Particular Account of the Cinnamon. 341 
delightful to the eye than the prospect which stretches around 
Columbo. The low cinnamon trees which cover the plain al- 
low the view to reach the groves of evergreens, interspersed 
with tall clumps, and bounded every where with extensive ran- 
ges of cocoa-nut and other large trees. The whole is diversi- 
fied with small lakes and green marshes, skirted all around 
with rice and pasture fields. In one part the intertwining cin- 
namon trees appear completely to clothe the face of the plain; 
in another, the openings made by tlie intersecting footpaths 
just serve to shew that the thick underwood has been pene- 
trated. One large road, which goes out at the west gate of the 
fort, and returns by the gate on the south, makes a winding 
circuit of seven miles among the woods. It is here that the 
officers and gentlemen belonging to the garrison of Columbo 
take their morning ride, and enjoy one of the finest scenes of 
nature. 
The soil best adapted for the growth of the cinnamon is a 
loose white sand. Such is the soil of the cinnamon gardens 
around Columbo, as well as in many parts around Nigumbo 
and Caltura, where this spice is found of the same superior 
quality. What is gathered at Matura and Point de Galle dif- 
fers very little from this, especially in those parts near the 
sea, which are most favourable to the growth of cinnamon. 
The quantity in the other parts of the island is so trifling, as 
hardly to deserve notice. Of late years, little is procured from 
the interior ; and what is brought thence is coarser and 
thicker in the appearance, and of a hot and pungent taste. 
The interior is not so well adapted by nature for producing 
this plant; and the exactions and avarice of the Dutch, as we 
have already mentioned, at length reduced the King of Candy 
