362 
THE ISLAND OF CEYLON. 
damentally wrong. In the collecting and cultivation of the 
cinnamon, the staple produce of the island, their whole at- 
tention seemed to be absorbed, and all other advantages were 
overlooked. The impolicy of such a system will easily be 
perceived from a few observations. 
The soil of Ceylon, particularly in those parts bordering 
on the sea-coast, is well adapted for the production, not 
only of all those articles which are common to the tropical 
climates, but of many which are properly natives of Europe. 
Even the sands and brittle clay which are found scattered 
up and down in different parts of the island, produce abun- 
dantly, and are equal in fertility to the richest earth. This is 
to be attributed to the uniform and mild temperature of Cey- 
lon, and the frequent rains which supply its fields abundantly 
with moisture ; while on the continent of India vegetation 
is often destroyed by the excessive droughts and the hot 
parching winds to which it is subject at different seasons of 
the year. 
So little advantage, however, was taken of this excellent 
temperature and soil, that Ceylon has never yet produced a 
sufficient quantity of rice and wheat for its ow r n consump- 
tion, although these and other kinds of grain could with 
proper attention be raised here to as great advantage as at 
Bengal or Surat. The inattention of the natives to agricul- 
ture was partly owing to the abundance of spontaneous pro- 
ductions with which nature supplied them, and the few wants 
either of clothes or food in this warm climate ; their cocoa- 
