THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
191 
cultivation of the cinnamon has not yet awaked a spirit of 
emulation among the natives, nor lias any improvement of 
their rude agricultural instruments been as yet introduced. 
Their plough consists merely of a crooked piece of wood, 
shaped in such a manner that the one end serves for a 
handle, while the other which is shod with iron to prevent 
the wood from wearing, ploughs, or rather tears up the 
ground. This very rude instrument however, serves their pur- 
pose, as it is not required to make regular furrows, but 
merely to Idosen the earth so as to allow the water with 
which they inundate it to drench it completely. After a 
first ploughing with this instrument the fields are flooded ; 
and after they have lain some time under water, it is let off, 
and they are ploughed anew. The water besides nourishing 
the rice serves the purpose of rotting the weeds. The only 
good trait in their husbandry is the care with which they 
guard against weeds : this indeed costs them little labour 
where they have an opportunity of flooding the grounds. 
The other tools they employ in agriculture are a board for 
smoothing their fields, which they drag over them edgewise 
with their oxen; and a piece of board fastened to the end 
of a long pole, which serves them in place of rakes. 
When the season for ploughing arrives, each village makes 
it a common concern, and every one attends with his plough 
and his oxen till the whole of the fields belonging to that 
society be finished. The same method is followed in reaping 
the corn ; and both the seed time and harvest become in 
