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diff --git a/old/13552.txt b/old/13552.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f95faf1 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13552.txt @@ -0,0 +1,31323 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, +Historical, and Topographical with Notices of Its Natural History, +Antiquities and Productions, Volume 1 (of 2), by James Emerson Tennent + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and +Topographical with Notices of Its Natural History, Antiquities and +Productions, Volume 1 (of 2) + +Author: James Emerson Tennent + +Release Date: September 28, 2004 [eBook #13552] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CEYLON; AN ACCOUNT OF THE ISLAND +PHYSICAL, HISTORICAL, AND TOPOGRAPHICAL WITH NOTICES OF ITS NATURAL +HISTORY, ANTIQUITIES AND PRODUCTIONS, VOLUME 1 (OF 2)*** + + +E-text prepared by Carnegie Mellon University, Juliet Sutherland, Leonard +Johnson, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 13552-h.htm or 13552-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/5/5/13552/13552-h/13552-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/5/5/13552/13552-h.zip) + + + + + +CEYLON; AN ACCOUNT OF THE ISLAND PHYSICAL, HISTORICAL, AND TOPOGRAPHICAL +WITH NOTICES OF ITS NATURAL HISTORY, ANTIQUITIES AND PRODUCTIONS + +by + +SIR JAMES EMERSON TENNENT, K.C.S. LL.D. &c. + +Illustrated by Maps, Plans and Drawings + +Fourth Edition, Thoroughly Revised + +VOLUME I + +LONDON + +1860 + + + + + + + +[Illustration: Frontispiece for Vol I +NOOSING WILD ELEPHANTS--Vol 2 p 359 368 &c] + + + + +CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME + + +PART I. + +PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. + + +CHAPTER I. + +GEOLOGY.--MINERALOGY.--GEMS. + + +I. General Aspect. + Singular beauty of the island + Its ancient renown in consequence + Fable of its "perfumed winds" (note) + Character of the scenery +II. Geographical Position + Ancient views regarding it amongst the Hindus,--"the Meridian of + Lanka" + Buddhist traditions of former submersions (note) + Errors as to the dimensions of Ceylon + Opinions of Onesicritus, Eratosthenes, Strabo, Pliny, Ptolemy, + Agathemerus 8, + The Arabian geographers + Sumatra supposed to be Ceylon (note) + True latitude and longitude + General Eraser's map of Ceylon (note) + Geological formation + Adam's Bridge + Error of supposing Ceylon to be a detached fragment of India +III. The Mountain System + Remarkable hills, Mihintala and Sigiri + Little evidence of volcanic action + Rocks, gneiss + Rock temples + Laterite or "Cabook" + Ancient name Tamba-panni (note) + Coral formation + Extraordinary wells + Darwin's theory of coral wells examined (note) + The soil of Ceylon generally poor + "Patenas," their phenomena obscure + Rice lands between the hills + Soil of the plains, "Talawas" +IV. Metals.--Tin + Gold, nickel, cobalt + Quicksilver (note) + Iron +V. Minerals.--Anthracite, plumbago, kaolin, nitre caves + List of Ceylon minerals (note) +VI. Gems, ancient fame of + Rose-coloured quartz (note) + Mode of searching for gems + Rubies + Sapphire, topaz, garnet, and cinnamon stone, cat's-eye, amethyst, + moonstone 37, + Diamond not found in Ceylon (note) + Gem-finders and lapidaries +VII. Rivers.--Their character + The Mahawelli-ganga + Table of the rivers +VIII. Singular coast formation, and its causes + The currents and their influence + Word "Gobb" explained (note) + Vegetation of the sand formations + Their suitability for the coconut +IX. Harbours.--Galle and Trincomalie + Tides + Red infusoria + Population of Ceylon + + +CHAP. II. + +CLIMATE.--HEALTH AND DISEASE. + +Uniformity of temperature +Brilliancy of foliage +Colombo.--January--long shore wind +February--cold nights (note) +March, April +May--S.W. monsoon + Aspect of the country before it + Lightning + Rain, its violence +June +July and August, September, October, + November. N.E. monsoon +December +Annual quantity of rain in Ceylon and Hindustan (note) +Opposite climates of the same mountain +Climate of Galle +Kandy and its climate + Mists and hail +Climate of Trincomalie (text and note) +Jaffna and its climate +Waterspouts +Anthelia +Buddha rays +Ceylon as a sanatarium.--Neuera-ellia + Health + Malaria + Food and wine 76, + Effects of the climate of Ceylon on disease + Precautions for health + +CHAP. III + +VEGETATION.--TREES AND PLANTS. + +The Flora of Ceylon imperfectly known +Vegetation similar to that of India and the Eastern Archipelago +Trees of the sea-borde.--Mangroves--Screw-pines, Sonneratia +The Northern Plains.--Euphorbiae Cassia.--Mustard-tree of Scripture +Western coast.--Luxurious vegetation +Eastern coast +Pitcher plant.--Orchids +Vines +Botany of the Mountains.--Iron-wood, Bamboo, European + fruit-trees + Tea-plant--_Rhododendron_--_Mickelia_ + Rapid disappearance of dead trees in the forests + Trees with natural buttresses +Flowering Trees.--Coral tree + The Murutu--Imbul--Cotton tree--Champac + The Upas Tree--Poisons of Ceylon + The Banyan + The Sacred Bo-tree + The India Rubber-tree--The Snake-tree + Kumbuk-tree: lime in its bark +Curious Seeds.--The Dorian, _Sterculia foetida_ + The Sea Pomegranate + Strychnos, curious belief as to its poison +_Euphorbia_--The Cow-tree, error regarding (note) +Climbing plants, Epiphytes, and flowering creepers +Orchids--Brilliant terrestrial orchid, the + Wanna-raja.--Square-stemmed Vine +Gigantic climbing Plants + Enormous bean + Bonduc seeds.--Ratans--Ratan bridges +Thorny Trees.--Raised as a natural fortification by the + Kandyans + The buffalo thorn, _Acacia tomentosa_ +Palms + Coco-nut--Talipat + Palmyra + Jaggery Palm--Arcea Palm +Betel-chewing, its theory and uses + Pingos +Timber Trees + Jakwood--Del--Teak + Suria +Cabinet Woods.--Satin-wood--Ebony--Cadooberia + Calamander, its rarity and beauty + Tamarind +Fruit-trees + Remarkable power of trees to generate cold and keep their fruit + chill +Aquatic Plants--Lotus, red and blue + Desmanthus natans, an aquatic sensitive plant + + +PART II. + +ZOOLOGY. + +CHAPTER I. + +MAMMALIA. + +Neglect of Zoology in Ceylon +Monkeys + Wanderoo + Error regarding the _Silenus Veter_ (note) + Presbytes Cephalopterus + P. Ursinus in the Hills + P. Thersites in the Wanny + P. Priamus, Jaffna and Trincomalie + No dead monkey ever found +Loris +Bats + Flying fox + Horse-shoe bat +Carnivora.--Bears +Their ferocity + +Singhalese belief in the efficacy of charms (note) +Leopards + Curious belief + Anecdotes of leopards +Palm-cat +Civet +Dogs +Jackal + The horn of the jackal +Mungoos + Its fights with serpents + Theory of its antidote +Squirrels + Flying squirrel +Tree rat + Story of a rat and a snake +Coffee rat +Bandicoot +Porcupine +Pengolin +_Ruminantia_.--The Gaur + Oxen + Humped cattle + Encounter of a cow and a leopard + Buffaloes + Sporting buffaloes + Peculiar structure of the hoof +Deer +Meminna +Elephants +Whales +General view of the mammalia of Ceylon +List of Ceylon mammalia +Curious parasite of the bat (note) + +CHAP. II. + +BIRDS. + +Their numbers +Songsters +Hornbills, the "bird with two heads" +Pea fowl +Sea birds, their number +I. _Accipitres_.--Eagles + Falcons and hawks + Owls--the devil bird +II. _Passeres_.--Swallows + Kingfishers--sunbirds + Bul-bul--tailor bird--and weaver + Crows, anecdotes of +III. _Scansores_.--Parroquets +IV. _Columbiae_.--Pigeons +V. _Gallinae_.--Jungle-fowl +VI. _Grallae_.--Ibis, stork, &c. +VII. _Anseres_.--Flamingoes + Pelicans + Game.--Partridges, &c.176 +List of Ceylon birds +List of birds peculiar to Ceylon + +CHAP. III. + +REPTILES. + +Lizards.--Iguana + Kabragoya, barbarous custom in preparing the cobra-tel poison + (note) + The green calotes + Chameleon + Ceratophora + Geckoes,--their power of reproducing limbs 185, +Crocodiles + Their power of burying themselves in the mud +Tortoises--Curious parasite + Land tortoises + Edible turtle + Huge Indian tortoises (note) + Hawk's-bill turtle, barbarous mode of stripping it of the + tortoise-shell +Serpents.--Venomous species rare + Cobra de capello + Instance of land snakes found at sea + Tame snakes (note) + Singular tradition regarding the cobra de capello + Uropeltidae.--New species discovered in Ceylon + Buddhist veneration for the cobra de capello + Anecdotes of snakes + The Python + Water snakes + Snake stones + Analysis of one + Caecilia + Large frogs + Tree frogs +List of Ceylon reptiles + +CHAP. IV. + +FISHES. + +Ichthyology of Ceylon, little known +Fish for table, seir fish +Sardines, poisonous? +Sharks +Saw-fish +Fish of brilliant colours +Curious fish described by AElian (note) +Fresh-water fish, little known,--not much eaten +Fresh-water fish in Colombo Lake +Immense profusion of fish in the rivers and lakes +Their re-appearance after rain +Mode of fishing in the ponds +Showers of fish +Conjecture that the ova are preserved, not tenable +Fish moving on dry land + Instances in Guiana (note) + Perca Scandens, ascends trees + Doubts as to the story of Daldorf +Fishes burying themselves during the dry season + The _protopterus_ of the Gambia + Instances in the fish of the Nile + Instances in the fish of South America + Living fish dug out of the ground in the dry tanks in Ceylon + Other animals that so bury themselves, Melaniae, Ampullariae, &c. + The animals that so bury themselves in India (note) + Analogous case of (note) + Theory of aestivation and hybernation +Fish in hot-water in Ceylon +List of Ceylon fishes +Instances of fishes failing from the clouds +Overland migration of fishes known to the Greeks and Romans +Note on Ceylon fishes by Professor Huxley +Comparative note by Dr. Gray, Brit. Mus.231 + +CHAP. V. + +MOLLUSCA, RADIATA, AND ACALEPHAE. + +I. Conchology--General character of Ceylon shells + Confusion regarding them in scientific works and collections + List of Ceylon shells +II. _Radiata_.--Star fish + Sea slugs + Parasitic worms + Planaria +III. _Acalephae_, abundant + Corals little known + +CHAP. VI. + +INSECTS. + +Profusion of insects in Ceylon + Imperfect knowledge of +I. _Coleoptera_.--Beetles + Scavenger beetles + Coco-nut beetles + Tortoise beetles +II. _Orthoptera_.--Mantis and leaf-insects + Stick-insects +III. _Neuroptera_--Dragon flies + Ant-lion + White ants + Anecdotes of their instinct and ravages (text and note) +V. _Hymenoptera_.--Mason Wasps + Wasps + Bees + Carpenter Bee + Ants + Burrowing ants +VI. _Lepidoptera_.--Butterflies + Sylph + Lycaenidae + Moths + Silk worms (text and note) + Wood-carrying Moths + Pterophorus +VII. _Homoptera_ + Cicada +VIII. _Hemiptera_ + Bugs +IX. _Aphaniptera_ +X. _Diptera_.--Mosquitoes +General character of Ceylon insects +List of insects in Ceylon + +CHAP. VII. + +ARACHNIDE, MYRIOPODA, CRUSTACEA, ETC. + +Spiders + Strange nests of the wood spiders + _Olios Taprobanius_ + _Mygale fasciata_ + Ticks + Mites.--_Trombidium tinctorum_ +Myriapods.--Centipedes + Cermatia + Scolopendra crassa + S. pollipes +_Millipeds_--Iulus +_Crustacea_ + Calling crabs + Land crabs + Painted crabs + Paddling crabs +_Annelidae_, Leeches.--The land leech + Medical leech + Cattle leech +List of Articulata, &c.307 + + +PART III. + +THE SINGHALESE CHRONICLES. + +CHAPTER I. + +SOURCES OF SINGHALESE HISTORY--THE MAHAWANSO. + +Ceylon formerly thought to have no authentic history +Researches of Turnour +Biographical sketch of Turnour (note) +The Mahawanso +Recovery of the "tika" on the Mahawanso +Outline of the Mahawanso +Turnour's epitome of Singhalese history +Historical proofs of the Mahawanso +Identity of Sandracottus and Chandragupta +Ancient map of Ceylon (note) +List of Ceylon sovereigns + +CHAP. II. + +THE ABORIGINES. + +Singhalese histories all illustrative of Buddhism +A Buddha +Gotama Buddha, his history +Amazing prevalence of his religion (note) +His three visits to Ceylon +Inhabitants of the island at that time supposed to be of Malayan + type +Legend of their Chinese origin +Probably identical with the aborigines of the Dekkan +Common basis of their language +Characteristics of vernacular Singhalese +State of the aborigines before Wijayo's invasion +Story of Wijayo +The natives of Ceylon described as _Yakkos_ and _Nagas_ +Traces of serpent-worship in Ceylon +Coincidence of the Mahawanso with the Odyssey (note) + +CHAP. III. + +CONQUEST OF WIJAYO, B.C. 543.--ESTABLISHMENT OF BUDDHISM, B.C. 307. + +Early commerce of Ceylon described by the Chinese +Wijayo as a colonizer +His treatment of the native population +B.C. 505. His death and successors +A number of petty kingdoms formed +Ceylon divided into three districts: Pihiti, Rohuna, and Maya +The village system established +Agriculture introduced +Irrigation imported from India +The first tank constructed, B.C. 504 (note) +Rapid progress of the island +Toleration of Wijayo and his followers +Establishment of Buddhism, 307 B.C. +Preaching of Mahindo +Planting of the sacred Bo-tree + +CHAP. IV. + +THE BUDDHIST MONUMENTS. + +Buddhist architecture introduced in Ceylon +The first _dagobas_ built +Their mode of construction and vast dimensions +The earliest Buddhist temples +Images and statues a later innovation +First residences of the priesthood +The formation of monasteries and _wiharas_ +The first wihara built +Form of the modern wiharas +Inconvenient numbers of the Buddhist priesthood +Originally fed by the kings and the people +Caste annulled in the case of priests +The priestly robe and its peculiarities + +CHAP. V. + +SINGHALESE CHIVALRY.--ELALA AND DUTUGAIMUNU. + +Progress of civilisation +The new settlers agriculturists +Malabars enlisted as soldiers and seamen +B.C. 237. The revolt of Sena and Gutika +B.C. 205. Usurpation of Elala +His character and renown +The victory of Dutugaimunu +Progress of the south of the island +Building of the great Ruanwelle Dagoba +Building of the Brazen Palace +Its vicissitudes and ruins +Death and character of Dutugaimunu + +CHAP. VI. + +THE INFLUENCES OP BUDDHISM ON CIVILISATION. + +The Mahawanse or Great Dynasty +The Suluwanse or Inferior Dynasty +Services rendered by the Great Dynasty +Frequent usurpations and the cause +Disputed successions +Rising influence of the priesthood +B.C. 104. Their first endowment with land +Rapid increase of the temple estates +Their possessions and their vow of poverty reconciled +Acquire the compulsory labour of temple-tenants +Impulse thus given to cultivation +And to the construction of enormous tanks +Tanks conferred on the temples +The great tank of Minery formed, A.D. 272 +Subserviency of the kings to the priesthood +Large possessions of the temples at the present day +Cultivation of flowers for the temples +Their singular profusion +Fruit trees planted by the Buddhist sovereigns +Edicts of Asoca + +CHAP. VII. + +FATE OF THE ABORIGINES. + +Aborigines forced to labour for the new settlers +Immensity of the structures erected by them +Slow amalgamation of the natives with the strangers +The worship of snakes and demons continued +Treatment of the aborigines by the kings +Their formal disqualification for high office +Their rebellions +They retire into the mountains and forests +Their singular habits of seclusion +Traces of their customs at the present day + +CHAP. VIII. + +EXTINCTION OF THE GREAT DYNASTY. + +B.C. 104 Walagam-bahu I +His wars with the Malabars +The South of Ceylon free from Malabar invasion +The Buddhist doctrines first formed into books +The formation of rock-temples +Apostacy of Chora Naga +Ceylon governed by queens +Schisms in religion +Buddhism tolerant of heresy but intolerant of schism +Illustrations of Buddhist toleration +Tolerance enjoined by Asoca +The Wytulian heresy +Corruption of Buddhism by the impurities of Brahnmanism +A.D. 275. Recantation and repentance of King Maha Sen +End of the Solar race +State of Ceylon at that period +Prosperity of the North +Description of Anarajapoora in the fourth century +Its municipal organisation +Its palaces and temples +Popular error as to the area of the city (note) +Multitudes of the priesthood described by Fa Hian + +CHAP. IX + +KINGS OF THE LOWER DYNASTY. + +Sovereigns of the Lower Dynasty, a feeble race +Kings who were sculptors, physicians, and poets +Earliest notice of Foreign Embassies to Rome and to China +Notices of Ceylon by Chinese Historians +Fa Hian visits Ceylon A.D. 413 +Anecdote related by Fa Hian (note) +History of "the Sacred Tooth" +Murder of the king Dhatu Sena, A.D. 459 +Infamous conduct of his son +The fortified rock Sigiri + +CHAP. X. + +DOMINATION OF THE MALABARS. + +Origin of the Malabar invaders of Ceylon +The ancient Indian kingdom of Pandya +Malabar mercenaries enlisted in Ceylon +B.C. 237. Revolt of Sena and Gutika +B.C. 205. Usurpation of Elala +B.C. 103. Second Malabar invasion +A.D. 110. Third Malabar invasion +Jewish evidence of Malabar conquest (note)396 +A.D. 433. Fourth Malabar invasion +The influence of the Malabars firmly established +Distress of the Singhalese in the 7th century, as described by Hiouen + Thsang +A.D. 642. Anarajapoora deserted, and Pollanarrua built +The Malabars did nothing to improve the island +A.D. 840. A fresh Malabar invasion +The Singhalese seek to conciliate them by alliances +A.D. 990. Another Malabar invasion +Extreme misery of the island +A.D. 1023. The Malabars seize Pollanarrua and occupy the entire north + of the island + +CHAP. XI. + +THE REIGN OF PRAKRAMA BAHU. + +A.D. 1071. Recovery of the island from the Malabars +Wijayo Bahu I. expels the Malabars +Birth of the Prince Prakrama +His character and renown +Immense public works constructed by him +Restores the order of the Buddhist priesthood +Intercourse between Siam and Ceylon +Temples and sacred edifices built by Prakrama +The Gal-Wihara at Pollanarrua +Ruins of Pollanarrua +Extraordinary extent of his works for irrigation +Foreign wars of Prakrama +His conquests in India +The death of Prakrama Bahu + +CHAP. XII. + +FATE OF THE SINGHALESE MONARCHY. + +ARRIVAL OF THE PORTUGUESE, A.D. 1505. + +Prakrama Baku, the last powerful king +Anarchy follows on his decease +A.D. 1197. The Queen Leela-Wattee +A.D. 1211. Return of the Malabar invaders +The Malabars establish themselves at Jaffna +Early history of Jaffna +A.D. 1235. The new capital at Dambedenia +Extending ruin of Ceylon +Kandy founded as a new capital +Successive removals of the seat of Government to Yapahoo, Kornegalle, + Gampola, Kandy, and Cotta +Ascendancy of the Malabars +A.D. 1410. The King of Ceylon carried captive to China +Ceylon tributary to China +Arrival of the Portuguese in Ceylon + + +PART IV. + +SCIENCES AND SOCIAL ARTS. + +CHAPTER I. + +POPULATION, CASTE, SLAVERY, AND RAJA-KARIYA. + +Population encouraged by the fertility of Ceylon +Evidence of its former extent in the ruins of the tanks and canals +Means by which the population was preserved +Causes of its dispersion--the ruin of the tanks +Domestic life similar to that of the Hindus +Respect shown to females +Caste perpetuated in defiance of religious prohibition +Particulars in which caste in Ceylon differs from caste in India +Slavery, borrowed from Hindustan +Compulsory labour or Raja-kariya +Mode of enforcing it + +CHAP. II. + +AGRICULTURE, IRRIGATION, CATTLE, AND CROPS. + +Agriculture unknown before the arrival of Wijayo +Rice was imported into Ceylon in the second century B.C. +The practice of irrigation due to the Hindu kings +Who taught the science of irrigation to the Singhalese (note) +The first tank constructed B.C. 504 +Gardens and fruit-trees first planted +Value of artificial irrigation in the north of Ceylon +In the south of the island the rains sustain cultivation +Two harvests in the year in the south of the island +In the north, where rains are uncertain, tanks indispensable +Irrigation the occupation of kings +The municipal village-system of cultivation +"_Assoedamising_" of rice lands in the mountains +Temple villages and their tenure +Farm-stock buffaloes and cows +A Singhalese garden described +Coco-nut palm rarely mentioned in early writings +Doubt whether it be indigenous to Ceylon +The Mango and other fruits +Rice and curry mentioned in the second century B.C. +Animal food used by the early Singhalese +Betel, antiquity of the custom of chewing it +Intoxicating liquors known at an early period + +CHAP. III. + +EARLY COMMERCE, SHIPPING, AND PRODUCTIONS. + +Trade entirely in the hands of strangers +Native shipping unconnected with commerce +Same indifference to trade prevails at this day +Singhalese boats all copied from foreign models +All sewn together and without iron +Romance of the "Loadstone Island" +The legend believed by Greeks and the Chinese +Vessels with two prows mentioned by Strabo +Foreign trade spoken of B.C. 204 +Internal traffic in the ancient city of Ceylon +Merchants traversing the island +Early exports from Ceylon,--gems, pearls, &c. +The imports, chiefly manufactures +Horses and carriages imported from India +Cloth, silk, &c., brought from Persia +Kashmir, intercourse with +Edrisi's account of Ceylon trade in the twelfth century + +CHAP. IV. + +MANUFACTURES. + +Silk not produced in Ceylon +Coir and cordage +Dress; unshaped robes +Manual and Mechanical Arts--Weaving +Priest's robes spun, woven, and dyed in a day +Peculiar mode of cutting out a priest's robe +Bleaching and dyeing +Earliest artisans, immigrants +Handicrafts looked down on +Pottery +Glass +Glass mirrors +Leather +Wood carving +Chemical Arts--Sugar +Mineral paints + +CHAP. V. + +WORKING IN METALS. + +Early knowledge of the use of iron +Steel +Copper and its uses +Bells, bronze, lead +Gold and silver +Plate and silver ware +Red coral found at Galle (note) +Jewelry and mounted gems +Gilding.--Coin +Coins mentioned in the Mahawanso +Meaning of the term "massa" (note) +Coins of Lokiswaira +General device of Singhalese coins +Indian coinage of Prakrama Bahu +Fish-hook money + +CHAP. VI. + +ENGINEERING. + +Engineering taught by the Brahmans +Rude methods of labour +Military engineering unknown +Early attempts at fortification +Fortified rock of Sigiri +Forests, their real security +Thorns planted as defences +Bridges and ferries +Method of tying cut stone in forming tanks +Tank sluices +Defective construction of these reservoirs +The art of engineering lost +The "Giants' Tank" a failure +An aqueduct formed, A.D. 66 + +CHAP. VII. + +THE FINE ARTS. + +Music, its early cultivation + Harsh character of Singhalese music + Tom-toms, their variety and antiquity + Singhalese gamut +Painting.--Imagination discouraged + Similarity of Singhalese to Egyptian art + Rigid rules for religious design + Similar trammels on art in Modern Greece (note) + And in Italy in the 15th century (n.) + Celebrated Singhalese painters +Sculpture.--Statues of Buddha + Built statues + Painted statues + Statues formed of gems + Ivory and sandal-wood carved +Architecture, its ruins exclusively religious +Domestic architecture mean at all times +Stone quarried by wedges +Immense slabs thus prepared +Columns at Anarajapoora +Materials for building +Mode of constructing a dagoba +Enormous dimensions of these structures +Monasteries and wiharas +Palaces +Carvings in stone +Ubiquity of the honours shown to goose +Delicate outline of Singhalese carvings +Temples and their decorations +Cave temples of Ceylon +The Alu-wihara +Moulding in plaster +Claim of the Singhalese to the invention of oil painting +Lacquer ware of the present day +Honey-suckle ornament + +CHAP. VIII. + +SOCIAL LIFE. + +Ancient cities and their organisation +Public buildings, hospitals, shops +Anarajapoora, as it appeared in 7th century +The description of it by Fa Hian +Carriages and Horses +Horses imported from Persia +Furniture of the houses +Form of Government.--Revenue +The Army and Navy +Mode of recruiting +Arms.--Bows +Singular mode of drawing the bow with the foot (note) +Civil Justice + +CHAP. IX. + +SCIENCES. + +Education and schools +Logic +Astronomy and astrology +Medicine and surgery +King Buddha-dasa a physician +Botany +Geometry +Lightning conductors +Notice of a remarkable passage in the Mahawanso + +CHAP. X. + +SINGHALESE LITERATURE. + +The Pali language +The temples the depositaries of learning +Historiographers employed by the kings +Ola books, how prepared +A stile, and the mode of writing +Books on plates of metal (note) +Differences between Elu and Singhalese +Pali works + Grammar + Hardy's list of Singhalese books (note) + Pali books all written in verse + The _Pittakas_ + The _Jatakas_--resemble the Talmud + Pali literature generally + The _Milinda-prasna_ + Pali historical books and their character + The _Mahawanso_ + Scriptural coincidences in Pali books (note) +Sanskrit works: + Principally on science and medicine +Elu and Singhalese works: + Low tone of the popular literature + Chiefly ballads and metrical essays + Exempt from licentiousness + Sacred poems in honour of Hindu gods + General literature of the people + +CHAP. XI. + +BUDDHISM AND DEMON-WORSHIP. + +Buddhism as it exists in Ceylon +Which was the more ancient, Brahmanism or Buddhism +Various authorities (note) +Buddhism, its extreme antiquity +Its prodigious influence +Sought to be identified with the Druids (note) +Buddhism an agent of civilisation +Its features in Ceylon +The various forms elsewhere +Points that distinguish it from Brahmanism +Buddhist theory of human perfection +Its treatment of caste +Its respect for other religions +Anecdote, illustrative of (note) +Its cosmogony +Its doctrine of "necessity" +Transmigration +Illustration from Lucan (note) +The priesthood and its attributes +Buddhist morals +Prohibition to take life +Form of worship +Brahmanical corruptions +Failure of Buddhism as a sustaining faith +Its moral influence over the people +Demon-worship +Trees dedicated to demons (note) +Devil priests and their orgies +Ascendency of these superstitions +Buddhism as an obstacle to Christianity +Difficulties presented by the morals of Buddhism +Prohibition against taking away life (note) + + +PART V. + +MEDIAEVAL HISTORY. + +CHAPTER I. + +CEYLON AS KNOWN TO THE GREEKS AND ROMANS. + +First heard of by the companions of Alexander the Great +Various ancient names of Ceylon (note) +Early doubts whether it was an island or a continent +Mentioned by Aristotle +Alleged mention of Ceylon in the Samaritan Pentateuch (note) +Onesicritus's account +Megasthenes' description +AElian's account borrowed from Megasthenes (note) +Ceylon known to the Phoenicians and to the Egyptians (note) +Hippalus discovers the monsoons +Effect of this discovery on Indian trade +Pliny's account of Ceylon +Story of Jambulus by Diodoros Siculus (note) +Embassy from Ceylon to Claudius +Narrative of Rachias, and its explanation (note) +Lake Megisba, a tank +Early intercourse with China +The Veddahs described by Pliny +Interval between Pliny and Ptolemy +Ptolemy's account of Ceylon +Explanation of his errors +Ptolemy discriminates bays from estuaries (note) v9 +Identification of Ptolemy's names +His map +His sources of information +Agathemerus, Marcianus of Heraclea +Cosmas Indicopleustes +Palladius--St. Ambrosius (note) +State of Ceylon when Cosmas wrote +Its commerce at that period +In the hands of Arabs and Persians v4 +Ceylon as described by Cosmas +Story of his informant Sopater +Translation of Cosmas +The gems and other productions of Ceylon--"a gaou" (note) +Meaning of the term "Hyacinth" (note) +The great ruby of Ceylon, its history traced (note) +Cosmas corroborated by the Peripius +Horses imported from Persia +Export of elephants +Note on Sanchoniathon + +CHAP. II. + +INDIAN, ARABIAN, AND PERSIAN AUTHORITIES. + +Absurd errors of the Hindus regarding Ceylon +Their dread of Ceylon as the abode of demons +Rise of the Mahometan power +Persians and Arabs trade to India +Story in Beladory of the first invasion of India by the Mahometans + (text and note) +Character of the Arabian geographers +Their superiority over the Greeks +Greek Paradoxical literature +A.D. 851. The two Mahometans +Their account of Ceylon +Adam's Peak +Obsequies of a king +Councils on religion and history +Toleration +Carmathic monument at Colombo (note) +Galle, the seat of ancient trade +Claim of Mantotte disproved +Greek fire (note) +"_Kalah_" is Galle +The Maharaja of Zabedj help possession of Galle +Evidence of this in the Garsharsp-Namah +Derivation of "Galle" (text and note) +Aversion of the Singhalese to commerce +Identification of the modern Veddahs with the ancient Singhalese +Their singular habits, as described by Robert Knox, Ribeyro, and + Valentyn + By Albyrouni + By Palladius + By Fa Hian + By the Chinese writers (note) + By Pliny +For this reason the coast only known to strangers +Arabian authors who describe Ceylon + Albateny and Massoudi + Tabari (note) + Sinbad the Sailor + Edrisi + Kazwini +Cinnamon, no mention of +Was cinnamon a native of Ceylon? +No mention by Singhalese authors +No mention of by Latin writers +The _Regio Cinnamomifera_ was in Africa (note) + No mention by Arabs or Persians + First noticed in Ceylon by Ibn Batuta + By Nicola di Conti (note) +Ibn Batuta describes Ceylon + His Travels + +CHAP. III. + +CEYLON AS KNOWN TO THE CHINESE. + +Early Chinese trade with Ceylon +Early Chinese travellers in India +Chinese translations of M.S. Julien +List of Chinese authors relating to Ceylon (note) +Their errors as to its form and site +Their account of Adam's Peak and its gems +Chinese names for Ceylon +Curious habit of its traders +They describe the two races, Tamils and Singhalese +Origin of the cotton "Comboy" +Costume of Ceylon +Early commerce +Works for irrigation noticed +Island of Junk-Ceylon +Galle resorted to by Chinese ships +Vegetable productions +Elephants, ivory, and jewels +Skill of Singhalese goldsmiths and statuaries +Pearls and gems sent to China +No mention of cinnamon +Chinese account of Buddhism in Ceylon +Monasteries for priests first founded in Ceylon +Cities of Ceylon in the sixth century +Patriotism of Singhalese kings +Domestic manners of the Singhalese +Embassies from China to Ceylon +Chinese travels prior to the sixth century +Fa Hian's travels in sixth century +First embassy from Ceylon to China, A.D. 405 +Narrative of the image which it bore (note) +Ceylon tributary to China in sixth century +Hiouen-Thsang describes Ceylon in the seventh century (note) +Events in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries +King of Ceylon carried captive to China, A.D. 1405 +Last embassy to China, A.D. 1459 +Traces of the Chinese in Ceylon +Evidences of their presence found by the Portuguese +Modern Chinese account of Ceylon (note) + +CHAP. IV. + +CEYLON AS KNOWN TO THE MOORS, +GENOESE, AND VENETIANS. + +The Moors of Ceylon +Their origin +The early Mahometans in India +Arabians anciently settled in Ceylon +Real descent of the modern "Moormen" +Their occupation as traders, ancestral +Their hostilities with the Portuguese +They might have been rulers of Ceylon +Indian trade prior to the route by the Cape +The Genoese and Venetians in the East +Rise of the Mongol empire +Marco Polo, A.D. 1271 +Visits Ceylon +Friar Odoric, A.D. 1318 +Jordan de Severac, A.D. 1323 (note) +Giov. de Marignola, A.D. 1349 (note) +Nicola di Conti, A.D. 1444 + The first traveller who speaks of Cinnamon +Jerome de Santo Stefano (note) +Ludov. Barthema, A.D. 1506 +Odoardo Barbosa, A.D. 1509 +Andrea Corsali, A.D. 1515 (note) +Cesar Frederic, A.D. 1563 +Course of trade changed by the Cape route +Irritation of the Venetians + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE FIRST VOLUME + +MAPS. + +"Gobbs" on the East Coast By ARROWSMITH +"Gobbs" on the "West Coast ARROWSMITH +Ceylon, according to the Sanskrit + and Pali authors SIR J. EMERSON TENNENT +Map of Ancient India LASSEN +Position of Colombo, according to Ptolemy + and Pliny SIR J. EMERSON TENNENT +Ceylon, according to Ptolemy and Pliny SIR J. EMERSON TENNENT + +PLANS AND CHARTS. + +Geological System By +Currents in the N.E. Monsoon +Currents in the N.W. Monsoon +Diagram of Rain in India and in Ceylon DR. TEMPLETON +Diagram of the Anthelia DR. TEMPLETON +Plan of a Fish-corral +Summit of a Dagoba, with Lightning + apparatus + +WOOD ENGRAVINGS. + +Marriage of the Fig-tree and the Palm By MR. A. NICHOLL +Fig-tree on the Ruins of Pollanarrua MR. A. NICHOLL +The "Snake-tree" MR. A. NICHOLL +The _Loris_ M.H. SYLVAT +The _Uropeltis grandis_ M.H. SYLVAT +A _Chironectes_ M.H. SYLVAT +Method of Fishing in Pools From KNOX +The _Anabas_ of the dry Tanks By DR. TEMPLETON +Eggs of the Leaf Insect M.H. SYLVAT +_Cermatia_ DR. TEMPLETON +The Calling Crab +Eyes and Teeth of the Land Leech DR. TEMPLETON +Land Leeches DR. TEMPLETON +Upper and under Surfaces of the + _Hirudo sanguisorba_ DR. TEMPLETON +The Bo-tree at Anarajapoora MR. A. NICHOLL +A Dagoba at Kandy From a Photograph +Ruins of the Brazen Palace By MR. A. NICHOLL +The Alu Wihara MR. A. NICHOLL +The fortified Rock of Sigiri MR. A. NICHOLS +Coin of Queen Leela-Wattee +Coin showing the _Trisula_ +Hook-money +Ancient and Modern Tom-tom Beaters From the JOINVILLE MSS. +A Column from Anarajapoora +Sacred Goose from the Burmese Standard +Hansa, from the old Palace at Kandy +Honeysuckle Ornament From FERGUSSON'S + _Handbook of + Architecture_ +Egyptian Yoke and Singhalese Pingo +Veddah drawing the Bow with his Foot By MR. R. MACDOWALL +Method of Writing with a Style MR. R. MACDOWALL +The "Comboy," as worn by both Sexes MR. A. FAIRFIELD + + + + +NOTICE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. + + +The gratifying reception with which the following pages have been +honoured by the public and the press, has in no degree lessened my +consciousness, that in a work so extended in its scope, and +comprehending such a multiplicity of facts, errors are nearly +unavoidable both as to conclusions and detail. These, so far as I became +aware of them, I have endeavoured to correct in the present, as well as +in previous impressions. + +But my principal reliance for the suggestion and supply both of +amendments and omissions has been on the press and the public of Ceylon; +whose familiarity with the topics discussed naturally renders them the +most competent judges as to the mode in which they have been treated. My +hope when the book was published in October last was, that before going +again to press I should be in possession of such friendly communications +and criticisms from the island, as would have enabled me to render the +second edition much more valuable than the previous one. In this +expectation I have been agreeably disappointed, the sale having been so +rapid, as to require a fourth impression before it was possible to +obtain from Ceylon judicious criticisms on the first. These in due time +will doubtless arrive; and meanwhile, I have endeavoured, by careful +revision, to render the whole as far as possible correct. + +J. EMERSON TENNENT. + + + + +NOTICE TO THE THIRD EDITION. + + +The call for a third edition on the same day that the second was +announced for publication, and within less than two months from the +appearance of the first, has furnished a gratifying assurance of the +interest which the public are disposed to take in the subject of the +present work. + +Thus encouraged, I have felt it my duty to make several alterations in +the present impression, amongst the most important of which is the +insertion of a Chapter on the doctrines of Buddhism as it developes +itself in Ceylon.[1] In the historical sections I had already given an +account of its introduction by Mahindo, and of the establishments +founded by successive sovereigns for its preservation and diffusion. To +render the narrative complete, it was felt desirable to insert an +abstract of the peculiar tenets of the Buddhists; and this want it has +been my object to supply. The sketch, it will be borne in mind, is +confined to the principal features of what has been denominated +"_Southern Buddhism_" amongst the Singhalese; as distinguished from +"_Northern Buddhism_" in Nepal, Thibet, and China.[2] The latter has +been largely illustrated by the labours of Mr. B.H. HODGSON and the +toilsome researches of M. CSOMA of Koerroes in Transylvania; and the +minutest details of the doctrines and ceremonies of the former have been +unfolded in the elaborate and comprehensive collections of Mr. SPENCE +HARDY.[3] From materials discovered by these and other earnest +inquirers, Buddhism in its general aspect has been ably delineated in +the dissertations of BURNOUF[4] and SAINT HILAIRE[5], and in the +commentaries of REMUSAT[6], STANISLAS JULIEN[7], FOUCAUX[8], LASSEN[9], +and WEBER.[10] The portion thus added to the present edition has been to +a great extent taken from a former work of mine on the local +superstitions of Ceylon, and the "_Introduction and Progress of +Christianity_" there; and as the section relating to Buddhism had the +advantage, previous to publication, of being submitted to the Rev. Mr. +GOGERLY, the most accomplished Pali scholar, as well as the most erudite +student of Buddhistical literature in the island, I submit it with +confidence as an accurate summary of the distinctive views of the +Singhalese on the leading doctrines of their national faith. + +[Footnote 1: See Part IV., c. xi.] + +[Footnote 2: MAX MUELLER; _History of Sanskrit Literature_, p. 202.] + +[Footnote 3: _Eastern Monachism_, an account of the origin, laws; +discipline, sacred writings, mysterious rites, religious ceremonies, and +present circumstances of the Order of Mendicants, founded by Gotoma +Budha. 8vo. Lond. 1850; and _A Manual of Buddhism in its Modern +Development_. 8vo. Lond. 1853.] + +[Footnote 4: BURNOUF, _Introduction a l'Histoire du Bouddhieme Indien_. +4to. Paris. 1845; and translation of the _Lotus de la bonne Loi_.] + +[Footnote 5: J. BARTHELEMY SAINT-HILAIRE _Le Bouddha et sa Religion_. +8vo. Paris. 1800.] + +[Footnote 6: Introduction and Notes to the _Fo[)e] Kou[)e] Ki_ of FA +HIAN.] + +[Footnote 7: Life and travels of HIOUEN THSANG.] + +[Footnote 8: Translation of _Lalitavistara_ by M. PH. ED. FOUCAUX.] + +[Footnote 9: Author of the _Indische Alterthumskunde;_ &c.] + +[Footnote 10: Author of the _Indische Studien_; &c.] + +A writer in the _Saturday Review_[1], in alluding to the passage in +which I have sought to establish the identity of the ancient Tarshish +with the modern Point de Galle[2], admits the force of the coincidence +adduced, that the Hebrew terms for "ivory, apes, and peacocks"[3] (the +articles imported in the ships of Solomon) are identical with the Tamil +names, by which these objects are known in Ceylon to the present day; +and, to strengthen my argument on this point, he adds that, "these terms +were so entirely foreign and alien from the common Hebrew language as to +have driven the Ptolemaist authors of the Septuagint version into a +blunder, by which the ivory, apes, and peacocks come out as '_hewn and +carven stones_.'" The circumstance adverted to had not escaped my +notice; but I forebore to avail myself of it; for, although the fact is +accurately stated by the reviewer, so far as regards the Vatican MS., in +which the translators have slurred over the passage and converted +"_ibha, kapi_, and _tukeyim_" into [Greek: "lithon toreuton kai +peleketon"] (literally, "stones hammered and carved in relief"); still, +in the other great MS. of the Septuagint, the _Codex Alexandrinus_, +which is of equal antiquity, the passage is correctly rendered by +"[Greek: odonton elephantinon kai pithekon kai taonon]." The editor of +the Aldine edition[4] compromised the matter by inserting "the ivory and +apes," and excluding the "peacocks," in order to introduce the Vatican +reading of "stones."[5] I have not compared the Complutensian and other +later versions. + +[Footnote 1: Novemb. 19, 1859, p. 612.] + +[Footnote 2: _See_ Vol. II. Pt. VII., c. i. p. 102.] + +[Footnote 3: 1 _Kings_, x. 22.] + +[Footnote 4: Venice, 1518.] + +[Footnote 5: [Greek: Kai odonton elephantinon kai pithekon kai lithon]. +[Greek: BASIA TRITE]. x. 22. It is to be observed, that Josephus appears +to have been equally embarrassed by the unfamiliar term _tukeyim_ for +peacocks. He alludes to the voyages of Solomon's merchantmen to +Tarshish, and says that they brought hack from thence gold and silver, +_much_ ivory, apes, _and AEthiopians_--thus substituting "slaves" for +pea-fowl--"[Greek: kai polus elephas, Aithiopes te kai pithekoi]." +Josephus also renders the word Tarshish by "[Greek: en te Tarsike +legomene thalatte]," an expression which shows that he thought not of +the Indian but the western Tarshish, situated in what Avienus calls the +_Fretum Tartessium_, whence African slaves might have been expected to +come.--_Antiquit. Judaicae_, l. viii. c. vii sec. 2.] + +The Rev. Mr. CURETON, of the British Museum, who, at my request, +collated the passage in the Chaldee and Syriac versions, assures me that +in both, the terms in question bear the closest resemblance to the Tamil +words found in the Hebrew; and that in each and all of them these are of +foreign importation. + +J. EMERSON TENNENT. + +LONDON: November 28th, 1859. + + + + +NOTICE TO THE SECOND EDITION. + + +The rapidity with which the first impression has been absorbed by the +public, has so shortened the interval between its appearance and that of +the present edition, that no sufficient time has been allowed for the +discovery of errors or defects; and the work is re-issued almost as a +corrected reprint. + +In the interim, however, I have ascertained, that Ribeyro's "Historical +Account of Ceylon," which it was heretofore supposed had never appeared +in any other than the French version of the Abbe Le Grand, and in the +English translation of the latter by Mr. Lee[1], was some years since +printed for the first time in the original Portuguese, from the +identical MS. presented by the author to Pedro II. in 1685. It was +published in 1836 by the Academia Real das Sciencias of Lisbon, under +the title of "_Fatalidade Historica da Ilka de Ceilao_;" and forms the +Vth volume of the a "_Collecao de Noticias para a Historia e Geograjia +das Nacoes Ultramarinas_" A fac-simile from a curious map of the island +as it was then known to the Portuguese, has been included in the present +edition.