THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
784 
is  separated  from  India  by  the  generally  shallow 
Pallets  Scrait  or  Bay, — on  the  Noitli  west,  the  con- 
nection by  means  of  detached  islands  and  coral  reefs 
is  a much  closer  one  with  Indian  territory.  It  be- 
gins at  Mannar,  an  island  separated  by  a narrow 
channel  from  the  mainland — and  South  of  w'hich, 
I may  mention,  the  famous  Pearl  Oyster  Fisheries 
of  Ceylon  have  tak.n  place  from  time  imme- 
morial, and  as  we  all  hope,  will  one  day  soon  be 
resumed.  The  island  of  Mannar  is  miles  long, 
and  after  it  we  come  on  the  series  of  coral  reefs,  sand- 
banks and  tiny  islands  (numbering  some  20  in  all) 
known  as  “ Adam's  Bridge  ” — from  the  superstition 
(following  a much  older  Hindu  one  in  favour  of  a 
king  of  the  monkeys)  that  here  our  first  parents 
crossed  when  sent  from  the  Garden  of  Eden  to  re- 
side in  Ceylon,  Adam’s  Peak  mountain  being  deemed 
further  evidence — an  old  Muhammadan  tiadition 
which  led  to  Atabi  and  his  fellow  Egyptian 
exiles  being  at  first  very  much  gratified  when  they 
learned  that  Ceylon  was  to  be  their  place  of  banish- 
ment. 
This  Adam’s  Bridge  extends  a distance  of  22 
miles  between  the  Ceylon  island  of  Mannar  and 
the  island  of  llameswaram,  which  appertains  to 
India,  and  of  this  distance,  half  may  be  said  to  be 
spanned  by  tiny  islands,  while  half  is  under 
water. 
The  island  of  Kameswaram  itself  is  like  that  of 
Mannar  about  17  miles  long,  and  is  chiefly  notable  for 
a famous  Hindu  temple,  one  of  the  lour  or  five  most 
noted  shrines  in  all  India  for  pilgrimages  ; although 
the  pilgrims  having  to  cross  water  and  other  uiscomforts 
in  travelling  at  present,  no  doubt  prevents  liaineswaram 
being  visited  by  more  than  a tithe  of  the  devotees  who 
crowd  to  more  accessible  shrines. 
North  of  liamesvveram  tliere  is  only  the  narrow 
Pambaii  Cnanuel,  with  a navigable  width  of  SO  to 
130  feet,  separating  the  island  from  the  mainland 
of  India.  Altogether  the  distance  between  the  two 
mainlands  is  about  57  miles,  35  of  these  being  occu- 
pied by  the  two  islands  and  adjacent  cliaiineis,  and 
22  by  Adam’s  lleef  or  Bridge. 
THE  CENTUAL  I’OSITXON  OF  CEYLON,  AND  OF  THE 
POUT  OF  C0L0.MI50. 
I would  now'  refer  briefly  to  the  very  central  posi- 
tion of  Ceylon  as  to  Southern  Asia  and  Australasia 
and  as  between  Africa,  the  Eastern  Archipelago  and 
the  Par  East.  The  of  Colombo,  it  will 
be  observed  from  the  map  of  Asia,  is  perhaps 
the  most  central  and  convenient  in  the  Indian 
Ocean  and  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal  at 
once  gave  it  a special  importance  in  reference  to 
Madras,  Calcutta,  Rangoon,  the  Straits  and  China 
as  well  as  to  Australian  Ports. 
I should  lik"  to  mention  one  or  two  striking 
facts  as  to  its  immunity  from  storms  and  tho 
favoured  position  of  the  island  altogether  (almost  in- 
clining one  to  think  favourably  of  its  claim  to  be 
allied  with  Edenl).  They  are  as  follows  (quoted  from 
Pergubon’s  “ Ceylon  in  1893  ”);  — 
“ The  situation  of  Ceylon  in  the  Eastern  “SVo.ld  is 
peculiarly  favoured  in  certain  respects.  The  atmo.s- 
pheric  disturbances  which  periodically  agitate  the 
Bay  of  Bengal,  and  carry,  in  Inuricanes  and  cyclones, 
destruction  to  the  shipping  in  the  exposed  Madras 
roadstead  and  the  devoted  Hooghly,  seldom  or  never 
approach  the  north-eastern  shores  of  this  island.  If 
Java  and  tlie  rest  of  the  E.astern  Archipelago  boast 
of  a far  richer  soil  than  is  to  'oe  found  in  Ceylon,  it  is 
owing  to  the  volcanic  agency  which  makes  itself  known 
at  frequent  intervals  by  eruptions  and  earti  quakes, 
the  utmost  verge  of  whose  waves  just  touches  the 
eastern  coast  of  the  island  at  Battical  >a  and  Trin- 
comalee  in  scarcely  perceptible  undulations.  On  the 
west,  again,  Ceylon  is  equally  beyond  tho  region  of  the 
' hurricanes  which,  extending  from  tho  Mozambique 
Channel,  visit  so  often  and  so  disastrously  the  coasts 
of  Madagascar,  Mauritius,  and  /.uizibar.  Tho  wind 
and  rain-storms  which  usher  in  periodically  the 
south-west  and  north-east  monsoons,  sometime.s  in- 
flict slight  damage  on  the  cofl’eo  and  rice  crops,  hut 
[May  I,  1897.  ■ 
there  is  no  comparison  between  the  risks  attaching  |’l 
to  cultivation  in  Ceylon  and  those  experienced  by  ) 
planters  in  Java  and  Mauritius.” 
