138 Pettah of Columbo. 
gal. A great quantity of arrack is made in the neighbourhood 
of Columbo and the other districts along the west coast. This 
liquor is sent to our settlements of Bengal, Madras, and Bom- 
bay ; and in return these send rice and other articles with which 
Ceylon is not able to supply sufficient for its own consumption. 
A large quantity of coya rope, or cordage, is also manufactured 
here, and supplies of it are sent to our ships on the various 
stations in those seas. A number of inferior articles, the pro- 
duce of this quarter of the island, are exported by the Moors 
and Malabars who reside here for that purpose. These arti- 
cles are betel-leaf and areka nut, jaggery, a sort of coarse black- 
ish sugar, cocoa-nuts and oil, honey, bees-wax, cardamoms, co- 
ral, ivory, fruit, and a variety of other lesser articles. In re- 
turn they import coarse cotton cloths and calicoeSj pieces of 
printed or painted cloths for women’s apparel, coarse muslins, 
handkerchiefs, palampoes, stockings, china ware, tin, copper, 
and a variety of toys ; also bomeloes, a species of fish peculiar 
to Bombay, and onions froin the same place, where they are 
remarkably good. 
The Dutch exacted a duty of five per cent on all these ex- 
ports and imports, which is still continued by our govern- 
ment. 
Every year, in general towards February, a Portuguese or Chi- 
nese ship arrives from Macao with teas, sugar, candied sweet- 
meats, hams, silks, velvets, nankeens, umbrellas, straw-hats, all 
kinds of china-ware and toys. These articles meet with a very 
speedy sale ; and as they are generally paid for in hard-money, 
they occasion a great deal of gold and silver to be carried out 
of the island. 
The current coin here, as well as in the rest of the Euro- 
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