[2] + +[Footnote 1: See Vol. II. Part vi. ch. i. p.5, note.] + +[Footnote 2: Ibid. p. 6.] + +Some difficulty having been expressed to me, in identifying the ancient +names of places in India adverted to in the following pages; and +mediaeval charts of that country being rare, a map has been inserted in +the present edition[1], to supply the want complained of. + +[Footnote 1: See Vol. I. p. 330.] + +The only other important change has been a considerable addition to the +Index, which was felt to be essential for facilitating reference. + +J E.T. + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +There is no island in the world, Great Britain itself not excepted, that +has attracted the attention of authors in so many distant ages and so +many different countries as Ceylon. There is no nation in ancient or +modern times possessed of a language and a literature, the writers of +which have not at some time made it their theme. Its aspect, its +religion, its antiquities, and productions, have been described as well +by the classic Greeks, as by those of the Lower Empire; by the Romans; +by the writers of China, Burmah, India, and Kashmir; by the geographers +of Arabia and Persia; by the mediaeval voyagers of Italy and France; by +the annalists of Portugal and Spain; by the merchant adventurers of +Holland, and by the travellers and topographers of Great Britain. + +But amidst this wealth of materials as to the island, and its +vicissitudes in early times, there is an absolute dearth of information +regarding its state and progress during more recent periods, and its +actual condition at the present day. + +I was made sensible of this want, on the occasion of my nomination, in +1845, to an office in connection with the government of Ceylon. I found +abundant details as to the capture of the maritime provinces from the +Dutch in 1795, in the narrative of Captain PERCIVAL[1], an officer who +had served in the expedition; and the efforts to organise the first +system of administration are amply described by CORDINER[2], Chaplain to +the Forces; by Lord VALENTIA[3], who was then travelling in the East; +and by ANTHONY BERTOLACCI[4], who acted as auditor-general to the first +governor, Mr. North, afterwards Earl of Guilford. The story of the +capture of Kandy in 1815 has been related by an anonymous eye-witness +under the pseudonyme of PHILALETHES[5], and by MARSHALL in his +_Historical Sketch_ of the conquest.[6] An admirable description of the +interior of the island, as it presented itself some forty years ago, was +furnished by Dr. DAVY[7], a brother of the eminent philosopher, who was +employed on the medical staff in Ceylon, from 1816 till 1820. + +[Footnote 1: _An Account of the Island of Ceylon_, &c., by Capt. R. +PERCIVAL, 4to. London, 1805.] + +[Footnote 2: _A Description of Ceylon_, &c., by the Rev. JAMES CORDINER, +A.M. 2 vols. 4to. London, 1807.] + +[Footnote 3: _Voyages and Travels to India, Ceylon, and the Red Sea_, by +Lord Viscount VALENTIA. 3 vols. 4to. London, 1809.] + +[Footnote 4: _A View of the Agricultural, Commercial, and Financial +Interests of Ceylon_, &c., by A. BERTOLACCI, Esq. London, 1817.] + +[Footnote 5: _A History of Ceylon from the earliest Period to the Year_ +MDCCCXV, by PHILALETHES, A.M. 4to. Lond. 1817. The author is believed to +have been the Rev. G. Bisset.] + +[Footnote 6: HENRY MARSHALL, F.R.S.E., &c. went to Ceylon as assistant +surgeon of the 89th regiment, in 1806, and from 1816 till 1821 was the +senior medical officer of the Kandyan provinces.] + +[Footnote 7: _An Account of the Interior of Ceylon_, &c., by JOHN DAVY, +M.D. 4to, London, 1821.] + +Here the long series of writers is broken, just at the commencement of a +period the most important and interesting in the history of the island. +The mountain zone, which for centuries had been mysteriously hidden from +the Portuguese and Dutch[1] was suddenly opened to British enterprise in +1815. The lofty region, from behind whose barrier of hills the kings of +Kandy had looked down and defied the arms of three successive European +nations, was at last rendered accessible by the grandest mountain road +in India; and in the north of the island, the ruins of ancient cities, +and the stupendous monuments of an early civilisation, were discovered +in the solitudes of the great central forests. English merchants +embarked in the renowned trade in cinnamon, which we had wrested from +the Dutch; and British capitalists introduced the cultivation of coffee +into the previously inaccessible highlands. Changes of equal magnitude +contributed to alter the social position of the natives; domestic +slavery was extinguished; compulsory labour, previously exacted from the +free races, was abolished; and new laws under a charter of justice +superseded the arbitrary rule of the native chiefs. In the course of +less than half a century, the aspect of the country became changed, the +condition of the people was submitted to new influences; and the time +arrived to note the effects of this civil revolution. + +[Footnote 1: VALENTYN, In his great work on the Dutch possessions in +India, _Oud_ _en Nieuw Oost-Indien_, alludes more than once with regret +to the ignorance in which his countrymen were kept as to the interior of +Ceylon, concerning which their only information was obtained through +fugitives and spies. (Vol. v. ch. ii. p. 35; ch. xv. p. 205.)] + +But on searching for books such as I expected to find, recording the +phenomena consequent on these domestic and political events, I was +disappointed to discover that they were few in number and generally +meagre in information. Major FORBES, who in 1826 and for some years +afterwards held a civil appointment in the Kandyan country, published an +interesting account of his observations[1]; and his work derives value +from the attention which the author had paid to the ancient records of +the island, whose contents were then undergoing investigation by the +erudite and indefatigable TURNOUR.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Eleven Years in Ceylon_, &c., by Major FORBES. 2 vols. +8vo. London. 1840.] + +[Footnote 2: See Vol. I. Part III. ch. iii. p. 312.] + +In 1843 Mr. BENNETT, a retired civil servant of the colony, who had +studied some branches of its natural history, and especially its +ichthyology, embodied his experiences in a volume entitled "_Ceylon and +its Capabilities_," containing a mass of information, somewhat defective +in arrangement. These and a number of minor publications, chiefly +descriptive of sporting tours in search of elephants and deer, with +incidental notices of the sublime scenery and majestic ruins of the +island, were the only modern works that treated of Ceylon; but no one of +them sufficed to furnish a connected view of the colony at the present +day, contrasting its former state with the condition to which it has +attained under the government of Great Britain. + +On arriving in Ceylon and entering on my official functions, this +absence of local knowledge entailed frequent inconvenience. In my tours +throughout the interior, I found ancient monuments, apparently defying +decay, of which no one could tell the date or the founder; and temples +and cities in ruins, whose destroyers were equally unknown. There were +vast structures of public utility, on which the prosperity of the +country had at one time been dependent; artificial lakes, with their +conduits and canals for irrigation; the condition of which rendered it +interesting to ascertain the period of their formation, and the causes +of their abandonment; but to every inquiry of this nature, there was the +same unvarying reply: that information regarding them might possibly be +found in the _Mahawanso_ or in some other of the native chronicles; but +that few had ever read them, and none had succeeded in reproducing them +for popular instruction. + +A still more serious embarrassment arose from the want of authorities to +throw light on questions that were sometimes the subject of +administrative deliberation: there were native customs which no +available materials sufficed to illustrate; and native claims, often +serious in their importance, the consideration of which was obstructed +by a similar dearth of authentic data. With a view to executive +measures, I was frequently desirous of consulting the records of the two +European governments, under which the island had been administered for +300 years before the arrival of the British; their experience might have +served as a guide, and even their failures would have pointed out errors +to be avoided; but here, again, I had to encounter disappointment: in +answer to my inquiries, I was assured that _the records, both of the +Portuguese and Dutch, had long since disappeared from the archives of +the colony_. + +Their loss, whilst in our custody, is the more remarkable, considering +the value which was attached to them by our predecessors. The Dutch, on +the conquest of Ceylon in the seventeenth century, seized the official +accounts and papers of the Portuguese; and a memoir is preserved by +VALENTYN, in which the Governor, Van Goens, on handing over the command +to his successor in 1663, enjoins on him the study of these important +documents, and expresses anxiety for their careful preservation.[1] + +[Footnote 1: VALENTYN, _Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien_, &c., ch. xiii. p. +174.] + +The British, on the capture of Colombo in 1796, were equally solicitous +to obtain possession of the records of the Dutch Government. By Art. +XIV. of the capitulation they were required to be "faithfully delivered +over;" and, by Art. XI., all "surveys of the island and its coasts" were +required to be surrendered to the captors.[1] But, strange to say, +almost the whole of these interesting and important papers appear to +have been lost; not a trace of the Portuguese records, so far as I could +discover, remains at Colombo; and if any vestige of those of the Dutch +be still extant, they have probably become illegible from decay and the +ravages of the white ants.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Amongst a valuable collection of documents presented to the +Royal Asiatic Society of London, by the late Sir Alexander Johnston, +formerly Chief Justice of Ceylon, there is a volume of Dutch surveys of +the Island, containing important maps of the coast and its harbours, and +plans of the great works for irrigation in the northern and eastern +provinces.] + +[Footnote 2: _Note to the second edition_.--Since the first edition was +published, I have been told by a late officer of the Ceylon Government, +that many years ago, what remained of the Dutch records were removed +from the record-room of the Colonial Office to the cutcherry of the +government agent of the western province: where some of them may still +be found.] + +But the loss is not utterly irreparable; duplicates of the Dutch +correspondence during their possession of Ceylon are carefully preserved +at Amsterdam; and within the last few years the Trustees of the British +Museum purchased from the library of the late Lord Stuart de Rothesay +the Diplomatic Correspondence and Papers of SEBASTIAO JOZE CARVALHO E +MELLO (Portuguese Ambassador at London and Vienna, and subsequently +known as the Marquis de Pombal), from 1738 to 1747, including sixty +volumes relating to the history of the Portuguese possessions in India +and Brazil during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Amongst the latter +are forty volumes of despatches relative to India entitled _Colleccam +Authentica de todas as Leys, Regimentos, Alvaras e mais ordens que se +expediram para a India_, _desde o establecimento destas conquistas; +Ordenada por proviram de 28 de Marco de 1754_.[1] These contain the +despatches to and from the successive Captains-General and Governors of +Ceylon, so that, in part at least, the replacement of the records lost +in the colony may be effected by transcription. + +[Footnote 1: MSS. Brit Mus. No. 20,861 to 20,900.] + +Meanwhile in their absence I had no other resource than the narratives +of the Dutch and Portuguese historians, chiefly VALENTYN, DE BARROS, and +DE COUTO, who have preserved in two languages the least familiar in +Europe, chronicles of their respective governments, which, so far as I +am aware, have never been republished in any translation. + +The present volumes contain no detailed notice of the _Buddhist faith_ +as it exists in Ceylon, of the _Brahmanical rites,_ or of the other +religious superstitions of the island. These I have already described in +my history of _Christianity in Ceylon._[1] The materials for that work +were originally designed to form a portion of the present one; but +having expanded to too great dimensions to be made merely subsidiary, I +formed them into a separate treatise. Along with them I have +incorporated facts illustrative of the national character of the +Singhalese under the conjoint influences of their ancestral +superstitions and the partial enlightenment of education and gospel +truth. + +[Footnote 1: _Christianity in Ceylon: its Introduction and Progress +under the Portuguese, the Dutch, the British and American Missions; with +an Historical Sketch of the Brahmanical and Buddhist Superstitons_ by +Sir JAMES EMERSON TENNENT. London, Murray, 1850.] + +Respecting the _Physical Geography_ and _Natural History_ of the colony, +I found an equal want of reliable information; and every work that even +touched on the subject was pervaded by the misapprehension which I have +collected evidence to correct; that Ceylon is but a fragment of the +great Indian continent dissevered by some local convulsion; and that the +zoology and botany of the island are identical with those of the +mainland.[1] + +[Footnote 1: It may seem presumptuous in me to question the accuracy of +Dr. DAVY'S opinion on this point (see his _Account of the Interior of +Ceylon, &c_., ch. iii. p. 78), but the grounds on which I venture to do +so are stated, Vol. I. pp. 7, 27, 160, 178, 208, &c.] + +Thus for almost every particular and fact, whether physical or +historical, I have been to a great extent thrown on my own researches; +and obliged to seek for information in original sources, and in French +and English versions of Oriental authorities. The results of my +investigations are embodied in the following pages; and it only remains +for me to express, in terms however inadequate, my obligations to the +literary and scientific friends by whose aid I have been enabled to +pursue my inquiries. + +Amongst these my first acknowledgments are due to Dr. TEMPLETON, of the +Army Medical Staff, for his cordial assistance in numerous departments; +but above all in relation to the physical geography and natural history +of the island. Here his scientific knowledge, successfully cultivated +during a residence of nearly twelve years in Ceylon, and his intimate +familiarity with its zoology and productions, rendered his co-operation +invaluable;--and these sections abound with evidences of the liberal +extent to which his stores of information have been generously imparted. +To him and to Dr. CAMERON, of the Army Medical Staff, I am indebted for +many valuable facts and observations on tropical health and disease, +embodied in the chapter on "_Climate_." + +Sir RODERICK I. MURCHISON (without committing himself as to the +controversial portions of the chapter on the _Geology_ and _Mineralogy_ +of Ceylon) has done me the favour to offer some valuable suggestions, +and to express his opinion as to the general accuracy of the whole. + +Although a feature so characteristic as that of its _Vegetation_ could +not possibly be omitted in a work professing to give an account of +Ceylon, I had neither the space nor the qualifications necessary to +produce a systematic sketch of the Botany of the island. I could only +attempt to describe it as it exhibits itself to an unscientific +spectator; and the notices that I have given are confined to such of the +more remarkable plants as cannot fail to arrest the attention of a +stranger. In illustration of these, I have had the advantage of copious +communications from WILLIAM FERGUSON, Esq., a gentleman attached to the +Survey Department of the Civil Service in Ceylon, whose opportunities +for observation in all parts of the island have enabled him to cultivate +with signal success his taste for botanical pursuits. And I have been +permitted to submit the portion of my work which refers to this subject +to the revision of the highest living authority on Indian botany, Dr. +J.D. HOOKER, of Kew. + +Regarding the _fauna_ of Ceylon, little has been published in any +collective form, with the exception of a volume by Dr. KELAART entitled +_Prodromus Faunae Zeilanicae_; several valuable papers by Mr. EDGAR L. +LAYARD in the _Annals and Magazine of Natural History_ for 1852 and +1853; and some very imperfect lists appended to PRIDHAM'S compiled +account of the island.[1] KNOX, in the charming narrative of his +captivity, published in the reign of Charles II., has devoted a chapter +to the animals of Ceylon, and Dr. DAVY has described the principal +reptiles: but with these exceptions the subject is almost untouched in +works relating to the colony. Yet a more than ordinary interest attaches +to the inquiry, since Ceylon, instead of presenting, as is generally +assumed, an identity between its _fauna_ and that of Southern India, +exhibits a remarkable diversity of type, taken in connection with the +limited area over which they are distributed. The island, in fact, may +be regarded as the centre of a geographical circle, possessing within +itself forms, whose allied species radiate far into the temperate +regions of the north, as well as into Africa, Australia, and the isles +of the Eastern Archipelago. + +[Footnote 1: _An Historical Political, and Statistical Account of Ceylon +and its Dependencies_, by C. PRIDHAM, Esq. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1849. +The author was never, I believe, in Ceylon, but his book is a laborious +condensation of the principal English works relating to it. Its value +would have been greatly increased had Mr. Pridham accompanied his +excerpts by references to the respective authorities.] + +In the chapters that I have devoted to its elucidation, I have +endeavoured to interest others in the subject, by describing my own +observations and impressions, with fidelity, and with as much accuracy +as may be expected from a person possessing, as I do, no greater +knowledge of zoology and the other physical sciences than is ordinarily +possessed by any educated gentleman. It was my good fortune, however, in +my journies to have the companionship of friends familiar with many +branches of natural science: the late Dr. GARDNER, Mr. EDGAR L. LAYARD, +an accomplished zoologist, Dr. TEMPLETON, and others; and I was thus +enabled to collect on the spot many interesting facts relative to the +structure and habits of the numerous tribes of animals. These, chastened +by the corrections of my fellow-travellers, and established by the +examination of collections made in the colony, and by subsequent +comparison with specimens contained in museums at home, I have ventured +to submit as faithful outlines of the _fauna_ of Ceylon. + +The sections descriptive of the several classes are accompanied by +lists, prepared with the assistance of scientific friends, showing the +extent to which each particular branch had been investigated by +naturalists, up to the period of my departure from Ceylon at the close +of 1849. These, besides their inherent interest, will, I trust, +stimulate others to engage in the same pursuits, by exhibiting the +chasms, which it still remains for future industry and research to fill +up;--and the study of the zoology of Ceylon may thus serve as a +preparative for that of Continental India, embracing, as the former +does, much that is common to both, as well as possessing within itself a +fauna peculiar to the island, that will amply repay more extended +scrutiny. + +From these lists have been excluded all species regarding the +authenticity of which reasonable doubts could be entertained[1], and of +some of them, a very few have been printed in _italics_, in order to +denote the desirability of comparing them more minutely with well +determined specimens in the great national depositories before finally +incorporating them with the Singhalese catalogues. + +[Footnote 1: An exception occurs in the list of shells, prepared by Mr. +SYLVANUS HANLEY, in which some whose localities are doubtful have been +admitted for reasons adduced. (See Vol. I, p. 234.)] + +In the labour of collecting and verifying the facts embodied in these +sections, I cannot too warmly express my thanks for the aid I have +received from gentlemen interested in similar pursuits in Ceylon: from +Dr. KELAART and Mr. EDGAR L. LAYARD, as well as from officers of the +Ceylon Civil Service; the HON. GERALD C. TALBOT, Mr. C.E. BULLER, Mr. +MERCER, Mr. MORRIS, Mr. WHITING, Major SKINNER, and Mr. MITFORD. + +Before venturing to commit these chapters of my work to the press, I +have had the advantage of having portions of them read by Professor +HUXLEY, Mr. MOORE, of the East India House Museum; Mr. R. PATTERSON, +F.R.S., author of the _Introduction to Zoology_, and by Mr. ADAM WHITE, +of the British Museum; to each of whom I am exceedingly indebted for the +care they have bestowed. In an especial degree I have to acknowledge the +kindness of Dr. J.E. GRAY, F.R.S. for valuable additions and corrections +in the list of the Ceylon Reptilia; and to Professor FARADAY for some +notes on the nature and qualities of the "Serpent Stone,"[1] submitted +to him. I have recorded in its proper place my obligations to Admiral +FITZROY, for his most ingenious theory in elucidation of the phenomena +of the _Tides_ around Ceylon.[2] + +[Footnote 1: See Vol. I. Part II. ch. iii. p. 199.] + +[Footnote 2: See Vol. II. Part VII. ch. i. p. 116.] + +The extent to which my observations on _the Elephant_ have been carried, +requires some explanation. The existing notices of this noble creature +are chiefly devoted to its habits and capabilities _in captivity_; and +very few works, with which I am acquainted, contain illustrations of its +instincts and functions when wild in its native woods. Opportunities for +observing the latter, and for collecting facts in connection with them, +are abundant in Ceylon, and from the moment of my arrival, I profited by +every occasion afforded to me for studying the elephant in a state of +nature, and obtaining from hunters and natives correct information as to +its oeconomy and disposition. Anecdotes in connection with this subject, +I received from some of the most experienced residents In the island; +amongst others, Major SKINNER, Captain PHILIP PAYNE GALLWEY, Mr. +FAIRHOLME, Mr. CRIPPS, and Mr. MORRIS. Nor can I omit to express my +acknowledgments to PROFESSOR OWEN, of the British Museum, to whom this +portion of my manuscript was submitted previous to its committal to the +press. + +In the _historical sections_ of the work, I have been reluctantly +compelled to devote a considerable space to a narrative deduced from the +ancient Singhalese chronicles; into which I found it most difficult to +infuse any popular interest. But the toil was not undertaken without a +motive. The oeconomics and hierarchical institutions of Buddhism as +administered through successive dynasties, exercised so paramount an +influence over the habits and occupations of the Singhalese people, that +their impress remains indelible to the present day. The tenure of temple +lands, the compulsory services of tenants, the extension of agriculture, +and the whole system of co-operative cultivation, derived from this +source organisation and development; and the origin and objects of these +are only to be rendered intelligible by an inquiry into the events and +times in which the system took its rise. In connection with this +subject, I am indebted to the representatives of the late Mr. TURNOUR, +of the Ceylon Civil Service, for access to his unpublished manuscripts; +and to those portions of his correspondence with Prinsep, which relate +to the researches of these two distinguished scholars regarding the Pali +annals of Ceylon. I have also to acknowledge my obligations to M. JULES +MOHL, the literary executor of M. E. BURNOUF, for the use of papers left +by that eminent orientalist in illustration of the ancient geography of +the island, as exhibited in the works of Pali and Sanskrit writers. + +I have been signally assisted inn my search for materials illustrative +of the social and intellectual condition of the Singhalese nation, +during the early ages of their history, by gentlemen in Ceylon, whose +familiarity with the native languages and literature impart authority to +their communications; by ERNEST DE SARAM WIJEYESEKERE KAROONARATNE, the +Maha-Moodliar and First Interpreter to the Governor; and to Mr. DE +ALWIS, the erudite translator of the _Sidath Sangara._ From the Rev. Mr. +GOGERLY of the Wesleyan Mission, I have received expositions of Buddhist +policy; and the Rev. R SPENCE HARDY, author of the two most important +modern works on the archaeology of Buddhism[1], has done me the favour to +examine the chapter on SINGHALESE _Literature,_ and to enrich it by +numerous suggestions and additions. + +[Footnote 1: _Oriental Monachism,_ 8vo. London, 1850; and _A Manual of +Buddhism,_ 8vo. London, 1853] + +In like manner I have had the advantage of communicating with MR. COOLEY +(author of the _History of Maritime and Inland Discovery_) in relation +to the _Mediaeval History_ of Ceylon, and the period embraced by the +narrative of the Greek, Arabian, and Italian travellers, between the +fifth and fifteenth centuries. + +I have elsewhere recorded my obligations to Mr. WYLIE, and to his +colleague, Mr. LOCKHART of Shanghae, for the materials of one of the most +curious chapters of my work, that which treats of the knowledge of +Ceylon possessed by the Chinese in the Middle Ages. This is a field +which, so far as I know, is untouched by any previous writer on Ceylon. +In the course of my inquires, finding that Ceylon had been, from the +remotest times, the point at which the merchant fleets from the Red Sea +and the Persian Gulf met those from China and the Oriental Archipelago; +thus effecting an exchange of merchandise from East and West; and +discovering that the Arabian and Persian voyagers, on their return, had +brought home copious accounts of the island, it occurred to me that the +Chinese travellers during the same period had in all probability been +equally observant and communicative, and that the results of their +experience might be found in Chinese works of the Middle Ages. Acting on +this conjecture, I addressed myself to a Chinese gentleman, WANG TAO +CHUNG, who was then in England; and he, on his return to Shanghae, made +known my wishes to Mr. WYLIE. My anticipations were more than realised +by Mr. WYLIE'S researches. I received in due course, extracts from +upwards of twenty works by Chinese writers, between the fifth and +fifteenth centuries, and the curious and interesting facts contained in +them are embodied in the chapter devoted to that particular subject. In +addition to these, the courtesy of M. STANISLAS JULIEN, the eminent +French Sinologue, has laid me under a similar obligation for access to +unpublished passages relative to Ceylon, in his translation of the great +work of HIOUEN THSANG; in his translation of the great work of HIOUEN +THSANG; descriptive of the Buddhist country of India in the seventh +century.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Memoires sur les Contrees Occidentales_, traduites du +Sanscrit en Chinois, en l'an 648, par M. STANISLAS JULIEN.] + +It is with pain that I advert to that portion of the section which +treats of the British rule in Ceylon; in the course of which the +discovery of the private correspondence of the first Governor, Mr. +North, deposited along with the Wellesley Manuscripts, in the British +Museum[1], has thrown an unexpected light over the fearful events of +1803, and the massacre of the English troops then in garrison at Kandy. +Hitherto the honour of the British Government has been unimpeached in +these dark transactions; and the slaughter of the troops has been +uniformly denounced as an evidence of the treacherous and "tiger-like" +spirit of the Kandyan people.[2] But it is not possible now to read the +narrative of these events, as the motives and secret arrangements of the +Governor with the treacherous Minister of the king are disclosed in the +private letters of Mr. North to the Governor-general of India, without +feeling that the sudden destruction of Major Davie's party, however +revolting the remorseless butchery by which it was achieved, may have +been but the consummation of a revenge provoked by the discovery of the +treason concocted by the Adigar in confederacy with the representative +of the British Crown. Nor is this construction weakened by the fact, +that no immediate vengeance was exacted by the Governor in expiation of +that fearful tragedy; and that the private letters of Mr. North to the +Marquis of Wellesley contain avowals of ineffectual efforts to hush up +the affair, and to obtain a clumsy compromise by inducing the Kandyan +king to make an admission of regret. + +[Footnote 1: Additional MSS., Brit. Mus., No. 13864, &c.] + +[Footnote 2: DE QUINCEY, _collected Works_, vol. xii. p. 14.] + +I am aware that there are passages in the following pages containing +statements that occur more than once in the course of the work. But I +found that in dealing with so many distinct subjects the same fact +became sometimes an indispensable illustration of more than one topic; +and hence repetition was unavoidable even at the risk of tautology. + +I have also to apologise for variances in the spelling of proper names, +both of places and individuals, occurring in different passages. In +extenuation of this, I can only plead the difficulty of preserving +uniformity in matters dependent upon mere sound, and unsettled by any +recognised standard of orthography. + +I have endeavoured in every instance to append references to other +authors, in support of statements which I have drawn from previous +writers; an arrangement rendered essential by the numerous instances in +which errors, that nothing short of the original authorities can suffice +to expose, have been reproduced and repeated by successive writers on +Ceylon. + +To whatever extent the preparation of this work may have fallen short of +its conception, and whatever its demerits in execution and style, I am +not without hope that it will still exhibit evidence that by +perseverance and research I have laboured to render it worthy of the +subject. + +JAMES EMERSON TENNENT. + +LONDON: _July 13th, 1859._ + + + + +PART I. + +PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.--GEOLOGY.--MINERALOGY.--GEMS, CLIMATE, ETC. + + +GENERAL ASPECT.--Ceylon, from whatever direction it is approached, +unfolds a scene of loveliness and grandeur unsurpassed, if it be +rivalled, by any land in the universe. The traveller from Bengal, +leaving behind the melancholy delta of the Ganges and the torrid coast +of Coromandel; or the adventurer from Europe, recently inured to the +sands of Egypt and the scorched headlands of Arabia, is alike entranced +by the vision of beauty which expands before him as the island rises +from the sea, its lofty mountains covered by luxuriant forests, and its +shores, till they meet the ripple of the waves, bright with the foliage +of perpetual spring. + +The Brahmans designated it by the epithet of "the resplendent," and in +their dreamy rhapsodies extolled it as the region of mystery and +sublimity[1]; the Buddhist poets gracefully apostrophised it as "a pearl +upon the brow of India;" the Chinese knew it as the "island of jewels;" +the Greeks as the "land of the hyacinth and the ruby;" the Mahometans, +in the intensity of their delight, assigned it to the exiled parents of +mankind as a new elysium to console them for the loss of Paradise; and +the early navigators of Europe, as they returned dazzled with its gems, +and laden with its costly spices, propagated the fable that far to +seaward the very breeze that blew from it was redolent of perfume.[2] In +later and less imaginative times, Ceylon has still maintained the renown +of its attractions, and exhibits in all its varied charms "the highest +conceivable development of Indian nature."[3] + +[Footnote 1: "Ils en ont fait une espece de paradis, et se sont imagine +que des etres d'une nature angelique les habitaient."--ALBYROUNI, Traite +des Eres, &c.; REINAUD, Geographie d'Aboulfeda, Introd. sec. iii. p. +ccxxiv. The renown of Ceylon as it reached Europe in the seventeenth +century is thus summed up by PURCHAS in _His Pilgrimage_, b.v.c. 18, p. +550:--"The heauens with their dewes, the ayre with a pleasant +holesomenesse and fragrant freshnesse, the waters in their many riuers +and fountaines, the earth diuersified in aspiring hills, lowly vales, +equall and indifferent plaines, filled in her inward chambers with +mettalls and jewells, in her outward court and vpper face stored with +whole woods of the best cinnamons that the sunne seeth; besides fruits, +oranges, lemons, &c. surmounting those of Spaine; fowles and beasts, +both tame and wilde (among which is their elephant honoured by a +naturall acknowledgement of excellence of all other elephants in the +world). These all have conspired and joined in common league to present +unto Zeilan the chiefe of worldly treasures and pleasures, with a long +and healthfull life in the inhabitants to enjoye them. No marvell, then, +if sense and sensualitie have heere stumbled on a paradise."] + +[Footnote 2: The fable of the "spicy breezes" said to blow from Arabia +and India, is as old as Ctesias; and is eagerly repeated by Pliny? lib. +xii. c. 42. The Greeks borrowed the tale from the Hindus, who believe +that the _Chandana_ or sandal-wood imparts its odours to the winds; and +their poete speak of the Malayan as the westerns did of the Sabaean +breezes. But the allusion to such perfumed winds was a trope common to +all the discoverers of unknown lands: the companions of Columbus +ascribed them to the region of the Antilles; and Verrazani and Sir +Walter Raleigh scented them off the coast of Carolina. Milton borrowed +from Diodorus Siculus, lib. iii. c. 46, the statement that: + + "Far off at sea north-east winds blow + Sabaean odours from the spicy shore + Of Araby the Blest." + (_P.L._ iv. 163.) + +Ariosto employs the same imaginative embellishment to describe the +charms of Cyprus: + + "Serpillo e persa e rose e gigli e croco + Spargon dall'odorifero terreno + Tanta suavita, ch'in mar sentire + La fa ogni vento che da terra spire." + (_Oil. Fur._ xviii. 138.) + +That some aromatic smell is perceptible far to seaward, in the vicinity +of certain tropical countries, is unquestionable; and in the instance of +Cuba, an odour like that of violets, which is discernible two or three +miles from land, when the wind is off the shore, has been traced by +Poeppig to a species of _Tetracera_, a climbing plant which diffuses its +odour during the night. But in the case of Ceylon? if the existence of +such a perfume be not altogether imaginary, the fact has been falsified +by identifying the alleged fragrance with cinnamon; the truth being that +the cinnamon laurel, unless it be crushed, exhales no aroma whatever; +and the peculiar odour of the spice is only perceptible after the bark +has been separated and dried.] + +[Footnote 3: LASSEN, _Indische Alterthumskunde_ vol. i. p. 198.] + +_Picturesque Outline_.--The nucleus of its mountain masses consists of +gneissic, granitic, and other crystalline rocks, which in their +resistless upheaval have rent the superincumbent strata, raising them +into lofty pyramids and crags, or hurling them in gigantic fragments to +the plains below. Time and decay are slow in their assaults on these +towering precipices and splintered pinnacles; and from the absence of +more perishable materials, there are few graceful sweeps along the +higher chains or rolling downs in the lower ranges of the hills. Every +bold elevation is crowned by battlemented cliffs, and flanked by chasms +in which the shattered strata are seen as sharp and as rugged as if they +had but recently undergone the grand convulsion that displaced them. + +_Foliage and Verdure_.--The soil in these regions is consequently light +and unremunerative, but the plentiful moisture arising from the +interception of every passing vapour from the Indian Ocean and the Bay +of Bengal, added to the intense warmth of the atmosphere, combine to +force a vegetation so rich and luxuriant, that imagination can picture +nothing more wondrous and charming; every level spot is enamelled with +verdure, forests of never-fading bloom cover mountain and valley; +flowers of the brightest hues grow in profusion over the plains, and +delicate climbing plants, rooted in the shelving rocks, hang in huge +festoons down the edge of every precipice. + +Unlike the forests of Europe, in which the excess of some peculiar trees +imparts a character of monotony and graveness to the outline and +colouring, the forests of Ceylon are singularly attractive from the +endless variety of their foliage, and the vivid contrast of its hues. +The mountains, especially those looking towards the east and south, rise +abruptly to prodigious and almost precipitous heights above the level +plains; the rivers wind through woods below like threads of silver +through green embroidery, till they are lost in a dim haze which +conceals the far horizon; and through this a line of tremulous light +marks where the sunbeams are glittering among the waves upon the distant +shore. + +From age to age a scene so lovely has imparted a colouring of romance to +the adventures of the seamen who, in the eagerness of commerce, swept +round the shores of India, to bring back the pearls and precious stones, +the cinnamon and odours, of Ceylon. The tales of the Arabians are +fraught with the wonders of "Serendib;" and the mariners of the Persian +Gulf have left a record of their delight in reaching the calm havens of +the island, and reposing for months together in valleys where the waters +of the sea were overshadowed by woods, and the gardens were blooming in +perennial summer.[1] + +[Footnote 1: REINAUD, _Relation des Voyages Arabes, &c., dans le +neuvieme siecle_. Paris, 1845, tom. ii. p. 129.] + +_Geographical Position_.--Notwithstanding the fact that the Hindus, in +their system of the universe, had given prominent importance to Ceylon, +their first meridian, "the meridian of Lanka," being supposed to pass +over the island, they propounded the most extravagant ideas, both as to +its position and extent; expanding it to the proportions of a continent, +and at the same time placing it a considerable distance south-east of +India.[1] + +[Footnote 1: For a condensed account of the dimensions and position +attributed to Lanka, in the Mythic Astronomy of the Hindus, see +REINAUD's _Introduction to Aboulfeda_, sec. iii. p. ccxvii., and his +_Memoire sur l'Inde_, p. 342; WILFORD's _Essay on the Sacred Isles of +the West_, Asiat. Researches, vol. x, p. 140.] + +The native Buddhist historians, unable to confirm the exaggerations of +the Brahmans, and yet reluctant to detract from the epic renown of their +country by disclaiming its stupendous dimensions, attempted to reconcile +its actual extent with the fables of the eastern astronomers by imputing +to the agency of earthquakes the submersion of vast regions by the +sea.[1] But evidence is wanting to corroborate the assertion of such an +occurrence, at least within the historic period; no record of it exists +in the earliest writings of the Hindus, the Arabians, or Persians; who, +had the tradition survived, would eagerly have chronicled a catastrophe +so appalling.[2] Geologic analogy, so far as an inference is derivable +from the formation of the adjoining coasts, both of India and Ceylon, is +opposed to its probability; and not only plants, but animals, mammalia, +birds, reptiles, and insects, exist in Ceylon, which are not to be found +in the flora or fauna of the Indian continent.[3] + +[Footnote 1: SIR WILLIAM JONES adopted the legendary opinion that Ceylon +"formerly perhaps, extended much farther to the west and south, so as to +include Lanka or the equinoctial point of the Indian +astronomers."--_Discourse on the Institution of a Society for inquiring +into the History, &c., of the Borderers, Mountaineers, and Islanders of +Asia_.--Works, vol. i. p. 120. + +The Portuguese, on their arrival in Ceylon in the sixteenth century, +found the natives fully impressed by the traditions of its former extent +and partial submersion; and their belief in connection with it, will be +found in the narratives and histories of De Barros and Diogo de Couto, +from which they have been transferred, almost without abridgment, to the +pages of Valentyn. The substance of the native legends will be found in +the _Mahawanso_, c. xxii. p. 131; and _Rajavali_, p. 180, 190.] + +[Footnote 2: The first disturbance of the coast by which Ceylon is +alleged to have been severed from the main land is said by the Buddhists +to have taken place B.C. 2387; a second commotion is ascribed to the age +of Panduwaasa, B.C. 504; and the subsidence of the shore adjacent to +Colombo is said to have taken place 200 years later, in the reign of +Devenipiatissa, B.C. 306. The event is thus recorded in the _Rajavali_, +one of the sacred books of Ceylon:--"In these days the sea was seven +leagues from Kalany; but on account of what had been done to the +teeroonansee (a priest who had been tortured by the king of Kalany), the +gods who were charged with the conservation of Ceylon, became enraged +and caused the sea to deluge the land; and as during the epoch called +_duwapawrayaga_ on account of the wickedness of Rawana, 25 palaces and +400,000 streets were all over-run by the sea, so now in this time of +Tissa Raja, 100,000 large towns, 910 fishers' villages, and 400 villages +inhabited by pearl fishers, making together eleven-twelfths of the +territory of Kalany, were swallowed up by the sea."