No. 5.— 1849.] woods of ceylon. 



135 



A DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF THE 

 WOODS OF CEYLON. 



By John Capper. 

 (Read August 25, 1849J 



Thickly covered as the greater portion of this Island 

 is with dense forests or jungle, it cannot be matter of 

 surprise that its woods should be found in the greatest 

 variety. This fact seems to have been noticed in almost 

 every published account of the Island. All the works which 

 treat of Ceylon make allusion to its many useful and 

 ornamental woods, though very few of these have entered 

 upon any detail. Indeed, we can glean but scanty infor- 

 mation even from the best of these writers. 



Knox, in his account of Ceylon, tells us but little on this 

 subject, and the same may be said of Perceval; whilst 

 Cordiner gives merely a list of some dozen kinds of woods. 

 Bertolacci tells more than any other writer of the state and 

 value of the timber trade of the Colony, though he does 

 not seem to have been acquainted with many varieties of 

 woods. He considered that by the acquisition of the Kandyan 

 territory the British had opened the way to great resources 

 as regards timber, and beyond a doubt the vast tract of 

 country stretching from the Kandyan mountain range 

 through Bintenna, northwards and eastwards, comprises 

 forests full of most valuable timber. This source of wealth 

 is, however, at present nearly closed against us from the 

 utter inability of the natives to transport any produce of 

 weight to the sea coast, on account of the impassable state 

 of the Mahaveli-ganga, a noble river which, according 



