During our random promenade through the streets of what is called the Fort, we perceived at a sugar-baker's in Chatham Street—the most select quarter of Colombo, and containing the most important warehouses, which, however, are far from elegant in their appearance—some rough ice offered for sale, which had a curious effect in a town so near the Equator, and presenting such few evidences of luxury in other respects. This ice is brought round the Cape of Good Hope from the United States, and is chiefly shipped from Boston. The daily consumption of iced-water, ices, and so forth, is estimated at about 1000 lbs., costing about one shilling the 8 lbs. It is impossible to repress a feeling of astonishment at these speculative Yankees who, despite all obstacles interposed by temperature, transport in all directions and over thousands of miles an article so perishable, so easily destructible as ice, and are able to drive a profitable business in it in the hottest and most diverse regions of the globe—in the West Indies and South America, in Asia, and in Africa.

The traveller who visits Colombo will hardly fail to make an excursion to the Cinnamon Garden, in order to inhale the fragrant and peculiar aroma, and enjoy tasting the tender rind of this remarkable shrub, which plays so conspicuous a part in the history of Ceylon. During the palmy days of cinnamon culture, the five principal cinnamon plantations of the southern half of the island extended some 15 or 20 miles. For this one lucrative product of the soil all others on the island were abandoned, with most deplorable consequences. The cinnamon culture, a monopoly of the various governments which one after another conquered Ceylon, and domineered over its inhabitants, was carried on, especially by the Dutch East India Company, with terrible severity. The slightest embezzlement of cinnamon, or wilful damage to the plant, was visited with death. The unintentional breaking off of a twig of the cinnamon bush was punished with amputation of the offending member. Every cinnamon bush, even to those growing in the gardens of private individuals, was the property of the Government, and the cinnamon collector, or even cinnamon-peeler alone, had the right to strip off the rind when ripe. To destroy such a plant, or even to dispose of it to any one, was regarded as a crime affecting life. The labourers, who were employed in the cutting off, peeling, and preparation of the rind, belonged to the caste of Chalias, and constituted the lowest grade of that class. In like manner, under the English rule, the monopoly of cinnamon was at first continued, with such disastrous consequences to the trade that it was finally abandoned in 1832, and the merchants of Colombo and Galle were left to divide among themselves the exportation of this important article, under an exporting duty of 3s. per lb. These duties, however, were found much too high, as the highest price obtainable in Europe was from 6s. to 7s.; and this advance in the price to the trade of the genuine article, was the cause of foreign merchants turning their attention to the supply of various species of cinnamon-bearing laurels and cassias, growing in Cochin-China and Java.

When Government, recovering at last from its delusion of treating cinnamons, which at first had seemed indigenous to the island of Ceylon alone on the earth,[83] as a national monopoly, reduced the export duty to one shilling, and ultimately repealed it altogether, the various substitutes had already found their level in Europe, as affording a larger supply at a much more moderate rate, and the cultivation of the finer kinds became less and less each year. Prices fell, and the consumption was diminished. Only the coarser sorts repaid exportation. Nay, it even led to the interesting and curious result, that just as, previous to the high price under monopoly, the low-priced cassia displaced the finer sort of genuine cinnamon, at the present day the coarser sorts of cinnamon are beginning to oust the cassia from the English market, whence all the world are supplied. At present there are from 14,000 to 15,000 acres planted with cinnamon, chiefly in private hands, and producing annually from 800,000 to 900,000 lbs. of cinnamon, worth from £40,000 to £50,000 sterling.

The chalias, moreover, are no longer, as formerly under the Portuguese and Dutch, adscripti glebæ for life, or slaves that could be purchased with the soil, but free labourers, who are entitled to demand proportionate pay for the lightest services rendered.

The Cinnamon Gardens in the neighbourhood of Colombo, although for the most part gone to decay, nevertheless impart to the whole scene a singularly cheerful, agreeable aspect. The bushes, from 4 to 6 feet in height, with their smooth, beautiful, light green leaves, resembling those of the bay-tree, and their pale, yellow flower-stamens shoot up doubly fresh and succulent, from the snow-white quartz soil in which they best thrive. The flowering season of the cinnamon is in January, and the fruit ripens in April, when the sap is richest in the shrub. In May the boughs are begun to be "barked," which process continues till October. The pruning and gathering of the yearling shoots, which are about the thickness of a man's thumb, is very laborious, and employs many hands. Each labourer cuts off as many as he can conveniently carry in a bundle, then, with the point of a crooked knife, made for the express purpose, strips the entire rind from the wood, carefully scrapes off the exterior corticle and innermost layer, and lays the stripped-off cinnamon rind, now reduced to the thickness of parchment, in the sun, where it dries and curls together. All round the hut, in which the peeling of the rind is carried on, is diffused a most exquisite aroma, caused by the breaking of the leaves or twigs. What is related, however, by various travellers of the fragrance of the cinnamon forests, which they have scented at a great distance seaward, would seem to indicate that this delicious odour emanates from various other aromatic plants in which Ceylon is so rich, rather than the cinnamon groves, the aroma of which, indeed, is not perceptible beyond the immediate vicinity. The best description of cinnamon is not so thick as stout paper, and is fine-grained, flexible, light brown, or golden yellow, sweet and pungent; the coarser qualities are thick-skinned, dark brown, acrid, stinging, and leaves a bitter after-taste. In the warehouses, the cinnamon rinds and canes sorted for shipping are piled upon each other, packed in bales of about 90 lbs. weight each, and carefully sewed. In all cavities and spaces between each layer an immense quantity of pepper is strewn, to preserve the cinnamon during its sea-voyage, by which both spices are benefited, the black pepper absorbing all the superfluous moisture, and gaining by the fragrance of the cinnamon.

