THE ISLAND OF CEYLON, 
260 
horses kept in the interior but those belonging to his Ma- 
jesty ; and even the royal stud is in a very reduced state, as 
it consists merely of presents from the European govern- 
ments of the coasts. No horses are reared in the interior ; 
and it is observed they die soon after they are brought 
there, both from the change of climate, and from the want 
of proper care and management. The native Candians, both 
from want of dexterity and activity, are bad servants in any 
point of view ; and in the management of horses, an animal 
to which they are so little accustomed, they are particularly 
deficient. Nor is all the prospect of royal bounty and favour 
sufficient to procure his Majesty the services of Malabar 
grooms in a country and climate so different from their own. 
Where the government is a pure despotism, and every thing 
depends on the immediate will of the sovereign, there can be 
no fixed and established laws. The Candians, indeed, boast 
of an ancient code of written laws, but these remain in the 
hands of the monarch who is their sole interpreter. Certain 
ancient customs and rules, however, are supposed to have 
the authority of fundamental laws ; but when we hear of the 
king himself being amenable to them, it means nothing more 
than that the breach of them excites such general indigna- 
tion, as more than once To have given rise to a successful 
rebellion. Ilis authority supersedes every other decision, and 
every sentence of death is subject to his revisal. 
With regard to courts of law, or regular forms of ad- 
ministering justice, the Candians appear to have scarcely 
