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Particular Account of the Cinnamon, 
CHAPTER XVI. 
Cinnamon^ the Staple Commodity of Ceylon. 
I Shall conclude my account of the vegetable productions of 
Ceylon with the most valuable and important article of the 
whole, the Cinnamon. The length of my residence at Columbo 
enabled me to observe with my own eyes the whole process 
of procuring and preparing it for exportation; and the impor- 
tance of the subject induced me to employ much pains to 
acquire a complete knowledge of its growth, and, the improve- 
ments of which this branch of commerce is capable. The sub- 
ject has indeed been frequently attended to before : Dr. Thun- 
berg in particular from his acquaintance with botany, and his 
being employed in proving the cinnamon, has been able to 
give the public much information concerning it ; and in order to 
render this account as complete as possible, I shall not scruple 
to avail myself occasionally of his assistance. 
The principal woods, or gardens, as we call them, where the 
cinnamon is procured, lie in the neighbourhood of Columbo. 
They reach to within half a mile of the fort, and fill the 
whole surrounding prospect. The grand garden near the town 
is so extensive as to occupy a tract of country from ten to 
fifteen miles in length, and stretching along from the north-east 
to the south of the district. Nature has here concentrated both 
the beauty and the riches of the island. Nothing can be more 
