6 
THE ISLAND OF CEYLON, 
duct and the staple commodity of the island, as we find by the 
tribute paid by the king to the Portuguese, which consisted of 
two hundred and fifty thousand pounds weight of cinnamon. 
Such are the few circumstances respecting Ceylon, which can 
be collected from the narratives of its first Portuguese visitors. 
The minds of these adventurers were too much occupied with the 
desire of enriching themselves, and aggrandizing their nation, to 
make any enquiries into the manners of the natives, or the natu- 
ral history of the country. The rich harvest which the cinna- 
mon of Ceylon presented to commerce, seems to have been the 
chief object which attracted the attention of Almeyda ; and 
accordingly we soon find him endeavouring to secure these advan- 
tages, by forming a Portuguese settlement on the island. This 
conduct, as might be expected, roused the jealousy and indig- 
nation of the native princes. After a long and bloody struggle, 
however, the Portuguese succeeded in their object ; and under 
the conduct of Albuquerque, the successor of Almeyda, the 
whole sea-coast was reduced under their power, and the natives 
were driven to the mountains of the interior, of which they still 
maintain possession. 
Albuquerque was an excellent commander, and an accom- 
plished politician ; but he was deeply tinctured with that insatia- 
ble thirst of military glory, which distinguished his countrymen 
in that age ; and dazzled by the glare of extensive conquest, he 
overlooked the solid advantages to be derived from each of the 
countries he subdued. Ceylon in particular seemed designed by 
nature to secure the possessions, and extend the influence of the 
