48 



corrEE. 



tlie coffee is principally cultivated, extend over nearly tlie whole 

 of tlie hilly region, which is the niediiim and connecting link be- 

 tween the mountainous zone and the level districts of the coast. 



The mania for coffee planting has recently subsided, in conse-' 

 quence of the barely remunerative returns at which that article 

 has been sold, ascribable partly to over-production, and in some 

 measure, perhaps, to the temporary glut of foreign coffee thrown 

 on the Eritish market by the reduction of the duty. As regards 

 the yield, some estates in Ceylon have produced upvrards of 15 cwt. 

 per acre, but it is a good estate that will average seven, and many 

 do not give more than 4 cwt. the acre. 



The shipments from Colombo for five years, are stated below, 

 with the class of coffee :— 





Plantation. 



Native. 



Total. 





cwt. 



cwt. 



cwt. 



1845 . 



75,002 . . . 



. 112,889 



187,891 



1846 . 



91,240 .. 



70,991 



162,231 



1847 . 



.. 106,198 ... 



. 143,457 



249,655 



1848 . 



.. 191,464 .. 



88,422 



279,886 



1849 . 



. . 243,926 . . 



. 118,756 



362,682 



1850 . 



.. 198,997 .. 



56,692 



255,689 



1851 . 



- . 220,471 . . . 



97,091 



317,562 



^^ile, in 1839, the total value of the exports from Ceylon was 

 only £330,000, in 1850 the value of the single staple of coffee 

 was no less than £609,262, and in 1851 had still fiu^ther in- 

 creased. 



I append a memorandum of the quantities of coffee exported 

 from Ceylon since 1836 : — 



Quantity. Yalue. 

 cwt. £ 



1836 60,329 .... 



1837 34,164 .... 



1838 49,541 .... 



1839 41,863 .... 



1840 68,206 .... 



1841 80,584 .... 196,048 



1842 119,805 .... 269,763 



1843 94,847 .... 192,891 



1844 133,957 .... 267,663 



1845 178,603 .... 363,259 



1846 173,892 .... 328,781 



1847 293,221 .... 456,624 



1848 280,010 .... 387,150 



1849 373,593 545,322 



1850 278,473 .... 609,262 



1851 339,744 .... 



Total in 16 years 2,600,832 



Average . 162,552 (Ceylon Almanac for 1853.) 



The local export dut)- of two-and-a-half per cent., was abolished 

 from 1st September, 1848. 



