District of Chilaw and Putlam* 



33 



Nitre used at one time to be procured from various caves. 

 One of these I visited, and have reason to believe that the 

 salt was not formed naturally, but was obtained artificially 

 from the dung of countless bats which have their abode in 

 the grotto. 



Salt is procured in large quantities by evaporation of sea- 

 water, and indeed forms the chief source of public revenue. 

 The greater portion of it is obtained by means of artificial 

 pans; a few hundred bushels are, however, occasionally spon- 

 taneously formed near Kalpentyn, during the dry season. 



At Oopookoolum, fifteen miles N. W. of Putlam, the 

 natives affirm that a very bitter kind of salt (Epsom?) is to 

 be procured. I have not, however, had any opportunity of 

 verifying the statement. 



Springs. 



No medical or thermal springs are known. 



Soil, Agriculture, Sfc. 



As previously mentioned, a great portion of the soil in the 

 Maritime Districts is a silicious sand, more or less mixed 

 with comminated shells. Where granite rocks exist, a reddish 

 loam takes the place of the sand; and on the margin of rivers 

 and lakes a rich black mould, well adapted for the cultivation 

 of paddy, is to be met with. In some places a retentive clay 

 exists and is used in the manufacture of bricks, &c. 



The two staple vegetable products of the District are 

 Cocoanuts and Paddy. 



All the country lying along the sea-coast is occupied by 

 topes of cocoanut trees, which flourish in a soil consisting 

 apparently of pure sand, The finest plantations which I 

 have seen are at Mahdampe, on the site of the former Pepper 

 gardens; but the whole eastern side of the Akkerei Pattoo 

 yields good crops, which the natives attribute in part to the 

 existence of thin sandstone beds a few feet under the surface 

 of the ground. Below these strata there is water, and it ap- 

 pears that thisj by capillary attraction, rises through the stone* 

 vol. II. r 



