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cinnamon, I have not much to add to the accounts that have been 
given by other writers. The Dutch had several gardens for its 
culture, of which that of Mahrandahn, near Columbo, is fifteen 
miles in circumference, and is surrounded by a ditch. The Dutch 
had permitted a considerable proportion of private property to get 
intermingled with it. Mr. North, however, has formed other 
gardens near Negumbo, which will, in time, produce the whole 
investment, when the garden near Columbo may be disposed of for 
other purposes. The expense of procuring it from detached spots 
is much greater than that from one garden would be ; and it is a 
great object to liberate as much land as possible for the culture of 
dry grain, the annual importation of rice alone for the consumption 
of the island being estimated at fifty thousand bags. Opening the 
garden at Mahrandahn would be a great relief in this respect ; but 
a still greater benefit would arise from the success of a plan of Mr. 
North's to drain the Mootah-Rajah-Ville salt-marsh between Co- 
lumbo and Negumbo, and to keep out the salt water. Were this 
executed, a tract of ten miles long, by two broad, would become 
good rice-ground, and would probably yield sufficient for the con- 
sumption of Columbo. I shall just add, on the subject of cinnamon, 
that it is a prejudice to consider the thinnest as the best. The thick 
bark from old trees is, indeed, rough and bitter ; but that from 
plants which grow luxuriantly in a favourable soil, with sufficient 
ventilation, is extremely thick, smooth, and solid, and its aromatic 
quality superior to that of the thinner. 
To clear a considerable portion of the island is manifestly a 
matter of great importance ; but this work must be undertaken 
with caution. If the hills were to be left bare, experience teaches 
