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THE ISLAND OF CEYLON, 
sible that the numerous ceremonies enjoined by tlieir super- 
stition could have been at all performed. It is here there- 
fore that we find the Brahmins and the devotees of their 
religion continually celebrating their rites. The pagodas are 
usually erected in the neighbourhood of this friendly shade, 
as well as the choultries prepared for the accommodation 
of the weary traveller. It is common for the Indian to 
take up his abode under this tree, and to remain stretched 
at his ease in the shade while every thing exposed to the 
rays of the sun is scorched with the intolerable heat. 
The cotton-tree of Ceylon grows to a middling height. 
It is slender and straight, with the branches shooting out 
near the top. The cotton grows in pods of an oblong 
shape, about the size of a small pear. When ripe they 
burst, and the cotton is then seen projecting out of them. 
In this state they are gathered. Within the pod a num- 
ber of seeds like black pepper are mixed with the cotton, 
from which they are separated by little sticks in the form 
of a cross, which the women turn round very quick with 
their hands, and during this operation the seeds fall out. 
The cotton procured from this tree is contaminated with 
an oily substance, and is not by any means equal in 
goodness to that which grows on the shrub in other parts of 
India. It is, however, much used for matrasses and pillows ; 
and coarse cloth, fit for common purposes is made of it. 
The wood is much employed in making fences. 
The tick-ivood tree, which may be called the oak of Ceylon, 
