232 
THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
watched with all that strictness and jealousy which the 
suspicious temper of uncivilized nations dictates ; and from 
an account subjoined to this volume of an embassy which 
I attended to the court of that monarch, it will be seen 
how careful the natives were to prevent strangers from 
making any observations. Air. Boyd, who about twenty 
years ago went on a similar embassy, was watched with 
the same particular circumspection; and has therefore been 
able to add little to our stock of knowledge concerning 
the interior. 
The dominions of the native prince are completely cut 
off on all sides from those of the Europeans by almost 
impenetrable woods and mountains. The passes which lead 
through these to the coasts are extremely steep and dif- 
ficult, and scarcely known even by the natives themselves. 
As soon as we advance from ten to twenty miles from the 
coasts a country presents itself greatly differing from the 
sea-coast both in soil, climate, and appearance. After as- 
cending the mountains and passing the woods, we find 
ourselves in the midst of a country not advanced many 
stages beyond the first state of improvement, and which we 
are astonished to find in the neighbourhood of the highly 
cultivated fields which surround Columbo. As we advance 
towards the centre of the island, the country gradually rises, 
and the woods and mountains which separate the several 
parts of the country become more steep and impervious. 
It is in the midst of these fastnesses that the native 