Consequent on the diminution of cinnamon cultivation, which undoubtedly has resulted in great measure from the altered taste of mankind and the consequent extraordinary falling off in the demand for this once highly-prized spice, the cultivation of coffee in Ceylon has, during the last 20 years, increased tenfold; and it is solely owing to the dearth of available labour that this branch of produce, considering the splendid profits it returns, is not even more extensively carried on. In 27 districts there are 404 coffee plantations, covering a surface of 80,950 acres, of which, however, only 63,771 acres are really productive. These produced last year, 347,100 cwt., or 5½ centners per acre. To this must be added the quantity under cultivation by the natives, who possess about 36,000 acres of coffee plantations, and in the year 1859 alone, exported 180,000 cwt. We may safely assume, therefore, that the cultivation of coffee is on the eve of transforming this island of Ceylon, from a mere military station of England, into one of the most flourishing colonies of the British Empire. Twenty years ago there were exported barely 60,000 centners, worth £180,000. In September, 1858, the export exceeded 600,000 cwt., which represented on the spot a value of £1,500,000 sterling. "When capital and labour shall have become more plentiful," remarked to us a by no means over-sanguine resident, "Ceylon will have in its mountain districts 240,000 acres planted with coffee trees, yielding at the lowest estimate, 1,680,000 cwt. of coffee annually." Here, as among the high table-lands of Guatemala and Costa Rica, we have the reassuring evidence how one of the most important plants for the civilized man can be profitably cultivated, without having recourse to the blighting influences of slave-labour, at the same time making the lands in which it is produced both rich and prosperous.[84]

While the cultivation of the coffee-plant has been followed by such splendid results, the repeated attempts to introduce the sugar-cane have been on the contrary as uniformly failures—so that of the numerous plantations established by Europeans, there are at present no more than five remaining. In all those localities where the temperature seemed adapted to the growth of the sugar-cane, the nature of the soil, and the too great humidity have prevented its thriving.

On the other hand, the island possesses two natural products in which but few spots on the globe are qualified to enter the lists with her, and which may be expected to increase in value and importance in proportion as science assumes her share in their exploration. These products are pearls and precious stones.

The most productive pearl banks lie on the west coast of Ceylon, between the 8th and 9th degrees of North latitude, near the level, dreary beach of Condatchy, Aripo, and Manaar. The pearl fisheries are a monopoly, and, therefore, under the inspection of the Government. Former governors had counted too much on the abundance of this natural treasure, and in their blind haste to fill the coffers of the State, had so exhausted the banks, that suddenly, from a source of revenue they became an item of considerable deficiency, and, from 1838 to 1854, could no longer be dredged. From a net annual return of £120,000 sterling, the yearly return had sunk to £10,000, of which nearly one-half was consumed in the attendant expenses. Now-a-days the work is gone about more circumspectly, a scientific examination having been made by a native naturalist, Dr. Kelaart, of all the oyster banks on the west coast. We had the pleasure, while at Colombo, of becoming personally acquainted with this very able, unassuming gentleman, who presented us with several memoirs of his own, touching upon the latest facts that had been ascertained with reference to the pearl oyster. One special result of his various researches has been the demonstration of two facts of the utmost importance to the pearl fishery, and which hitherto had not been fully ascertained—that this mollusc possesses locomotive powers; that its occasional disappearance is perfectly natural; and that, moreover, the pearl oyster may, without any injury, be transplanted from one locality to another—nay, even from salt to brackish water. The first-named observation explains the occasional disappearance of the pearl oyster from certain beds,[85] even when they have not been inordinately thinned by too keen a quest after gain; the latter opens up the pleasing anticipation of the pearl oyster being susceptible of very extensive propagation, by a process similar to that of pisciculture, or artificial breeding of fish (such as the colonies of edible oysters which are met with in the South of France), by transplanting them to such places as seem best suited to the conditions necessary to their highest development. What a splendid conception it were to plant the sea-coasts of Ceylon with pearls, and thus throw the wealth of the island in precious stones into the shade, by the treasures she would possess in the depths of the sea!

