriptions of 



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