--_Rajavali_, vol. +ii. p. 180, 190. + +FORBES observes the coincidence that the legend of the rising of the sea +in the age of Panduwaasa, 2378 B.C., very nearly concurs with the date +assigned to the Deluge of Noah, 2348,--_Eleven Years in Ceylon_, vol. +ii. p. 258. A tradition is also extant, that a submersion took place at +a remote period on the east coast of Ceylon, whereby the island of +Giri-dipo, which is mentioned in the first chapter of the _Mahawanso_, +was engulfed, and the dangerous rocks called the Great and Little Basses +are believed to be remnants of it.--_Mahawanso_, c. i. + +A _resume_ of the disquisitions which have appeared at various times as +to the submersion of a part of Ceylon, will be found in a Memoir _sur la +Geographie ancienne de Ceylon_, in the Journal Asiatique for January, +1857, 5th ser., vol. ix. p. 12; see also TURNOUR'S _Introd. to the +Mahawanso_, p. xxxiv.] + +[Footnote 3: Some of the mammalia peculiar to the island are enumerated +at p. 160; birds found in Ceylon but not existing in India are alluded +to at p. 178, and Dr. A. GUENTHER, in a paper on the _Geographical +Distribution of Reptiles_, in the _Mag. of Nat. Hist._ for March, 1859, +says, "amongst these larger islands which are connected with the middle +palaeotropical region, none offers forms so different from the continent +and other islands as Ceylon. It might be considered the Madagascar of +the Indian region. We not only find there peculiar genera and species, +not again to be recognised in other parts; but even many of the common +species exhibit such remarkable varieties, as to afford ample means for +creating new nominal species," p. 280. The difference exhibited between +the insects of Ceylon and those of Hindustan and the Dekkan are noticed +by Mr. Walker in the present work, p. ii. ch. vii, vol. i. p. 270. See +on this subject RITTER'S _Erdkunde_, vol. iv. p. 17.] + +Still in the infancy of geographical knowledge, and before Ceylon had +been circumnavigated by Europeans, the mythical delusions of the Hindus +were transmitted to the West, and the dimensions of the island were +expanded till its southern extremity fell below the equator, and its +breadth was prolonged till it touched alike on Africa and China.[1] + +[Footnote 1: GIBBON, ch. xxiv.] + +The Greeks who, after the Indian conquests of Alexander, brought back +the earliest accounts of the East, repeated them without material +correction, and reported the island to be nearly twenty times its actual +extent. Onesicritus, a pilot of the expedition, assigned to it a +magnitude of 5000 stadia, equal to 500 geographical miles.[1] +Eratosthenes attempted to fix its position, but went so widely astray +that his first (that is his most southern) parallel passed through it +and the "Cinnamon Land," the _Regio Cinnamomifera_, on the east coast of +Africa.[2] He placed Ceylon at the distance of seven days' sail from the +south of India, and he too assigned to its western coast an extent of +5000 stadia.[3] Both those authorities are quoted by Strabo, who says +that the size of Taprobane was not less than that of Britain.[4] + +[Footnote 1: STRABO, lib. v. Artemidorus (100 B.C.), quoted by Stephanus +of Byzantium, gives to Ceylon a length of 7000 stadia and a breadth of +500.] + +[Footnote 2: STRABO, lib. ii. c. i. s. 14.] + +[Footnote 3: The text of Strabo showing this measure makes it in some +places 8000 (Strabo, lib. v.); and Pliny, quoting Eratosthenes, makes it +7000.] + +[Footnote 4: STRABO, lib. ii. c. v. s. 32. Aristotle appears to have had +more correct information, and says Ceylon was not so large as +Britain.--_De Mundo_ ch. iii.] + +The round numbers employed by those authors, and by the Greek +geographers generally, who borrow from them, serve to show that their +knowledge was merely collected from rumours; and that in all probability +they were indebted for their information to the stories of Arabian or +Hindu sailors returning from the Eastern seas. + +Pliny learned from the Singhalese Ambassador who visited Rome in the +reign of Claudius, that the breadth of Ceylon was 10,000 stadia from +west to east; and Ptolemy fully developed the idea of his predecessors, +that it lay opposite to the "Cinnamon Land," and assigned to it a length +from north to south of nearly _fifteen degrees_, with a breadth of +_eleven_, an exaggeration of the truth nearly twenty-fold.[1] +Agathemerus copies Ptolemy; and the plain and sensible author of the +"Periplus" (attributed to Arrian), still labouring with the delusion of +the magnitude of Ceylon, makes it stretch almost to the opposite coast +of Africa.[2] + +[Footnote 1: PTOLEMY, lib. vii. c. 4.] + +[Footnote 2: ARRIAN, _Periplus_, p. 35. Marcianus Heracleota (whose +Periplus has been reprinted by HUDSON, in the same collection from which +I have made the reference to that of Arrian) gives to Ceylon a length of +9500 stadia with a breadth of 7500.--MAR. HER. p. 26.] + +These extravagant ideas of the magnitude of Ceylon were not entirely +removed till many centuries later. The Arabian geographers, Massoudi, +Edrisi, and Aboulfeda, had no accurate data by which to correct the +errors of their Greek predecessors. The maps of the fourteenth and +fifteenth centuries repeated their distortions[1]; and Marco Polo, in +the fourteenth century, who gives the island the usual exaggerated +dimensions, yet informs us that it is now but one half the size it had +been at a former period, the rest having been engulfed by the sea.[2] + +[Footnote 1: For an account of Ceylon as it is figured in the +_Mappe-mondes_ of the Middle Ages, see the _Essai_ of the VICOMTE DE +SANTAREM, _Sur la Cosmographie et Cartographie_, tom. iii. p. 335, &c.] + +[Footnote 2: MARCO POLO, p. 2, c. 148. A later authority than Marco +Polo, PORCACCHI, in his _Isolario_, or "Description of the most +celebrated Islands in the World," which was published at Venice in A.D. +1576, laments his inability even at that time to obtain any authentic +information as to the boundaries and dimensions of Ceylon; and, relying +on the representations of the Moors, who then carried on an active trade +around its coasts, he describes it as lying under the equinoctial line, +and possessing a circuit of 2100 miles. "Ella gira di circuito, secondo +il calcole fatto da Mori, che modernamente l'hanno nauigato +d'ogn'intorno due mila et cento miglia et corre maestro e sirocco; et per +il mezo d'essa passa la linea equinottiale et e el principio del primo +clima al terzo paralello."--_L'Isole piu Famose del Monde, descritte da_ +THOMASO PORCACCHI, lib. iii. p. 30.] + +Such was the uncertainty thrown over the geography of the island by +erroneous and conflicting accounts, that grave doubts came to be +entertained of its identity, and from the fourteenth century, when the +attention of Europe was re-directed to the nascent science of geography, +down to the close of the seventeenth, it remained a question whether +Ceylon or Sumatra was the Taprobane of the Greeks.[1] + +[Footnote 1: GIBBON states, that "Salmasius and most of the ancients +confound the islands of Ceylon and Sumatra."--_Decl. and Fall_ ch. xl. +This is a mistake. Saumaise was one of those who maintained a correct +opinion; and, as regards the "ancients," they had very little knowledge +of _Further India_ to which Sumatra belongs; but so long as Greek and +Roman literature maintained their influence, no question was raised as +to the identity of Ceylon and Taprobane. Even in the sixth century +Cosmas Indicopleustes declares unhesitatingly that the Sielediva of the +Indians was the Taprobane of the Greeks. + +It was only on emerging from the general ignorance of the Middle Ages +that the doubt was first promulgated. In the Catalan Map of A.D. 1375, +entitled _Image du Monde_, Ceylon is omitted, and Taprobane is +represented by Sumatra (MALTE BRUN, _Hist. de Geogr._ vol. i, p. 318); +in that of _Fra Mauro_, the Venetian monk, A.D. 1458, Seylan is given, +but _Taprobane_ is added over _Sumatra_. A similar error appears in the +_Mappe-monde,_ by RUYCH, in the Ptolemy of A.D. 1508, and in the +writings of the geographers of the sixteenth century, GEMMA FRISIUS, +SEBASTIAN MUNSTER, RAMUSIO, JUL. SCALIGER, ORTELIUS, and MERCATOR. The +same view was adopted by the Venetian NICOLA DI CONTI, in the first half +of the fifteenth century, by the Florentine ANDREA CORSALI, MAXIMILIANUS +TRANSYLVANUS, VARTHEMA, and PIGAFETTA. The chief cause of this +perplexity was, no doubt, the difficulty of reconciling the actual +position and size of Ceylon with the dimensions and position assigned to +it by Strabo and Ptolemy, the latter of whom, by an error which is +elsewhere explained, extended the boundary of the island far to the east +of its actual site. But there was a large body of men who rejected the +claim of Sumatra, and DE BARROS, SALMASIUS, BOCHART CLUVERIUS, +CELLARIUS, ISAAC VOSSIUS and others, maintained the title of Ceylon. A +_Mappe-monde_ of A.D. 1417, preserved in the Pitti Palace at Florence +compromises the dispute by designating Sumatra _Taprobane Major_. The +controversy came to an end at the beginning of the eighteenth century, +when the overpowering authority of DELISLE resolved the doubt, and +confirmed the modern Ceylon as the Taprobane of antiquity. WILFORD, in +the _Asiatic Researches_ (vol. x. p. 140), still clung to the opposite +opinion, and KANT undertook to prove that Taprobane was Madagascar.] + +_Latitude and Longitude_.--There has hitherto been considerable +uncertainty as to the position assigned to Ceylon in the various maps +and geographical notices of the island: these have been corrected by +more recent observations, and its true place has been ascertained to be +between 5 deg. 55' and 9 deg. 51' north latitude, and 79 deg. 41' 40" and +81 deg. 54' 50" east longitude. Its extreme length from north to south, +from Point Palmyra to Dondera Head, is 271-1/2 miles; its greatest width +137-1/2 miles, from Colombo on the west coast to Sangemankande on the +east; and its area, including its dependent islands, 25,742 miles, or +about one-sixth smaller than Ireland.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Down to a very recent period no British colony was more +imperfectly surveyed and mapped than Ceylon; but since the recent +publication by Arrowsmith of the great map by General Fraser, the +reproach has been withdrawn, and no dependency of the Crown is more +richly provided in this particular. In the map of Schneider, the +Government engineer in 1813, two-thirds of the Kandyan Kingdom are a +blank; and in that of the Society for the Diffusion of Knowledge, +re-published so late as 1852, the rich districts of Neuera-kalawa and +the Wanny, in which there are innumerable villages (and scarcely a +hill), are marked as "_unknown mountainous region_." General Fraser, +after the devotion of a lifetime to the labour, has produced a survey +which, in extent and minuteness of detail, stands unrivalled. In this +great work he had the co-operation of Major Skinner and of Captain +Gallwey, and to these two gentlemen the public are indebted for the +greater portion of the field-work and the trigonometrical operations. To +judge of the difficulties which beset such an undertaking, it must be +borne in mind that till very recently travelling in the interior of +Ceylon was all but impracticable, in a country unopened even by bridle +roads, across unbridged rivers, over mountains never trod by the foot of +a European, and amidst precipices inaccessible to all but the most +courageous and prudent. Add to this that the country is densely covered +with forest and jungle, with trees a hundred feet high, from which here +and there the branches had to be cleared to obtain a sight of the signal +stations. The triangulation was carried on amidst privations, +discomfort, and pestilence, which frequently prostrated the whole party, +and forced their attendants to desert them rather than encounter such +hardships and peril. The materials collected by the colleagues of +General Fraser under these discouragements have been worked up by him +with consummate skill and perseverance. The base line, five and a +quarter miles in length, was measured in 1845 in the cinnamon plantation +at Kaderani, to the north of Colombo, and its extremities are still +marked by two towers, which it was necessary to raise to the height of +one hundred feet, to enable them to be discerned above the surrounding +forests. These it is to be hoped will be carefully kept from decay, as +they may again be called into requisition. + +As regards the sea line of Ceylon, an admirable chart of the West coast, +from Adam's Bridge to Dondera Head, has been published by the East India +Company from a survey in 1845. But information is sadly wanted as to the +East and North, of which no accurate charts exist, except of a few +unconnected points, such as the harbour of Trincomalie.] + +_General Form_.--In its general outline the island resembles a pear--and +suggests to its admiring inhabitants the figure of those pearls which +from their elongated form are suspended from the tapering end. When +originally upheaved above the ocean its shape was in all probability +nearly circular, with a prolongation in the direction of north-east. The +mountain zone in the south, covering an area of about 4212 miles[1], may +then have formed the largest proportion of its entire area--and the belt +of low lands, known as the Maritime Provinces, consists to a great +extent of soil from the disintegration of the gneiss, detritus from the +hills, alluvium carried down the rivers, and marine deposits gradually +collected on the shore. But in addition to these, the land has for ages +been slowly rising from the sea, and terraces abounding in marine shells +imbedded in agglutinated sand occur in situations far above high-water +mark. Immediately inland from Point de Galle, the surface soil rests on +a stratum of decomposing coral; and sea shells are found at a +considerable distance from the shore. Further north at Madampe, between +Chilaw and Negombo, the shells of pearl oysters and other bivalves are +turned up by the plough more than ten miles from the sea. + +[Illustration] + +[Footnote 1: This includes not only the lofty mountains suitable for the +cultivation of coffee, but the lower ranges and spurs which connect them +with the maritime plains.] + +These recent formations present themselves in a still more striking form +in the north of the island, the greater portion of which may be regarded +as the conjoint production of the coral polypi, and the currents, which +for the greater portion of the year set impetuously towards the south. +Coming laden with alluvial matter collected along the coast of +Coromandel, and meeting with obstacles south of Point Calimere, they +have deposited their burthens on the coral reefs round Point Pedro; and +these gradually raised above the sea-level, and covered deeply by sand +drifts, have formed the peninsula of Jaffna and the plains that trend +westward till they unite with the narrow causeway of Adam's +Bridge--itself raised by the same agencies, and annually added to by the +influences of the tides and monsoons.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The barrier known as Adam's Bridge, which obstructs the +navigation of the channel between Ceylon and Ramnad, consists of several +parallel ledges of conglomerate and sandstone, hard at the surface, and +growing coarse and soft as it descends till it rests on a bank of sand, +apparently accumulated by the influence of the currents at the change of +the monsoons. See an _Essay_ by Captain STEWART _on the Paumbem +Passage_. Colombo, 1837. See Vol. II. p. 554.] + +On the north-west side of the island, where the currents are checked by +the obstruction of Adam's Bridge, and still water prevails in the Gulf +of Manaar, these deposits have been profusely heaped, and the low sandy +plains have been proportionally extended; whilst on the south and east, +where the current sweeps unimpeded along the coast, the line of the +shore is bold and occasionally rocky. + +This explanation of the accretion and rising of the land is somewhat +opposed to the popular belief that Ceylon was torn from the main land of +India[1] by a convulsion, during which the Gulf of Manaar and the narrow +channel at Paumbam were formed by the submersion of the adjacent land. +The two theories might be reconciled by supposing the sinking to have +occurred at an early period, and to have been followed by the uprising +still in progress. But on a closer examination of the structure and +direction of the mountain system of Ceylon, it exhibits no traces of +submersion. It seems erroneous to regard it as a prolongation of the +Indian chains; it lies far to the east of the line formed by the Ghauts +on either side of the peninsula, and any affinity which it exhibits is +rather with the equatorial direction of the intersecting ranges of the +Nilgherries and the Vindhya. In their geological elements there is, +doubtless, a similarity between the southern extremity of India and the +elevated portions of Ceylon; but there are also many important +particulars in which their specific differences are irreconcilable with +the conjecture of previous continuity. In the north of Ceylon there is a +marked preponderance of aqueous strata, which are comparatively rare in +the vicinity of Cape Comorin; and whilst the rocks of the former are +entirely destitute of organic remains[2]; fossils, both terrestrial and +pelagic, have been found in the Eastern Ghauts, and sandstone, in some +instances, overlays the primary rocks which compose them. The rich and +black soil to the south of the Nilgherries presents a strong contrast to +the red and sandy earth of the opposite coast; and both in the flora and +fauna of the island there are exceptional peculiarities which suggest a +distinction between it and the Indian continent. + +[Footnote 1: LASSEN, _Indische Alterthumskunde_, vol. i. p. 193.] + +[Footnote 2: At Cutchavelly, north of Trincomalie, there exists a bed of +calcareous clay, in which shells and crustaceans are found in a +semi-fossilised state; but they are all of recent species, principally +_Macrophthalmus_ and _Scylla_. The breccia at Jaffna contains recent +shells, as does also the arenaceous strata on the western coast of +Manaar and in the neighbourhood of Galle. The existence of the +fossilised crustaceans in the north of Ceylon was known to the early +Arabian navigators. Abou-zeyd describes them as, "Un animal de mer qui +resemble a l'ecrevisse; quand cet animal sort de la mer, _il se +convertit en pierre_." See REINAUD, _Voyages faits par les Arabes_, vol. +i. p. 21. The Arabs then; and the Chinese at the present day, use these +petrifactions when powdered as a specific for diseases of the eye.] + +_Mountain System_.--At whatever period the mountains of Ceylon may have +been raised, the centre of maximum energy must have been in the vicinity +of Adam's Peak, the group immediately surrounding which has thus +acquired an elevation of from six to eight thousand feet above the +sea.[1] The uplifting force seems to have been exerted from south-west +to north-east; and although there is much confusion in many of the +intersecting ridges, the lower ranges, especially those to the south and +west of Adam's Peak, from Saffragam to Ambogammoa, manifest a remarkable +tendency to run in parallel ridges in a direction from south-east to +north-west. + +[Footnote 1: The following are the heights of a few of the most +remarkable places:-- + + Pedrotallagalla 8280 English feet. + Kirrigalpotta 7810 English feet. + Totapella 7720 English feet. + Adam's Peak 7420 English feet. + Nammoone-Koolle 6740 English feet. + Plain of Neuera-ellia 6210 English feet.] + +Towards the north, on the contrary, the offsets of the mountain system, +with the exception of those which stretch towards Trincomalie, radiate +to short distances in various directions, and speedily sink down to the +level of the plain. Detached hills of great altitude are rare, the most +celebrated being that of Mihintala, which overlooks the sacred city of +Anarajapoora: and Sigiri is the only example in Ceylon of those solitary +acclivities, which form so remarkable a feature in the table-land of the +Dekkan, starting abruptly from the plain with scarped and perpendicular +sides, and converted by the Indians into strongholds, accessible only by +precipitous pathways, or steps hewn in the solid rock. + +The crest of the Ceylon mountains is of stratified crystalline rock, +especially gneiss, with extensive veins of quartz, and through this the +granite has been everywhere intruded, distorting the riven strata, and +tilting them at all angles to the horizon. Hence at the abrupt +terminations of some of the chains in the district of Saffragam, +plutonic rocks are seen mingled with the dislocated gneiss. Basalt makes +its appearance both at Galle and Trincomalie. In one place to the east +of Pettigalle-Kanda, the rocks have been broken up in such confusion as +to resemble the effect of volcanic action--huge masses overhang each +other like suddenly-cooled lava; and Dr. Gygax, a Swiss mineralogist, +who was employed by the Government in 1847 to examine and report on the +mineral resources of the district, stated, on his return, that having +seen the volcanoes of the Azores, he found a "strange similarity at this +spot to one of the semi-craters round the trachytic ridge of +Seticidadas, in the island of St. Michael."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Beyond the very slightest symptoms of disturbance, +earthquakes are unknown in Ceylon: and although its geology exhibits +little evidence of volcanic action (with the exception of the basalt, +which occasionally presents an appearance approaching to that of lava), +there are some other incidents that seem to suggest the vicinity of +fire; more particularly the occurrence of springs of high temperature, +one at Badulla, one at Kitool, near Bintenne, another near Yavi Ooto, in +the Veddah country, and a fourth at Cannea, near Trincomalie. I have +heard of another near the Patipal Aar south of Batticaloa. The water in +each is so pure and free from salts that the natives make use of it for +all domestic purposes. Dr. Davy adverts to another indication of +volcanic agency in the sudden and profound depth of the noble harbour at +Trincomalie, which even close by the beach is said to have been hitherto +unfathomed. + +The Spaniards believed Ceylon to be volcanic; and ARGENSOLA, in his +_Conquista de las Malucas_, Madrid, 1609, says it produced liquid +bitumen and sulphur:--"Fuentes de betun liquido y bolcanes de perpetuas +llamas que arrojan entre las asperezas de la montana losas de +acufre."--Lib. v. p. 184. It is needless to say that this is altogether +imaginary.] + +_Gneiss_.--The great geological feature of the island is, however, the +profusion of gneiss, and the various new forms arising from its +disintegration. In the mountains, with the exception of occasional beds +of dolomite, no more recent formations overlie it; from the period of +its first upheaval, the gneiss has undergone no second submersion, and +the soil which covers it in these lofty altitudes is formed almost +entirely by its decay. + +In the lower ranges of the hills, gigantic portions of gneiss rise +conspicuously, so detached from the original chain and so rounded by the +action of the atmosphere, aided by their concentric lamellation, that +but for their prodigious dimensions, they might be regarded as boulders. +Close under one of these cylindrical masses, 600 feet in height, and +upwards of three miles in length, the town of Kornegalle, one of the +ancient capitals of the island, has been built; and the great temple of +Dambool, the most remarkable Buddhist edifice in Ceylon, is constructed +under the hollow edge of another, its gilded roof being formed by the +inverted arch of the natural stone. The tendency of the gneiss to assume +these concentric and almost circular forms has been taken advantage of +for this purpose by the Singhalese priests, and some of their most +venerated temples are to be found under the shadow of the overarching +strata, to the imperishable nature of which the priests point as +symbolical of the eternal duration of their faith.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The concentric lamellar strata of the gneiss sometimes +extend with a radius so prolonged that slabs may be cut from them and +used in substitution for beams of timber, and as such they are +frequently employed in the construction of Buddhist temples. At +Piagalla, on the road between Galle and Colombo, within about four miles +of Caltura, there is a gneiss hill of this description on which a temple +has been so erected. In this particular rock the garnets usually found +in gneiss are replaced by rubies, and nothing can exceed the beauty of +the hand-specimens procurable from a quarry close to the high road on +the landward side; in which, however, the gems are in every case reduced +to splinters.] + +_Laterite or "Cabook_."--A peculiarity, which is one of the first to +strike a stranger who lands at Galle or Colombo, is the bright red +colour of the streets and roads, contrasting vividly with the verdure of +the trees, and the ubiquity of the fine red dust which penetrates every +crevice and imparts its own tint to every neglected article. Natives +resident in these localities are easily recognisable elsewhere, by the +general hue of their dress. This is occasioned by the prevalence along +the western coast of _laterite_, or, as the Singhalese call it, +_cabook_, a product of disintegrated gneiss, which being subjected to +detrition communicates its hue to the soil.[1] + +[Footnote 1: According to the _Mahawanso_ "Tamba-panni," one of those +names by which Ceylon was anciently called, originated in an incident +connected with the invasion of Wijayo, B.C. 543, whose followers, +"exhausted by sea-sickness and faint from weakness, sat down at the spot +where they had landed out of the vessels, supporting themselves on the +palms of their hands pressed to the ground, whence the name of +Tamba-pannyo, '_copper-palmed_,' from the colour of the soil. From this +circumstance that wilderness obtained the name of Tamba-panni; and from +the same cause also this renowned land became celebrated under that +name."--TURNOUR'S _Mahawanso_, ch. vi. p. 50. From Tamba-panni came the +Greek name for Ceylon, _Taprobane_. Mr. de Alwis has corrected an error +in this passage of Mr. Turnour's translation; the word in the original, +which he took for _Tamba-panniyo_, or "copper-palmed," being in reality +_tamba-vanna_, or "copper-coloured." Colonel Forbes questions the +accuracy of this derivation, and attributes the name to the _tamana_ +trees; from the abundance of which he says many villages in Ceylon, as +well as a district in southern India, have been similarly called. +(_Eleven Years in Ceylon_, vol. i. p. 10.) I have not succeeded in +discovering what tree is designated by this name, nor does it occur in +MOON'S _List of Ceylon Plants_. On the southern coast of India a river, +which flows from the ghats to the sea, passing Tinnevelly, is called +Tambapanni. Tambapanni, as the designation of Ceylon, occurs in the +inscription on the rock of Girnar in Guzerat, deciphered by Prinsep, +containing an edict by Asoka relative to the medical administration of +India for the relief both of man and beast, (_Asiat. Soc. Journ. Beng._ +vol. vii. p. 158.)] + +The transformation of gneiss into laterite in these localities has been +attributed to the circumstance, that those sections of the rock which +undergo transition exhibit grains of magnetic iron ore partially +disseminated through them; and the phenomenon of the conversion has been +explained not by recurrence to the ordinary conception of mere +weathering, which is inadequate, but to the theory of catalytic action, +regard being had to the peculiarity of magnetic iron when viewed in its +chemical formula.[1] The oxide of iron thus produced communicates its +colouring to the laterite, and in proportion as felspar and hornblende +abound in the gneiss, the cabook assumes respectively a white or yellow +hue. So ostensible is the series of mutations, that in ordinary +excavations there is no difficulty in tracing a continuous connection +without definite lines of demarcation between the soil and the laterite +on the one hand, and the laterite and gneiss rock on the other.[2] + +[Footnote 1: From a paper read to the Royal Physical Society of +Edinburgh by the Rev. J.G. Macvicar, D.D.] + +[Footnote 2: From a paper on the Geology of Ceylon, by Dr. Gardner, in +the Appendix to Lee's translation of RIBEYRO'S _History of Ceylon_, p, +206. The earliest and one of the ablest essays on the geological system +and mineralogy of Ceylon will be found in DAVY'S _Account of the +Interior of Ceylon_, London, 1821. It has, however, been corrected and +enlarged by recent investigators.] + +The tertiary rocks which form such remarkable features in the geology of +other countries are almost unknown in Ceylon; and the "clay-slate, +Silurian, old red sandstone, carboniferous, new red sandstone, oolitic, +and cretaceous systems" have not as yet been recognised in any part of +the island.[1] Crystalline limestone in some places overlies the gneiss, +and is worked for oeconomical purposes in the mountain districts where +it occurs.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Dr. Gardner.] + +[Footnote 2: In the maritime provinces lime for building is obtained by +burning the coral and madrepore, which for this purpose is industriously +collected by the fishermen during the intervals when the wind is off +shore.] + +Along the western coast, from Point-de-Galle to Chilaw, breccia is found +near the shores, from the agglutination of corallines and shells mixed +with sand, and the disintegrated particles of gneiss. These beds present +an appearance very closely resembling a similar rock, in which human +remains have been found imbedded, at the north-east of Guadaloupe, now +in the British Museum.[1] Incorporated with them there are minute +fragments of sapphires, rubies, and tourmaline, showing that the sand of +which the breccia is composed has been washed down by the rivers from +the mountain zone. + +[Footnote 1: Dr. Gardner.] + +NORTHERN PROVINCES.--_Coral Formation_.--But the principal scene of the +most recent formations is the extreme north of the island, with the +adjoining peninsula of Jaffna. Here the coral rocks abound far above +high-water mark, and extend across the island where the land has been +gradually upraised, from the eastern to the western shore. The +fortifications of Jaffna were built by the Dutch, from blocks of breccia +quarried far from the sea, and still exhibit, in their worn surface, the +outline of the shells and corallines of which they mainly consist. The +roads, in the absence of more solid substances, are metalled with the +same material; as the only other rock which occurs is a loose +description of conglomerate, similar to that at Adam's Bridge and +Manaar. + +The phenomenon of the gradual upheaval of these strata is sufficiently +attested by the position in which they appear, and their altitude above +high-water mark; but, in close contiguity with them, an equally striking +evidence presents itself in the fact that, at various points of the +western coast, between the island of Manaar and Karativoe, the natives, +in addition to fishing for chank shells[1] in the sea, dig them up in +large quantities from beneath the soil on the adjacent shores, in which +they are deeply imbedded[2], the land having since been upraised. + +[Footnote 1: _Turbinella rapa_, formerly known as _Voluta gravis_ used +by the people of India to be sawn into bangles and anklets.] + +[Footnote 2: In 1845 an antique iron anchor was found under the soil at +the northwestern point of Jaffna, of such size and weight as to show +that it must have belonged to a ship of much greater tonnage than any +which the depth of water would permit to navigate the channel at the +present day.] + +The sand, which covers a vast extent of the peninsula of Jaffna, and in +which the coco-nut and Palmyra-palm grow freely, has been carried by the +currents from the coast of India, and either flung upon the northern +beach in the winter months, or driven into the lake during the +south-west monsoon, and thence washed on shore by the ripple, and +distributed by the wind. + +The arable soil of Jaffna is generally of a deep red colour, from the +admixture of iron, and, being largely composed of lime from the +comminuted coral, it is susceptible of the highest cultivation, and +produces crops of great luxuriance. This tillage is carried on +exclusively by irrigation from innumerable wells, into which the water +rises fresh through the madrepore and sand; there being no streams in +the district, unless those percolations can be so called which make +their way underground, and rise through the sands on the margin of the +sea at low water. + +_Wells in the Coral Rock_.--These phenomena occur at Jaffna, in +consequence of the rocks being magnesian limestone and coral, overlying +a bed of sand, and in some places, where the soil is light, the surface +of the ground is a hollow arch, so that it resounds as if a horse's +weight were sufficient to crush it inwards. This is strikingly +perceptible in the vicinity of the remarkable well at Potoor[1], on the +west side of the road leading from Jaffna to Point Pedro, where the +surface of the surrounding country is only about fifteen feet above the +sea-level. The well, however, is upwards of 140 feet in depth; the water +fresh at the surface, brackish lower down, and intensely salt below. +According to the universal belief of the inhabitants, it is an +underground pool, which communicates with the sea by a subterranean +channel bubbling out on the shore near Kangesentorre, about seven miles +to the north-west. + +[Footnote 1: For the particulars of this singular well, see Vol. II. Pt. +IX. ch. vi. p. 536.] + +A similar subterranean stream is said to conduct to the sea from another +singular well near Tillipalli, in sinking which the workmen, at the +depth of fourteen feet, came to the ubiquitous coral, the crust of which +gave way, and showed a cavern below containing the water they were in +search of, with a depth of more than thirty-three feet. It is remarkable +that the well at Tillipalli preserves its depth at all seasons alike, +uninfluenced by rains or drought; and a steam-engine erected at Potoor, +with the intention of irrigating the surrounding lands, failed to lower +it in any perceptible degree. + +Other wells, especially some near the coast, maintain their level with +such uniformity as to be inexhaustible at any season, even after a +succession of years of drought--a fact from which it may fairly be +inferred that their supply is chiefly derived by percolation from the +sea.[1] + +[Footnote 1: DARWIN, in his admirable account of the coral formations of +the Pacific and Indian oceans, has propounded a theory as to the +abundance of fresh water in the atolls and islands on coral reefs, +furnished by wells which ebb and flow with the tides. Assuming it to be +impossible to separate salt from sea water by filtration, he suggests +that the porous coral rock being permeated by salt water, the rain which +falls on the surface must sink to the level of the surrounding sea, "and +must accumulate there, displacing an equal bulk of sea water--and as the +portion of the latter in the lower part of the great sponge-like mass +rises and falls with the tides, so will the fresh water near the +surface."--_Naturalist's Journal_, ch. xx. But subsequent experiments +have demonstrated that the idea of separating the salt by filtration is +not altogether imaginary; as Darwin seems to have then supposed; and Mr. +WITT, in a remarkable paper _On a peculiar power possessed by Porous +Media of removing matters from solution in water_, has since succeeded +in showing that "water containing considerable quantities of saline +matter in solution may, by merely percolating through great masses of +porous strata during long periods, be gradually deprived of its salts +_to such an extent as probably to render even sea-water +fresh_."--_Philos. Mag_., 1856. Divesting the subject therefore of this +difficulty, other doubts would appear to suggest themselves as to the +applicability of Darwin's theory to coral formations in general. For +instance, it might be supposed that rain falling on a substance already +saturated with moisture, would flow off instead of sinking into it; and +that being of less specific gravity than salt water, it would fail to +"displace an equal bulk" of the latter. There are some extraordinary but +well attested statements of a thin layer of fresh water being found on +the surface of the sea, after heavy rains in the Bay of Bengal. (_Journ. +Asiat. Soc. Beng_. vol. v. p. 239.) Besides, I fancy that in the +majority of atolls and coral islands the quantity of rain which so small +an area is calculated to intercept would be insufficient of itself to +account for the extraordinary abundance of fresh water daily drawn from +the wells. For instance, the superficial extent of each of the +Laccadives is but two or three square miles, the surface soil resting on +a crust of coral, beneath which is a stratum of sand; and yet on +reaching the latter, fresh water flows in such profusion, that wells and +large tanks for soaking coco-nut fibre are formed in any place by merely +"breaking through the crust and taking out the sand."--_Madras Journal_, +vol. xiv. It is curious that the abundant supply of water in these wells +should have attracted the attention of the early navigators, and Cosmas +Indicoplenstes, writing in the sixth century, speaks of the numerous +small islands off the coast of Taprobane, with abundance of fresh water +and coco-nut palms, although these islands rest on a bed of sand. +(_Cosmas Ind_. ed. Thevenot, vol. i. p. 3, 20). It is remarkable that in +the little island of Ramisseram, one of the chain which connects Adam's +Bridge with the Indian continent, fresh water is found freely on sinking +for it in the sand. But this is not the case in the adjacent island of +Manaar, which participates in the geologic character of the interior of +Ceylon. The fresh water in the Laccadive wells always fluctuates with +the rise and fall of the tides. In some rare instances, as on the little +island of Bitra, which is the smallest inhabited spot in the group, the +water, though abundant, is brackish, but this is susceptible of an +explanation quite consistent with the experiments of Mr. Witt, which +require that the process of percolation shall be continued "during +_long_ periods and through _great masses of porous strata_;" Darwin +equally concedes that to keep the rain fresh when banked in, as he +assumes, by the sea, the mass of madrepore must be "sufficiently thick +to prevent mechanical admixture; and where the land consists of loose +blocks of coral with open interstices, the water, if a well be dug, is +brackish." Conditions analogous to all these particularised, present +themselves at Jaffna, and seem to indicate that the extent to which +fresh water is found there, is directly connected with percolation from +the sea. The quantity of rain which annually falls is less than in +England, being but thirty inches; whilst the average heat is highest in +Ceylon, and the evaporation great in proportion. Throughout the +peninsula, I am informed by Mr. Byrne, the Government surveyor of the +district, that as a general rule "_all the wells are below the sea +level_." It would be useless to sink them in the higher ground, where +they could only catch surface water. The November rains fill them at +once to the brim, but the water quickly subsides as the season becomes +dry, and "_sinks to the uniform level, at which it remains fixed for the +next nine or ten months_, unless when slightly affected by showers." +"_No well below the sea level becomes dry of itself_," even in seasons +of extreme and continued drought. But the contents do not vary with the +tides, the rise of which is so trifling that the distance from the +ocean, and the slowness of filtration, renders its fluctuations +imperceptible. + +On the other hand, the well of Potoor, the phenomena of which indicate +its direct connection with the sea, by means of a fissure or a channel +beneath the arch of magnesian limestone, rises and falls a few inches in +the course of every twelve hours. Another well at Navokeiry, a short +distance from it, does the same, whilst the well at Tillipalli is +entirely unaffected as to its level by any rains, and exhibits no +alteration of its depths on either monsoon. ADMIRAL FITZROY, in his +_Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle_, the +expedition to which Mr. Darwin was attached, adverts to the phenomenon +in connection with the fresh water found in the Coral Islands, and the +rise and fall of the wells, and the flow and ebb of the tide. He +advances the theory propounded by Darwin of the retention of the +river-water, which he says, "does not mix with the salt water which +surrounds it except at the edges of the land. The flowing tide pushes on +every side, the mixed soil being very porous, and causes the water to +rise: when the tide falls, the fresh water sinks also. _A sponge full of +fresh water placed gently in a basin of salt water, will not part with +its contents for a length of time if left untouched_, and the water in +the middle of the sponge will be found untainted by salt for many days: +perhaps much longer if tried."