THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
83 
very profitable, as it is the only one of the kind on this side 
of the island, and the most conveniently situated for supply- 
ing the king of Candy’s dominions. The Dutch enacted 
severe laws to prevent individuals from manufacturing or 
trading in this article, the government taking upon itself 
the management of the works and the care of supplying both 
its own subjects and the Candians. In order to keep a 
constant check on the latter, the Dutch were careful not to 
allow them too great a quantity at once ; and whatever 
remained at Putallom after supplying the demands of each 
year they destroyed, that it might not be seized upon by 
surprise. 
A little farther southward lies Chilou, a village where the 
Dutch have erected houses for the entertainment of strangers. 
It stands on the banks of a broad river; with another at no 
great distance. The country around this place is particularly 
wild ; and perhaps there is no road in the island more dan- 
gerous to travel, from the multitude of wild beasts with which 
it is infested. 
From this place nothing worthy of observation occurs till 
we arrive at Nigumbo, a very pleasant village, within twenty- 
four miles of Columbo. The flat and open country to which 
we are now come, presents a most beautiful prospect to the 
traveller. The fields are every where fertile, and clothed 
with a profusion of productions which offer a charming 
variety to the eye. The pastures are of the greenest and 
richest kind ; and the fields are peculiarly well adapted to 
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