Exactly at the period of our arrival at Colombo, the preparations were being resumed at Aripo for the take of the oysters, which commences at the beginning of February each year, and lasts about three weeks. It is, in fact, a sort of jubilee time for the people, at which the Governor and numbers of the wealthier classes mingle with the populace. Ordinarily this spot becomes at that season a rendezvous for the poor and the wretched, and a rallying point for all manner of abominable odours, filth, troublesome flies, and intolerable heat, despite which drawbacks the fishery is visited by thousands of boats, and hundreds of thousands of men, who flock hither with the alluring prospect of speedy and abundant wealth, or have been attracted from all parts of the Indian Continent by the singularity of the spectacle. Suddenly, as though evoked by the wand of a magician, a regular town starts into existence, of tents, or even neat huts, with bamboo and cabbage-tree palings, roofed over with palm-leaves, rice-straw, or coarse thick woollen cloth; booths for the sale of merchandise "rise like an exhalation" during the night to supply necessaries of all sorts to the converging multitudes from the interior, as well as the fleets of visitors from seaward; and last, not least, the divers themselves. Swindlers and mountebanks throng hither, adroit thieves creep stealthily about, all Indian customs and fashions are represented, all castes jostle each other. Priests, and the subordinate hangers-on of the various sects, hurry about, and jugglers and Nautch girls vie with each other in amusing the noisy multitudes.

The result of numerous experiments has proved that no diving apparatus can replace the human machine, the cost of which, moreover, is a fixed definite quantity, viz., the fourth part of the pearls brought up, which is the diver's share. In each boat, or "Dhonie," are ten divers, each having an assistant. Before the divers proceed to descend, a number of quaint ceremonies are gone through, and incantations murmured, as well in the boats as on shore, by the so-called "shark-charmers;" indeed, the superstition of the divers, who for the most part come from the Coromandel coast, is so great, that not one of their number, Christian or idolator, would continue in this employment without the countenance of the sorcerer; and the Government finds itself compelled to pay the impostors.[86] They levy a tribute of ten oysters upon each boat.

Accidents with sharks are of rare occurrence: the noise of 1000 divers on the water at once seeming to scare the animals. Moreover, the dark colour of the skin of their bodies, acts as a considerable protection to the divers, so that there are numbers who blacken their legs, in order still more to alarm the monster.[87]

After these preliminaries, the divers go down into the water, each carrying a basket-shaped net, in which to bring up the oysters, when selected—a stone of from 15lbs. to 25lbs. weight being fastened round the body, so as more readily to enable him to sink to the bottom. When at a depth of some 5 or 6 fathoms, the diver unfastens the stone, which is forthwith hauled up. He now throws himself forward on his face, and keeps himself as close as he can to the ground, while he rapidly rakes up and collects together all that is within his reach, so as to fill his landing net. He crawls along in this manner during the minute of his submersion, over a space of from 40 to 50 feet; and so soon as he pulls the cord attached to his plaited basket-edge, it is immediately hauled up, and he himself speedily follows it to the surface.[88]

The utmost depth at which the diver can safely remain seems to be about 40 feet, beyond which blood is apt to issue from the nose and ears. They seldom remain above 50 or 60 seconds under water, although cases occasionally occur in which the stay under water is protracted to 80 seconds. The diving is carried on for 5 or 6 hours without intermission, so that each of the ten divers can, in the course of a day, bring up from 1000 to 4000 oysters. By dint of good fortune, and close packing, about 150 oysters are brought up in each basket-net, while occasionally an unprolific bed does not give more than five or ten oysters. So soon as the oysters have been dragged to land, they are sorted in shares, of which one goes to the oyster fisher as his remuneration, and the remainder are sold in lots of 1000 each to the highest bidder. Now begins speculation. Chance presides here, quite as capriciously as at a lottery or another game of hazard. It often happens that a single oyster contains thirty or forty pearls, of which some may be worth a sovereign on the spot; but it more frequently occurs that several hundred oysters do not yield a single pearl. The small, valueless pearls, called also "seed pearls," are burnt down, and sold as pearl-lime to the wealthy Malays, by whom it is used as a luxurious addition to the betel and cabbage nuts, as masticatories. The Ceylonese mix the lustreless pearls with other grains, with which they feed the poultry, in whose croops the pearls regain their former brilliancy after a few minutes' grinding. The croop is then slit up, and the glittering stones extracted, white as the most beautiful pearl-muscular tissue.[89]

The pearl oysters caught on the coast of Ceylon are all of the same species (Meleagrina Margaritifera), uniformly oval in shape, and about 9½ inches in circumference. The number taken in Ceylon annually must be numbered by millions. In the year of our arrival to Ceylon (1858), the pearl fishery yielded £24,120. According to the last returns, before us as we write, there were in the year 1859, 1352 boats engaged during eighteen days in the pearl fishery, the gross take of which amounted to 9,534,951 oysters, sold for £48,216. The divers' shares amounted together to 2,126,749 oysters.