--Vol. i. p. 365. In a perfectly +motionless medium the experiment of the sponge may no doubt be +successful to the extent mentioned by Admiral Fitzroy; and so the +rain-water imbibed by a coral rock might for a length of time remain +fresh where it came into no contact with the salt. But the disturbance +caused by the tides, and the partial intermixture admitted by Admiral +Fitzroy, must by reiterated occurrence tend in time to taint the fresh +water which is affected by the movement: and this is demonstrable even +by the test of the sponge; for I find that on charging one with coloured +fluid, and immersing it in a vessel containing water perfectly pure, no +intermixture takes place so long as the pure water is undisturbed; but +on causing an artificial tide, by gradually withdrawing and as gradually +replacing a portion of the surrounding contents of the basin, the tinted +water in the sponge becomes displaced and disturbed, and in the course +of a few ebbs and flows its escape is made manifest by the quantity of +colour which it imparts to the surrounding fluid.] + +An idea of the general aspect of Ceylon will be formed from what has +here been described. Nearly four parts of the island are undulating +plains, slightly diversified by offsets from the mountain system which +entirely covers the remaining fifth. Every district, from the depths of +the valleys to the summits of the highest hills, is clothed with +perennial foliage; and even the sand-drifts, to the ripple on the sea +line, are carpeted with verdure, and sheltered from the sunbeams by the +cool shadows of the palm groves. + +SOIL.--But the soil, notwithstanding this wonderful display of +spontaneous vegetation, is not responsive to systematic cultivation, and +is but imperfectly adapted for maturing a constant succession of seeds +and cereal productions.[1] Hence arose the disappointment which beset +the earliest adventurers who opened plantations of coffee in the hills, +on discovering that after the first rapid development of the plants, +delicacy and languor ensued, which were only to be corrected by +returning to the earth, in the form of manures, those elements with +which it had originally been but sparingly supplied, and which were soon +exhausted by the first experiments in cultivation. + +[Footnote 1: See a paper in the Journal of Agriculture, for March, 1857, +Edin.: on _Tropical Cultivation and its Limits_, by Dr. MACVICAR.] + +_Patenas_.--The only spots hitherto found suitable for planting coffee, +are those covered by the ancient forests of the mountain zone; and one +of the most remarkable phenomena in the oeconomic history of the island, +is the fact that the grass lands on the same hills, closely adjoining +the forests and separated from them by no visible line save the growth +of the trees, although they seem to be identical in the nature of the +soil, have hitherto proved to be utterly insusceptible of reclamation or +culture by the coffee planter.[1] These verdant openings, to which the +natives have given the name of _patenas_, generally occur about the +middle elevation of the hills, the summits and the hollows being covered +with the customary growth of timber trees, which also fringe the edges +of the mountain streams that trickle down these park-like openings. The +forest approaches boldly to the very edge of a "patena," not +disappearing gradually or sinking into a growth of underwood, but +stopping abruptly and at once, the tallest trees forming a fence around +the avoided spot, as if they enclosed an area of solid stone. These +sunny expanses vary in width from a few yards to many thousands of +acres; in the lower ranges of the hills they are covered with tall +lemon-grass _(Andropogon schoenanthus)_ of which the oppressive perfume +and coarse texture, when full grown, render it distasteful to cattle, +which will only crop the delicate braird that springs after the surface +has been annually burnt by the Kandyans. Two stunted trees, alone, are +seen to thrive in these extraordinary prairies, _Careya arborea_ and +_Emblica officinalis_, and these only below an altitude of 4000 feet; +above this, the lemon-grass is superseded by harder and more wiry +species; but the earth is still the same, a mixture of decomposed quartz +largely impregnated with oxide of iron, but wanting the phosphates and +other salts which are essential to highly organised vegetation.[2] The +extent of the patena land is enormous in Ceylon, amounting to millions +of acres; and it is to be hoped that the complaints which have hitherto +been made by the experimental cultivators of coffee in the Kandyan +provinces may hereafter prove exaggerated, and that much that has been +attributed to the poverty of the soil may eventually be traced to +deficiency of skill on the part of the early planters. + +[Footnote 1: Since the above was written, attempts have been made, +chiefly by natives to plant coffee on patena land. The result is a +conviction that the cultivation is practicable, by the use of manures +from the beginning; whereas forest land is capable, for three or four +years at least, of yielding coffee without any artificial enrichment of +the soil.] + +[Footnote 2: HUMBOLDT is disposed to ascribe the absence of trees in the +vast grassy plains of South America, to "the destructive custom of +setting fire to the woods, when the natives want to convert the soil +into pasture: when during the lapse of centuries grasses and plants have +covered the surface with a carpet, the seeds of trees can no longer +germinate and fix themselves in the earth, although birds and winds +carry them continually from the distant forests into the +Savannahs."--_Narrative_, vol. i. ch. vi. p. 242.] + +The natives in the same lofty localities find no deficient returns in +the crops of rice, which they raise in the ravines and hollows, into +which the earth from above has been washed by the periodical rains; but +the cultivation of rice is so entirely dependent on the presence of +water, that no inference can be fairly drawn as to the quality of the +soil from the abundance of its harvest. + +The fields on which rice is grown in these mountains form one of the +most picturesque and beautiful objects in the country of the Kandyans. +Selecting an angular recess where two hills converge, they construct a +series of terraces, raised stage above stage, and retiring as they +ascend along the slope of the acclivity, up which they are carried as +high as the soil extends.[1] Each terrace is furnished with a low ledge +in front, behind which the requisite depth of water is retained during +the germination of the seed, and what is superfluous is permitted to +trickle down to the one below it. In order to carry on this peculiar +cultivation the streams are led along the level of the hills, often from +a distance of many miles, with a skill and perseverance for which the +natives of these mountains have attained a great renown. + +[Footnote 1: The conversion of the land into these hanging farms is +known in Ceylon as "assuedamizing," a term borrowed from the Kandyan +vernacular, in which the word "assuedame" implies the process above +described.] + +In the lowlands to the south, the soil partakes of the character of the +hills from whose detritus it is to a great extent formed. In it rice is +the chief article produced, and for its cultivation the disintegrated +laterite (_cabook_), when thoroughly irrigated, is sufficiently adapted. +The seed time in the southern section of the island is dependent on the +arrival of the rains in November and May, and hence the mountains and +the maritime districts at their base enjoy two harvests in each +year--the _Maha_, which is sown about July and August, and reaped in +December and January, the _Yalla_ which is sown in spring, and reaped +from the 15th of July to the 20th September. But owing to the different +description of seed sown in particular localites, and the extent to +which they are respectively affected by the rains, the times of sowing +and harvest vary considerably on different sides of the island.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The reaping of other descriptions of grain besides rice +occurs at various periods of the year according to the locality.] + +In the north, where the influence of the monsoons is felt with less +force and regularity, and where, to counteract their uncertainty, the +rain is collected in reservoirs, a wider discretion is left to the +husbandman in the choice of season for his operations.[1] Two crops of +grain, however, are the utmost that is taken from the land, and in many +instances only one. The soil near the coast is light and sandy, but in +the great central districts of Neuera-kalawa and the Wanny, there is +found in the midst of the forests a dark vegetable mould, in which in +former times rice was abundantly grown by the aid of those prodigious +artificial works for irrigation which still form one of the wonders of +the island. Many of the tanks, though partially in ruins, cover an area +from ten to fifteen miles in circumference. They are now generally +broken and decayed; the waters which would fertilise a province are +allowed to waste themselves in the sands, and hundreds of square miles +capable of furnishing food for all the inhabitants of Ceylon are +abandoned to solitude and malaria, whilst rice for the support of the +non-agricultural population is annually imported from the opposite coast +of India. + +[Footnote 1: This peculiarity of the north of Ceylon was noticed by the +Chinese traveller FA HIAN, who visited the island in the fourth century, +and says of the country around Anarajapoora: "L'ensemencement des champs +est suivant la volonte des gens; il n'y a point de temps pour +cela."--_Fo[)e] Kou[)e] Ki_; p. 332.] + +_Talawas_.--In these districts of the lowlands, especially on the +eastern coast of the island, and in the country watered by the +Mahawelli-ganga and the other great rivers which flow towards the Bay of +Bengal and the magnificent estuary of Trincomalie, there are open glades +which diversify the forest scenery somewhat resembling the grassy +patenas in the hills, but differing from them in the character of their +soil and vegetation. These park-like meadows, or, as the natives call +them, "talawas," vary in extent from one to a thousand acres. They are +belted by the surrounding woods, and studded with groups of timber and +sometimes with single trees of majestic dimensions. Through these +pastures the deer troop in herds within gunshot, bounding into the +nearest cover when disturbed. + +Lower still and immediately adjoining the sea-coast, the broken forest +gives place to brushwood, with here and there an assemblage of dwarf +shrubs; but as far as the eye can reach, there is one vast level of +impenetrable jungle, broken only by the long sweep of salt marshes which +form lakes in the rainy season, but are dry between the monsoons, and +crusted with crystals that glitter like snow in the sunshine. + +On the western side of the island the rivers have formed broad alluvial +plains, in which the Dutch attempted to grow sugar. The experiment has +been often resumed since; but even here the soil is so defective, that +the cost of artificially enriching it has hitherto been a serious +obstruction to success commercially, although in one or two instances, +plantations on a small scale have succeeded to a certain extent. + +METALS.--The plutonic rocks of Ceylon are but slightly metalliferous, +and hitherto their veins and deposits have been but imperfectly +examined. The first successful survey attempted by the Government was +undertaken during the administration of Viscount Torrington, who, in +1847, commissioned Dr. Gygax to proceed to the hill district south of +Adam's Peak, and furnish a report on its products. His investigations +extended from Ratnapoora, in a south-eastward direction, to the +mountains which overhang Bintenne, but the results obtained did not +greatly enlarge the knowledge previously possessed. He established the +existence of _tin_ in the alluvium along the base of the mountains to +the eastward towards Edelgashena; but so circumstanced, owing to the +flow of the Walleway river, that, without lowering its level, the metal +could not be extracted with advantage. The position in which it occurs +is similar to that in which tin ore presents itself in Saxony; and along +with it, the natives, when searching for gems, discover garnets, +corundum, white topazes, zircon, and tourmaline. + +_Gold_ is found in minute particles at Gettyhedra, and in the beds of +the Maha Oya and other rivers flowing towards the west.[1] But the +quantity hitherto discovered has been too trivial to reward the search. +The early inhabitants of the island were not ignorant of its presence; +but its occurrence on a memorable occasion, as well as that of silver +and copper, is recorded in the Mahawanso as a miraculous manifestation, +which signalised the founding of one of the most renowned shrines at the +ancient capital.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Ruanwelle, a fort about forty miles distant from Colombo, +derives its name from the sands of the river which flows below +it,--rang-welle, "golden sand." "Rang-galla," in the central province, +is referable to the same root--the rock of gold.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso,_ ch. xxiii. p. 166, 167.] + +_Nickel_ and _cobalt_ appear in small quantities in Saffragam, and the +latter, together with _rutile_ (an oxide of titanium) and _wolfram_, +might find a market in China for the colouring of porcelain.[1] +_Tellurium_, another rare and valuable metal, hitherto found only in +Transylvania and the Ural, has likewise been discovered in these +mountains, _Manganese_ is abundant, and _Iron_ occurs in the form of +magnetic iron ore, titanite, chromate, yellow hydrated, per-oxide and +iron pyrites. In most of these, however, the metal is scanty, and the +ores of little comparative value, except for the extraction of manganese +and chrome. "But there is another description of iron ore," says Dr. +Gygax, in his official report to the Ceylon Government, "which is found +in vast abundance, brown and compact, generally in the state of +carbonate, though still blended with a little chrome, and often +molybdena. It occurs in large masses and veins, one of which extends for +a distance of fifteen miles; from it millions of tons might be smelted, +and when found adjacent to fuel and water-carriage, it might be worked +to a profit. The quality of the iron ore found in Ceylon is singularly +fine; it is easily smelted, and so pure when reduced as to resemble +silver. The rough ore produces from _thirty_ to _seventy-five_ per +cent., and on an average fully _fifty_. The iron wrought from it +requires no puddling, and, converted into steel, it cuts like a diamond. +The metal could be laid down in Colombo at L6 per ton, even supposing +the ore to be brought thither for smelting, and prepared with English +coal; but _anthracite_ being found upon the spot, it could be used in +the proportion of three to one of the British coal; and the cost +correspondingly reduced." + +[Footnote 1: The _Asiatic Annual Register_ for 1799 contains the +following:-- + +"_Extract from a letter from Colombo, dated 26th Oct. 1798_. + +"A discovery has been lately made here of a very rich mine of +_quicksilver,_ about six miles from this place. The appearances are very +promising, for a handful of the earth on the surface will, by being +washed, produce the value of a rupee. A guard is set over it, and +accounts sent express to the Madras Government."--P. 53. See also +PERCIVAL'S _Ceylon_, p. 539. + +JOINVILLE, in a MS, essay on _The Geology of Ceylon_, now in the library +of the East India Company, says that near Trincomalie there is "un sable +noir, compose de detriments de trappe et de cristaux de fer, _dans +lequel on trouve par le lavage beaucoup de mercure_."] + +Remains of ancient furnaces are met with in all directions precisely +similar to those still in use amongst the natives. The Singhalese obtain +the ore they require without the trouble of mining; seeking a spot where +the soil has been loosened by the latest rains, they break off a +sufficient quantity, which, in less than three hours, they convert into +iron by the simplest possible means. None of their furnaces are capable +of smelting more than twenty pounds of ore, and yet this quantity yields +from seven to ten pounds of good metal. + +The _anthracite_ alluded to by Dr. Gygax is found in the southern range +of hills near Nambepane, in close proximity to rich veins of _plumbago_, +which are largely worked in the same district, and the quantity of the +latter annually exported from Ceylon exceeds a thousand tons. +_Molybdena_ is found in profusion dispersed through many rocks in +Saffragam, and it occurs in the alluvium in grey scales, so nearly +resembling plumbago as to be commonly mistaken for it. _Kaolin_, called +by the natives _Kirimattie_, appears at Neuera-ellia at Hewahette, +Kaduganawa, and in many of the higher ranges as well as in the low +country near Colombo; its colour is so clear as to suit for the +manufacture of porcelain[1]; but the difficulty and cost of carriage +render it as yet unavailing for commerce, and the only use to which it +has hitherto been applied is to serve for whitewash instead of lime. + +[Footnote 1: The kaolin of Ceylon, according to an analysis in 1847, +consists of-- + + Pure kaolin 70.0 + Silica 26.0 + Molybdena and iron oxide 4.0 + ____ + 100.0 + +In the _Ming-she_, or history of the Ming dynasty, A.D. 1368-1643, by +Chan-ting-yuh, "pottery-stone" is; enumerated among the imports into +China from Ceylon.--B. cccxxvi. p. 5.] + +_Nitre_ has long been known to exist in Ceylon, where the localities in +which it occurs are similar to those in Brazil. In Saffragam alone there +are upwards of sixty caverns known to the natives, from which it may be +extracted, and others exist in various parts of the island, where the +abundance of wood to assist in its lixiviation would render that process +easy and profitable. Yet so sparingly has this been hitherto attempted, +that even for purposes of refrigeration, crude saltpetre is still +imported from India.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The mineralogy of Ceylon has hitherto undergone no +scientific scrutiny, nor have its mineral productions been arranged in +any systematic and comprehensive catalogue. Specimens are to be found in +abundance in the hands of native dealers; but from indifference or +caution they express their inability to afford adequate information as +to their locality, their geological position, or even to show with +sufficient certainty that they belong to the island. Dr. Gygax, as the +results of some years spent in exploring different districts previous to +1847, was enabled to furnish a list of but thirty-seven species, the +site of which he had determined by personal inspection. These were:-- + + 1. Rock crystal Abundant. + 2. Iron quartz Saffragam. + 3. Common quartz Abundant. + 4. Amethyst Galle Back, Caltura. + 5. Garnet Abundant. + 6. Cinnamon stone Belligam. + 7. Harmotome St. Lucia, Colombo. + 8. Hornblende Abundant. + 9. Hypersthene Ditto. + 10. Common corundum Badulla. + 11. Ruby Ditto and Saffragam. + 12. Chrysoberyl Ratganga, North Saffragam. + 13. Pleonaste Badulla. + 14. Zircon Wallawey-ganga, Saffragam. + 15. Mica Abundant. + 16. Adular Patna Hills, North-east. + 17. Common felspar Abundant. + 18. Green felspar Kandy. + 19. Albite Melly Matte. + 20. Chlorite Kandy. + 21. Pinite Patna Hills. + 22. Black tourmaline Neuera-ellia. + 23. Calespar Abundant. + 24. Bitterspar Ditto. + 25. Apatite Galle Back. + 26. Fluorspar Ditto. + 27. Chiastolite Mount Lavinia. + 28. Iron pyrites Peradenia. + 29. Magnetic iron pyrites Ditto, Rajawelle. + 30. Brown iron ore Abundant. + 31. Spathose iron ore Galle Back. + 32. Manganese Saffragam. + 33. Molybden glance Abundant. + 34. Tin ore Saffragam. + 35. Arseniate of nickel Ditto. + 36. Plumbago Morowa Corle. + 37. Epistilbite St. Lucia.] + +GEMS.--But the chief interest which attaches to the mountains and rocks +of this region, arises from the fact that they contain those mines of +_precious stones_ which from time immemorial have conferred renown on +Ceylon. The ancients celebrated the gems as well as the pearls of +"Taprobane;" the tales of mariners returning from their eastern +expeditions supplied to the story-tellers of the Arabian Nights their +fables of the jewels of "Serendib;" and the travellers of the Middle +Ages, on returning to Europe, told of the "sapphires, topazes, +amethysts, garnets, and other costly stones" of Ceylon, and of the ruby +which belonged to the king of the island, "a span in length, without a +flaw, and brilliant beyond description."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Travels of_ MARCO POLO, _a Venetian, in the Thirteenth +Century_, Lond. 1818.] + +The extent to which gems are still found is sufficient to account for +the early traditions of their splendour and profusion; and fabulous as +this story of the ruby of the Kandyan kings may be, the abundance of +gems in Saffragam has given to the capital of the district the name of +_Ratnapoora_, which means literally "the city of rubies."[1] They are +not, however, confined to this quarter alone, but quantities are still +found on the western plains between Adam's Peak and the sea, at +Neuera-ellia, in Oovah, at Kandy, at Mattelle in the central province, +and at Ruanwelli near Colombo, at Matura, and in the beds of the rivers +eastwards towards the ancient Mahagam. + +[Footnote 1: In the vicinity of Ratnapoora there are to be obtained +masses of quartz of the most delicate rose colour. Some pieces, which +were brought to me in Colombo, were of extraordinary beauty; and I have +reason to believe that it can be obtained in pieces large enough to be +used as slabs for tables, or formed into vases and columns, I may +observe that similar pieces are to be found in the south of Ireland, +near Cork.] + +But the localities which chiefly supply the Ceylon gems are the alluvial +plains at the foot of the stupendous hills of Saffragam, in which the +detritus of the rocks has been carried down and intercepted by the +slight elevations that rise at some distance from the base of the +mountains. The most remarkable of these gem-bearing deposits is in the +flat country around Ballangodde, south-east of Ratnapoora; but almost +every valley in communication with the rocks of the higher ranges +contains stones of more or less value, and the beds of the rivers +flowing southward from the mountain chain are so rich in comminuted +fragments of rubies, sapphires, and garnets[1], that their sands in some +places are used by lapidaries in polishing the softer stones, and in +sawing the elephants' grinders into plates. The cook of a government +officer at Galle recently brought to him a ruby about the size of a +small pea, which he had taken from the crop of a fowl. + +[Footnote 1: Mr. BAKER, in a work entitled _The Rifle and the Hound in +Ceylon_, thus describes the sands of the Manic Ganga, near the ruins of +Mahagam, in the south-eastern extremity of the island:--"The sand was +composed of mica, quartz, sapphire, ruby, and jacinth; but the large +proportion of ruby sand was so extraordinary that it seemed to rival +Sinbad's story of the vale of gems. The whole of this was valueless, but +the appearance of the sand was very inviting, as the shallow stream in +rippling over it magnified the tiny gems into stones of some magnitude. +I passed an hour in vainly searching for a ruby worth collecting, but +the largest did not exceed the size of a mustard seed."--BAKER'S _Rifle +and Hound in Ceylon_, p. 181.] + +Of late years considerable energy has been shown by those engaged in the +search for gems; neglected districts have been explored, and new fields +have been opened up at such places as Karangodde and Weraloopa, whence +stones have been taken of unusual size and value. + +It is not, however, in the recent strata of gravel, nor in those now in +process of formation, that the natives search for gems. They penetrate +these to the depth of from ten to twenty feet, in order to reach a lower +deposit distinguished by the name of _Nellan_, in which the objects of +their search are found. This is of so early a formation that it +underlies the present beds of rivers, and is generally separated from +them or from the superincumbent gravel by a hard crust (called _Kadua_), +a few inches in thickness, and so consolidated as to have somewhat the +appearance of laterite, or of sun-burnt brick. The nellan is for the +most part horizontal, but occasionally it is raised into an incline as +it approaches the base of the hills. It appears to have been deposited +previous to the eruption of the basalt, on which in some places it +reclines, and to have undergone some alteration from the contact. It +consists of water-worn pebbles firmly imbedded in clay, and occasionally +there occur large lumps of granite and gneiss, in the hollows under +which, as well as in "pockets" in the clay (which from their shape the +natives denominate "elephants' footsteps") gems are frequently found in +groups as if washed in by the current. + +The persons who devote themselves to this uncertain pursuit are chiefly +Singhalese, and the season selected by them for "gemming" is between +December and March, when the waters are low.[1] The poorer and least +enterprising adventurers betake themselves to the beds of streams, but +the most certain though the most costly course is to sink pits in the +adjacent plains, which are consequently indented with such traces of +recent explorers. The upper gravel is pierced, the covering crust is +reached and broken through, and the nellan being shovelled into conical +baskets and washed to free it from the sand, the residue is carefully +searched for whatever rounded crystals and minute gems it may contain. + +[Footnote 1: A very interesting account of _Gems and Gem Searching_, by +Mr. WM. STEWART, appeared in the _Colombo Observer_ for June, 1855.] + +It is strongly characteristic of the want of energy in the Singhalese, +that although for centuries those alluvial plains and watercourses have +been searched without ceasing, no attempt appears to have been made to +explore the rocks themselves, in the debris of which the gems have been +brought down by the rivers. Dr. Gygax says: "I found at Hima Pohura, on +the south-eastern decline of the Pettigalle-Kanda, about the middle of +the descent, a stratum of grey granite containing, with iron pyrites and +molybdena, innumerable rubies from one-tenth to a fourth of an inch in +diameter, and of a fine rose colour, but split and falling to powder. It +is not an isolated bed of minerals, but a regular stratum extending +probably to the same depth and distance as the other granite formations. +I followed it as far as was practicable for close examination, but +everywhere in the lower part of the valley I found it so decomposed that +the hammer sunk in the rock, and even bamboos were growing on it. On the +higher ground near some small round hills which intercept it, I found +the rubies changed into brown corundum. Upon the hills themselves the +trace was lost, and instead of a stratum there was merely a wild chaos +of blocks of yellow granite. I carefully examined all the minerals which +this stratum contains,--felspar, mica, and quartz molybdena, and iron +pyrites,--and I found all similar to those I had previously got adhering +to rough rubies offered for sale at Colombo. _I firmly believe that in +such strata the rubies of Ceylon are originally found_, and that those +in the white and blue clay at Ballangodde and Ratnapoora are but +secondary deposits. I am further inclined to believe that these extend +over the whole island, although often intercepted and changed in their +direction by the rising of the yellow granite." It is highly probable +that the finest rubies are to be found in them, perfect and unchanged by +decomposition; and that they are to be obtained by opening a regular +mine in the rock like the ruby mine of Badakshan in Bactria described by +Sir Alexander Burnes. Dr. Gygax adds that having often received the +minerals of this stratum with the crystals perfect, he has reason to +believe that places are known to the natives where such mines might be +opened with confidence of success. + +Rubies both crystalline and amorphous are also found in a particular +stratum of dolomite at Bullatotte and Badulla, in which there is a +peculiar copper-coloured mica with metallic lustre. _Star rubies_, the +"asteria" of Pliny (so called from their containing a movable six-rayed +star), are to be had at Ratnapoora and for very trifling sums. The blue +tinge which detracts from the value of the pure ruby, whose colour +should resemble "pigeon's blood," is removed by the Singhalese, by +enveloping the stone in the lime of a calcined shell and exposing it to +a high heat. _Spinel_ of extremely beautiful colours is found in the bed +of the Mahawelli-ganga at Kandy, and from the locality it has obtained +the name of _Candite_. + +It is strange that although the _sapphire_ is found in all this region +in greater quantity than the ruby, it has never yet been discovered in +the original matrix, and the small fragments which sometimes occur in +dolomite show that there it is but a deposit. From its exquisite colour +and the size in which it is commonly found, it forms by far the most +valuable gem of the island. A piece which was dug out of the alluvium +within a few miles of Ratnapoora in 1853, was purchased by a Moor at +Colombo, in whose hands it was valued at upwards of four thousand +pounds. + +The original site of the _oriental topaz_ is equally unknown with that +of the sapphire. The Singhalese rightly believe them to be the same +stone only differing in colour, and crystals are said to be obtained +with one portion yellow and the other blue. + +_Garnets_ of inferior quality are common in the gneiss, but finer ones +are found in the hornblende rocks. + +_Cinnamon-stone_ (which is properly a variety of garnet) is so extremely +abundant, that vast rocks containing it in profusion exist in many +places, especially in the alluvium around Matura; and at Belligam, a few +miles east from Point-de-Galle, a vast detached rock is so largely +composed of cinnamon-stones that it is carried off in lumps for the +purpose of extracting and polishing them. + +The _Cat's-eye_ is one of the jewels of which the Singhalese are +especially proud, from a belief that it is only found in their island; +but in this I apprehend they are misinformed, as specimens of equal +merit have been brought from Quilon and Cochin on the southern coast of +Hindostan. The cat's-eye is a greenish translucent quartz, and when cut +_en cabochon_ it presents a moving internal reflection which is ascribed +to the presence of filaments of asbestos. Its perfection is estimated by +the natives in proportion to the narrowness and sharpness of the ray and +the pure olive-tint of the ground over which it plays. + +_Amethysts_ are found in the gneiss, and some discoloured though +beautiful specimens in syenite; they are too common to be highly +esteemed. The "Matura Diamonds," which are largely used by the native +jewellers, consist of zircon, found in the syenite not only uncoloured, +but also of pink and yellow tints, the former passing for rubies. + +But one of the prettiest though commonest gems in the island is the +"Moon-stone," a variety of pearly adularia presenting chatoyant rays +when simply polished. They are so abundant that the finest specimens may +be bought for a few shillings. These, with _aqua marina_, a bad +description of _opal rock crystal_ in extremely large pieces, +_tourmaline_, and a number of others of no great value, compose the list +of native gems procurable in Ceylon.[1] Diamonds, emeralds, agates, +carnelians, opal and turquoise, when they are exhibited by the natives, +have all been imported from India. + +[Footnote 1: Caswini and some of the Arabian geographers assert that the +diamond is found at Adam's Peak; but this is improbable, as there is no +formation resembling the _cascalhao_ of Brazil or the diamond +conglomerate of Golconda. If diamonds were offered for sale in Ceylon, +in the time of the Arab navigators, they must have been brought thither +from India, (_Journ. As. Soc. Beng._ xiii. 633.)] + +During the dynasty of the Kandyan sovereigns, the right of digging for +gems was a royalty reserved jealously for the King; and the inhabitants +of particular villages were employed in their search under the +superintendence of hereditary officers, with the rank of "Mudianse." By +the British Government the monopoly was early abolished as a source of +revenue, and no license is now required by the jewel-hunters. + +Great numbers of persons of the worst-regulated habits are constantly +engaged in this exciting and precarious trade; and serious +demoralisation is engendered amongst the villagers by the idle and +dissolute adventurers who resort to Saffragam. Systematic industry +suffers, and the cultivation of the land is frequently neglected whilst +its owners are absorbed in these speculative and tantalising +occupations. + +The products of their searches are disposed of to the Moors, who resort +to Saffragam from the low country, carrying up cloth and salt, to be +exchanged for gems and coffee. At the annual Buddhist festival of the +Pera-hara, a jewel-fair is held at Ratnapoora, to which the purchasers +resort from all parts of Ceylon. Of late years, however, the condition +of the people in Saffragam has so much improved that it has become +difficult to obtain the finest jewels, the wealthier natives preferring +to retain them as investments: they part with them reluctantly, and only +for gold, which they find equally convenient for concealment.[1] + +[Footnote 1: So eager is the appetite for hoarding in these hills, that +eleven rupees (equal to twenty-two shillings) have frequently been given +for a sovereign.] + +The lapidaries who cut and polish the stones are chiefly Moors, but +their tools are so primitive, and their skill so deficient, that a gem +generally loses in value by having passed through their hands. The +inferior kinds, such as cinnamon-stones, garnets, and tourmaline, are +polished by ordinary artists at Kandy, Matura, and Galle; but the more +expert lapidaries, who cut rubies and sapphires, reside chiefly at +Caltura and Colombo. + +As a general rule, the rarer gems are less costly in Europe than in +Colombo. In London and Paris the quantities brought from all parts of +the world are sufficient to establish something like a market value; +but, in Ceylon, the supply is so uncertain that the price is always +regulated at the moment by the rank and wealth of the purchaser. Strange +to say, too, there is often an unwillingness even amongst the Moorish +dealers to sell the rarest and finest specimens; those who are wealthy +being anxious to retain them, and few but stones of secondary value are +offered for sale. Besides, the Rajahs and native Princes of India, +amongst whom the passion for jewels is universal, are known to give such +extravagant prices that the best are always sent to them from Ceylon. + +From the Custom House returns it is impossible to form any calculation +as to the value of the precious stones exported from the island. A +portion only appears, even of those sent to England, the remainder being +carried away by private parties. Of the total number found, one-fourth +is probably purchased by the natives themselves, more than one-half is +sent to the Continent of India, and the remainder represents the export +to Europe. Computed in this way, the quantity of precious stones found +in the island may be estimated at 10,000_l_. per annum. + +RIVERS.--From the mountainous configuration of the country and the +abundance of the rains, the rivers are large and numerous in the south +of the island--ten of considerable magnitude flowing into the sea on the +west coast, between Point-de-Galle and Manaar, and a still greater +number, though inferior in volume, on the east. In the low country, +where the heat is intense and evaporation proportionate, they derive +little of their supply from springs; and the passing showers which fall +scarcely more than replace the moisture drawn by the sun from the +parched and thirsty soil. + +Hence in the plains there are comparatively few rivulets or running +streams; the rivers there flow in almost solitary lines to the sea; and +the beds of their minor affluents serve only to conduct to them the +torrents which descend at the change of each monsoon, their channels at +other times being exhausted and dry. But in their course through the +hills, and the broken ground at their base, they are supplied by +numerous feeders, which convey to them the frequent showers that fall in +high altitudes. Hence their tracks are through some of the noblest +scenery in the world; rushing through ravines and glens, and falling +over precipitous rocks in the depths of wooded valleys, they exhibit a +succession of rapids, cataracts, and torrents, unsurpassed in +magnificence and beauty. On reaching the plains, the boldness of their +march and the graceful outline of their sweep are indicative of the +little obstruction opposed by the sandy and porous soil through which +they flow. Throughout their entire course dense forests shade their +banks, and, as they approach the sea, tamarisks and over-arching +mangroves mark where their waters mingle with the tide. + +Of all the Ceylon rivers, the most important by far is the +Mahawelli-ganga--the Ganges of Ptolemy--which, rising in the south near +Adam's Peak, traverses more than one-third of the mountain zone[1], +drains upwards of four thousand square miles, and flows into the sea by +a number of branches, near the noble harbour of Trincomalie. The +following table gives a comparative view of the magnitude of the rivers +that rise in the hills, and of the extent of the low country traversed +by each of them:-- + + Square Miles Square Miles Length of + Embouchure. drained in drained in the Course of + Mountain low Country, the main + Zone. about Stream. + +Mahawelii-ganga near Trincomalie 1782 2300 134 +Kirinde at Mahagan 34 300 62 +Wellawey near Hambangtotte 263 500 69 +Neivalle at Matura 64 200 42 +(Three Rivers) near Tangalle 56 200 +Gindura near Galle 180 200 59 +Kalu-oya at Caltura 841 300 72 +Kalany Colombo 692 200 84 +The Kaymel or + Mahaoya near Negombo 253 200 68 +Dederoo-oya near Chilaw 38 700 70 + ---------------------------- + 4212 5100 + +[Footnote 1: See _ante_, p. 12, for a definition of what constitutes the +"mountain zone" of Ceylon.] + +In addition to these, there are a number of large rivers which belong +entirely to the plains in the northern and south-eastern portions of the +island, the principal of which are the Arive and the Moderegam, which +flow into the Gulf of Manaar; the Kala-oya and the Kanda-lady, which +empty themselves into the Bay of Calpentyn; the Maniek or Kattragam, and +the Koombookgam, opposite to the Little Bass rocks and the Naveloor, the +Chadawak, and Arookgam, south of Batticaloa. The extent of country +drained by these latter streams is little short of thirteen thousand +square miles. + +Very few of the rivers of Ceylon are navigable, and these only by canoes +and flat-bottomed paddy boats, which ascend some of the largest for +short distances, till impeded by the rapids, occasioned by rocks in the +lowest range of the hills. In this way the Niwalle at Matura can be +ascended for about fifteen miles, as far as Wellehara; the Kalu-ganga +can be traversed from Caltura to Ratnapoora; the Bentotte river for +sixteen miles to Pittagalla; and the Kalany from Colombo to the foot of +the mountains near Ambogammoa. The Mahawelli-ganga is navigable from +Trincomalie to within a short distance of Kanda[1]; and many of the +lesser streams, the Kirinde and Wellawey in the south, and the Kaymel, +the Dedroo-oya, and the Aripo river on the west of the island, are used +for short distances by boats. + +[Footnote 1: For an account of the capabilities of the Mahawelli-ganga, +as regards navigation, see BROOKE'S _Report, Roy. Geog. Journ._ vol. +iii. p. 223. and _post_, Vol. II. p. 423.] + +All these streams are liable, during the fury of the monsoons, to be +surcharged with rain till they overflow their banks, and spread in wide +inundations over the level country. On the subsidence of these waters, +the intense heat of the sun acting on the surface they leave deserted, +produces a noxious and fatal malaria. Hence the rivers of Ceylon present +the curious anomaly, that whilst the tanks and reservoirs of the +interior diffuse a healthful coolness around, the running water of the +rivers is prolific of fevers; and in some seasons so deadly is the +pestilence that the Malabar coolies, as well as the native peasantry, +betake themselves to precipitate flight.