114 
THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
board, who made them their habitations. Boats of our Euro- 
pean construction, are seldom or never used in Ceylon ; and 
indeed are hardly known to the natives, except at Trinco- 
malee and Columbo. 
The street, or rather alley which leads through Kenman’s 
gate to the outer pettah, is exceedingly narrow, and from 
the nature of the climate and its confined situation, is of 
course excessively hot. Here the shroffs and money-changers 
have fixed their stations. The outer pettah is very large, and 
branches out into a number of streets, which extend some 
of them two miles. At the further end of one of them 
stands the church; and behind it a large oblong stone build- 
mg supported in front with pillars, and intended for the 
reception of the Candian ambassadors. A number of bazars 
are here kept by the native men and women : they are 
abundantly supplied with vegetables, dried fish, and fruit. 
In this part of the pettah are vast numbers of carpenters, 
smiths, and artificers of various sorts, particularly workers in 
gold and silver. Here are also a great number of black 
merchants, and canoplics, or black accountants ; as also 
manufacturers and traders in the different kinds of precious 
stones found in Ceylon. 
Columbo taken all together is, for its size, one of the most 
populous places in India. There is no part of the world 
where so many different languages are spoken, or which con- 
tains such a mixture of nations, manners, and religions. Be- 
sides Europeans, and Cinglese, the proper natives of the 
