THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
345 
only pave the way to greater excesses, and that it was im- 
possible to suffer an independent jurisdiction to exist in the 
heart of his government. lie therefore gave his approbation 
to what Air. Macdonald had done ; and from this decision, 
the choliahs must now consider themselves as subject to the 
same jurisdiction with the rest of the natives. 
The process of preparing the cinnamon for exportation is 
conducted as follows. It is the first care of the choliahs to 
find out a tree of the best quality. This their sagacity and 
practice easily enables them to do from the leaves and other 
marks. Such branches as are three years old, and appear 
proper for the purpose are then lopped off with a large 
crooked pruning knife. From these branches the outside 
thin coat of the bark is scraped off with a knife of a peculiar 
shape, concave on the one side and convex on the other. 
With the point of this knife the bark is ripped up longwise, 
and the convex side is then employed in gradually loosening 
it from the branch till it can be taken off entire. In this 
state the bark appears in the form of tubes open at one side ; 
the smaller of which are inserted into the larger, and thus 
spread out to dry. The heat of the sun by quickly drying 
up the moisture makes the tubes contract still closer, till 
they at last attain the form in which we see them in Europe. 
When sufficiently dry the bark is made into bundles of about 
thirty pounds weight each, and bound up with pieces of 
.split bamboe twigs. These bundles are carried by the cho- 
liahs to the cinnamon go-doivns or store-houses belonging to 
Y v 
