No. 37.— 1888 ] INDUSTRIES OF CEYLON. 353 



events, so far as they depended upon the sinew of the people, 

 either directly for the things done, or indirectly for the 

 means of doing them, afford a sure guide for inference and 

 research. Industry, being in one form or another, the 

 source of all wealth, it is evident that wheresoever this is 

 proved to exist, that must have preceded it, as certainly as 

 the parent its offspring. Even when wealth flows from the 

 most precious of nature's bounties, considerable labour is 

 nevertheless necessary for their utilisation. In the Austra- 

 lian gold fields, for example, during the first few years 

 after their discovery, notwithstanding the large prizes found 

 near the surface, and the fortunes acquired by some indivi- 

 dual diggers, the total output, when divided over the whole 

 force engaged in the work, amounted to only two guineas a 

 week for each worker. Gems, and even pearls, when charged 

 with all the expenses involved in their collection, are not so 

 lucrative a source of revenue as they seem at first to be. 



Sir J. E. Tennent, in his celebrated book on Ceylon, 

 disposes summarily of the great staple industry of the Island 

 by the remarkable statement that before the arrival of 

 Wijayo, 543 B.C., agriculture was unknown here, and that 

 grain, if grown at all, was not systematically cultivated. 

 " The inhabitants," he says, " appear to have subsisted then 

 and for some centuries afterwards on fruits, honey, and the 

 products of the chase." This view, which has been generally 

 accepted on his authority, seems, however, to be irreconcil- 

 able with the authentic narratives, which will be found on 

 examination to plainly describe a condition, both of the 

 country and its inhabitants, at the time of Wijayo's landing, . 

 indicative of a certain degree of civilisation, and of the 

 existence of settled communities, cities, and Governments.. 

 Such a state of things is incompatible with the nomadic life 

 of tribes who live by the chase, as is conclusively proved 

 by our experience of several races still living in that way in 

 different parts of the world. The Red Indians of America, 

 Bushmen of Australia, Hottentots of Africa, and Veddas 

 of Ceylon, all afford examples of the wandering, unsettled 