[1] + +[Footnote 1: It has been remarked along the Mahawelli-ganga, a few miles +from Kandy, that during the deadly season, after the subsidence of the +rains, the jungle fever generally attacks one face of the hills through +which it winds, leading the opposite side entirely exempted, as if the +poisonous vapour, being carried by the current of air, affected only +those aspects against which it directly impinged.] + +Few of the larger rivers have been bridged, except those which intersect +the great high roads from Point-de-Galle to Colombo, and thence to +Kandy. Near the sea this has been effected by timber platforms, +sustained by piles sufficiently strong to withstand the force of the +floods at the change of each monsoon. A bridge of boats connects each +side of the Kalany, and on reaching the Mahawelli-ganga at Peradenia, +one of the most picturesque structures on the island is a noble bridge +of a single arch, 205 feet in span, chiefly constructed of satin-wood, +and thrown across the river by General Fraser in 1832. + +On reaching the margin of the sea, an appearance is presented by the +outline of the coast, near the embouchures of the principal rivers, +which is very remarkable. It is common to both sides of the island, +though it has attained its greatest development on the east. In order to +comprehend its formation, it is necessary to observe that Ceylon lies in +the course of the ocean currents in the Bay of Bengal, which run north +or south according to the prevalence of the monsoon, and with greater or +less velocity in proportion to its force at particular periods. + +[Illustration: CURRENT IN THE NE MONSOON.] + +In the beginning and during the strength of the northeast monsoon the +current sets strongly along the coast of Coromandel to the southward, a +portion of it frequently entering Palks Bay to the north of Ceylon; but +the main stream keeping invariably to the east of the island, runs with +a velocity of from one and a half to two miles an hour, and after +passing the Great Bass, it keeps its course seaward. At other times, +after the monsoon has spent its violence, the current is weak, and +follows the line of the land to the westward as far as Point-de-Galle, +or even to Colombo. + +[Illustration: CURRENT IN THE S.W. MONSOON] + +In the south-west monsoon the current changes its direction; and, +although it flows steadily to the northward, its action is very +irregular and unequal till it readies the Coromandel coast, after +passing Ceylon. This is accounted for by the obstruction opposed by the +headlands of Ceylon, which so intercept the stream that the current, +which might otherwise set into the Gulf of Manaar, takes a +south-easterly direction by Galle and Donedra Head.[1] + +[Footnote 1: For an account of the currents of Ceylon, see HORSBURGH's +_Directions for Sailing to and from the East Indies, &c._; vol i. p. +516, 536, 580; KEITH JOHNSTON's _Physical Atlas_, plate xiii. p. 50.] + +There being no lakes in Ceylon[1], in the still waters of which the +rivers might clear themselves of the earthy matter swept along in their +rapid course from the hills, they arrive at the beach laden with sand +and alluvium, and at their junction with the ocean being met +transversely by the gulf-streams, the sand and soil with which they are +laden, instead of being carried out to sea, are heaped up in bars along +the shores, and these, being augmented by similar deposits held in +suspension by the currents, soon extend to north, and south, and force +the rivers to flow behind them in search of a new outlet. + +[Footnote 1: Pliny alludes to a lake in Ceylon of vast dimensions, but +it is clear that his informants must have spoken of one of the huge +tanks for the purpose of irrigation. Some of the _Mappe-mondes_ of the +Middle Ages place a lake in the middle of the island, with a city +inhabited by astrologers; but they have merely reproduced the error of +earlier geographers. (SANTAREM, _Cosmog_. tom. iii. p. 336.)] + +These formations once commenced, their growth proceeds with rapidity, +more especially on the east side of the island; as the southern current +in skirting the Coromandel coast brings with it quantities of sand, +which it deposits, in tranquil weather, and this being carried by the +wind is piled in heaps from Point Pedro to Hambangtotte. Hence at the +latter point hills are formed of such height and dimensions, that it is +often necessary to remove buildings out of their line of +encroachment.[1] + +[Footnote 1: This is occasioned by the waste of the banks further north +during the violence of the N. E. monsoon; and the sand, being carried +south by the current, is intercepted by the headland at Hambangtotte and +thrown up these hills as described.] + +[Illustration: "GOBBS" ON THE EAST COAST] + +At the mouths of the rivers the bars thus created generally follow the +direction of the current, and the material deposited being dried and +partially consolidated in the intervals between the tides, long +embankments are gradually raised, behind which the rivers flow for +considerable distances before entering the sea. Occasionally these +embouchures become closed by the accumulations without, and the pent-up +water assumes the appearance of a still canal, more or less broad +according to the level of the beach, and extending for miles along the +coast, between the mainland and the new formations. But when swollen by +the rains, if not assisted by artificial outlets to escape, they burst +new openings for themselves, and not unfrequently they leave their +ancient channels converted into shallow lagoons without any visible +exit. Examples of these formations present themselves on the east side +of Ceylon at Nilla-velle, Batticaloa, and a number of other places north +and south of Trincomalie. + +On the west coast embankments of this kind, although frequent are less +conspicuous than on the east, owing chiefly to the comparative weakness +of the current. For six months in the year during the north-east monsoon +that side of the island is exempt from a current in any direction, and +for the remaining six, the current from the south not only rarely +affects the Gulf of Manaar, but as it flows out of the Indian Ocean it +brings no earthy deposits. In addition to this, the surf during the +south-west monsoon rolls with such turbulence on the level beach between +Colombo and Point-de-Galle, as in a great degree to disperse the +accumulations of sand brought down by the rivers, or heaped up by the +tide, when the wind is off the land. Still, many of the rivers are +thrown back by embankments, and after forming tortuous lakes flow for a +long distance parallel to the shore, before finding an escape for their +waters. Examples of this occur at Pantura, to the south of Colombo, and +at Negombo, Chilaw, and elsewhere to the north of it. + +[Illustration: GOBBS ON THE WEST COAST] + +In process of time these banks of sand[1] become covered with +vegetation; herbaceous plants, shrubs, and finally trees peculiar to +saline soils make their appearance in succession, and as these decay, +their decomposition generates a sufficiency of soil to sustain continued +vegetation. + +[Footnote 1: In the voyages of _The Two Mahometans_, the unique MS. of +which dates about A.D. 851, and is now in the Bibliotheque Royale at +Paris, Abon-zeyd, one of its authors, describes the "Gobbs" of Ceylon--a +word, he says, by which the natives designate the valleys deep and broad +which open to the sea. "En face de cette ile y a de vastes _Gobb_, mot +par lequel on designe une vallee, quand elle est a la fois longue et +large, et qu'elle debouche dans la mer. Les navigateurs emploient, pour +traverser le _gobb_ appele 'Gobb de Serendib,' deux mois et meme +davantage, passant a travers des bois et des jardins, au milieu d'une +temperature moyenne."--REINAUD, _Voyages faits par les Arabes_, vol. i. +p. 129. + + A misapprehension of this passage has been admitted into the English +version of the _Voyages of the two Mahometans_ which is published in +PINKERTON'S _Collections of Voyages and Travels_, vol. iii.; the +translator having treated gobb as a term applicable to valleys in +general. "Ceylon," he says, "contains valleys of great length, which +extend to the sea, and here travellers repair for two months or more, in +which one is called Gobb Serendib, allured by the beauty of the scenery, +chequered with groves and plains, water and meadows, and blessed by a +balmy air. The valley opens to the sea, and is transcendently +pleasant."--PINKERTON'S _Voyages_, vol. vii. p. 218. + +But a passage in Edrisi, while it agrees with the terms of Abou-zeyd, +explains at the same time that these gobbs were not valleys converted +into gardens, to which the seamen resorted for pleasure to spend two or +three months, but the embouchures of rivers flowing between banks, +covered with gardens and forests, into which mariners were accustomed to +conduct their vessels for more secure navigation, and in which they were +subjected to detention for the period stated. The passage is as follows +in Jaubert's translation of Edrisi, tom. i. p. 73:--"Cette ile +(Serendib) depend des terres de l'Inde; ainsi que les vallees (in orig. +aghbab) par lesquelles se dechargent les rivieres, et qu'on nomme +'Vallees de Serendib.' Les navires y mouillent, et les navigateurs y +passent un mois ou deux dans l'abondance et dans les plaisirs." + +It is observable that Ptolemy, in enumerating the ports and harbours of +Ceylon, maintains a distinction between the ordinary bays, [Greek: +kolpos], of which he specifies two corresponding to those of Colombo and +Trincomalie, and the shallower indentations, [Greek: limen], of which he +enumerates five, the positions of which go far to identify them with the +remarkable estuaries or _gobbs_, on the eastern and western coast +between Batticaloa and Calpentyn. + +To the present day these latter gulfs are navigable for small craft. On +the eastern side of the island one of them forms the harbour of +Batticaloa, and on the western those of Chilaw and Negombo are bays of +this class. Through the latter a continuous navigation has been +completed by means of short connecting canals, and a traffic is +maintained during the south-west monsoon, from Caltura to the north of +Chilaw, a distance of upwards of eighty miles, by means of craft which +navigate these shallow channels. + +These narrow passages conform in every particular to the description +given by Abou-zeyd and Edrisi: they run through a succession of woods +and gardens; and as a leading wind is indispensable for their +navigation, the period named by the Arabian geographers for their +passage is perhaps not excessive during calms or adverse winds. + +An article on the meaning of the word gobb will be found in the _Journal +Asiatique_ for September, 1844; but it does not exhibit clearly the very +peculiar features of these openings. It is contained in an extract from +the work on India of ALBYROUNI, a contemporary of Avicenna, who was born +in the valley of the Indus.--"Un golfe (gobb) est comme une encoignure +et un detour que fait la mer en penetrant dans le continens: les navires +n'y sont pas sans peril particulierement a l'egard du flux et +reflux."--_Extrait de l'ouvrage d'_ ALBYROUNI _sur l'Inde; Fragmens +Arabes et Persans, relatifs a l'Inde, recueilles par_ M. REINAUD; +_Journ. Asiat., Septembre et Octobre_, 1844, p. 261. In the Turkish +nautical work of SIDI ALI CHELEBI, the _Mohit_, written about A.D. 1550, +which contains directions for sailors navigating the eastern seas, the +author alludes to the _gobbha's_ on the coast of Arracan; and conscious +that the term was local not likely to be understood beyond those +countries, he adds that "gobbha" means "_a gulf full of shallows, +shoals, and breakers_." See translation by VON HAMMER, _Journ. Asiat. +Soc. Beng._ v. 466.] + +The process of this conversion may be seen in all its stages at various +points along the coast of Ceylon. + +The margin of land nearest to the water is first taken possession of by +a series of littoral plants, which apparently require a large quantity +of salt to sustain their vegetation. These at times are intermixed with +others, which, though found further inland, yet flourish in perfection +on the shore. On the northern and north-western coasts the glass +worts[1] and salt worts[2] are the first to appear on the newly raised +banks, and being provided with penetrating roots, a breakwater is thus +early secured, and the drier sand above becomes occupied with creeping +plants which in their turn afford shelter to a third and erect class. + +[Footnote 1: Salicornia Indica.] + +[Footnote 2: Salsola Indica.] + +The Goat's-foot Ipomoea[1], which appears to encircle the world, abounds +on these shores, covering the surface to the water's edge with its +procumbent branches, which sending down roots from every joint serve to +give the bank its first firmness, whilst the profusion of its +purple-coloured flowers contrasts strikingly with its dark green +foliage. + +[Footnote 1: Ipomoea pes-caprae] + +Along with the Ipomoea grow two species of beans[1] each endowed with a +peculiar facility for reproduction, thus consolidating the sands into +which they strike; and the moodu-gaeta-kola[2] (literally the "jointed +seashore plant,") with pink flowers and thick succulent leaves. + +[Footnote 1: The Mooduawara (_Canavalia obtusifolia_), whose flowers +have the fragrance of the sweet pea, and _Dolichos luteus_.] + +[Footnote 2: Hydrophylax maritima.] + +Another plant which performs an important function in the fertilisation +of these arid formations, is the _Spinifex squarrosus_, the "water +pink," as it is sometimes called by Europeans. The seeds of this plant +are contained in a circular head, composed of a series of spine-like +divisions, which radiate from the stalk in all directions, making the +diameter of the whole about eight to nine inches. When the seeds are +mature, and ready for dispersion, these heads become detached from the +plant, and are carried by the wind with great velocity along the sands, +over the surface of which they are impelled on their elastic spines. One +of these balls may be followed by the eye for miles as it hurries along +the level shore, dropping its seeds as it rolls, which speedily +germinate and strike root where they fall. The globular heads are so +buoyant as to float lightly on the water, and the uppermost spines +acting as sails, they are thus carried across narrow estuaries to +continue the process of embanking on newly-formed sand bars. Such an +organisation irresistibly suggests the wonderful means ordained by +Providence to spread this valuable plant along the barren beach to which +no seed-devouring bird ever resorts; and even the unobservant natives, +struck by its singular utility in resisting the encroachments of the +sea, have recorded their admiration by conferring on it the name of +_Maha-Rawana roewula_,--"the great beard of Rawana or Rama." + +The banks being thus ingeniously protected from the action of the air +above, and of the water at their base, other herbaceous plants soon +cover them in quick succession, and give the entire surface the first +aspect of vegetation. A little retired above high water are to be found +a species of _Aristolochia_[1], the Sayan[2], or _Choya_, the roots of +which are the Indian Madder (in which, under the Dutch Government, some +tribes in the Wanny paid their tribute); the gorgeous _Gloriosa +superba_, the beautiful _Vistnu-karandi_[3] with its profusion of blue +flowers, which remind one of the English "Forget-me-not," and the +thickly-matted verdure of the _Hiramana-doetta_[4], so well adapted for +imparting consistency to the soil. In the next stage low shrubs make +their appearance, their seeds being drifted by the waves and wind, and +taking ready root wherever they happen to rest. The foremost of these +are the Scaevolas[5] and Screw Pines[6], which grow luxuriantly within +the actual wash of the tide, while behind them rises a dense growth of +peculiar plants, each distinguished by the Singhalese by the prefix of +"Moodu," to indicate its partiality for the sea.[7] + +[Footnote 1: _Aristolocia bracteata_. On the sands to the north of +Ceylon there is also the _A. Indica_, which forms the food of the great +red and white butterfly (_Papilio Hector_).] + +[Footnote 2: _Hedyotis umbellata_. A very curious account of the Dutch +policy In relation to Choya dye will be found in a paper _On the +Vegetable Productions of Ceylon_, by W.C. ONDAATJIE, in the _Ceylon +Calendar_ for 1853. See also BERTOLACCI, B. iii. p. 270.] + +[Footnote 3: Evolvulus alsinoides.] + +[Footnote 4: Lippia nodiflora.] + +[Footnote 5: Scaevola takkada and S. Koenigii] + +[Footnote 6: Pandanus odoratissimus.] + +[Footnote 7: _Moodu-kaduru (Ochrosia parviflora); Moodu-cobbe +(Ornitrophe serrata); Moodu-murunga (Sophora tomentosa_,) &c. &c. +Amongst these marine shrubs the Nil-picha (_Guettarda speciosca_), with +its white and delightfully fragrant flowers, is a conspicuous object on +some parts of the sea-shore between Colombo and Point-de-Galle.] + +Where the sand in the lagoons and estuaries is more or less mingled with +the alluvium brought down by the rivers, there are plants of another +class which are equally characteristic. Amongst these the Mangroves[1] +take the first place in respect to their mass of vegetation; then follow +the Belli-patta[2] and Suriya-gaha[3], with their large hibiscus-like +flowers; the Tamarisks[4]; the Acanthus[5], with its beautiful blue +petals and holly-like leaves; the Water Coco-nut[6]; the AEgiceras and +Hernandia[7], with its sonorous fruits; while the dry sands above are +taken possession of by the Acacias, _Salvadora Persica_ (the true +mustard-tree of Scripture[8], which, here attains a height of forty +feet), Ixoras, and the numerous family of Cassias. + +[Footnote 1: Two species of _Rhizophora_, two of _Bruguiera_, and one of +_Ceriops_.] + +[Footnote 2: Paritimn tilliaceum.] + +[Footnote 3: Thespesia populnea.] + +[Footnote 4: Tamarix Indica.] + +[Footnote 5: Dilivaria ilicifolia.] + +[Footnote 6: Nipa fruticans.] + +[Footnote 7: Hernandia sonora.] + +[Footnote 8: The identification of this tree with the mustard-tree +alluded to by our Saviour is an interesting fact. The Greek term [Greek: +sinapis], which occurs Matt. xiii 31, and elsewhere, is the name given +to _mustard_; for which the Arabic equivalent is _chardul_ or _khardal_, +and the Syriac _khardalo_. The same name is applied at the present day +to a tree which grows freely in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, and +generally throughout Palestine; the seeds of which, have an aromatic +pungency, which enables them to be used instead of the ordinary mustard +(_Sinapis nigra_); besides which, its structure presents all the +essentials to sustain the illustration sought to be established in the +parable, some of which are wanting or dubious in the common plant, It +has a very small seed; it may be sown in a garden: it grows into an +"herb," and eventually "becometh a tree; so that the birds of the air +come and lodge in the branches thereof." With every allowance for the +extremest development attainable by culture, it must be felt that the +dimensions of the domestic _sinapis_ scarcely justify the last +illustration; besides which it is an annual, and cannot possibly be +classed as a "tree." The khardal grows abundantly in Syria: it was found +in Egypt by Sir Gardner Wilkinson; in Arabia by Bove; on the Indus by +Sir Alexander Burnes; and throughout the north-west of India it bears +the name of kharjal. Combining all these facts, Dr. Royle, in an erudite +paper, has shown demonstrative reasons for believing that the _Salvadora +Persica_, the "kharjal" of Hindostan, is the "khardal" of Arabia, the +"chardul" of the Talmud, and the "mustard-tree" of the parable.] + +Lastly, after a sufficiency of earth has been formed by the decay of +frequent successions of their less important predecessors, the ground +becomes covered by trees of ampler magnitude, most of which are found +upon the adjacent shores of the mainland--the Margoza[1], from whose +seed the natives express a valuable oil; the Timbiri[2], with the +glutinous nuts with which the fishermen "bark" their nets; the +Cashu-nut[3]; the Palu[4], one of the most valuable timber trees of the +Northern Provinces; and the Wood-apple[5], whose fruit is regarded by +the Singhalese as a specific for dysentery. + +[Footnote 1: Azadirachta Indica.] + +[Footnote 2: Diospyros glutinosa.] + +[Footnote 3: Anacardium occidentale.] + +[Footnote 4: Mimusopa hexandra.] + +[Footnote 5: AEgle marmelos.] + +But the most important fact connected with these recently formed +portions of land, is their extraordinary suitability for the growth of +the coco-nut, which requires the sea-air (and in Ceylon at least appears +never to attain its full luxuriance when removed to any considerable +distance from it)[1], and which, at the same time, requires a light and +sandy soil, and the constant presence of water in large quantities. All +these essentials are combined in the sea-belts here described, lying as +they do between the ocean on the one side and the fresh-water lakes +formed by the great rivers on the other, thus presenting every requisite +of soil and surface. It is along a sand formation of this description, +about forty miles long and from one to three miles broad, that thriving +coco-nut plantations have been recently commenced at Batticaloa. At +Calpentyn, on the western coast, a like formation has been taken +advantage of for the same purpose. At Jaffna somewhat similar +peculiarities of soil and locality have been seized on for this +promising cultivation; and, generally, along the whole seaborde of +Ceylon to the south and west, the shore for the breadth of one or two +miles exhibits almost continuous groves of coco-nut palms. + +[Footnote 1: Coco-nuts are cultivated at moderate elevations in the +mountain villages of the Interior; but the fruit bears no comparison, in +number, size, or weight, with that produced in the lowlands, and near +the sea, on either side of the island.] + +_Harbours_.--With the exception of the estuaries above alluded to, +chiefly in the northern section of the island, the outline of the coast +is interrupted by few sinuosities. There are no extensive inlets, or +bays, and only two harbours--that of _Point-de-Galle_ which, in addition +to being incommodious and small, is obstructed by coral rocks, reefs of +which have been upreared to the surface, and render the entrance +critical to strange ships[1]; and the magnificent basin of Trincomalie, +which, in extent, security, and beauty, is unsurpassed by any haven in +the world. + +[Footnote 1: Owing to the obstructions at its entrance, Galle is +extremely difficult of access in particular winds. In 1857 it was +announced in the _Colombo Examiner_ that "the fine ship the 'Black +Eagle' was blown out of Galle Roads the other day, with the pilot on +board; whilst the captain was temporarily engaged on shore; and as she +was not able to beat in again, she made for Trincomalie, where she has +been lying for a fortnight. Such an event is by no means unprecedented +at Galle."--_Examiner_, 20 Sept. 1857.] + +_Tides_.--The variation of the tides is so slight that navigation is +almost unaffected by it. The ordinary rise and fall is from 18 to 24 +inches, with an increase of about a third at spring tides. High water is +later on the eastern than on the western coast; occurring, on full and +new moon, a little after eleven o'clock at Adam's Bridge, about 1 +o'clock at Colombo, and 1.25 at Galle, whilst it attains its greatest +elevation between 5 and 6 o'clock in the harbour of Trincomalie. + +_Red infusoria_.--On both sides of the island (but most frequently at +Colombo), during the south-west monsoon, a broad expanse of the sea +assumes a red tinge, considerably brighter than brick-dust; and this is +confined to a space so distinct that a line seems to separate it from +the green water which flows on either side. Observing that the whole +area changed its position without parting with any portion of its +colouring, I had some of the water brought on shore, and, on examination +with the microscope, it proved to be filled with _infusoria_, probably +similar to those which have been noticed near the shores of South +America, and whose abundance has imparted a name to the "Vermilion Sea" +off the coast of California. + +THE POPULATION OF CEYLON, of all races, was, in 1857, 1,697,975; but +this was exclusive of the military and their families, both Europeans +and Malays, which together amounted to 5,430; and also of aliens and +other casual strangers, forming about 25,000 more. + +The particulars are as follow:-- + +|Provinces |Whites. |Coloured. |Total. |Population| +| |Males.|Females.|Males.|Females.|Males.|Females. | to the | + |sq. mile. | +|Western. |1,293|1,246|293,409|259,106|294,702|260,352 | 146.59 | +|N. Western | 21| 11|100,807| 96,386|100,828| 96,397 | 59.93 | +|Southern | 238| 241|156,900|149,649|157,138|149,890 | 143.72 | +|Eastern | 201| 143| 39,923| 35,531| 40,124| 35,674 | 16.08 | +|Northern | 387| 362|153,062|148,678|153,449|149,040 | 55.85 | +|Central | 468| 204|143,472|116,237|143,940|116,441 | 52.57 | +| |2,608|2,207|887,573|805,587|890,181|807,794 | 69.73 | + + + + +CHAP. II. + +CLIMATE.--HEALTH AND DISEASE. + + +The climate of Ceylon, from its physical configuration and insular +detachment, contrasts favourably with that of the great Indian +peninsula. Owing to the moderate dimensions of the island, the elevation +of its mountains, the very short space during which the sun is passing +over it[1] in his regression from or approach to the solstices, and its +surrounding seas being nearly uniform in temperature, it is exempt from +the extremes of heating and cooling to which the neighbouring continent +of India is exposed. From the same causes it is subjected more uniformly +to the genial influences of the trade winds that blow over the Indian +Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. + +[Footnote 1: In his approach to the northern solstice, the sun, having +passed the equator on the 21st of March, reaches the south of Ceylon +about the 5th of April, and ten days later is vertical over Point Pedro, +the northern extremity of the island. On his return he is again over +Point Pedro about the 27th of August, and passes southward over Dondera +Head about the 7th of September.] + +The island is seldom visited by hurricanes[1], or swept by typhoons, and +the breeze, unlike the hot and arid winds of Coromandel and the Dekkan, +is always more or less refreshing. The range of the thermometer exhibits +no violent changes, and never indicates a temperature insupportably +high. The mean on an annual average scarcely exceeds 80 deg. at Colombo, +though in exceptional years it has risen to 86 deg. But at no period of +the day are dangerous results to be apprehended from exposure to the sun; +and except during parts of the months of March, and April, there is no +season when moderate exercise is not practicable and agreeable. For half +the year, from October to May, the prevailing winds are from the +north-east, and during the remaining months the south-west monsoon blows +steadily from the great Indian Ocean. The former, affected by the wintry +chills of the vast tracts of land which it traverses before crossing the +Bay of Bengal, is subject to many local variations and intervals of +calm. But the latter, after the first violence of its outset is abated, +becomes nearly uniform throughout the period of its prevalence, and +presents the character of an on-shore breeze extending over a prodigious +expanse of sea and land, and exerting a powerful influence along the +regions of southern Asia. + +[Footnote 1: The exception to the exemption of Ceylon from hurricanes is +the occasional occurrence of a cyclone extending its circle till the +verge has sometimes touched Batticaloa, on the south-eastern extremity +of the island, causing damage to vegetation and buildings. Such an event +is, however, exceedingly rare. On the 7th of January, 1805, H.M.S. +"Sheerness" and two others were driven on shore in a hurricane at +Trincomalie.] + +In Ceylon the proverbial fickleness of the winds, and the uncertainty +which characterises the seasons in northern climates, is comparatively +unknown; and the occurrence of changes or rain may be anticipated with +considerable accuracy in any month of a coming year. There are, of +course, abnormal seasons with higher ranges of temperature, heavier +rains, or droughts of longer continuance, but such extremes are +exceptional and rare. Great atmospheric changes occur only at two +opposite periods of the year, and so gradual is their approach that the +climate is monotonous, and one longs to see again "the falling of the +leaf" to diversify the sameness of perennial verdure. The line is faint +which divides the seasons. No period of the year is divested of its +seed-time and its harvest in some part of the island; and fruit hangs +ripe on the same branches that are garlanded with opening buds. But as +every plant has its own period for the production of its flowers and +fruit, each month is characterised by its own peculiar flora. + +As regards the foliage of the trees, it might be expected that the +variety of tints would be wanting which forms the charm of a European +landscape, and that all nature would wear one mantle of unchanging +green. But it has been remarked by a tasteful observer[1] that such is +far from the fact, and though in Ceylon there is no revolution of +seasons, the change of leaf on the same plant exhibits colours as bright +as those which tinge the autumnal woods of America. It is not the +decaying leaves, but the fresh shoots, which exhibit these brightened +colours, the older are still vividly green, whilst the young are +bursting forth; and the extremities of the branches present tufts of +pale yellow, pink, crimson, and purple, which give them at a distance +the appearance of a cluster of flowers.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Prof. Harvey, Trin. Coll. Dublin.] + +[Footnote 2: Some few trees, such as the margosa (_Azadirachta Indica_), +the country almond (_Terminalia catappa_), and others, are deciduous, +and part with their leaves. The cinnamon shoots forth in all shades from +bright yellow to dark crimson. The maella _(Olax Zeylanica)_ has always +a copper colour; and the ironwood trees of the interior have a perfect +blaze of young crimson leaves, as brilliant as flowers. The lovi-lovi +(_Flacourtia inermis_) has the same peculiarity; while the large bracts +of the mussaenda (_Mussaenda frondosa_) attract the notice of Europeans +for their angular whiteness.] + +A notice of the variations exhibited by the weather at Colombo may serve +as an index to the atmospheric condition of the rest of the island, +except in those portions (such as the mountains of the interior, and the +low plains of the northern extremity) which exhibit modifications of +temperature and moisture incident to local peculiarities. + +[Sidenote: +Wind N.E. +Temperature, 24 hours: + Mean greatest 85.6 deg + Mean least 69.2 deg +Rain (inches) 3.1] + +_January_.--At the opening of the year, the north-east monsoon, which +sets in two months previously, is nearly in mid career. This wind, +issuing from the chill north and robbed of its aqueous vapour in passing +over the elevated mountain regions on the confines of China and Thibet, +sweeps across the Bay of Bengal, whence its lowest strata imbibe a +quantity of moisture, moderate in amount, yet still leaving the great +mass of air far below saturation. Hence it reaches Ceylon comparatively +dry, and its general effects are parching and disagreeable. This +character is increased as the sun recedes towards its most southern +declination, and the wind acquires a more direct draught from the north; +passing over the Indian peninsula and almost totally digested of +humidity, it blows down the western coast of the island, and is known +there by the name of the "along-shore-wind." For a time its influence is +uncomfortable and its effects injurious both to health and vegetation: +it warps and rends furniture, dries up the surface of the earth, and +withers the delicate verdure which had sprung up during the prevalence +of the previous rains. These characteristics, however, subside towards +the end of the month, when the wind becomes somewhat variable with a +westerly tendency and occasional showers; and the heat of the day is +then partially compensated by the greater freshness of the nights. The +fall of rain within the month scarcely exceeds three inches. + +[Sidenote: +Wind N.E. +Temperature, 24 hours: + Mean greatest 89 deg. + Mean least 71 deg. +Rain (inches) 2.1] + +_February_ is dry and hot during the day, but the nights are cloudless +and cool, and the moonlight singularly agreeable. Rain is rare, and when +it occurs it falls in dashes, succeeded by damp and sultry calms. The +wind is unsteady and shifts from north-east to north-west, sometimes +failing entirely between noon and twilight. The quantity of rain is less +than in January, and the difference of temperature between day and night +is frequently as great as 15 deg. or 20 deg.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Dr. MACVICAR, in a paper in the _Ceylon Miscellany_, July, +1843, recorded the results of some experiments, made near Colombo, as to +the daily variation of temperature and Its effects on cultivation, from +which it appeared that a register thermometer, exposed on a tuft of +grass in the cinnamon garden in a clear night and under the open sky, on +the 2nd of January, 1841, showed in the morning that it had been so low +as 52 deg., and when laid on the ground in the place in the sunshine on the +following day, it rose to upwards of 140 deg. Fahr.] + +[Sidenote: +Wind N.E. to N.W. +Temperature, 24 hours: + Mean greatest 87.7 deg. + Mean least 73.1 deg. +Rain (inches) 2.1] + +_March_.--In March the heat continues to increase, the earth receiving +more warmth than it radiates or parts with by evaporation. The day +becomes oppressive, the nights unrefreshing, the grass is withered and +brown, the earth hard and cleft, the lakes shrunk to shallows, and the +rivers evaporated to dryness. Europeans now escape from the low country, +and betake themselves to the shade of the forests adjoining the +coffee-plantations in the hills; or to the still higher sanatarium of +Neuera-ellia, nearly the loftiest plateau in the mountains of the +Kandyan range. The winds, when any are perceptible, are faint and +unsteady with a still increasing westerly tendency, partial showers +sometimes fall, and thunder begins to mutter towards sunset. At the +close of the month, the mean temperature will be found to have advanced +about a degree, but the sensible temperature and the force of the sun's +rays are felt in a still more perceptible proportion. + +[Sidenote: +Wind N.W. to S.W. +Temperature, 24 hours: + Mean greatest 88.7 deg. + Mean least 73.6 deg. +Rain (inches) 7.4] + +_April_ is by far the most oppressive portion of the year for those who +remain at the sea-level of the island. The temperature continues to rise +as the sun in his northern progress passes vertically over the island. A +mirage fills the hollows with mimic water; the heat in close apartments +becomes extreme, and every living creature flies to the shade from the +suffocating glare of mid-day. At length the sea exhibits symptoms of an +approaching change, a ground swell sets in from the west, and the breeze +towards sunset brings clouds and grateful showers. At the end of the +month the mean temperature attains its greatest height during the year, +being about 83 deg. in the day, and 10 deg. lower at night. + +[Sidenote: +Wind N.W. to S.W. +Temperature, 24 hours: + Mean greatest 87.2 deg. + Mean least 72.9 deg. +Rain (inches) 13.3] + +_May_ is signalised by the great event of the change of the monsoon, and +all the grand phenomena which accompany its approach. + +It is difficult for any one who has not resided in the tropics to +comprehend the feeling of enjoyment which accompanies these periodical +commotions of the atmosphere; in Europe they would be fraught with +annoyance, but in Ceylon they are welcomed with a relish proportionate +to the monotony they dispel. + +Long before the wished-for period arrives, the verdure produced by the +previous rains becomes almost obliterated by the burning droughts of +March and April. The deciduous trees shed their foliage, the plants +cease to put forth fresh leaves, and all vegetable life languishes under +the unwholesome heat. The grass withers on the baked and cloven earth, +and red dust settles on the branches and thirsty brushwood. The insects, +deprived of their accustomed food, disappear underground or hide beneath +the decaying bark; the water-beetles bury themselves in the hardened mud +of the pools, and the _helices_ retire into the crevices of the stones +or the hollows amongst the roots of the trees, closing the apertures of +their shells with the hybernating epiphragm. Butterflies are no longer +seen hovering over the flowers, the birds appear fewer and less joyous, +and the wild animals and crocodiles, driven by the drought from their +accustomed retreats, wander through the jungle, and even venture to +approach the village wells in search of water. Man equally languishes +under the general exhaustion, ordinary exertion becomes distasteful, and +the native Singhalese, although inured to the climate, move with +lassitude and reluctance. + +Meanwhile the air becomes loaded to saturation with aqueous vapour drawn +up by the augmented force of evaporation acting vigorously over land and +sea: the sky, instead of its brilliant blue, assumes the sullen tint of +lead, and not a breath disturbs the motionless rest of the clouds that +hang on the lower range of hills. At length, generally about the middle +of the month, but frequently earlier, the sultry suspense is broken by +the arrival of the wished-for change. The sun has by this time nearly +attained his greatest northern declination, and created a torrid heat +throughout the lands of southern Asia and the peninsula of India. The +air, lightened by its high temperature and such watery vapour as it may +contain, rises into loftier regions and is replaced by indraughts from +the neighbouring sea, and thus a tendency is gradually given to the +formation of a current bringing up from the south the warm humid air of +the equator. The wind, therefore, which reaches Ceylon comes laden with +moisture, taken up in its passage across the great Indian Ocean. As the +monsoon draws near, the days become more overcast and hot, banks of +clouds rise over the ocean to the west, and in the peculiar twilight the +eye is attracted by the unusual whiteness of the sea-birds that sweep +along the strand to seize the objects flung on shore by the rising surf. + +At last the sudden lightnings flash among the hills and sheet through +the clouds that overhang the sea[1], and with a crash of thunder the +monsoon bursts over the thirsty land, not in showers or partial +torrents, but in a wide deluge, that in the course of a few hours +overtops the river banks and spreads in inundations over every level +plain. + +[Footnote 1: The lightnings of Ceylon are so remarkable, that in the +middle ages they were as well known to the Arabian seamen, who coasted +the island on their way to China, as in later times the storms that +infested the Cape of Good Hope were familiar to early navigators of +Portugal. In the _Mohit_ of SIDI ALI CHELEBI, translated by Von Hammer, +it is stated that to seamen, sailing from Diu to Malacca, "the sign of +Ceylon being near is continual lightning, be it accompanied by rain or +without rain; so that 'the lightning of Ceylon' is proverbial for a +liar!"--_Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng._ v. 465.] + +All the phenomena of this explosion are stupendous: thunder, as we are +accustomed to be awed by it in Europe, affords but the faintest idea of +its overpowering grandeur in Ceylon, and its sublimity is infinitely +increased as it is faintly heard from the shore, resounding through +night and darkness over the gloomy sea. The lightning, when it touches +the earth where it is covered with the descending torrent, flashes into +it and disappears instantaneously; but, when it strikes a drier surface, +in seeking better conductors, it often opens a hollow like that formed +by the explosion of a shell, and frequently leaves behind it traces of +vitrification.[1] In Ceylon, however, occurrences of this kind are rare, +and accidents are seldom recorded from lightning, probably owing to the +profusion of trees, and especially of coco-nut palms, which, when +drenched with rain, intercept the discharge, and conduct the electric +matter to the earth. The rain at these periods excites the astonishment +of a European: it descends in almost continuous streams, so close and so +dense that the level ground, unable to absorb it sufficiently fast, is +covered with one uniform sheet of water, and down the sides of +acclivities it rushes in a volume that wears channels in the surface.[2] +For hours together, the noise of the torrent, as it beats upon the trees +and bursts upon the roofs, flowing thence in rivulets along the ground, +occasions an uproar that drowns the ordinary voice, and renders sleep +impossible. + +[Footnote 1: See DARWIN'S _Naturalist's Voyage_, ch. iii. for an account +of those vitrified siliceous tubes which are formed by lightning +entering loose sand. During a thunderstorm which passed over Galle, on +the 16th May, 1854, the fortifications were shaken by lightning, and an +extraordinary cavity was opened behind the retaining wall of the +rampart, where a hole, a yard in diameter, was carried into the ground +to the depth of twenty feet, and two chambers, each six feet in length, +branched out on either side at its extremity.] + +[Footnote 2: One morning on awaking at Pusilawa, in the hills between +Kandy and Neuera-ellia, I was taken to see the effect of a few hours' +rain, during the night, on a macadamised road which I had passed the +evening before. There was no symptom of a storm at sunset, and the +morning was bright and cloudless; but between midnight and dawn such an +inundation had swept the highway that in many places the metal had been +washed over the face of the acclivity; and in one spot where a sudden +bend forced the torrent to impinge against the bank, it had scooped out +an excavation extending to the centre of the high road, thirteen feet in +diameter, and deep enough to hold a carriage and horses.] + +This violence, however, seldom lasts more than an hour or two, and +gradually abates after intermittent paroxysms, and a serenely clear sky +supervenes. For some days, heavy showers continue to fall at intervals +in the forenoon; and the evenings which follow are embellished by +sunsets of the most gorgeous splendour, lighting the fragments of clouds +that survive the recent storm. + +[Sidenote: +Wind S.W. +Temperature, 24 hours: + Mean greatest 85.8 deg. + Mean least 74.4 deg. +Rain (inches) 6.8] + +_June_.