334 
TffE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
AY lien the rice is pretty well grown up, the different embank- 
ments are laid open, and furrows at the same time are 
drawn to carry off the water. When it is arrived at matu- 
rity, instead of reaping it according to the European custom, 
they pull it up by the roots, and then lay it out to dry. 
The rice is trodden by oxen to separate it from the straw, 
and is afterwards beaten to take off the husk. 
Where the rice fields lie on a declivity, very great art and 
labour arc employed to make them retain the water. For 
this purpose they are laid out in narrow slips one over the 
other, and each secured by a separate embankment, so as to 
remind one of a flight of stairs. The higher parts are first 
flooded, and the water overflowing them proceeds successively 
to those below. AYhere the water is not easily dispersed 
over them, or cannot afterwards be readily removed, it is 
usual to employ scoops for these purposes. The embank- 
ments consist of mud-walls, three feet high, formed with 
great neatness, and serving for foot paths to the people em- 
ployed in the culture of the rice, who would otherwise be 
obliged to wade knee-deep in mud and water. 
The flooding of the rice-fields attracts a terrible enemy in 
the alligator, who frequently contrives to steal in unperceived, 
and conceal himself among the embankments. The natives 
are on this account often very much alarmed, and search 
with great care before they venture among the mud and 
water. 
Besides this superior species of rice, there are several 
3 