The  wind  and  rain  storms  which  usher  in  the  ’ 
annual  South-W'est  and  North-east  monsoons  have 
scarcely  ever  attained  a dangerous  force  ; and  although 
they  make  it  difficult  sometimes  to  reach  the  har- 
bours of  G.ille  and  Trincomalee,  no  such  difficulty 
is  experienced  in  reference  to  Colombo.  It  is  no 
wonder,  therefore,  that  after  piolonged  enquiry,  surveys 
and  reports  as  to  the  respective  merits  of  Colombo 
slid  Galle,  Sir  Hercules  Robinson  (now  Lord  Ros- 
mead;  when  Governor  of  Ceylon,  on  the  final  recom-  s 
meiidation  by  the  late  Sir  John  Coode,  decided  that 
public  money  should  bo  spent  in  giving  Colombo 
(rather  than  Galle,)  adequate  protection  and  harbour 
•accommodation  f.rMail  as  w>.  11  as  Commercial  steam- 
ers and  eventually  as  was  hoped  for  the  Navy 
as  well. 
The  convenience  of  Colombo  to  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment has  been  often  proved  for  military  purposes: 
troops  thence  have  been  readily  transported  to  China  and 
Labuan  ; during  the  Mutiny,  Governor  Sir  Henry 
Ward  sent  nearly  every  British  soldier  in  the  island  to 
aid  Lord  Canning  ; in  1863,  the  troop-ship  “ Hnnalaya” 
took  the  50th  Regiment  on  board  at  Colombo  • 
to  suppress  the  Maori  War  in  New  Zealand  ; 
in  1879,  the  57th  Regiment  was  despa  died  at  , 
short  notice  to  South  Africa,  fol  owed  by  the 
102ud  transferred  in  the  same  way  ; in'  1881 
and  later  on  the  regiment  stationed  in  Ceylon 
was  utilized  for  Egypt.  Per  wellnigh  50  years  I’hcic 
has  been  no  disturbance  in  the  island  calling  for 
military  attention  : the  Sinhalese  are  the  most  pea- 
cable  and  loy  al  of  British  subjects. 
Next  let  me  mention  that  the  port  of  Colombo  is 
9U0  miles  from  Bombay,  600  from  Madras,  1,400 
from  Calcutta,  1,200  from  Rangoon,  1,600  from 
Singapore,  2,5UU  from  Mauritius,  4,000  from  Natal, 
2,200  from  Aden  anj  3,000  from  Preemaiitle,  Western 
Au-traliu.  On  the  ftfalabar  Coast  of  India,  there  is 
not  a single  barhour  or  port  worthy  of  the  name 
be.  ween  Colombo  and  Bombay  and  the  same  is  almost 
true  Oil  the  Coromandel  Coast  up  to  the  Hooghly, 
Madras  being  scarcely  an  exception. 
COLOWnO  HAltBOUll  WOltKS. 
On  the  8Lh  December  1875,  the  foundation  stone 
of  the  first  a ul  principal  Breakwater  for  the  pro- 
tection of  Colombo  Harbour  was  auspiciously  laid  by 
II.  R.  H.  the  Piince  of  Wale.s— their  on  his  visit  to 
India  and  Ceylon— Sir  W.  H.  Gregory  being  Gover- 
nor of  the  island.  Sir  John  Coode  planned  and 
directed  the  work  ; Mr.  John  Kyle,  m.i.c.e.,  (now  of 
the  new  Dover  Harbour  Works)  being  Executive 
Engineer.  Iti  October  1876  when  tire  Breakwater  had 
been  extended  350  ft.  Colombo  was  visited  by  the 
late  Duke  of  Buckingham,  then  Governor  of  Madras, 
and  His  Graco  took  a special  interest  in  Sir  John 
Coode’s  thoroughly  solid,  satisfactory  work  as  con- 
trasted witli  the  cheap  and  unsubstantial  harbour 
woiks  constructed  at  Madi-as  which  had  shortly  before 
succumbed  in  a cyclonic  storm,  falling  to  pieces  like 
a pack  of  cards.  Looking  at  the  spacious  first- 
class  harbour  designed  for  Colombo,  its  central  and 
commanding  position  and  tlie  absence  of  any  good 
liaibour  in  the  Madias  Piesidency,  the  Duke  of  Buck- 
ingham declared  that  as  the  natural  compl.  mont  for  its 
Harbour  Works,  Colombo  ought  to  be  coiuiected  with 
Southern  India  by  a railway  across  Adam’s  Biidge. 
Governor  Gregory  favoured  the  scheme ; but  wiili 
the  rosponsibility  of  the  Harbour  Woiks,  and  Railway 
Extensions  in  ihe  Centre  and  South  of  the  island,  he 
could  do  nothing  with  the  suggestion,  nor  could’  his 
Hirooessors  for  some  17  years.  By  the  end  of  188-1, 
the  South-west  Breakwater,  4,150  feet  long  with  a 
lighthouse  at  its  terminus,  was  completed  at  a tot  1 
cost— including  foreshore  i-eclamatioii  and  other  ailiea 
work — of  .t’706,000.  This  at  once  allorded  full  protection 
to  Colombo  Harbour  for  nine  months  out  of  twelve 
ill  the  year,  at  any  rate  so  far  as  allowing  21  buoys  for 
first-class  ocean-going  steamers  to  bo  fixed  under  leo  of 
the  breakwater.  Sir  John  Coode  felt  all  along  that 