The wide-spread popular delusion, that the pearl in the oyster is but a produce of disease in the animal, has long been refuted by scientific research, and although the great German poet, Henry Heine, in his "Romanzero," sings,

it is rather a poetic fancy than a scientific fact. We have latterly been especially indebted to the German naturalist, Theodore von Hessling, for a very circumstantial and thoroughly exhaustive memoir on the natural history of the pearl oysters and their pearls,[90] in which the learned author seeks to establish that the enveloping matter of the germ of the pearl is identical with the covering of the animal, and that in the process of growth two influences are at work, an external and an internal. The first is called into play by the property peculiar to the hinge system that unites the double shell, of gaping wide open, in consequence of which extraneous substances rush in with the current of water, such as minute fragments of quartz, molecules of plants, &c., which, being detained either circling in the cavity, or eddying round the hinges, are seized on in the course of their revolutions, and entangled in the parenchyma of the various organs, which is specially secreted from the mantle, till it becomes enveloped by layers of solid shell. On the other hand, the internal development is closely allied to the conditions of deposition and subsequent growth of the shell-matter. Molecules, either a single grain or congeries of grains, varying from 9.01 to 0.05 of a line (¾ of an inch down to the ¹⁄₂₄₀th of an inch), enclosed in the epidermis of the shell, constitute usually the nuclei of the pearls, which, to a certain extent, may be considered as nothing but a portion of the epidermis not applied to the formation of shell. The pearls also are simply independent concretions growing in the creature, and consisting of the substance of the shell, which are with difficulty discriminated from the various descriptions of growths which constitute the inner surface of the shell.

The great importance of the pearl as an article of luxury and commerce, has naturally led to numerous attempts to manufacture them by artificial means, in the course of which extraneous bodies have been introduced between the mouth and shell of the animal, sometimes with, sometimes without injury to it. The Chinese especially are adepts at placing certain small bodies, specially prepared, in the shells of the pearl oyster, which, after a short time, becomes coated with mother-of-pearl, or nacre. This manufacture of artificial pearls is carried on on a large scale in the neighbourhood of Hong-Chow-Foo. During our stay at Hong-Kong and Shanghai respectively, we ourselves saw several mussel-shells, in which a mother-of-pearl covering had formed over small neatly carved figures, mostly sitting figures of Buddha,[91] the singular appearance of which would, at the first glance tend to make the observer suspect that the pearl had been fastened to the mussel by some adhesive substance. But we had so frequently an opportunity of satisfying ourselves by actually witnessing the entire process, that we could no longer doubt that the carved figures are with the utmost care introduced into the animal, and, after remaining a few days in the water, become attached to the mussel by a distinct membrane. This, their membrane, afterwards becomes interpermeated by the calcareous matter, till, finally, layers of mother-of-pearl are deposited all around the nucleus, the whole formation corresponding with the chalk-like concretions occurring in other creatures.

Besides the pearl-shells, the northern shores of Ceylon, especially between the Island of Manaar and Karativoe, are especially rich in beds of a volute mussel (Turbinella rapa, or soluta gravis), which are exported in great numbers to India, where the Hindoo women saw them into rings of all sizes, to be worn as ornaments on the arms, legs, fingers and toes. The chank-shell is likewise a chief instrument of the Buddhists, who, amongst other devout customs, blow three times a day on this sacred shell, to summon believers to worship.[92] It is also used as a festive ornament of the Indian temples, as well as a donation to the dead, which, inspired by a religious feeling, the survivors place in the grave alongside of the corpse of their illustrious departed.

