112 
THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
The shops, bazars, and stalls placed all along the streets, are 
replenished with various articles of merchandise, peculiarly in 
use among the natives of India ; and the town, during the 
whole day, swarms with people of all descriptions. In the 
street, next the sea, is an excellent fish market, well supplied 
from the sea, the lakes, and rivers in the neighbourhood. 
Fish, indeed, forms a considerable part of the food of the 
inhabitants ; and procuring and bringing it to market, affords 
employment to a number of people. The boats or canoes, used 
in their fisheries, particularly attracted my notice. They arc 
of a curious shape and construction, used only in Ceylon, and 
extremely well calculated for the purpose they are put to. 
In length they are about fifteen feet, and not more than two 
in breadth. This shape is calculated to make them go in- 
credibly fast, especially with the addition of a very large 
square sail, which one would imagine them incapable of 
carrying without capsizing. To prevent this, an ingenious, 
and to an European, a very extraordinary contrivance is em- 
ployed. A log of wood is extended five or six feet from the 
end of the boat, by way of out-rigger. It is larger or smaller 
according to the size of the boat, and is shaped at each end 
like the prow of a canoe, to cut through the water. This 
log is fastened to the boat by two long and bent poles ; and 
seems to serve at once for helm and ballast. Strange as this 
contrivance may appear, it is indispensably necessary; as from 
their extreme narrowness, the boats would without it be upset 
by a person simply stepping into them. They have one mast, 