--The extreme heat of the previous month becomes modified in +June: the winds continue steadily to blow from the south-west, and +frequent showers, accompanied by lightning and thunder, serve still +further to diffuse coolness throughout the atmosphere and verdure over +the earth. + +So instantaneous is the response of Nature to the influence of returning +moisture, that, in a single day, and almost between sunset and dawn, the +green hue of reviving vegetation begins to tint the saturated ground. In +ponds, from which but a week before the wind blew clouds of sandy dust, +the peasantry are now to be seen catching the re-animated fish; and +tank-shells and water-beetles revive and wander over the submerged +sedges. The electricity of the air stimulates the vegetation of the +trees; and scarce a week will elapse till the plants are covered with +the larvae of butterflies, the forest murmuring with the hum of insects, +and the air harmonious with the voice of birds. + +The extent to which the temperature is reduced, after the first burst of +the monsoon, is not to be appreciated by the indications of the +thermometer alone, but is rendered still more sensible by the altered +density of the air, the drier state of which is favourable to +evaporation, whilst the increase of its movement bringing it more +rapidly in contact with the human body, heat is more readily carried +off, and the coolness of the surface proportionally increased. It +occasionally happens during the month of June that the westerly wind +acquires considerable strength, sometimes amounting to a moderate gale. +The fishermen, at this period, seldom put to sea: their canoes are drawn +far up in lines upon the shore, and vessels riding in the roads of +Colombo are often driven from their anchorage and stranded on the beach. + +[Sidenote: +Wind S.W. +Temperature, 24 hours: + Mean greatest 84.8 deg + Mean least 74.9 deg +Rain (inches) 3.4] + +_July_ resembles, to a great extent, the month which precedes it, except +that, in all particulars the season is more moderate, showers are less +frequent, there is less wind, and less absolute heat. + +[Sidenote: +Wind S.W. +Temperature, 24 hours: + Mean greatest 84.9 deg. + Mean least 74.7 deg. + Rain (inches) 2.8] + +_August_.--In August the weather is charming, notwithstanding +withstanding a slight increase of heat, owing to diminished evaporation; +and the sun being now on its return to the equator, its power is felt in +greater force on full exposure to its influence. + +[Sidenote: +Wind S.W. +Temperature, 24 hours: + Mean greatest 84.9 deg + Mean least 74.8 deg +Rain (inches) 5.2] + +_September_.--The same atmospheric condition continues throughout +September, but towards its close the sea-breeze becomes unsteady and +clouds begin to collect, symptomatic of the approaching change to the +north-east monsoon. The nights are always clear and delightfully cool. +Rain is sometimes abundant. + +[Sidenote: +Wind S.W. and N.E. +Temperature, 24 hours: + Mean greatest 85.1 deg + Mean least 73.3 deg +Rain (inches) 11.2] + +_October_ is more unsettled, the wind veering towards the north, with +pretty frequent rain; and as the sun is now far to the southward, the +heat continues to decline. + +[Sidenote: +Wind N.E. +Temperature, 24 hours: + Mean greatest 86.3 deg + Mean least 71.5 deg +Rain (inches) 10.7] + +_November_ sees the close of the south-west monsoon and the arrival of +the north-eastern. In the early part of the month the wind visits nearly +every point of the compass, but shows a marked predilection for the +north, generally veering from N.E. at night and early morning, to N.W. +at noon; calms are frequent and precede gentle showers, and clouds form +round the lower range of hills. By degrees as the sun advances in its +southern declination, and warms the lower half of the great African +continent, the current of heated air ascending from the equatorial belt +leaves a comparative vacuum, towards which the less rarefied atmospheric +fluid is drawn down from the regions north, of the tropic, bringing with +it the cold and dry winds from the Himalayan Alps, and the lofty ranges +of Assam. The great change is heralded as before by oppressive calms, +lurid skies, vivid lightning, bursts of thunder, and tumultuous rain. +But at this change of the monsoon the atmospheric disturbance is less +striking than in May; the previous temperature is lower, the moisture of +the air is more reduced, and the change is less agreeably perceptible +from the southern breeze to the dry and parching wind from the north. + +[Sidenote: +Wind N.E. +Temperature 24 hours: + Mean greatest 85 deg. + Mean least 70 deg. +Rain (inches) 4.3] + +_December_.--In December the sun attains to its greatest southern +declination, and the wind setting steadily from the northeast brings +with it light but frequent rains from Bay Of Bengal. The thermometer +shows a maximum temperature of 85 deg. with a minimum of 70 deg.; the +morning and the afternoon are again enjoyable in the open air, but at +night every lattice that faces the north is cautiously closed against +the treacherous "along-shore-wind." + +Notwithstanding the violence and volume in which the rains have been +here described as descending during the paroxysms of the monsoons, the +total rain-fall in Ceylon is considerably less than on the continent of +Throughout Hindustan the annual mean is 117.5 and on some parts on the +Malabar coast, upwards of 300 inches have fallen in a single year[1]; +whereas the in Ceylon rarely exceeds 80, and the highest registered in +an exceptional season was 120 inches. + +[Footnote 1: At Mahabaleshwar, in the Western Ghauts, the annual mean is +254 inches, and at Uttray Mullay; in Malabar, 263; whilst at Bengal it +is 209 inches at Sylhet; and 610.3 at Cherraponga.] + +The distribution is of course unequal, both as to time and localities, +and in those districts where the fall is most considerable, the number +of rainless days is the greatest.[1] An idea may be formed of the deluge +that descends in Colombo during the change of the monsoon, from the fact +that out of 72.4 inches, the annual average there, no less than 20.7 +inches fall in April and May, and 21.9 in October and November, a +quantity one-third greater than the total rain in England throughout an +entire year. + +[Footnote 1: The average number of days on which rain fell at Colombo in +the years 1832, 1833, 1834, and 1835, was as follows:-- + + Days. + In January 3 + February 4 + March 6 + April 11 + May 13 + June 13 + July 8 + August 10 + September 14 + October 17 + November 11 + December 8 + --- + Total 118] + +In one important particular the phenomenon, of the Dekkan affords an +analogy for that which presents itself in Ceylon. During the south-west +monsoon the clouds are driven against the lofty chain of mountains that +overhang the western shore of the peninsula, and their condensed vapour +descends there in copious showers. The winds, thus early robbed of their +moisture, carry but little rain to the plains of the interior, and +whilst Malabar is saturated by daily showers, the sky of Coromandel is +clear and serene. In the north-east monsoon a condition the very +opposite exists; the wind that then prevails is much drier, and the +hills which it encounters being of lower altitude, the rains are carried +further towards the interior, and whilst the weather is unsettled and +stormy on the eastern shore, the western is comparatively exempt, and +enjoys a calm and cloudless sky.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The mean of rain is, on the western side of the Dekkan, 80 +inches, and on the eastern, 52.8.] + +In like manner the west coast of Ceylon presents a contrast with the +east, both in the volume of rain in each of the respective monsoons, and +in the influence which the same monsoon exerts simultaneously on the one +side of the island and on the other. The greatest quantity of rain falls +on the south-western portion, in the month of May, when the wind from +the Indian Ocean is intercepted, and its moisture condensed by the lofty +mountain ranges, surrounding Adam's Peak. The region principally +affected by it stretches from Point-de-Galle, as far north as Putlam, +and eastward till it includes the greater portion of the ancient Kandyan +kingdom. But the rains do not reach the opposite side of the island; +whilst the west coast is deluged, the east is sometimes exhausted with +dryness; and it not unfrequently happens that different aspects of the +same mountain present at the same moment the opposite extremes of +drought and moisture.[1] + +[Footnote 1: ADMIRAL FITZROY has described, in his _Narrative of the +Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle_, the striking degree in which this +simultaneous dissimilarity of climate is exhibited on opposite sides of +the Galapagos Islands; one aspect exposed to the south being covered +with verdure and freshened with moisture, whilst all others are barren +and parched.--Vol. ii. p. 502-3. The same state of things exists in the +east and west sides of the Peruvian Andes, and in the mountains of +Patagonia. And no more remarkable example of it exists than in the +island of Socotra, east of the Straits of Bab el Mandeb, the west coast +of which, during the north-east monsoon, is destitute of rain and +verdure, whilst the eastern side is enriched by streams and covered by +luxuriant pasturage.--_Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng._ vol. iv. p. 141.] + +[Illustration: DIAGRAM EXHIBITING THE COMPARATIVE FALL OF RAIN ON THE +SEABORDE OF THE DEEKAN, AND AT COLOMBO, IN THE WESTERN PROVINCE OF +CEYLON. + +One maximum at the spring change of the monsoon anticipating a little +that on the West coast of India; another at the autumnal change +corresponding more exactly with that of the East coast. The entire fall +through the year more equably distributed at Columbo.] + +On the east coast, on the other hand, the fall, during the north-east +monsoon, is very similar in degree to that on the coast of Coromandel, +as the mountains are lower and more remote from the sea, the clouds are +carried farther inland and it rains simultaneously on both sides of the +island, though much less on the west than during the other monsoon. + +_The climate of Galle_, as already stated, resembles in its general +characteristics that of Colombo, but, being further to the south, and +more equally exposed to the influence of both the monsoons, the +temperature is not quite so high; and, during the cold season, it falls +some degrees lower, especially in the evening and early morning.[1] + +[Footnote 1: At Point-de-Galle, in 1854, the number of rainy days was as +follows: + + Days. +January 12 +February 7 +March 16 +April 12 +May 23 +June 18 +July 11 +August 21 +September 16 +October 20 +November 15 +December 13] + +_Kandy_, from its position, shares in the climate of the western coast; +but, from the frequency of the mountain showers, and its situation, at +an elevation of upwards of sixteen hundred feet above the level of the +sea, it enjoys a much cooler temperature. It differs from the low +country in one particular, which is very striking--the early period of +the day at which the maximum heat is attained. This at Colombo is +generally between two and three o'clock in the afternoon, whereas at +Kandy the thermometer shows the highest temperature of the day between +ten and eleven o'clock in the morning. + +In the low country, ingenuity has devised so many expedients for defence +from the excessive heat of the forenoon, that the languor it induces is +chiefly experienced after sunset, and the coolness of the night is +insufficient to compensate for the exhaustion of the day; but, in Kandy, +the nights are so cool that it is seldom that warm covering can be +altogether dispensed with. In the colder months, the daily range of the +thermometer is considerable--approaching 30 deg.; in the others, it differs +little from 15 deg. The average mean, however, of each month throughout the +year is nearly identical, deviating only a degree from 76 deg., the mean +annual temperature.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The following Table appeared in the _Colombo Observer_, and +is valuable from the care taken by Mr. Caley in its preparation; + +_Analysis of the Climate at Peradenia, from 1851 to 1858 inclusive._ + +|Months. | Temperature. | Rainfall. | Remarks. | +| | | | |Aver-| |Average| | +| |Max. |Min.|Mean.|age | In.|of | | +| | | | | of | |Years / | +| | | | |Years| \ / | +|January |85.0 |52.5|74.06|6 |4.04 |6 |Fine, sunny, heavy dew at | +| | | | | | | |night, hot days, and cold | +| | | | | | | |nights and mornings. | +|February |87.75|55.0|75.76|7 |1.625 |6 |Fine, sunny, dewy nights, | +| | | | | | | |foggy mornings, days hot, | +| | | | | | | |nights and mornings cold. | +|March |89.5 |59.5|77.42|7 |3.669 |6 |Generally a very hot and | +| | | | | | | |oppressive month. | +|April |89.5 |67.5|77.91|7 |7.759 |6 |Showery, sultry, and | +| | | | | | | | oppressive weather. | +|May |88.0 |66.0|77.7 |8 |8.022 |6 |Cloudy, windy, rainy; | + | monsoon generally changes.| +|June |86.0 |71.0|76.69|8 |7.155 |6 |A very wet and stormy month.| +|July |86.0 |67.0|75.64|8 |5.72 |6 |Ditto ditto | +|August |85.5 |67.0|75.81|8 |8.55 |6 |Showery, but sometimes more | +| | | | | | | |moderate, variable | +|September |85.5 |67.0|76.13|8 |6.318 |6 |Pretty dry weather, compared| +| | | | | | | |with the next two months. | +|October |85.73|68.2|75.1 |8 |15.46 |6 |Wind variable, much rain. | +|November |84.0 |62.0|74.79|8 |14.732|6 |Wind variable, storms from | +| | | | | | | |all points of compass, wet; | +| | | | | | | |monsoon generally changes. | +|December |82.75|57.0|74.05|7 |7.72 |5 |Sometimes wet, but generally| +| | | | | | | |more moderate; towards | +| | | | | | | |end of year like January | +| | | | | | | |weather. | + + Mean yearly Temperature, Mean yearly Nov. 29, 1858 + 75.92 deg Rainfall, 91.75 J.A. CALEY. + in. nearly.] + +In all the mountain valleys, the soil being warmer than the air, vapour +abounds in the early morning for the most part of the year. It greatly +adds to the chilliness of travelling before dawn; but, generally +speaking, it is not wetting, as it is charged with the same electricity +as the surface of the earth and the human body. When seen from the +heights, it is a singular object, as it lies compact and white as snow +in the hollows beneath, but it is soon put in motion by the morning +currents, and wafted in the direction of the coast, where it is +dissipated by the sunbeams. + +_Snow_ is unknown in Ceylon; _Hail_ occasionally falls in the Kandyan +hills at the change of the monsoon,[1] but more frequently during that +from the north-east. As observed at Kornegalle, the clouds, after +collecting as usual for a few evenings, and gradually becoming more +dense, advanced in a wedge-like form, with a well-defined outline. The +first fall of rain was preceded by a downward blast of cold air, +accompanied by hailstones which outstripped the rain in their descent. +Rain and hail then poured down together, and, eventually, the latter +only spread its deluge far and wide, In 1852, the hail which thus fell +at Kornegalle was of such a size that half-a-dozen lumps filled a +tumbler, In shape, they were oval and compressed, but the mass appeared +to have formed an hexagonal pyramid, the base of which was two inches in +diameter, and about half-an-inch thick, gradually thinning towards the +edge. They were tolerably solid internally, each containing about the +size of a pea of clear ice at the centre, but the sides and angles were +spongy and flocculent, as if the particles had been driven together by +the force of the wind, and had coalesced at the instant of contact. A +phenomenon so striking as the fall of ice, at the moment of the most +intense atmospherical heat, naturally attracts the wonder of the +natives, who hasten to collect the pieces, and preserve them, when +dissolved, in bottles, from a belief in their medicinal properties. Mr. +Morris, who has repeatedly observed hailstones in the Seven Korles, is +under the impression that their occurrence always happens at the first +outburst of the monsoon, and that they fall at the moment, which is +marked by the first flash of lightning. + +[Footnote 1: It is stated in the _Physical Atlas_ of KEITH JOHNSTON, +that hail in India has not been noticed south of Madras. But in Ceylon +it has fallen very recently at Korngalle, at Badulla, at Kaduganawa; and +I have heard of a hail storm at Jaffna. On 1 the 24th of Sept. 1857, +during a thunder-storm, hail fell near Matelle in such quantity that in +places it formed drifts upwards of a foot in depth.] + +According to Professor Stevelly, of Belfast, the rationale of their +appearance on such occasions seems to be that, on the sudden formation +and descent of the first drops, the air expanding and rushing into the +void spaces, robs the succeeding drops of their caloric so effectually +as to send them to the earth frozen into ice-balls. + +These descriptions, it will be observed, apply exclusively to the +southern regions on the east and west of Ceylon; and, in many +particulars, they are inapplicable to the northern portions of the +island. At Trincomalie, the climate bears a general resemblance to that +of the Indian peninsula south of Madras: showers are frequent, but +light, and the rain throughout the year does not exceed forty inches. +With moist winds and plentiful dew, this sustains a vigorous vegetation +near the coast; but in the interior it would be insufficient for the +culture of grain, were not the water husbanded in tanks; and, for this +reason, the bulk of the population are settled along the banks of the +great rivers. + +The temperature of this part of Ceylon follows the course of the sun, +and ranges from a minimum of 70 deg. in December and January, to a maximum +of 94 deg. in May and June; but the heat is rendered tolerable at all +seasons by the steadiness of the land and sea breezes.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The following facts regarding the climate of Trincomalie +have been, arranged from elaborate returns furnished by Mr. Higgs, the +master-attendant of the port, and published under the authority of the +meteorological department of the Board of Trade:-- + +_Trincomalie_. + + |Extreme + |Mean |Mean |Range |Highest |Days +1854 |Maximum |Minimum |for the |Temperature|of + |Temperature |Temperature |Month |Noted |Rain +Jan. | 81.3 deg. | 74.7 deg. | 14 deg. | 83 | 10 +Feb. | 83.8 | 75.8 | 14 | 86 | 7 +Mar. | 85.9 | 76.1 | 16 | 88 | 3 +April| 89.6 | 78.9 | 16 | 92 | 3 +May | 89.1 | 79.3 | 19 | 93 | 3 +June | 90.0 | 79.5 | 19 | 94 | 3 +July | 87.7 | 77.7 | 16 | 90 | 5 +Aug. | 87.9 | 77.4 | 16 | 91 | 4 +Sept.| 89.3 | 77.8 | 18 | 93 | 2 +Oct. | 85.2 | 75.8 | 15 | 89 | 14 +Nov. | 81.O | 74.9 | 11 | 83 | 15 +Dec. | 80.1 | 74.3 | 11 | 82 | 15 +Mean temperature for the year 81.4.] + +In the extreme north of the island, the peninsula of Jaffna, and the +vast plains of Neura-kalawa and the Wanny, form a third climatic +division, which, from the geological structure and peculiar +configuration of the district, differs essentially from the rest of +Ceylon. This region, which is destitute of mountains, is undulating in a +very slight degree; the dry and parching north-east wind desiccates the +soil in its passage, and the sandy plains are covered with a low and +scanty vegetation, chiefly fed by the night dews and whatever moisture +is brought by the on-shore wind. The total rain of the year does not +exceed thirty inches; and the inhabitants live in frequent apprehension +of droughts and famines. These conditions attain their utmost +manifestation at the extreme north and in the Jaffna peninsula: there +the temperature is the highest[1] in the island, and, owing to the +humidity of the situation and the total absence of hills, it is but +little affected by the changes of the monsoons; and the thermometer +keeps a regulated pace with the progress of the sun to and from the +solstices. The soil, except in particular spots, is porous and sandy, +formed from the detritus of the coral rocks which it overlays. It is +subject to droughts sometimes of a whole year's continuance; and rain, +when it falls, is so speedily absorbed, that it renders but slight +service to cultivation, which is entirely carried on by means of tanks +and artificial irrigation, in the practice of which the Tamil population +of this district exhibits singular perseverance and ingenuity.[2] In the +dry season, when scarcely any verdure is discernible above ground, the +sheep and goats feed on their knees--scraping away the sand, in order to +reach the wiry and succulent roots of the grasses. From the constancy of +this practice horny callosities are produced, by which these hardy +creatures may be distinguished. + +[Footnote 1: The mean lowest temperature at Jaffna is 70 deg, the mean +highest 90 deg; but in 1845-6 the thermometer rose to 90 deg and +100 deg.] + +[Footnote 2: For an account of the Jaffna wells, and the theory of their +supply with fresh water, see ch. i. p. 21.] + +Water-spouts are frequent on the coast of Ceylon, owing to the different +temperature of the currents of air passing across the heated earth and +the cooler sea, but instances are very rare of their bursting over land, +or of accidents in consequence.[1] + +[Footnote 1: CAMOENS, who had opportunities of observing the phenomena +of these seas during his service on board the fleet of Cabral, off the +coast of Malabar and Ceylon, has introduced into the _Lusiad_ the +episode of a water-spout in the Indian Ocean; but, under the belief that +the water which descends had been previously drawn up by suction from +the ocean, he exclaims:-- + + "But say, ye sages, who can weigh the cause, + And trace the secret springs of Nature's laws; + Say why the wave, of bitter brine erewhile, + Should be the bosom of the deep recoil, + Robbed of its salt, and from the cloud distil, + Sweet as the waters of the limpid rill?" + +(Book v.) + +But the truth appears to be that the torrent which descends from a +water-spout, is but the condensed accumulation of its own vapour, and, +though in the hollow of the lower cone which rests upon the surface of +the sea, salt water may possibly ascend in the partial vacuum caused by +revolution; or spray may be caught up and collected by the wind, still +these cannot be raised by it beyond a very limited height, and what +Camoens saw descend was, as he truly says, the sweet water distilled +from the cloud.] + +A curious phenomenon, to which the name of "anthelia" has been given, +and which may probably have suggested to the early painters the idea of +the glory surrounding the heads of beatified saints, is to be seen in +singular beauty, at early morning, in Ceylon. When the light is intense, +and the shadows proportionally dark--when the sun is near the horizon, +and the shadow of a person walking is thrown on the dewy grass--each +particle of dew furnishes a double reflection from its concave and +convex surfaces; and to the spectator his own figure, but more +particularly the head, appears surrounded by a halo as vivid as if +radiated from diamonds.[1] The Buddhists may possibly have taken from +this beautiful object their idea of the _agni_ or emblem of the sun, +with which the head of Buddha is surmounted. But unable to express a +_halo_ in sculpture, they concentrated it into a _flame_. + +[Footnote 1: SCORESBY describes the occurrence of a similar phenomenon +in the Arctic Seas in July, 1813, the luminous circle being produced on +the particles of fog which rested on the calm water. "The lower part of +the circle descended beneath my feet to the side of the ship, and +although it could not be a hundred feet from the eye, it was perfect, +and the colours distinct. The centre of the coloured circle was +distinguished by my own shadow, the head of which, enveloped by a halo, +was most conspicuously pourtrayed. The halo or glory evidently impressed +on the fog, but the figure appeared to be a shadow on the water; the +different parts became obscure in proportion to their remoteness from +the head, so that the lower extremities were not perceptible."--_Account +of the Arctic Regions_, vol. i. ch. v. sec. vi. p. 394. A similar +phenomenon occurs in the Khasia Hills, in the north-east of +Bengal.--_Asiat. Soc. Journ. Beng._ vol. xiii. p. 616.] + +[Illustration: THE ANTHELIA AS IT APPEARS TO THE PERSON HIMSELF] + +Another luminous phenomenon which sometimes appears in the hill country, +consists of beams of light, which intersect the sky, whilst the sun is +yet in the ascendant; sometimes horizontally, accompanied by +intermitting movements, and sometimes vertically, a broad belt of the +blue sky interposing between them.[1] + +[Footnote 1: VIGNE mentions an appearance of this kind in the valley of +Kashmir: "Whilst the rest of the horizon was glowing golden over the +mountain tops, a broad well-defined ray-shaped streak of indigo was +shooting upwards in the zenith: it remained nearly stationary about an +hour, and was then blended into the sky around it, and disappeared with +the day. It was, no doubt, owing to the presence of some particular +mountains which intercepted the red rays, and threw a blue shadow, by +causing so much of the sky above Kashmir to remain unaffected by +them."--_Travels in Kashmir_, vol. ii. ch. x. p. 115.] + +In Ceylon this is doubtless owing to the air holding in suspension a +large quantity of vapour, which receives shadows and reflects rays of +light. The natives, who designate them "Buddha's rays," attach a +superstitious dread to their appearance, and believe them to be +portentous of misfortune--in every month, with the exception of _May_, +which, for some unexplained reason, is exempted. + +HEALTH.--In connection with the subject of "Climate," one of the most +important inquiries is the probable effect on the health and +constitution of a European produced by a prolonged exposure to an +unvarying temperature, upwards of 30 degrees higher than the average of +Great Britain. But to this the most tranquillising reply is the +assurance that _mere heat, even to a degree beyond that of Ceylon, is +not unhealthy in itself_. Aden, enclosed in a crater of an extinct +volcano, is not considered insalubrious; and the hot season in India, +when the thermometer stands at 100 deg. at midnight, is comparatively a +healthy period of the year. In fact, in numerous cases heat may be the +means of removing the immediate sources of disease. Its first +perceptible effect is a slight increase, of the normal bodily +temperature beyond 98 deg., and, simultaneously, an increased activity of +all the vital functions. To this everything contributes an exciting +sympathy--the glad surprise of the natural scenery, the luxury of +verdure, the tempting novelty of fruits and food, and all the +unaccustomed attractions of a tropical home. Under these combined +influences the nervous sensibility is considerably excited, and the +circulation acquires greater velocity, with somewhat diminished force. +This is soon followed, however, by the disagreeable evidences of the +effort made by the system to accommodate itself to the new atmospheric +condition. The skin often becomes fretted by "prickly heat," or +tormented by a profusion of boils, but relief being speedily obtained +through these resources, the new comer is seldom afterwards annoyed by a +recurrence of the process, unless under circumstances of impaired tone, +the result of weakened digestion or climatic derangement. + +_Malaria_.--Compared with Bengal and the Dekkan, the climate of Ceylon +presents a striking superiority in mildness and exemption from all the +extremes of atmospheric disturbance; and, except in particular +localities, all of which are well known and avoided[1], from being +liable after the rains to malaria, or infested at particular seasons +with agues and fever, a lengthened residence in the island may be +contemplated, without the slightest apprehension of prejudicial results. +These pestilential localities are chiefly at the foot of mountains, and, +strange to say, in the vicinity of some active rivers, whilst the vast +level plains, whose stagnant waters are made available for the +cultivation of rice, are seldom or never productive of disease. It is +even believed that the deadly air is deprived of its poison in passing +over an expanse of still water; and one of the most remarkable +circumstances is, that the points fronting the aerial currents are those +exposed to danger, whilst projecting cliffs, belts of forest, and even +moderately high walls, serve to protect all behind them from attack.[2] +In traversing districts suspected of malaria, experience has dictated +certain precautions, which, with ordinary prudence and firmness, serve +to neutralise the risk--retiring punctually at sunset, generous diet, +moderate stimulants, and the daily use of quinine both before and after +exposure. These, and the precaution, at whatever sacrifice of comfort, +to sleep under mosquito curtains, have been proved in long journeys to +be valuable prophylactics against fever and the pestilence of the +jungle. + +[Footnote 1: Notwithstanding this general condition, fevers of a very +serious kind have been occasionally known to attack persons on the +coast, who had never exposed themselves to the miasma of the jungle. +Such instances have occurred at Galle, and more rarely at Colombo. The +characteristics of places in this regard have, in some instances, +changed unaccountably; thus at Persadenia, close to Kandy, it was at one +time regarded as dangerous to sleep.] + +[Footnote 2: Generally speaking, a flat open country is healthy, either +when flooded deeply by rains, or when dried to hardness by the sun; but +in the process of dessication, its exhalations are perilous. The wooded +slopes at the base of mountains are notorious for fevers; such as the +_terrai_ of the Nepal hills, the Wynaad jungle, at the foot of the +Ghauts, and the eastern side of the mountains of Ceylon.] + +_Food_.--Always bearing in mind that of the quantity of food habitually +taken in a temperate climate, a certain proportion is consumed to +sustain the animal heat, it is obvious that in the glow of the tropics, +where the heat is already in excess, this portion of the ingesta not +only becomes superfluous so far as this office is concerned, but +occasions disturbance of the other functions both of digestion and +elimination. Over-indulgence in food, equally with intemperance in wine, +is one fruitful source of disease amongst Europeans in Ceylon; and +maladies and mortality are often the result of the former, in patients +who would repel as an insult the imputation of the latter. + +So well have national habits conformed to instinctive promptings in this +regard, that the natives of hot countries have unconsciously sought to +heighten the enjoyment of food by taking their principal repast _after +sunset_[1]; and the European in the East will speedily discover for +himself the prudence, not only of reducing the quantity, but in regard +to the quality of his meals, of adopting those articles which nature has +bountifully supplied as best suited to the climate. With a moderate use +of flesh meat, vegetables, and especially farinaceous food, are chiefly +to be commended. + +[Footnote 1: The prohibition of swine, which has formed an item in the +dietetic ritual of the Egyptians, the Hebrews, and Mahometans, has been +defended in all ages, from Manetho and Herodotus downwards, on the +ground that the flesh of an animal so foully fed has a tendency to +promote cutaneous disorders, a belief which, though held as a fallacy in +northern climates, may have a truthful basis in the East.--AELIAN, _Hist. +Anim._ 1. X. 16. In a recent general order Lord Clyde has prohibited its +use in the Indian army. Camel's flesh, which is also declared unclean in +Leviticus, is said to produce in the Arabs serious derangement of the +stomach.] + +The latter is rendered attractive by the unrivalled excellence of the +Singhalese in the preparation of innumerable curries[1], each tempered +by the delicate creamy juice expressed from the flesh of the coco-nut +after it has been reduced to a pulp. Nothing of the same class in India +can bear a comparison with the piquant delicacy of a curry in Ceylon, +composed of fresh condiments and compounded by the skilful hand of a +native. + +[Footnote 1: The popular error of thinking curry to be an invention of +the Portuguese in India is disproved by the mention in the _Rajavali_ of +its use in Ceylon in the second century before the Christian era, and in +the _Mahawanso_ in the fifth century of it. This subject is mentioned +elsewhere: see chapter on the Arts and Sciences of the Singhalese.] + +_The use of fruit_--Fruits are abundant and wholesome; but with the +exception of oranges, pineapples, the luscious mango and the +indescribable "rambutan," for want of horticultural attention they are +inferior in flavour, and soon cease to be alluring. + +_Wine_.--Wine has of late years become accessible to all, and has thus, +in some degree, been substituted for brandy; the abuse of which at +former periods is commemorated in the records of those fearful disorders +of the liver, derangements of the brain, exhausting fevers, and visceral +diseases, which characterise the medical annals of earlier times. With a +firm adherence to temperance in the enjoyment of stimulants, and +moderation in the pleasures of the table, with attention to exercise and +frequent resort to the bath, it may be confidently asserted that health +in Ceylon is as capable of preservation and life as susceptible of +enjoyment, as in any country within the tropics. + +_Exposure_.--Prudence and foresight are, however, as indispensable there +as in any other climate to escape well-understood risks. Catarrhs and +rheumatism are as likely to follow needless exposure to the withering +"along-shore wind" of the winter months in Ceylon[1], as they are +traceable to unwisely confronting the east winds of March in Great +Britain; and during the alternation, from the sluggish heat which +precedes the monsoon, to the moist and chill vapours that follow the +descent of the rains, intestinal disorders, fevers, and liver complaints +are not more characteristic of an Indian monsoon than an English autumn, +and are equally amenable to those precautions by which liability may be +diminished in either place. + +[Footnote 1: See _ante_, p. 57. It is an agreeable characteristic of the +climate of Ceylon, that sun-stroke, which is so common even in the +northern portions of India, is almost unknown in the island. Sportsmen +are out all day long in the hottest weather, a practice which would be +thought more than hazardous in Oude or the north-west provinces. Perhaps +an explanation of this may be found in the difference in moisture in the +two atmospheres, which may modify the degrees of evaporation; but the +inquiry is a curious one. It is becoming better understood in the army +that active service, and even a moderate exposure to the solar rays +(_always guarding them from the head_,) are conducive rather than +injurious to health in the tropics. The pale and sallow complexion of +ladies and children born in India, is ascribable in a certain degree to +the same process by which vegetables are blanched under shades which +exclude the light:--they are reared in apartments too carefully kept +dark.] + +_Paleness_.--At the same time it must be observed, that the pallid +complexion peculiar to old residents, is not alone ascribable to an +organic change in the skin from its being the medium of perpetual +exudation, but in part to a deficiency of red globules in the blood, and +mainly to a reduced vigour in the whole muscular apparatus, including +the action of the heart, which imperfectly compensates by increased +rapidity for diminution of power. It is remarkable how suddenly this +sallowness disappears, and is succeeded by the warm tints of health, +after a visit of a very few days to the plains of Neuera-ellia, or the +picturesque coffee plantations in the hills that surround it. + +_Ladies_.--Ladies, from their more regular and moderate habits, and +their avoidance of exposure, might be expected to withstand the climate +better than men; and to a certain extent the anticipation appears to be +correct, but it by no means justifies the assumption of general +immunity. Though less obnoxious to specific disease, debility and +delicacy are the frequent results of habitual seclusion and avoidance of +the solar light. These, added to more obvious causes of occasional +illness, suggest the necessity of vigorous exertion and regular exercise +as indispensable protectives. + +If suitably clothed, and not injudiciously fed, children may remain in +the island till eight or ten years of age, when anxiety is excited by +the attenuation of the frame and the apparent absence of strength in +proportion to development. These symptoms, the result of relaxed tone +and defective nutrition, are to be remedied by change of climate either +to the more lofty ranges of the mountains, or, more providently, to +Europe. + +_Effects on Europeans already Diseased_.--To persons already suffering +from disease, the experiment of a residence in Ceylon is one of +questionable propriety. Those of a scrofulous diathesis need not +consider it hazardous, as experience does not show that in such there is +any greater susceptibility to local or constitutional disorders, or that +when these are present, there is greater difficulty in their removal. + +To those threatened with consumption, the island may be supposed to +offer some advantages in the equability of the temperature, and the +comparative quiescence of the lungs from reduced necessity for +respiratory effort. Besides, the choice of climates presented by Ceylon +enables a patient, by the easy change of residence to a different +altitude and temperature, avoiding the heats of one period and the dry +winds of another, to check to a great extent the predisposing causes +likely to lead to the development of tubercle. This, with attention to +clothing and systematic exercise as preventives of active disease, may +serve to restrain the further progress though it fail to eradicate the +tendency to phthibis. But when already the formation of tubercle has +taken place to any considerable extent, and is accompanied by softening, +the morbid condition is not unlikely to advance with alarming celerity; +and the only compensating circumstance is the diminution of apparent +suffering, ascribable to general languor, and the absence of the +bronchial irritation occasioned by cold humid air. + +_Dyspepsia_.--Habitual dyspeptics, and those affected by hepatic +obstructions, had better avoid a lengthened sojourn in Ceylon; but the +tortures of rheumatism and gout, if they be not reduced, are certainly +postponed for longer intervals than those conceded to the same sufferers +in England. Gout, owing to the great cutaneous excretion, in most +instances totally disappears. + +_Precautions for Health_.--Next to attention to diet, health in Ceylon +is mainly to be preserved by systematic exercise, and a costume adapted +to the climate and its requirements. Paradoxical as it may sound, the +great cause of disease in hot climates is _cold_. Nothing ought more +cautiously to be watched and avoided than the chills produced by +draughts and dry winds; and a change of dress or position should be +instantly resorted to when the warning sensation of chilliness is +perceived. + +_Exercise_.--The early morning ride, after a single cup of coffee and a +biscuit on rising, and the luxury of the bath before dressing for +breakfast, constitute the enjoyments of the forenoon; and a similar +stroll on horseback, returning at sunset to repeat the bath[1] +preparatory to the evening toilette, completes the hygienic discipline +of the day. At night the introduction of the Indian punka into bed-rooms +would be valuable, a thin flannel coverlet being spread over the bed. +Nothing serves more effectually to break down an impaired constitution +in the tropics than the want of timely and refreshing sleep. + +[Footnote 1: "Je me souviens que les deux premieres annees que je fus en +ce pais-la, j'eus deux maladies: _alors je pris la couetume de me bien +laver soir et matin_, et pendant 16 ans que j'y ay demeure depuis, je +n'ay pas senti le moindre mal."--RIBEYRO, _Hist. de l'Isle de Ceylan_, +vol. v. ch. xix. p. 149.] + +_Dress_.--In the selection of dress experience has taught the +superiority of calico to linen, the latter, when damp from the +exhalation of the skin, causing a chill which is injurious, whilst the +former, from some peculiarity in its fibre, however moist it may become, +never imparts the same sensation of cold. The clothing best adapted to +the climate is that whose texture least excites the already profuse +perspiration, and whose fashion presents the least impediment to its +escape.[1] The discomfort of woollen has led to its avoidance as far as +possible; but those who, in England, may have accustomed themselves to +flannel, will find the advantage of persevering to wear it, provided it +is so light as not to excite perspiration. So equipped for active +exercise, exposure to the sun, however hot, may be regarded without +apprehension, provided the limbs are in motion and the body in ordinary +health; but the instinct of all oriental races has taught the necessity +of protecting the head, and European ingenuity has not failed to devise +expedients for this all-important object. + +[Footnote 1: "Man not being created an aquatic animal, his skin cannot +with impunity be exposed to perpetual moisture, whether directly applied +or arising from perspiration retained by dress. The importance to health +of keeping the skin _dry_ does not appear to have hitherto received due +attention."