The gems found on the island are distinguished, less for their intrinsic value than for the great variety of precious stones which are present. They are, with few exceptions, found to have been disengaged from the primitive rocks, and washed into the alluvial soil, especially in the outskirts of the mountainous districts, where they are rolled along the beds of the streams together with other pebbles, or are washed out of the alluvial deposits. Hitherto, they have only been searched for for purposes of trade, and then only in the most desultory and thriftless way, no one having as yet examined the rocks themselves, by the disintegration of which the valuable stones are disengaged. There was, indeed, no detailed information as to the wealth in precious stones of the island, until the researches of the English mineralogist, Dr. Gygax, who has very lately published on this subject many interesting observations and remarks. The locality in which precious stones are most abundant is, so far as present experience goes, the district of Saffragam, the capital of which in consequence takes the name of Ratnapoora, or Anarhadnaporra, "the city of rubies." They are also found at various other parts of the island; in the plains on the West coast, between Adams' Peak and the sea, at Nuwera Ellia, Kandy, Matelle, and Ruanwelli, near Colombo, as also in Matura, and the river courses on the eastern side, towards the ancient Mahagam. The geologist of the Expedition visited some mines of precious stones near Ratnapoora. These are situated on the Kaluga-Sella, a small tributary of the Kalu-Gunga, and lie, some in the very bed of the river, some on the steep bank. They are about thirty feet deep, but having been some time disused, they are full of water. The uppermost stratum of these pits or mines is a rich fertile yellow loam, exactly resembling our diluvial loams. This is succeeded, according to the report of the proprietor of the mines, by a slimy black clay, and clayey sand, beneath which again is a bituminous clay, holding numerous organic remains, such as leaves, trunks of trees converted into a substance resembling lignite, and not infrequently elephants' tusks and bones of animals; thereafter sand, and lastly a bank of rolled gravel, forming a species of conglomerate with red, yellow, and occasionally blue clay—being, in fact, what is known as stone-gravel. This bank of pebbles is the layer in which the precious stones occur, and these are most commonly found between the larger masses of agglutinated matter, that are always found especially to abound in gems, whenever they are superposed upon what is called malave, which appears to be a sort of greenish-coloured talc-like half-decomposed mica. The most valuable stones that are obtained from these mines are rubies and sapphires. In the Kalu-Gunga, also, precious stones are occasionally washed down, and as the geologist of the Novara Expedition was descending the river in a boat, from Ratnapoora to Caltura, he perceived at several places, more particularly at the various rapids, men standing in the water, provided with flat pan-shaped baskets, in which they sifted the sand and pebbles.

The gems found on the island are rubies, sapphires topazes, amethysts, garnets, cinnamon-stone, and tourmaline. On the other hand, all the diamonds, emeralds, carnelians, agates, opals, and turquoises, which the natives offer for sale, are imported from India. One precious stone, on which the Cingalese set an exceedingly high value, because they erroneously believe that it is peculiar to the island of Ceylon, whereas it is also found on the southern shores of Hindostan, is the "Cat's-eye," a greenish transparent quartz, which, when polished in its natural shape, or "en cabochon," exhibits in its interior a varying reflected light, undoubtedly arising from the presence of fibres of asbestos, and which, in fact, bears some resemblance to the eye of a cat. The natives, as a rule, estimate the value and symmetry of this stone by the brilliancy and tenuity of the beam which it emits, and the clear olive-coloured ground upon which it shines in relief.

A vast number of men give themselves up to the exciting but most uncertain occupation of searching for precious stones, and barter what they have found, chiefly to Mahometan merchants, for clothes and salt. As, however, the natives themselves set a high value on jewels, in consequence of their small bulk admitting of their being readily concealed and easily carried about, the finer descriptions are readily disposed of at a good price, and, singular to say, it has frequently happened, as we ourselves found by personal experience, that precious stones are dearer in Colombo and Galle than in the European markets! The explanation of this paradox is probably that the steady copious influx into the London and Paris markets of precious stones from all parts of the earth where jewels are found, admits of by no means such excessive fluctuations in value as at Ceylon, where the supply actually on hand is so varying, and where the value of the article almost always depends upon the rank and wealth of the Indian purchaser. The foreign traveller very often cannot restrain a feeling of surprise at seeing the fingers of the stately Mahometan jewellers adorned with rings of costly gems, which are only offered for sale to himself at an exorbitant sum.

The value of the precious stones of all sorts found in Ceylon in the course of a year is estimated by Sir Emerson Tennent at about £10,000, one-fourth, at least, of the entire quantity finding a market on the island, a full half being sent to the jewel-polishers of India, so that only the remaining fourth is exported to Europe.

The scant time allotted to us at Colombo was zealously occupied in seeing the utmost that we could of the many interesting objects that invited attention. Among others, we visited one of the largest industrial enterprises in Ceylon, known as Hultsdorf Mill, a cocoa-nut-oil factory, the proprietorship consisting in shares, of which the largest holder is David Wilson, Esq., the Austrian Consular Agent. Here are carried on all the various processes connected with the manufacture, the preparation of the oil-cake from the cocoa-nut, the expressure of the oil, &c., which are carried on by apparatus, partly sent out from England, partly put up in this country, all set in motion by steam-engines. The task assigned in these factories to the natives, of whom above a thousand are employed in the various departments, is, nevertheless, not the less important and significant, that, while machinery is used in those processes where it is necessary to use an agency far transcending the powers of mere human labour, all collateral products, such as soap, candles, perfumery, as also the implements and tools required for the works, and even the barrels and chests required for the transport of the manufactures, are prepared and used by handicraft labour.

