TIIE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
229 
CHAPTER XL 
The king of Candy s dominions — Its divisions — Candy — Dig- 
it ggy Near — A Hem by Near — Anaerodgburra — Climate — Soil — * 
Circumstances which distinguish the Candians from the Cinglese. 
X Have now described the sea-coast, of Ceylon and it s 
inhabitants. It is in these parts that we are principally to 
look for the riches and advantages to be derived from the 
island. The possession of the interior might tend to the 
security of our dominion; and an improved mode of cul- 
tivation might make it capable of maintaining a much 
greater number of inhabitants ; but these purposes may be 
as effectually attained by a friendly intercourse with the 
natives, as by a direct submission to our authority. Our 
Government will doubtless avoid the error of the former 
European masters of Ceylon, who wasted unprofitably in 
vain attempts to subdue the natives that time and those 
resources which might have rendered this island one of the 
most valuable colonies in the world. 
In a detached island, such as Ceylon, if any where, we 
might expect to find very little diversity in the nature of 
the country and the races by which it were inhabited ; 
and yet we are here presented with three different dominions 
governed by different laws, presenting the greatest variety 
of soil, climate, and cultivation, and possessed by three 