--PICKERING, _Races of Man_, &c., ch. xliv.] + +From what has been said, it will be apparent that, compared with +continental India, the securities for health in Ceylon are greatly in +favour of the island. As to the formidable diseases which are common to +both, their occurrence in either is characterised by the same appalling +manifestations: dysentery fastens, with all its fearful concomitants, on +the unwary and incautious; and cholera, with its dark horrors, sweeps +mysteriously across neglected districts, exacting its hecatombs. But the +visitation and ravages of both are somewhat under control, and the +experience bequeathed by each gloomy visitation has added to the +facilities for checking its recurrence.[1] + +[Footnote 1: "It is worthy of remark, that although all the troops in +Ceylon have occasionally, but at rare intervals; suffered severely from +cholera, the disease has in very few instances attacked the officers; or +indeed Europeans in the same grade of life. This is one important +difference to be borne in mind when estimating the comparative risk of +life in India and Ceylon. It must be due to the difference in comforts +and quarters, or more particularly to the exemption from night duty, by +far the most trying of the soldiers' hardships. The small mortality +amongst the officers of European regiments in Ceylon is very +remarkable."--_Note_ by Dr. CAMERON, Army Med. Staff.] + +In some of the disorders incidental to the climate, and the treatment of +ulcerations caused by the wounds of the mosquitoes and leeches, the +native Singhalese have a deservedly high reputation; but their practice, +when it depends on specifics, is too empirical to be safely relied on; +and their traditional skill, though boasting a well authenticated +antiquity, achieves few triumphs in competition with the soberer +discipline of European science. + + + + +CHAP. III. + +VEGETATION.--TREES AND PLANTS. + + +Although the luxuriant vegetation of Ceylon has at all times been the +theme of enthusiastic admiration, its flora does not probably exceed +3000 phaenogamic plants[1]; and notwithstanding that it has a number of +endemic species, and a few genera, which are not found on the great +Indian peninsula, still its botanical features may be described as those +characteristic of the southern regions of Hindustan and the Dekkan. The +result of some recent experiments has, however, afforded a curious +confirmation of the opinion ventured by Dr. Gardner, that, regarding its +botany geographically, Ceylon exhibits more of the Malayan flora and +that of the Eastern Archipelago, than of any portion of India to the +west of it. Two plants peculiar to Malacca, the nutmeg and the +mangustin, have been attempted, but unsuccessfully, to be cultivated in +Bengal; but in Ceylon the former has been reared near Colombo with such +singular success that its produce now begins to figure in the exports of +the island;--and mangustins, which, ten years ago, were exhibited as +curiosities from a single tree in the old Botanic Garden at Colombo, are +found to thrive readily, and they occasionally appear at table, +rivalling in their wonderful delicacy of flavour those which have +heretofore been regarded as peculiar to the Straits. + +[Footnote 1: The prolific vegetation of the island is likely to cause +exaggeration in the estimate of its variety. Dr. Gardner, shortly after +his appointment as superintendent of the Botanic Garden at Kandy, in +writing to Sir W. Hooker, conjectured that the Ceylon flora might extend +to 4000 or 5000 species. But from a recent _Report_ of the present +curator, Mr. Thwaites, it appears that the indigenous phaenogamic plants +discovered up to August, 1856, was 2670; of which 2025 were +dicotyledonous, and 644 monocotyledonous flowering plants, besides 247 +ferns and lycopods. When it is considered that this is nearly double the +indigenous flora of England, and little under _one thirtieth_ of the +entire number of plants hitherto described over the world, the botanical +richness of Ceylon, in proportion to its area, must be regarded as equal +to that of any portion of the globe.] + +Up to the present time the botany of Ceylon has been imperfectly +submitted to scientific scrutiny. Linnaeus, in 1747, prepared his _Flora +Zeylanica_, from specimens collected by Hermann, which had previously +constituted the materials of the _Thesaurus Zeylanicus_ of Burman and +now form part of the herbarium in the British Museum. A succession of +industrious explorers have been since engaged in following up the +investigation[1]; but, with the exception of an imperfect and +unsatisfactory catalogue by Moon, no enumeration of Ceylon plants has +yet been published. Dr. Gardner had made some progress with a Singhalese +Flora, when his death took place in 1849, an event which threw the task +on other hands, and has postponed its completion for years.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Amongst the collections of Ceylon plants deposited in the +Hookerian Herbarium, are those made by General and Mrs. Walker, by Major +Champion (who left the island in 1848), and by Mr. Thwaites, who +succeeded Dr. Gardner in charge of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kandy. +Moon, who had previously held that appointment, left extensive +collections in the herbarium at Peradenia which have been lately +increased by his successors; and Macrae, who was employed by the +Horticultural Society of London, has enriched their museum with Ceylon +plants. Some admirable letters of Mrs. Walker are printed in HOOKER'S +_Companion to the Botanical Magazine_. They include an excellent account +of the vegetation of Ceylon.] + +[Footnote 2: Dr. Gardner, in 1848, drew up a short paper containing +_Some Remarks on the Flora of Ceylon_, which was printed in the appendix +to LEE'S _Translation of Ribeyro_: to this essay, and to his personal +communications during frequent journeys, I am indebted for many facts +incorporated in the following pages.] + +From the identity of position and climate, and the apparent similarity +of soil between Ceylon and the southern extremity of the Indian +peninsula, a corresponding agreement might be expected between their +vegetable productions: and accordingly in its aspects and subdivisions +Ceylon participates in those distinctive features which the monsoons +have imparted respectively to the opposite shores of Hindustan. The +western coast being exposed to the milder influence of the south-west +wind, shows luxuriant vegetation, the result of its humid and temperate +climate; whilst the eastern, like Coromandel, has a comparatively dry +and arid aspect, produced by the hot winds which blow for half the year. +The littoral vegetation of the seaborde exhibits little variation from +that common throughout the Eastern archipelago; but it wants the +_Phoenix paludosa_[1], a dwarf date-palm, which literally covers the +islands of the Sunderbunds at the delta of the Ganges. A dense growth of +mangroves[2] occupies the shore, beneath whose overarching roots the +ripple of the sea washes unseen over the muddy beach. + +[Footnote 1: Drs. HOOKER and THOMSON, in their _Introductory Essay to +the Flora of India_, speaking of Ceylon, state that the _Nipa fruticans_ +(another characteristic palm of the Gangetic delta) and _Cycads_ are +also wanting there, but both these exist (the former abundantly), though +perhaps not alluded to in any work on Ceylon botany to which those +authors had access. In connection with this subject it may be mentioned, +as a fact which is much to be regretted, that, although botanists have +been appointed to the superintendence of the Botanic Gardens at Kandy, +information regarding the vegetation of the island is scarcely +obtainable without extreme trouble and reference to papers scattered +through innumerable periodicals. That the majority of Ceylon plants are +already known to science is owing to the coincidence of their being also +natives of India, whence they have been described; but there has been no +recent attempt on the part of colonial or European botanists even to +throw into a useful form the already published descriptions of the +commoner plants of the island. Such a work would be the first step to a +Singhalese Flora. The preparation of such a compendium would seem, to +belong to the duties of the colonial botanist, and as such it was an +object of especial solicitude to the late superintendent, Dr. Gardner. +But the heterogeneous duties imposed upon the person holding his office +(the evils arising from which are elsewhere alluded to), have hitherto +been insuperable obstacles to the attainment of this object, as they +have also been to the preparation of a systematic account of the general +features of Ceylon vegetation. Such a work is strongly felt to be a +desideratum by numbers of intelligent persons in Ceylon, who are not +accomplished botanists, but who are anxious to acquire accurate ideas as +to the aspects of the flora at different elevations, different seasons, +and different quarters of the island; of the kinds of plants that +chiefly contribute to the vegetation of the coasts, the plains, and +mountains; of the general relations that subsist between them and the +flora of the Carnatic, Malabar, and the Malay archipelago; and of the +more useful plants in science, arts, medicine, and commerce. + +To render such a work (however elementary) at once accurate as well as +interesting, would require sound scientific knowledge; and, however +skilfully and popularly written, there would still be portions somewhat +difficult of comprehension to the ordinary reader; but curiosity would +be stimulated by the very occurrence of difficulty, and thus an impulse +might be given to the acquisition of rudimentary botany, which would +eventually enable the inquirer to contribute his quota to the natural +history of Ceylon. + +P.S. Since the foregoing was written, Mr. Thwaites has announced the +early publication of a new work on Ceylon plants, to be entitled +_Enumeratio Plantarum Zeylaniae: with Descriptions of the new and little +known genera and species_, and observations on their habits, uses, &c. +In the Identification of the species Mr. Thwaites is to be assisted by +Dr. Hooker, F.R.S.; and from their conjoint labours we may at last hope +for a production worthy of the subject.] + +[Footnote 2: Rhizophera Candelaria, Kandelia Rheedei, Bruguiera +gymnorhiza.] + +Retiring from the strand, there are groups of _Sonneratia[1], Avicennia, +Heritiera_, and _Pandanus_; the latter with a stem like a dwarf palm, +round which the serrated leaves ascend in spiral convolutions till they +terminate in a pendulous crown, from which drop the amber clusters of +beautiful but uneatable fruit, with a close resemblance in shape and +colour to that of the pineapple, from which, and from the peculiar +arrangement of the leaves, the plant has acquired its name of the +Screw-pine. + +[Footnote 1: At a meeting of the Entomological Society in 1842, Dr. +Templeton sent, for the use of the members, many thin slices of +substance to replace cork-wood as a lining for insect cases and drawers. +Along with the soft wood he sent the following notice:--"In this country +(he writes from Colombo, Ceylon, May 19, 1842), along the marshy banks +of the large rivers, grows a very large handsome tree, named _Sonneratia +acida_, by the younger Linnaeus: its roots spread far and wide through +the soft moist earth, and at various distances along send up most +extraordinary long spindle-shaped excrescences four or five feet above +the surface. Of these Sir James Edward Smith remarks 'what these +horn-shaped excrescences are which occupy the soil at some distance from +the base of the tree from a span to a foot in length and of a corky +substance, as described by Rumphins, we can offer no conjecture.' Most +curious things (remarks Dr. Templeton) they are; they all spring very +narrow from the root, expand as they rise, and then become gradually +attenuated, occasionally forking, but never throwing out shoots or +leaves, or in any respect resembling the parent root or wood. They are +firm and close in their texture, nearly devoid of fibrous structure, and +take a moderate polish when cut with a sharp instrument; but for lining +insect boxes and making setting-boards they have no equal in the world. +The finest pin passes in with delightful ease and smoothness, and is +held firmly and tightly so that there is no risk of the insects becoming +disengaged. With a fine saw I form them into little boards and then +smooth them with a sharp case knife, but the London veneering-mills +would turn them out fit for immediate use, without any necessity for +more than a touch of fine glass-paper. Some of my pigmy boards are two +feet long by three and a half inches wide, which is more than sufficient +for our purpose, and to me they have proved a vast acquisition. The +natives call them 'Kirilimow,' the latter syllable signifying +root"--TEMPLETON, _Trans. Ent. Soc._ vol. iii. p. 302.] + +A little further inland, the sandy plains are covered by a thorny +jungle, the plants of which are the same as those of the Carnatic, the +climate being alike; and wherever man has encroached on the solitude, +groves of coco-nut palms mark the vicinity of his habitations. + +Remote from the sea, the level country of the north has a flora almost +identical with that of Coromandel; but the arid nature of the Ceylon +soil, and its drier atmosphere, is attested by the greater proportion of +euphorbias and fleshy shrubs, as well as by the wiry and stunted nature +of the trees, their smaller leaves and thorny stems and branches.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Dr. Gardner.] + +Conspicuous amongst them are acacias of many kinds; _Cassia fistula_ the +wood apple (_Feronia elephantum_), and the mustard tree of Scripture +(_Salvadora Persica_), which extends from Ceylon to the Holy Land. The +margosa (_Azadirachta Indica_), the satin wood, the Ceylon oak, and the +tamarind and ebony, are examples of the larger trees; and in the extreme +north and west the Palmyra palm takes the place of the coco-nut, and not +only lines the shore, but fills the landscape on every side with its +shady and prolific groves. + +Proceeding southward on the western coast, the acacias disappear, and +the greater profusion of vegetation, the taller growth of the timber, +and the darker tinge of the foliage, all attest the influence of the +increased moisture both from the rivers and the rains. The brilliant +_Ixoras, Erythrinas, Buteas, Jonesias, Hibiscus_, and a variety of +flowering shrubs of similar beauty, enliven the forests with their +splendour; and the seeds of the cinnamon, carried by the birds from the +cultivated gardens near the coasts, have germinated in the sandy soil, +and diversify the woods with the fresh verdure of its polished leaves +and delicately-tinted shoots. It is to be found universally to a +considerable height in the lower range of hills, and thither the Chalias +were accustomed to resort to cut and peel it, a task which was imposed +on them as a feudal service by the native sovereign, who paid an annual +tribute in prepared cinnamon to the Dutch, and to the present time this +branch of the trade in the article continues, but divested of its +compulsory character. + +The Dutch, in like manner, maintained, during the entire period of their +rule, an extensive commerce in pepper worts, which still festoon the +forest, but the export has almost ceased from Ceylon. Along with these +the trunks of the larger trees are profusely covered with other delicate +creepers, chiefly Convolvuli and Ipomoeas; and the pitcher-plant +(_Nepenthes distillatoria_) lures the passer-by to halt and conjecture +the probable uses of the curious mechanism, by means of which it distils +a quantity of limpid fluid into the vegetable vases at the extremity of +its leaves. The Orchideae suspend their pendulous flowers from the angles +of branches, whilst the bare roots and the lower part of the stem are +occasionally covered with fungi of the most gaudy colours, bright red, +yellow, and purple. + +Of the east side of the island the botany has never yet been examined by +any scientific resident, but the productions of the hill country have +been largely explored, and present features altogether distinct from +those of the plains. For the first two or three thousand feet the +dissimilarity is less perceptible to an unscientific eye, but as we +ascend, the difference becomes apparent in the larger size of the +leaves, and the nearly uniform colour of the foliage, except where the +scarlet shoots of the ironwood tree (_Mesua ferrea_) seem, like flowers +in their blood-red hue. Here the broad leaves of the wild plantains +(_Musa textilis_) penetrate the soil among the broken rocks; and in +moist spots the graceful bamboo flourishes in groups, whose feathery +foliage waves like the plumes of the ostrich.[1] It is at these +elevations that the sameness of the scenery is diversified by the grassy +patenas before alluded to[2], which, in their aspect, though not their +extent, may be called the Savannahs of Ceylon. Here peaches, cherries, +and other European fruit trees, grow freely; but they become evergreens +in this summer climate, and, exhausted by perennial excitement, and +deprived of their winter repose, they refuse to ripen their fruit.[3] A +similar failure was discovered in some European vines, which were +cultivated at Jaffna; but Mr. Dyke, the government agent, in whose +garden they grew, conceiving that the activity of the plants might be +equally checked by exposing them to an extreme of warmth, as by +subjecting them to cold, tried, with perfect success, the experiment of +laying bare the roots in the strongest heat of the sun. The result +verified his conjecture. The circulation of the sap was arrested, the +vines obtained the needful repose, and the grapes, which before had +fallen almost unformed from the tree, are now brought to thorough +maturity, though inferior in flavour to those produced at home.[4] + +[Footnote 1: In the Malayan peninsula the bamboo has been converted into +an instrument of natural music, by perforating it with holes through +which the wind is permitted to sigh; and the effect is described as +perfectly charming. Mr. Logan, who in 1847 visited Naning; contiguous to +the frontier of the European settlement of Malacca, on approaching the +village of Kandang, was surprised by hearing "the most melodious sounds, +some soft and liquid like the notes of a flute, and others deep and full +like the tones of an organ. They were sometimes low, interrupted, or +even single, and presently they would swell into a grand burst of +mingled melody. On drawing near to a clump of trees; above the branches +of which waved a slender bamboo about forty feet in length, he found +that the musical tones issued from it, and were caused by the breeze +passing through perforations in the stem; the instrument thus formed is +called by the natives the _bulu perindu_, or plaintive bamboo." Those +which Mr. Logan saw had a slit in each joint, so that each stem +possessed fourteen or twenty notes.] + +[Footnote 2: See _ante_, p. 24.] + +[Footnote 3: The apple-tree in the Peradenia Gardens seems not only to +have become an evergreen but to have changed its character in another +particular; for it is found to send out numerous runners under ground, +which continually rise into small stems and form a growth of shrub-like +plants around the parent tree.] + +[Footnote 4: An equally successful experiment, to give the vine an +artificial winter by baring the roots, is recorded by Mr. BALLARD, of +Bombay, in the _Transactions of the Agric. and Hortic. Society of +India_, under date 24th May,1824. Calcutta. 1850. Vol. i. p. 96.] + +The tea plant has been raised with complete success in the hills on the +estate of the Messrs. Worms, at Rothschild, in Pusilawa[1]; but the want +of any skilful manipulators to collect and prepare the leaves, renders +it hopeless to attempt any experiment on a large scale, until assistance +can be secured from China, to conduct the preparation. + +[Footnote 1: The cultivation of tea was attempted by the Dutch, but +without success.] + +Still ascending, at an elevation of 6500 feet, as we approach the +mountain plateau of Neuera-ellia, the dimensions of the trees again +diminish, the stems and branches are covered with orchideae and mosses, +and around them spring up herbaceous plants and balsams, with here and +there broad expanses covered with _Acanthaceae_, whose seeds are the +favourite food of the jungle fowl, which are always in perfection during +the ripening of the Nilloo.[1] It is in these regions that the +tree-ferns (_Alsophila gigantea_) rise from the damp hollows, and carry +their gracefully plumed heads sometimes to the height of twenty feet. + +[Footnote 1: There are said to be fourteen species of the Nilloo +(_Strobilanthes_) in Ceylon. They form a complete under-growth in the +forest five or six feet in height, and sometimes extending for miles. +When in bloom, their red and blue flowers are a singularly beautiful +feature in the landscape, and are eagerly searched by the honey bees. +Some species are said to flower only once in five, seven, or nine years; +and after ripening their seed they die. This is one reason assigned for +the sudden appearance of the rats, which have been elsewhere alluded to +(vol. i. p. 149, ii. p. 234) as invading the coffee estates, when +deprived of their ordinary food by the decay of the nilloo. It has been +observed that the jungle fowl, after feeding on the nilloo, have their +eyes so affected by it, as to be partially blinded, and permit +themselves to be taken by the hand. Are the seeds of this plant narcotic +like some of the _Solanaceaae_? or do they cause dilatation of the pupil, +like those of the _Atropa Belladonna_?] + +At length in the loftiest range of the hills the Rhododendrons are +discovered; no longer delicate bushes, as in Europe, but timber trees of +considerable height, and corresponding dimensions, and every branch +covered with a blaze of crimson flowers. In these forests are also to be +met with some species of _Michelia_, the Indian representatives of the +Magnolias of North America, several arboreous _myrtaceae_ and +_ternstromiaceae_, the most common of which is the camelia-like _Gordonia +Ceylanica_.[1] These and _Vaccinia, Gaultheria, Symploci, Goughia_, and +_Gomphandra_, establish the affinity between the vegetation of this +region and that of the Malabar ranges, the Khasia and Lower Himalaya.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Dr. Gardner.] + +[Footnote 2: _Introduction to the Flora Indica_ of Dr. HOOKER and Dr. +THOMSON, p. 120. London, 1855.] + +Generally speaking, the timber on the high mountains is of little value +for oeconomic purposes. Though of considerable dimensions, it is too +unsubstantial to be serviceable for building or domestic uses; and +perhaps, it may be regarded as an evidence of its perishable nature, +that dead timber is rarely to be seen in any quantity encumbering the +ground, in the heart of the deepest forests. It seems to go to dust +almost immediately after its fall, and although the process of +destruction is infinitely accelerated by the ravages of insects, +especially the white ants (_termites_) and beetles, which instantly +seize on every fallen branch: still, one would expect that the harder +woods would, more or less, resist their attacks till natural +decomposition should have facilitated their operations and would thus +exhibit more leisurely the progress of decay. But here decay is +comparatively instantaneous, and it is seldom that fallen timber is to +be found, except in the last stage of conversion into dust. + +Some of the trees in the higher ranges are remarkable for the prodigious +height to which they struggle upwards from the dense jungle towards the +air and light; and one of the most curious of nature's devices, is the +singular expedient by which some families of these very tall and +top-heavy trees throw out buttresses like walls of wood, to support +themselves from beneath. Five or six of these buttresses project like +rays from all sides of the trunk: they are from six to twelve inches +thick, and advance from five to fifteen feet outward; and as they +ascend, gradually sink into the hole and disappear at the height of from +ten to twenty feet from the ground. By the firm resistance which they +offer below, the trees are effectually steadied, and protected from the +leverage of the crown, by which they would otherwise be uprooted. Some +of these buttresses are so smooth and flat, as almost to resemble sawn +planks. + +The greatest ornaments of the forest in these higher regions are the +large flowering trees; the most striking of which is the Rhododendron, +which in Ceylon forms a forest in the mountains, and when covered with +flowers, it seems from a distance as though the hills were strewn with +vermilion. This is the principal tree on the summit of Adam's Peak, and +grows to the foot of the rock on which rests the little temple that +covers the sacred footstep on its crest. Dr. Hooker states that the +honey of its flowers is believed to be poisonous in some parts of +Sikkim; but I never heard it so regarded in Ceylon. + +One of the most magnificent of the flowering trees, is the coral +tree[1], which is also the most familiar to Europeans, as the natives of +the low country and the coast, from the circumstance of its stem being +covered with thorns, plant it largely for fences, and grow it in the +vicinity of their dwellings. It derives its English name from the +resemblance which its scarlet flowers present to red coral, and as these +clothe the branches before the leaves appear, their splendour attracts +the eye from a distance, especially when lighted by the full blaze of +the sun. + +[Footnote 1: _Erythrina Indica_. It belongs to the pea tribe, and must +not be confounded with the _Jatropha multifida_ which has also acquired +the name of the _coral tree_. Its wood is so light and spongy, that it +is used in Ceylon to form corks for preserve jars; and both there and at +Madras the natives make from it models of their implements of husbandry, +and of their sailing boats and canoes.] + +The Murutu[1] is another flowering tree which may vie with the Coral, +the Rhododendron, or the Asoca, the favourite of Sanskrit poetry. It +grows to a considerable height, especially in damp places and the +neighbourhood of streams, and pains have been taken, from appreciation +of its attractions, to plant it by the road side and in other +conspicuous positions. From the points of the branches panicles are +produced, two or three feet in length, composed of flowers, each the +size of a rose and of all shades, from a delicate pink to the deepest +purple. It abounds in the south-west of the island. + +[Footnote 1: Lagerstroemia Reginae.] + +The magnificent Asoca[1] is found in the interior, and is cultivated, +though not successfully, in the Peradenia Garden, and in that attached +to Elie House at Colombo. But in Toompane, and in the valley of +Doombera, its loveliness vindicates all the praises bestowed on it by +the poets of the East. Its orange and crimson flowers grow in graceful +racemes, and the Singhalese, who have given the rhododendron the +pre-eminent appellation of the "great red flower," (_maha-rat-mal_,) +have called the Asoca the _diya-rat-mal_ to indicate its partiality for +"moisture," combined with its prevailing hue. + +[Footnote 1: Jonesia Asoca.] + +But the tree which will most frequently attract the eye of the +traveller, is the kattoo-imbul of the Singhalese[1], one of which +produces the silky cotton which, though incapable of being spun, owing +to the shortness of its delicate fibre, makes the most luxurious +stuffing for sofas and pillows. It is a tall tree covered with +formidable thorns; and being deciduous, the fresh leaves, like those of +the coral tree, do not make their appearance till after the crimson +flowers have covered the branches with their bright tulip-like petals. +So profuse are these gorgeous flowers, that when they fall, the ground +for many roods on all sides is a carpet of scarlet. They are succeeded +by large oblong pods, in which the black polished seeds are deeply +embedded in the floss which is so much prized by the natives. The trunk +is of an unusually bright green colour, and the branches issue +horizontally from the stem, in whorls of threes with a distance of six +or seven feet between each whorl. + +[Footnote 1: _Bombax Malabaricus_. As the genus Bombax is confined to +tropical America, the German botanists, Schott and Endlicher, have +assigned to the imbul its ancient Sanskrit name, and described it as +_Salmalia Malabarica_.] + +Near every Buddhist temple the priests plant the Iron tree (_Messua +ferrea_)[1] for the sake of its flowers, with which they decorate the +images of Buddha. They resemble white roses, and form a singular +contrast with the buds and shoots of the tree, which are of the deepest +crimson. Along with its flowers the priests use likewise those of the +Champac (_Michelia Champaca_), belonging to the family of magnoliaceae. +They have a pale yellow tint, with the sweet oppressive perfume which is +celebrated in the poetry of the Hindus. From the wood of the champac the +images of Buddha are carved for the temples. + +[Footnote 1: Dr. Gardner supposed the ironwood tree of Ceylon to have +been confounded with the _Messua ferrea_ of Linnaeus. He asserted it to +be a distinct species, and assigned to it the well-known Singhalese name +"_nagaha_," or _iron-wood tree_. But this conjecture has since proved +erroneous.] + +The celebrated Upas tree of Java (_Antiaris toxicaria_) which has been +the subject of so many romances, exploded by Dr. Horsfield[1], was +supposed by Dr. Gardner to exist in Ceylon, but more recent scrutiny has +shown that what he mistook for it, was an allied species, the _A. +saccidora_, which grows at Kornegalle, and in other parts of the island; +and is scarcely less remarkable, though for very different +characteristics. The Ceylon species was first brought to public notice +by E. Rawdon Power, Esq., government agent of the Kandyan province, who +sent specimens of it, and of the sacks which it furnishes, to the branch +of the Asiatic Society at Colombo. It is known to the Singhalese by the +name of "ritigaha," and is identical with the _Lepurandra saccidora_, +from which the natives of Coorg, like those of Ceylon, manufacture an +ingenious substitute for sacks by a process which is described by Mr. +Nimmo.[2] "A branch is cut corresponding to the length and breadth of +the bag required, it is soaked and then beaten with clubs till the liber +separates from the timber. This done, the sack which is thus formed out +of the bark is turned inside out, and drawn downwards to permit the wood +to be sawn off, leaving a portion to form the bottom which is kept +firmly in its place by the natural attachment of the bark." + +[Footnote 1: The vegetable poisons, the use of which is ascribed to the +Singhalese, are chiefly the seeds of the _Datura_, which act as a +powerful narcotic, and those of the _Croton tiglium_, the excessive +effect of which ends in death. The root of the _Nerium odorum_ is +equally fatal, as is likewise the exquisitely beautiful _Gloriosa +superba_, whose brilliant flowers festoon the jungle in the plains of +the low country. See Bennett's account of the _Antiaris_, in HORSFIELD'S +_Plantae Javanicae_.] + +[Footnote 2: Catalogue of Bombay Plants, p. 193. The process in Ceylon +is thus described in Sir W. HOOKER'S _Report on the Vegetable Products_ +exhibited in Paris in 1855: "The trees chosen for the purpose measure +above a foot in diameter. The felled trunks are cut into lengths, and +the bark is well beaten with a stone or a club till the parenchymatous +part comes off, leaving only the inner bark attached to the wood; which +is thus easily drawn out by the hand. The bark thus obtained is fibrous +and tough, resembling a woven fabric: it is sewn at one end into a sack, +which is filled with sand, and dried in the sun."] + +As we descend the hills the banyans[1] and a variety of figs make their +appearance. They are the Thugs of the vegetable world, for although not +necessarily epiphytic, it may be said that in point of fact no single +plant comes to perfection, or acquires even partial development, without +the destruction of some other on which to fix itself as its supporter. +The family generally make their first appearance as slender roots +hanging from the crown or trunk of some other tree, generally a palm, +among the moist bases of whose leaves the seed carried thither by some +bird which had fed upon the fig, begins to germinate. This root +branching as it descends, envelopes the trunk of the supporting tree +with a network of wood, and at length penetrating the ground, attains +the dimensions of a stem. But unlike a _stem_ it throws out no buds, +leaves, or flowers; the true stem, with its branches, its foliage, and +fruit, springs upwards from the crown of the tree whence the root is +seen descending; and from it issue the pendulous rootlets, which, on +reaching the earth, fix themselves firmly and form the marvellous growth +for which the banyan is so celebrated.[2] In the depth of this grove, +the original tree is incarcerated till, literally strangled by the folds +and weight of its resistless companion, it dies and leaves the fig in +undisturbed possession of its place. It is not unusual in the forest to +find a fig-tree which had been thus upborne till it became a standard, +now forming a hollow cylinder, the centre of which was once filled by +the sustaining tree: but the empty walls form a circular network of +interlaced roots and branches; firmly agglutinated under pressure, and +admitting the light through interstices that look like loopholes in a +turret. + +[Footnote 1: Ficus Indica.] + +[Footnote 2: I do not remember to have seen the following passage from +Pliny referred to as the original of Milton's description of this +marvellous tree:-- + +"Ipsa se serens, vastis diffunditur ramis: quorum imi adeo in terram +curvantur, ut annuo spatio infigantur, novamque sibi _propaginem faciant +circa parentem in orbem._ Intra septem eam _aestivant pastores_, opacam +pariter et munitam vallo arboris, decora specie subter intuenti, +proculve, _fornicato_ arbore. Foliorum latitudo _peltae effigiem +Amazonicae_ habet," &c.--PLINY, 1. xii. c. 11. + + "The fig-tree--not that kind for fruit renowned, + But such as at this day to Indians known, + In Malabar or Dekkan spreads her arms, + Branching so broad and long, that on the ground + The bended twigs take root, and _daughters grow + About the mother tree: a pillar'd_ shade + High over arched and echoing walks between. + There oft the Indian herdsman, shunning heat, + Shelters in cool and _tends his pasturing flocks_ + At loop-holes cut through thickest shade. These leaves + They gathered; broad as _Amazonian targe:_ + And with what skill they had, together sewed + To gird their waist," &c. + +_Par. Lost_, ix. 1100. + +Pliny's description is borrowed, with some embellishments, from +THEOPHRASTUS _de. Nat. Plant._ l. i. 7. iv. 4.] + +[Illustration: MARRIAGE OF THE FIG-TREE AND THE PALM.] + +Another species of the same genus, _F. repens,_ is a fitting +representative of the English ivy, and is constantly to be seen +clambering over rocks, turning through heaps of stones, or ascending +some tall tree to the height of thirty or forty feet, while the +thickness of its own stem does not exceed a quarter of an inch. + +The facility with which the seeds of the fig-tree take root where there +is a sufficiency of moisture to permit of germination, has rendered them +formidable assailants of the ancient monuments throughout Ceylon. The +vast mounds of brickwork which constitute the remains of the Dagobas at +Anarajapoora and Pollanarrua are covered densely with trees, among which +the figs are always conspicuous. One, which has fixed itself on the +walls of a ruined edifice at the latter city, forms one of the most +remarkable objects of the place--its roots streaming downwards over the +walls as if their wood had once been fluid, follow every sinuosity of +the building and terraces till they reach the earth. + +[Illustration: A FIG TREE ON THE RUINS OF POLLANARRUA.] + +To this genus belongs the Sacred Bo-tree of the Buddhists, _Ficus +religiosa,_ which is planted close to every temple, and attracts almost +as much veneration as the statue of the god himself. At Anarajapoora is +still preserved the identical tree said to have been planted 288 years +before the Christian era.[1] + +[Footnote 1: For a memoir of this celebrated tree, see the account of +Anarajapoora, Vol. II. p. 10.] + +Although the India-rubber tree (_F. elastica_) is not indigenous to +Ceylon, it is now very widely diffused over the island. It is remarkable +for the pink leathery covering which envelopes the leaves before +expansion, and for the delicate tracing of the nerves which run in +equi-distant rows at right angles from the mid-rib. But its most +striking feature is the exposure of its roots, masses of which appear +above ground, extending on all sides from the base, and writhing over +the surface in undulations-- + + "Like snakes in wild festoon, + In ramous wrestlings interlaced, + A forest Laocoon."[1] + +[Footnote 1: HOOD's poem of _The Elm Tree._] + +So strong, in fact, is the resemblance, that the villagers give it the +name of the "Snake-tree." One, which grows close to Cotta, at the Church +Missionary establishment within a few miles of Colombo, affords a +remarkable illustration of this peculiarity. + +[Illustration: THE SNAKE-TREE.] + +There is an avenue of these trees leading to the Gardens of Peradenia, +the roots of which meet from either side of the road, and have so +covered the surface by their agglutinated reticulations as to form a +wooden framework, the interstices of which retain the materials that +form the roadway.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Mr. Ferguson of the Surveyor-General's Department, assures +me that he once measured the root of a small wild fig-tree, growing in a +patena at Hewahette, and found it upwards of 140 feet in length, whilst +the tree itself was not 30 feet high.] + +The Kumbuk of the Singhalese (called by the Tamils Maratha-maram)[1] is +one of the noblest and most widely distributed trees in the island; it +delights in the banks of rivers and moist borders of tanks and canals; +it overshadows the stream of the Mahawelli-ganga, almost from Kandy to +the sea; and it stretches its great arms above the still water of the +lakes on the eastern side of the island. + +[Footnote 1: Pentaptera tomentosa _(Rox.)_.] + +One venerable patriarch of this species, which grows at Mutwal, within +three miles of Colombo, towers to so great a height above the +surrounding forests of coconut palms, that it forms a landmark for the +native boatmen, and is discernible from Negombo, more than twenty miles +distant. The circumference of its stem, as measured by Mr. W. Ferguson, +in 1850, was forty-five feet close to the earth, and seven yards at +twelve feet above the ground. + +The timber, which is durable, is applied to the carving of idols for the +temples, besides being extensively used for less dignified purposes; but +it is chiefly prized for the bark, which is sold as a medicine, and, in +addition to yielding a black dye, it is so charged with calcareous +matter that its ashes, when burnt, afford a substitute for the lime +which the natives chew with their betel. + +Some of the trees found in the forests of the interior are remarkable +for the curious forms in which they produce their seeds. One of these, +which sometimes grows to the height of one hundred feet without throwing +out a single branch, has been confounded with the durian of the Eastern +Archipelago, or supposed to be an allied species[1], but it differs from +it in the important particular that its fruit is not edible. The real +durian is not indigenous to Ceylon, but was brought there by the +Portuguese in the sixteenth century.[2] It has been very recently +re-introduced, and is now cultivated successfully. The native name for +the Singhalese tree, "Katu-boeda," denotes the prickles that cover its +fruit, which is as large as a coco-nut, and set with thorns each nearly +an inch in length. + +[Footnote 1: It is the _Cullenia excelsa_ of WIGHT's _Icones, &c._ +(761-2).] + +[Footnote 2: PORCACCHI, in his _Isolario_, written in the sixteenth +century, enumerates the true durian as being then amongst the ordinary +fruit of Ceylon.--"Vi nasce anchora un frutto detto Duriano, verde et +grande come quei cocomeri, che a Venetia son chiamati angurie: in mezo +del quale trouano dentro cinque frutti de sapor molto excellente."--Lib. +iii. p. 188. Padua, A.D. 1619.] + +The _Sterculia foetida,_ one of the finest and noblest of the Ceylon +forest-trees, produces from the end of its branches large bunches of +dark purple flowers of extreme richness and beauty; but emitting a +stench so intolerable as richly to entitle it to its very characteristic +botanical name. The fruit is equally remarkable, and consists of several +crimson cases of the consistency of leather, within which are enclosed a +number of black bean-like seeds: these are dispersed by the bursting of +their envelope, which splits open to liberate them when sufficiently +ripened. + +The Moodilla (_Barringtonia speciosa_) is another tree which attracts +the eye of the traveller, not less from the remarkably shaped fruit +which it bears than from the contrast between its dark glossy leaves and +the delicate flowers which they surround. The latter are white, tipped +with crimson, but the petals drop off early, and the stamens, of which +there are nearly a hundred to each flower, when they fall to the ground +might almost be mistaken for painters' brushes. The tree (as its name +implies) loves the shore of the sea, and its large quadrangular fruits, +of pyramidal form, being protected by a hard fibrous covering, are +tossed by the waves till they root themselves on the beach. It grows +freely at the mouths of the principal rivers on the west coast, and +several noble specimens of it are found near the fort of Colombo. + +The Goda-kaduru, or _Strychnos nux-vomica_ is abundant in these +prodigious forests, and has obtained an European celebrity on account of +its producing the poisonous seeds from which strychnine is extracted. +Its fruit, which it exhibits in great profusion, is of the size and +colour of a small orange, within which a pulpy substance envelopes the +seeds that form the "nux-vomica" of commerce. It grows in great +luxuriance in the vicinity of the ruined tanks throughout the Wanny, and +on the west coast as far south as Negombo. It is singular that in this +genus there should be found two plants, the seeds of one being not only +harmless but wholesome, and that of the other the most formidable of +known poisons.