To the thoughtful visitor it is a scene of no ordinary interest to behold several hundreds of Cingalese, Hindoos, and Mozambique negroes, all thoroughly conversant with the management of the most magnificent invention of the nineteenth century. Here are a number of artisans employed at the hydraulic presses and iron turning-lathes; in another apartment the various parts of the different machines are being constructed or put together, which regulate the pressure of the steam supplied to the apparatus when in activity; in a third, persons are busy examining and testing the resulting products with scrupulous precision. With all its development, European industry has, in this quarter, exercised but an obscure influence; and, thus far, has been productive of but small results as a civilizing element among this population, which has hitherto shown itself so little disposed to accept the Christian form of civilization.

In the large warehouse belonging to Mr. Wilson, we also saw huge heaps of "Kauris," or Cowries, (cypræa moneta), the renowned, or rather ill-reputed, species of mussel, which comes from the Maldive Islands, and plays so important a part in the commerce with the coast of Malabar and the interior of Africa; while here, it constitutes the sole medium of exchange, which is used by way of barter for almost all sorts of agricultural produce, chiefly among the blacks.[93] These mussels are sent from Ceylon to London, and thence back to the Eastern Coast of Africa, and thus indirectly uphold the slave-trade, as, the native merchants of that region barter these shells, so greatly sought after by all African tribes, as ornament, for negroes and negresses, who are in turn sold to the "speculators in human flesh." A ton of these shells, of which the smaller description are most in request, and therefore the most valuable, costs in Ceylon about £70 to £75.

To the kindness and active interest in our objects of Mr. Wilson, in whose agreeable villa at Mootwall—the plan and method of construction of which reminded us of the beautiful planters' houses on the sugar estates of Louisiana—we spent the last night of our stay at Colombo, we are also indebted for a copy, with which he presented us, of the most ancient annals of Ceylon, inscribed with an iron graver upon Talipot palm-leaves in the highly-esteemed Pali language, and preserved between richly-carved boards of the costly wood of the Kalamander tree (Diospyrus Hirsuta). This carefully-preserved MS. includes, among others, the celebrated epic poem "Mahawanso," (an abbreviation "Mahantaman Wanso," "Genealogy of mighty men,") which recites under 100 heads, and in 9175 verses, the most important events connected with the interior constitution and history of the island, as also of all the battles fought by the inhabitants in foreign countries from b. c. 543 to the year 1758, a. d. Of these, the most renowned historic relics of the Cingalese, 38 chapters, of 262 pages 4to, were translated into English by George Tumour, Esq., an eminent Pali scholar, and printed at Ceylon, in the year 1837. Unfortunately, his earnest desire to publish the rest of this highly-interesting work was destined not to be gratified. The grave closed over him ere he could realize his wish. At present, however, there is a prospect of the translation of the "Mahawanso" being completed by Mr. James de Alwis, a worthy follower in the footsteps of Mr. Turnour, chiefly through the munificence of Government and of the Scientific Institutes, which were invoked to supply the requisite assistance for the prosecution of an undertaking likely to prove so unremunerative.

In addition to the copy of the "Mahawanso," we also procured a number of other important Cingalese MSS. on Talipot palms, which were made use of by Tumour, partly in his translation of the "Mahawanso," partly in his other works upon Ceylon, and which embrace numerous valuable historical details not comprised in the "Mahawanso." This complete collection of the most antique annals of the Island of Ceylon, in the purchase of which we were kindly favoured with the advice and assistance of Mr. Wilson at Colombo, together with a variety of other Cingalese MSS. on palm leaves, collected at a subsequent date, now form part of the collection of valuable books in the Imperial Royal Library at Vienna.

Besides Mr. Wilson, our very best thanks are due to the Colonial Secretary, Sir C. J. McCarthy, who had the kindness to provide several of the members of the Novara Expedition with the requisite letters of introduction to the authorities in the interior of the Island: also to Mr. John Selby, the very obliging proprietor of the Examiner; to Dr. Kelaart, physician and naturalist; to Charles P. Layard, Esq., the Government Agent for the Western Provinces; and to Captain Gosset, Surveyor-General, for their numerous attentions. The last-mentioned gentleman very kindly provided us with a pair of level-tubes which we urgently needed for one of our levelling instruments, and which, in this quarter of the globe, were more rare and difficult to be met with than pearls or precious stones.

Our return from Colombo to Galle, was not less marked by misadventures than our journey thither. As far as Caltura, where our amiable Father Miliani was in waiting for us with his neat single-horse equipage, to convey us to the beautiful parsonage of St. Sebastian Makùn, all went tolerably smoothly with us. We arrived, as had been concerted, to breakfast with this hospitable shepherd of souls. On our way to the parsonage, we noticed that great respect was paid to the worthy Father, by such of the Cingalese as met us. Their usual salutation was to bend themselves to the earth, veiling their eyes at the same time, and bending forward the outstretched head as though to implore a blessing. Father Miliani, who held the reins in his left hand, while his right hand flourished a long heavy whip, slightly inclined his body upon the cabriolet, and so dismissed in peace the poor folk that besought his benediction. When we had now got pretty near the parsonage, we were suddenly brought to a halt by a couple of natives, of whom one implored the spiritual ministration of the Father for his wife, then lying almost in articulo mortis, while the other had brought with him, from the sacristy of Makùn, the Communion-plate required for the purpose. The priest, to whom this interruption seemed to come as a matter of course, stopped, apologized for the unexpected delay, threw the reins to one of the party, sprang from the waggon, and disappeared in the gloom of the forest. It was not for long, as it proved; for the stately, handsome figure of the priest of Makùn presently appeared between the cocoa-palms. He had found the woman much less dangerously ill than he had been led to expect by the report of the husband, the native converts to Christianity being very much given to requesting the administration of the rites of the Church, upon being attacked by the slightest indisposition, because they anticipate much more benefit from spiritual treatment than from the medicines of their body-curers. And now we proceeded on our way to the parsonage at a smart gallop, which, however, did not prevent a zealous, much-believing Cingalese from keeping up with the mettled horse, stride for stride, for the entire distance, keeping close to the waggon as he ran alongside. We were not then aware, indeed, whether this violent bodily exercise was undertaken as a matter of choice or as a penance, but it seemed to us, in any case, an act far less meritorious than prejudicial to health.

In St. Sebastian de Makùn, the entire community were awaiting our arrival, and escorted us by a romantic hill, and through a delicious palm-forest, to the priest's abode. Here we found the porch of the house gaily adorned, and metamorphosed with tropical fruits and flowers into a smiling fragrant bower, with the feathery leaf of the cocoa-palm cut into thin strips. The inventive ingenuity of the Cingalese had endeavoured to represent the various birds found in tropical forests, which were suspended in ornamental baskets of green leaves among the festoons. Over the entrance to this bower, improvised out of materials supplied by the primeval forest, was placed a picture painted by the good Father himself, representing a large anchor, with the superscription in Italian "La speranza non confunde!" (Hope never disappoints!) This was evidently a delicate allusion of our kind-souled entertainer to the hope which he had expressed during our previous visit, that he should see us on our return from Colombo, "which had not been disappointed."

In the interior of the arbour appeared an elegantly appointed table, that seemed ready to give way under the weight of good things spread upon it, around which were placed a number of arm-chairs, worked in tapestry, while the plastered floor was strewed with the glistening green leaves of the Ficus religiosa. As soon as we had taken our seats, the members of the community, consisting of more than a hundred tawny, half-naked Cingalese (principally men and children), arranged themselves in a circle, and some half-dozen dancers began to execute a very ordinary-looking dance to the sound of a drum. The entire figure consisted in their simply approaching each other from opposite sides, during which they struck the hollow-sounding instrument pretty sharply, holding it in their hand the while, after which they drew away from each other, and wound up by dancing round in a circle in couples. A boy of eight, in glittering costume, next performed a dance, in which he was accompanied by a grown-up Cingalese who sung, occasionally accompanied by drum and fife. Frequently we enquired what was the meaning of the vocal accompaniment to the dance, but could get no information upon the subject. But we have always had occasion to remark among the various primitive races, that they are rarely able to give any connected account of the history of their dances or even their songs, but simply go through a set of mechanical figures which they have learned, or rehearse a set of words by rote, without being able to assign any signification to either. Over and over again have we put the question, only to receive the same stereotyped answer from Hindoos, Negroes, Chinese, Malays, and Polynesians, that they could tell us nothing more than that these songs and dances took their origin in the "olden times." Breakfast was served in the arbour by Cingalese boys. As often as the hospitable Father turned to apologize for his scanty means, which prevented him from ministering to our entertainment as he could wish, some new dish would be forthcoming, or some fresh kind of wine would be produced, till one knew not which most to admire, the variety of the entertainment, or its cost in preparation.

On inquiring of Father Miliani, in the course of conversation, whether he had any acquaintance with the plants to which the natives ascribe healing properties, he sent for a phial containing an oily substance, which; according to the Cingalese herbalists, is composed of 57 different roots and as many flowers, and has already been wonderfully efficacious in cases of persons bitten by poisonous serpents. It is called by the natives, Visanili-Katail (oil against poison); and the priest of Makùn remarked to us, he had himself had an opportunity of satisfying himself as to the marvellous curative qualities of this vegetable substance, in the case of persons who had been bitten by the most venomous snake in the whole island, the Cobra di Capello, who had entirely recovered by the copious use of this antidote. The application is very simple. The mouth is rinsed out with it, and the patient further takes from 15 to 20 drops of the oil internally. Unfortunately, we were not able to inquire more particularly as to the ingredients from which the Visanili-Katail is compounded, of which we eventually got a small quantity to carry away with us, after much entreaty; but by way of compensation, Father Miliani was able to give us much valuable information as to the manners, customs, and traditions of his flock. He regretted, however, that they were all of a highly impassioned strain, and that they constantly passed from one extreme to the other. The following trait, which was pointed out to us by the Father in the course of conversation, may serve to indicate the modes of thought and observation of the natives. When the Cingalese perceived how eagerly and with what warmth of friendship the Father received us, they inquired of him whether he had been previously an acquaintance of ours, as they were unable to conceive the existence of such hearty good-will between persons who were utter strangers to each other. The priest, readily appreciating the results which must flow from the reply he should give, in confirming the devout souls of his children, replied that the reputation of his name had long since penetrated to us, and we were unwilling to ride by without turning aside to salute him, to which he had readily expressed his assent, and had also long since been apprized of the important mission of the Austrian ship of war, whose commander was termed by the natives, with the bombast of their native tongue, "King of the Sea." At our departure, the kind Father presented us with several interesting articles, as souvenirs of Makùn, while we, on our part, left with him a donation in money to defray the expenses of erecting his church.

Father Miliani, the band of musicians, consisting of ten or twelve wild-looking fellows, with all manner of barbarous musical instruments, of which they made not less barbarous use, together with a laughing, yelling, gesticulating crowd of half-naked Cingalese, with long raven locks floating over their shoulders, accompanied us to our travelling chariot. Here we took leave of the hospitable Father, the vehicle set out on its route, and the whole brown retinue at once dispersed.

Hardly had we left the Mission of St. Sebastian Makùn behind us, ere our troubles began afresh. At almost the very first station we came to, we had to hire a horse from a resident at an exorbitant rate—the animal belonging to the station, and which had been engaged for us, being utterly useless. This gave occasion for fresh delays. The party letting the horses was what is called a native doctor, who assumed the title of "native vaccinator," and bitterly complained, that for his attendance four days in every week, as required by the law, for the purpose of inoculation, he only received from Government a monthly salary of £2 5s. sterling. Whatever deficiency existed in his salary, he seemed determined to make up for in the hire of his horse, which he charged for at the rate of ten shillings for six miles! On the cash being forthcoming, our "native vaccinator" did not disdain himself to take the reins, and, with his own hands, apply the whip to his mare between the shafts of our vehicle. But this mark of distinction was destined, ere long, to cost us dear. Hardly had we proceeded a couple of miles under his care, when the hind-wheels of the vehicle sunk into a rut, whence our Æsculapian steed lacked the strength to extricate us. To complete the sum of our misfortunes, at the very moment we were using our utmost endeavours to replace the waggon on the regular track, it came on to rain heavily, and we were, in a twinkling, wet to the skin. Some thirty young Cingalese, in the full dress of Adam before the Fall, who were standing open-mouthed round the waggon, could only be roused by threats from their passive attitude; and when, finally, they lent a hand to assist, they, in their ill-timed zeal, came near oversetting the waggon into the ditch on the opposite side. Next, we exchanged this stubborn brute for one that was blind. For a brief space we hoped the latter might probably be the more easily driven in consequence of his not seeing what was going on around him; but these anticipations were speedily dispelled, and in a rather unpleasant manner. The short distance that now separated us from our destination seemed as though it would never have an end; and, in a word, it was already verging on midnight ere we reached Galle, where we had been expected to dinner five hours before, by our hospitable friend, the Consul for Hamburg. Some of the invited guests had already left this agreeable house, while others were still seated at the whist-table, as, wearied and exhausted, we entered the drawing-room. The circumstances that had so seriously delayed our arrival were explained by way of apology, and proved the subject of some goodnatured quizzing on our misfortunes by the guests present; and in such agreeable society, and over a sumptuous supper, we speedily forgot the trifling annoyances of our latest experiences.

In the course of a desultory agreeable conversation about the natural beauties of the island, many were the plans of more distant excursions which we projected this evening—which, however, upon more mature consideration, all proved impracticable, owing to the scanty time at our disposal. Thus we found ourselves, much against our wishes, compelled to forego a visit to Kandy, and its beautiful environs, in which is situated the renowned temple that enshrines the tooth of Buddha, the occupation of which by the English was, in the eyes of the Cingalese, the most manifest indication of their being the legitimate conquerors of the kingdom.[94] Neither were we able to take part in an elephant hunt, although these animals are found in the island in such quantities, that it is related, with every appearance of accuracy, of a single elephant hunter, the late Major Rodgers, who was struck dead by a flash of lightning a few years since in the midst of the forest, that he had, in the course of his life of active exercise, laid low fifteen hundred elephants with his own hand! But permission was granted by the commander of the Expedition to the geologist and one of the zoologists to remain in Ceylon, and rejoin the frigate at Madras by the steamer which runs fortnightly, so as to enable them to ascend the world-famous Adam's Peak, 7000 feet high, one of the loftiest peaks in Ceylon, where, according to tradition, the founder of the Buddhist doctrine, when last he visited the earth, in answer to the supplications of a priest, left behind the print of his footstep (Sri-pada), as a visible sign of his presence.