[1] Amongst the Malabar immigrants there is a belief that +the seeds of the goda-kaduru, if habitually taken, will act as a +prophylactic against the venom of the cobra de capello; and I have been +assured that the coolies coming from the coast of India accustom +themselves to eat a single seed per day in order to acquire the desired +protection from the effects of this serpent's bite.[2] + +[Footnote 1: The _tettan-cotta,_ the use of which is described in Vol. +II. Pt. ix. ch. i. p. 411, when applied by the natives to clarify muddy +water, is the seed of another species of strychnos, _S. potatorum_. The +Singhalese name is _ingini_ (_tettan-cotta_ is Tamil).] + +[Footnote 2: In India, the distillers of arrack from the juice of the +coco-nut palm are said, by Roxburgh, to introduce the seeds of the +strychnus, in order to increase the intoxicating power of the spirit.] + +In these forests the Euphorbia[1], which we are accustomed to see only +as a cactus-like green-house plant, attains the size and strength of a +small timber-tree; its quadrangular stem becomes circular and woody, and +its square fleshy shoots take the form of branches, or rise with a +rounded top as high as thirty feet.[2] + +[Footnote 1: E. Antiquorun.] + +[Footnote 2: Amongst the remarkable plants of Ceylon, there is one +concerning which a singular error has been perpetuated in botanical +works from the time of Paul Hermann, who first described it in 1687, to +the present. I mean the _kiri-anguna_ (Gymnema lactiferum), evidently a +form of the G. sylvestre, to which has been given the name of the +_Ceylon cow-tree_; and it is asserted that the natives drink its juice +as we do milk. LOUDON (_Ency. of Plants_, p. 197) says, "The milk of the +_G. lactiferum_ is used instead of the vaccine ichor, and the leaves are +employed in sauces in the room of cream." And LINDLEY, in his _Vegetable +Kingdom_, in speaking of the Asclepiads, says, "the cow plant of Ceylon, +'kiri-anguna,' yields a milk of which the Singhalese make use for food; +and its leaves are also used when boiled." Even in the _English +Cyclopaedia_ of CHARLES KNIGHT, published so lately as 1854, this error +is repeated. (See art. Cow-tree, p. 178.) But this in altogether a +mistake;--the Ceylon plant, like many others, has acquired its epithet +of _kiri_, not from the juices being susceptible of being used as a +substitute for milk, but simply from its resemblance to it in colour and +consistency. It is a creeper, found on the southern and western coasts, +and used medicinally by the natives, but never as an article of food. +The leaves, when chopped and boiled, are administered to nurses by +native practitioners, and are supposed to increase the secretion of +milk. As to its use, as stated by London, in lieu of the vaccine matter, +it is altogether erroneous. MOON, in his _Catalogue of the Plants of +Ceylon_, has accidentally mentioned the kiri-anguna twice, being misled +by the Pali synonym "kiri-hangula": they are the same plant, though he +has inserted them as different, p. 21.] + +But that which arrests the attention even of an indifferent passer-by is +the endless variety and almost inconceivable size and luxuriance of the +_climbing plants and epiphytes_ which live upon the forest trees in +every part of the island. It is rare to see a single tree without its +families of dependents of this description, and on one occasion I +counted on a single prostrate stem no less than sixteen species of +Capparis, Beaumontia, Bignonia, Ipomoea, and other genera, which, in its +fall, it had brought along with it to the ground. Those which are free +from climbing plants have their higher branches and hollows occupied by +ferns and orchids, of which latter the variety is endless in Ceylon, +though the beauty of their flower is not equal to those of Brazil and +other tropical countries. In the many excursions which I made with Dr. +Gardner he added numerous species to those already known, including the +exquisite _Saccolabium guttatum_, which we came upon in the vicinity of +Bintenne, but which had before been discovered in Java and the mountains +of northern India. Its large groups of lilac flowers hung in rich +festoons from the branches as we rode under them, and caused us many an +involuntary halt to admire and secure the plants. + +A rich harvest of botanical discovery still remains for the scientific +explorer of the districts south and east of Adam's Peak, whence Dr. +Gardner's successor, Mr. Thwaites, has already brought some remarkable +species. Many of the Ceylon orchids, like those of South America, +exhibit a grotesque similitude to various animals; and one, a +_Dendrobium_., which the Singhalese cultivate in the palms near their +dwelling, bears a name equivalent to the _White-pigeon flower,_ from the +resemblance which its clusters present to a group of those birds in +miniature clinging to the stem with wings at rest. + +But of this order the most exquisite plant I have seen is the +_Anaectochilus setaceus_, a terrestrial orchid which is to be found about +the moist roots of the forest trees, and has drawn the attention of even +the apathetic Singhalese, among whom its singular beauty has won for it +the popular name of the Wanna Raja, or "King of the Forest." It is +common in humid and shady places a few miles removed from the sea-coast; +its flowers have no particular attraction, but its leaves are perhaps +the most exquisitely formed in the vegetable kingdom; their colour +resembles dark velvet, approaching to black, and reticulated over all +the surface with veins of ruddy gold.[1] + +[Footnote 1: There is another small orchid bearing a slight resemblance +to the wanna raja, which is often found growing along with it, called by +the Singhalese iri raja, or "striped king." Its leaves are somewhat +bronzed, but they are longer and narrower than those of the wanna raja; +and, as its Singhalese name implies, it has two white stripes running +through the length of each. They are not of the same genus; the wanna +raja being the only species of _Anaectochilus_ yet found in Ceylon.] + +The branches of all the lower trees and brushwood are so densely covered +with convolvuli, and similar delicate climbers of every colour, that +frequently it is difficult to discover the tree which supports them, +owing to the heaps of verdure under which it is concealed. One very +curious creeper, which always catches the eye, is the square-stemmed +vine[1], whose fleshy four-sided runners climb the highest trees, and +hang down in the most fantastic bunches. Its stem, like that of another +plant of the same genus (the _Vitis Indica_), when freshly cut, yields a +copious draught of pure tasteless fluid, and is eagerly sought after by +elephants. + +[Footnote 1: Cissus edulis, _Dalz_.] + +But it is the trees of older and loftier growth that exhibit the rank +luxuriance of these wonderful epiphytes in the most striking manner. +They are tormented by climbing plants of such extraordinary dimensions +that many of them exceed in diameter the girth of a man; and these +gigantic appendages are to be seen surmounting the tallest trees of the +forest, grasping their stems in firm convolutions, and then flinging +their monstrous tendrils over the larger limbs till they reach the top, +whence they descend to the ground in huge festoons, and, after including +another and another tree in their successive toils, they once more +ascend to the summit, and wind the whole into a maze of living network +as massy as if formed by the cable of a line-of-battle ship. When, +by-and-by, the trees on which this singular fabric has become suspended +give way under its weight, or sink by their own decay, the fallen trunk +speedily disappears, whilst the convolutions of climbers continue to +grow on, exhibiting one of the most marvellous and peculiar living +mounds of confusion that it is possible to fancy. Frequently one of +these creepers may be seen holding by one extremity the summit of a tall +tree, and grasping with the other an object at some distance near the +earth, between which it is strained as tight and straight as if hauled +over a block. In all probability the young tendril had been originally +fixed in this position by the wind, and retained in it till it had +gained its maturity, where it has the appearance of having been +artificially arranged as if to support a falling tree. + +This peculiarity of tropical vegetation has been turned to profitable +account by the Ceylon woodmen, employed by the European planters in +felling forest trees, preparatory to the cultivation of coffee. In this +craft they are singularly expert, and far surpass the Malabar coolies, +who assist in the same operations. In steep and mountainous places where +the trees have been thus lashed together by the interlacing climbers, +the practice is to cut halfway through each stem in succession, till an +area of some acres in extent is prepared for the final overthrow. Then +severing some tall group on the eminence, and allowing it in its descent +to precipitate itself on those below, the whole expanse is in one moment +brought headlong to the ground; the falling timber forcing down those +beneath it by its weight, and dragging those behind to which it is +harnessed by its living attachments. The crash occasioned by this +startling operation is so deafeningly loud, that it is audible for two +or three miles in the clear and still atmosphere of the hills. + +One monstrous creeping plant called by the Kandyans the Maha-pus-wael, +or "Great hollow climber,"[1] has pods, some of which I have seen fully +five feet long and six inches broad, with beautiful brown beans, so +large that the natives hollow them out, and carry them as tinder-boxes. + +[Footnote 1: _Entada pursaetha_. The same plant, when found in lower +situations, where it wants the soil and moisture of the mountains, is so +altered in appearance that the natives call it the "heen-pus-wael;" and +even botanists have taken it for a distinct species. The beautiful +mountain region of Pusilawa, now familiar as one of the finest coffee +districts in Ceylon, in all probability takes its name from the giant +bean, "Pus-waelawa."] + +Another climber of less dimensions[1], but greater luxuriance, haunts +the jungle, and often reaches the tops of the highest trees, whence it +suspends large bunches of its yellow flowers, and eventually produces +clusters of prickly pods containing greyish-coloured seeds, less than an +inch in diameter, which are so strongly coated with silex, that they are +said to strike fire like a flint. + +[Footnote 1: Guilandina Bonduc.] + +One other curious climber is remarkable for the vigour and vitality of +its vegetation, a faculty in which it equals, if it do not surpass, the +banyan. This is the _Cocculus cordifolius_, the "rasa-kindu" of the +Singhalese, a medicinal plant which produces the _guluncha_ of Bengal. +It is largely cultivated in Ceylon, and when it has acquired the +diameter of half an inch, it is not unusual for the natives to cut from +the main stem a portion of from twenty to thirty feet in length, leaving +the dissevered plant suspended from the branches of the tree which +sustained it. The amputation naturally serves for a time to check its +growth, but presently small rootlets, not thicker than a pack-thread, +are seen shooting downwards from the wounded end; these swing in the +wind till, reaching the ground, they attach themselves in the soil, and +form new stems, which in turn, when sufficiently grown, are cut away and +replaced by a subsequent growth. Such is its tenacity of life, that when +the Singhalese wish to grow the _rasa-kindu_, they twist several yards +of the stem into a coil of six or eight inches in diameter, and simply +hang it on the branch of a tree, where it speedily puts forth its large +heart-shaped leaves, and sends down its rootlets to the earth. + +The ground too has its creepers, and some of them very curious. The most +remarkable are the ratans, belonging to the Calamus genus of palms. Of +these I have seen a specimen 250 feet long and an inch in diameter, +without a single irregularity, and no appearance of foliage other than +the bunch of feathery leaves at the extremity. + +The strength of these slender plants is so extreme, that the natives +employ them with striking success in the formation of bridges across the +water-courses and ravines. One which crossed the falls of the +Mahawelliganga, in the Kotmahe range of hills, was constructed with the +scientific precision of an engineer's work. It was entirely composed of +the plant, called by the natives the "Waywel," its extremities fastened +to living trees, on the opposite sides of the ravine through which a +furious and otherwise impassable mountain torrent thundered and fell +from rock to rock with a descent of nearly 100 feet. The flooring of +this aerial bridge consisted of short splints of wood, laid +transversely, and bound in their places by thin strips of the waywel +itself. The whole structure vibrated and swayed with fearful ease, but +the coolies traversed it though heavily laden; and the European, between +whose estate and the high road it lay, rode over it daily without +dismounting. + +Another class of trees which excites the astonishment of an European, +are those whose stems are protected, as high as cattle can reach, by +thorns, which in the jungle attain a growth and size quite surprising. +One species of palm[1], the _Caryota horrida,_ often rises to a height +of fifty feet, and has a coating of thorns for about six or eight feet +from the ground, each about an inch in length, and so densely covering +the stem that the bark is barely visible. + +[Footnote 1: This palm I have called a _Caryota_ on the authority of Dr. +GARDNER, and of MOON'S _Catalogue_; but I have been informed by Dr. +HOOKER and Mr. THWAITES that it is an _Areca_. The natives identify it +with the Caryota, and call it the "katu-kittul."] + +A climbing plant, the "Kudu-miris" of the Singhalese[1], very common in +the hill jungles, with a diameter of three or four inches, is thickly +studded with knobs about half an inch high, and from the extremity of +each a thorn protrudes, as large and sharp as the bill of a +sparrow-hawk. It has been the custom of the Singhalese from time +immemorial, to employ the thorny trees of their forests in the +construction of defences against their enemies. The _Mahawanso_ relates, +that in the civil wars, in the reign of Prakrama-bahu in the twelfth +century, the inhabitants of the southern portion of the island +intrenched themselves against his forces behind moats filled with +thorns.[2] And at an earlier period, during the contest of Dutugaimunu +with Elala, the same authority states, that a town which he was about to +attack was "surrounded on all sides by the thorny _Dadambo creeper_ +(probably Toddalia aculeata), within which was a triple hue of +fortifications, with one gate of difficult access."[3] + +[Footnote 1: Toddalia aculeata.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_ ch. lxxiv.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_ ch. xxv.] + +During the existence of the Kandyan kingdom as an independent state, +before its conquest by the British, the frontier forests were so +thickened and defended by dense plantations of these thorny palms and +climbers at different points, as to exhibit a natural fortification +impregnable to the feeble tribes on the other side, and at each pass +which led to the level country, movable gates, formed of the same +formidable thorny beams, were suspended as an ample security against the +incursions of the naked and timid lowlanders.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The kings of Kandy maintained a regulation "that no one; on +pain of death, should presume to cut a road through the forest wider +than was sufficient for one person to pass."--WOLF'S _Life and +Adventures_, p. 308.] + +The pasture grounds throughout the vicinity of Jaffna abound in a low +shrub called the Buffalo-thorn[1], the black twigs of which are beset at +every joint by a pair of thorns, set opposite each other like the horns +of an ox, as sharp as a needle, from two to three inches in length, and +thicker at the base than the stem they grow on. + +[Footnote 1: _Acacia latronum._] + +The _Acacia tomentosa_ is of the same genus, with thorns so large as to +be called the "_jungle-nail_" by Europeans. It is frequent in the woods +of Jaffna and Manaar, where it bears the Tamil name of _Aani mulla_, or +"elephant thorn." In some of these thorny plants, as in the _Phoberos +Goertneri, Thun._,[1] the spines grow not singly, but in branching +clusters, each point presenting a spike as sharp as a lancet; and where +these formidable shrubs abound they render the forest absolutely +impassable, even to the elephant and to animals of great size and force. + +[Footnote 1: Mr. Wm. Ferguson writes to me, "This is the famous +_Katu-kurundu_, or 'thoray cinnamon,' of the Singhalese, figured and +described by Gaertner as the _Limonia pusilla_, which after a great deal +of labour and research I think I have identified as the _Phoberos +macrophyllus_" (W. and A. Prod. p. 30). Thunberg alludes to it +(_Travels_, vol. iv.)--"Why the Singhalese have called it a cinnamon, I +do not know, unless from some fancied similarity in its seeds to those +of the cinnamon laurel."] + +The family of trees which, from their singularity as well as their +beauty, most attract the eye of the traveller in the forests of Ceylon, +are the palms, which occur in rich profusion, although, of upwards of +six hundred species which are found in other countries, not more than +ten or twelve are indigenous to the island.[1] At the head of these is +the coco-nut, every particle of whose substance, stem, leaves, and +fruit, the Singhalese turn to so many accounts, that one of their +favourite topics to a stranger is to enumerate the _hundred_ uses to +which they tell us this invaluable tree is applied.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Mr. Thwaites has enumerated fifteen species (including the +coco-nut, and excluding the _Nipa fruticans_, which more properly +belongs to the family of screw-pines): viz. Areca, 4; Caryota, 1; +Calamus, 5; Borassus, 1; Corypha, 1; Phoenix, 2; Cocos, 1.] + +[Footnote 2: The following are only a few of the countless uses of this +invaluable tree. The _leaves_, for roofing, for mats, for baskets, +torches or chules, fuel, brooms, fodder for cattle, manure. The _stem of +the leaf_, for fences, for pingoes (or yokes) for carrying burthens on +the shoulders, for fishing-rods, and innumerable domestic utensils. The +_cabbage_ or cluster of unexpended leaves, for pickles and preserves. +The _sap_ for _toddy_, for distilling arrack, and for making vinegar, +and sugar. The _unformed nut_, for medicine and sweetmeats. The _young +nut_ and its milk, for drinking, for dessert; the _green husk_ for +preserves. The _nut_, for eating, for curry, for milk, for cooking. The +_oil_, for rheumatism, for anointing the hair, for soap, for candles, +for light; and the _poonak_, or refuse of the nut after expressing the +oil, for cattle and poultry. The _shell of the nut_, for drinking cups, +charcoal, tooth-powder, spoons, medicine, hookahs, beads, bottles, and +knife-handles. The _coir_, or fibre which envelopes the shell within the +outer husk, for mattresses, cushions, ropes, cables, cordage, canvass, +fishing-nets, fuel, brushes, oakum, and floor mats. The _trunk_, for +rafters, laths, railing, boats, troughs, furniture, firewood; and when +very young, the first shoots, or cabbage, as a vegetable for the table. +The entire list, with a Singhalese enthusiast, is an interminable +narration of the virtues of his favourite tree.] + +The most majestic and wonderful of the palm tribe is the _talpat_ or +_talipat_[1], the stem of which sometimes attains the height of 100 +feet, and each of its enormous fan-like leaves, when laid upon the +ground, will form a semicircle of 16 feet in diameter, and cover an area +of nearly 200 superficial feet. The tree flowers but once, and dies; and +the natives firmly believe that the bursting of the shadix is +accompanied by a loud explosion. The leaves alone are converted by the +Singhalese to purposes of utility. Of them they form coverings for their +houses, and portable tents of a rude but effective character; and on +occasions of ceremony, each chief and headman on walking abroad is +attended by a follower, who holds above his head an +elaborately-ornamented fan, formed from a single leaf of the talpat. + +[Footnote 1: Corypha umbraculifera, _Linn._] + +But the most interesting use to which they are applied is as substitutes +for paper, both for books and for ordinary purposes. In the preparation +of _olas_, which is the term applied to them when so employed, the +leaves are taken whilst still tender, and, after separating the central +ribs, they are cut into strips and boiled in spring water. They are +dried first in the shade, and afterwards in the sun, then made into +rolls, and kept in store, or sent to the market for sale. Before they +are fit for writing on they are subjected to a second process, called +_madema_. A smooth plank of areca-palm is tied horizontally between two +trees, each ola is then damped, and a weight being attached to one end +of it, it is drawn backwards and forwards across the edge of the wood +till the surface becomes perfectly smooth and polished; and during the +process, as the moisture dries up, it is necessary to renew it till the +effect is complete. The smoothing of a single ola will occupy from +fifteen to twenty minutes.[1] + +[Footnote 1: See Vol. II. p. 528.] + +The finest specimens in Ceylon are to be obtained at the Panselas, or +Buddhist monasteries; they are known as _pusk[(o]la_ and are prepared by +the Samanera priests (novices) and the students, under the +superintendence of the priests. + +The raw leaves, when dried without any preparation, are called +_karak[(o]la_, and, like the leaves of the palmyra, are used only for +ordinary purposes by the Singhalese; but in the Tamil districts, where +palmyras are abundant, and talpat palms rare, the leaves of the former +are used for books as well as for letters. + +The _palmyra_[1] is another invaluable palm, and one of the most +beautiful of the family. It grows in such profusion over the north of +Ceylon, and especially in the peninsula of Jaffna, as to form extensive +forests, whence its timber is exported for rafters to all parts of the +island, as well as to the opposite coast of India, where, though the +palmyra grows luxuriantly, its wood, from local causes, is too soft and +perishable to be used for any purpose requiring strength and durability, +qualities which, in the palmyra of Ceylon, are pre-eminent. To the +inhabitants of the northern provinces this invaluable tree is of the +same importance as the coco-nut palm is to the natives of the south. Its +fruit yields them food and oil; its juice "palm wine" and sugar; its +stem is the chief material of their buildings; and its leaves, besides +serving as roofs to their dwellings and fences to their farms, supply +them with matting and baskets, with head-dresses and fans, and serve as +a substitute for paper for their deeds and writings, and for the sacred +books, which contain the traditions of their faith. It has been said +with truth that a native of Jaffna, if he be contented with ordinary +doors and mud walls, may build an entire house (as he wants neither +nails nor iron work), with walls, roof, and covering from the Palmyra +palm. From this same tree he may draw his wine, make his oil, kindle his +fire, carry his water, store his food, cook his repast, and sweeten it, +if he pleases; in fact, live from day to day dependent on his palmyra +alone. Multitudes so live, and it may be safely asserted that this tree +alone furnishes one-fourth the means of sustenance for the population of +the northern provinces. + +[Footnote 1: _Borassus flabelliformis_. For an account of the Palmyra, +and its cultivation in the peninsula of Jaffna, see FERGUSON'S monograph +on the _Palmyra Palm of Ceylon_, Colombo, 1850.] + +The _Jaggery Palm_[1], the _Kitool_ of the Singhalese, is chiefly +cultivated in the Kandyan hills for the sake of its sap, which is drawn, +boiled down, and crystallised into a coarse brown sugar, in universal +use amongst the inhabitants of the south and west of Ceylon, who also +extract from its pith a farina scarcely inferior to sago. The black +fibre of the leaf is twisted by the Rodiyas into ropes of considerable +smoothness and tenacity. A single Kitool tree has been pointed out at +Ambogammoa, which furnished the support of a Kandyan, his wife, and +their children. A tree has been known to yield one hundred pints of +toddy within twenty-four hours. + +[Footnote 1: Caryota urens.] + +The _Areca_[1] _Palm_ is the invariable feature of a native garden, +being planted near the wells and water-courses, as it rejoices in +moisture. Of all the tribe it is the most graceful and delicate, rising +to the height of forty or fifty feet[2], without an inequality on its +thin polished stem, which is dark green towards the top, and sustains a +crown of feathery foliage, in the midst of which are clustered the +astringent nuts for whose sake it is carefully tended. + +[Footnote 1: A. catechu.] + +[Footnote 2: Mr. Ferguson measured an areca at Caltura which was +seventy-five feet high, and grew near a coco-nut which was upwards of +ninety feet. Caltura is, however, remarkable for the growth and +luxuriance of its vegetation.] + +The chewing of these nuts with lime and the leaf of the betel-pepper +supplies to the people of Ceylon the same enjoyment which tobacco +affords to the inhabitants of other countries; but its use is, if +possible, more offensive, as the three articles, when combined, colour +the saliva of so deep a red that the lips and teeth appear as if covered +with blood. Yet, in spite of this disgusting accompaniment, men and +women, old and young, from morning till night indulge in the repulsive +luxury.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Dr. Elliot, of Colombo, has observed several cases of +cancer in the cheek which, from its peculiar characteristics, he has +designated the "betel-chewer's cancer."] + +It is seldom, however, that we find in semi-civilised life habits +universally prevailing which have not their origin, however ultimately +they may be abused by excess, in some sense of utility. The Turk, when +he adds to the oppressive warmth of the sun by enveloping his forehead +in a cumbrous turban, or the Arab, when he increases the sultry heat by +swathing his waist in a showy girdle, may appear to act on no other +calculation than a willingness to sacrifice comfort to a love of +display; but the custom in each instance is the result of precaution--in +the former, because the head requires especial protection from +sun-strokes; and in the latter, from the fact well known to the Greeks +([Greek: eozonoi Achaioi]) that, in a warm climate, danger is to be +apprehended from a sudden chill to that particular region of the +stomach. In like manner, in the chewing of the areca-nut with its +accompaniments of lime and betel, the native of Ceylon is unconsciously +applying a specific corrective to the defective qualities of his daily +food. Never eating flesh meat by any chance, seldom or never using milk, +butter, poultry, or eggs, and tasting fish but occasionally (more rarely +in the interior of the island,) the non-azotised elements abound in +every article he consumes with the exception of the bread-fruit, the +jak, and some varieties of beans. In their indolent and feeble stomachs +these are liable to degenerate into flatulent and acrid products; but, +apparently by instinct, the whole population have adopted a simple +prophylactic. Every Singhalese carries in his waistcloth an ornamented +box of silver or brass, according to his means, enclosing a smaller one +to hold a portion of chunam (lime obtained by the calcination of shells) +whilst the larger contains the nuts of the areca and a few fresh leaves +of the betel-pepper. As inclination or habit impels, he scrapes down the +nut, which abounds in catechu, and, rolling it up with a little of the +lime in a betel-leaf, the whole is chewed, and finally swallowed, after +provoking an extreme salivation. No medical prescription could be more +judiciously compounded to effect the desired object than this practical +combination of antacid, the tonic, and carminative. + +The custom is so ancient in Ceylon and in India that the Arabs and +Persians who resorted to Hindustan in the eighth and ninth centuries +carried back the habit to their own country; and Massoudi, the traveller +of Bagdad, who wrote the account of his voyages in A.D. 943, states that +the chewing of betel prevailed along the southern coast of Arabia, and +reached as far as Yemen and Mecca.[1] Ibn Batuta saw the betel plant at +Zahfar A.D. 1332, and describes it accurately as trained like a vine +over a trellis of reeds, or climbing the steins of the coco-nut palm.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Massoudi, _Maraudj-al-Dzeheb_, as translated by REINAUD, +_Memoire_ _sur l'Lede_. p. 230.] + +[Footnote 2: _Voyages_, &c. t. ii. p. 205.] + +The leaves of the coca[1] supply the Indians of Bolivia and Peru with a +stimulant, whose use is equivalent to that of the betel-pepper among the +natives of Hindustan and the Eastern Archipelago. With an admixture of +lime, they are chewed perseveringly; but, unlike the betel, the colour +imparted by them to the saliva is greenish, instead of red. It is +curious, too, as a coincidence common to the humblest phases of +semi-civilised life, that, in the absence of coined money, the leaves of +the coca form a rude kind of currency in the Andes, as does the betel in +some parts of Ceylon, and tobacco amongst the tribes of the south-west +of Africa.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Erythroxylon coca.] + +[Footnote 2: Tobacco was a currency in North America when Virginia was +colonised in the early part of the 17th century; debts were contracted +and paid in it, and in every ordinary transaction tobacco answered the +purposes of coin.] + +Neither catechu nor its impure equivalent, "terra japonica," is prepared +from the areca in Ceylon; but the nuts are exported in large quantities +to the Maldive Islands and to India, the produce of which they excel +both in astringency and size. The fibrous wood of the areca being at +once straight, firm, and elastic, is employed for making the pingoes +(yokes for the shoulders), by means of which the Singhalese coolie, like +the corresponding class among the ancient Egyptians and the Greeks, +carries his burdens, dividing them into portions of equal weight, one of +which is suspended from each end of the pingo. By a swaying motion +communicated to them as he starts, his own movement is facilitated, +whereas one unaccustomed to the work, by allowing the oscillation to +become irregular, finds it almost impossible to proceed with a load of +any considerable weight.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The natives of Tahti use a yoke of the same form as the +Singhalese _pingo_, but made from the wood of the _Hibiscus +tiliaceus._--DARWIN, _Nat. Voy._ ch. xviii. p. 407. For a further +account of the pingo see Vol. I. Part iv. ch. viii. p. 497.] + +_Timber trees_, either for export or domestic use, are not found in any +abundance except in the low country, and here the facility of floating +them to the sea, down the streams which intersect the eastern coast of +the island, has given rise to an active trade at Batticaloa and +Trincomalie. But, unfortunately, the indifference of the local officers +entrusted with the issue of licences to fell, and the imperfect control +exercised over the adventurers who embark in these speculations, has led +to a destruction of trees quite disproportionate to the timber obtained, +and utterly incompatible with the conservation of the valuable kinds. +The East India Company have had occasion to deplore the loss of their +teak forests by similar neglect and mismanagement; and it is to be hoped +that, ere too late, the attention of the Ceylon Government may be so +directed to this important subject as to lead to the appointment of +competent foresters, under whose authority and superintendence the +felling of timber may be carried on. + +An interesting memoir on the timber trees of Ceylon has been prepared by +a native officer at Colombo, Adrian Mendis, of Morottu, +carpeater-moodliar to the Royal Engineers, in which he has enumerated +upwards of ninety species, which, in various parts of the island, are +employed either as timber or cabinet woods.[1] Of these, the jak, the +Kangtal of Bengal (_Artocarpus integrifolia_), is, next to the coco-nut +and Palmyra, by far the most valuable to the Singhalese; its fruit, +which sometimes attains the weight of 50 lbs., supplying food for their +table, its leaves fodder for their cattle, and its trunk timber for +every conceivable purpose both oeconomic and ornamental. The Jak tree, +as well as the Del, or wild bread-fruit, is indigenous to the forests on +the coast and in the central provinces; but, although the latter is +found in the vicinity of the villages, it does not appear to be an +object of special cultivation. The Jak, on the contrary, is planted near +every house, and forms the shade of every garden. Its wood, at first +yellow, approaches the colour of mahogany after a little exposure to the +air, and resembles it at all times in its grain and marking. + +[Footnote 1: Mendis' List will be found appended to the _Ceylon +Calendar_ for 1854.] + +The Del (_Artocarpus pubescens_) affords a valuable timber, not only for +architectural purposes, but for ship-building. It and the Halmalille[1] +resembling but larger than the linden tree of England, to which it is +closely allied, are the favourite building woods of the natives, and the +latter is used for carts, casks, and all household purposes, as well as +for the hulls of their boats, from the belief that It resists the attack +of the marine worms, and that some unctuous property in the wood +preserves the iron work from rust.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Berry a ammonilla.] + +[Footnote 2: The Masula boats, which brave the formidable surf of Madrus +are made of Halmalille, which is there called "Trincomalie wood" from +the place of exportation.] + +The Teak (_Tectona grandis_), which is superior to all others, is not a +native of this island, and although largely planted, has not been +altogether successful. But the satin-wood[1], in point of size and +durability, is by far the first of the timber trees of Ceylon. For days +together I have ridden under its magnificent shade. All the forests +around Batticaloa and Trincomalie, and as far north as Jaffna, are +thickly set with this valuable tree. It grows to the height of a hundred +feet, with a rugged grey bark, small white flowers, and polished leaves, +with a somewhat unpleasant odour. Owing to the difficulty of carrying +its heavy beams, the natives only cut it near the banks of the rivers, +down which it is floated to the coast, whence large quantities are +exported to every part of the colony. The richly-coloured and feathery +pieces are used for cabinet-work, and the more ordinary logs for +building purposes, every house in the eastern province being floored and +timbered with satin-wood. + +[Footnote 1: Chieroxylon Swietenia.] + +Another useful tree, very common in Ceylon, is the Suria[1], with +flowers so like those of a tulip that Europeans know it as the tulip +tree. It loves the sea air and saline soils. It is planted all along the +avenues and streets in the towns near the coast, where it is equally +valued for its shade and the beauty of its yellow flowers, whilst its +tough wood is used for carriage shafts and gun-stocks. + +[Footnote 1: Thespesia populnea.] + +The forests to the east furnish the only valuable cabinet woods used in +Ceylon, the chief of which is ebony[1], which grows in great abundance +throughout all the flat country to the west of Trincomalie. It is a +different species from the ebony of Mauritius[2], and excels it and all +others in the evenness and intensity of its colour. The centre of the +trunk is the only portion which furnishes the extremely black part which +is the ebony of commerce; but the trees are of such magnitude that +reduced logs of two feet in diameter, and varying from ten to fifteen +feet in length, can readily be procured from the forests at Trincomalie. + +[Footnote 1: Diospyros ebenum.] + +[Footnote 2: D. reticulata.] + +There is another cabinet wood, of extreme beauty, called by the natives +Cadooberia. It is a bastard species of ebony[1], in which the prevailing +black is stained with stripes of rich brown, approaching to yellow and +pink. But its density is inconsiderable, and in durability it is far +inferior to that of true ebony. + +[Footnote 1: D. ebenaster.] + +The Calamander[1], the most valuable cabinet wood of the island, +resembling rose-wood, but much surpassing it both in beauty and +durability, has at all times been in the greatest repute in Ceylon. It +grows chiefly in the southern provinces, and especially in the forests +at the foot of Adam's Peak; but here it has been so prodigally felled, +first by the Dutch, and afterwards by the English, without any +precautions for planting or production, that it has at last become +exceedingly rare. Wood of a large scantling is hardly procurable at any +price; and it is only in a very few localities, the principal of which +is Saffragam, in the western province, that even small sticks are now to +be found; one reason, assigned for this is that the heart of the tree is +seldom sound, a peculiarity which extends to the Cadooberia. + +[Footnote 1: D. hirsuta.] + +The twisted portions, and especially the roots of the latter, yield +veneers of unusual beauty, dark wavings and blotches, almost black, +being gracefully disposed over a delicate fawn-coloured ground. Its +density is so great (nearly 60 lbs. to a cubic foot) that it takes an +exquisite polish, and is in every way adapted for the manufacture of +furniture, in the ornamenting of which the native carpenters excel. The +chiefs and headmen, with a full appreciation of its beauty, take +particular pride in possessing specimens of this beautiful wood, roots +of which they regard as most acceptable gifts. + +Notwithstanding its value, the tree is nearly eradicated, and runs some +risk of becoming extinct in the island; but, as it is not peculiar to +Ceylon, it may be restored by fresh importations from the south-eastern +coast of India, of which it is equally a native, and I apprehend that +the name, _Calamander_, which was used by the Dutch, is but a corruption +of "Coromandel." + +Another species of cabinet wood is produced from the Nedun[1], a large +tree common on the western coast; it belongs to the Pea tribe, and is +allied to the Sisso of India. Its wood, which is lighter than the +"Blackwood" of Bombay, is used for similar purposes. + +[Footnote 1: Dalbergia lanceolaria.] + +The Tamarind tree[1], and especially its fine roots, produce a +variegated cabinet wood of much beauty, but of such extreme hardness as +scarcely to be workable by any ordinary tool.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Tamarindus Indica.] + +[Footnote 2: The natives of Western India have a belief that the shade +of the tamarind tree is unhealthy, if not poisonous. But in Ceylon it is +an object of the people, especially in the north of the island, to build +their houses under it, from the conviction that of all trees its _shade +is the coolest_. In this feeling, too, the Europeans are so far disposed +to concur that it has been suggested whether there may not be something +peculiar in the respiration of its leaves. The Singhalese have an idea +that the twigs of the ranna-wara (_Cassia auriculata_) diffuse an +agreeable coolness, and they pull them for the sake of enjoying it by +holding them in their hands or applied to the head. In the south of +Ceylon it is called the Matura tea-tree, its leaves being infused as a +substitute for tea.] + +As to fruit trees, it is only on the coast, or near the large villages +and towns, that they are found in any perfection. In the deepest jungle +the sight of a single coco-nut towering above the other foliage is in +Ceylon a never-failing landmark to intimate to a traveller his approach +to a village. The natives have a superstition that the coco-nut will not +grow _out of the sound of the human voice_, and will die if the village +where it had previously thriven become deserted; the solution of the +mystery being in all probability the superior care and manuring which it +receives in such localities.[1] In the generality of the forest hamlets +there are always to be found a few venerable Tamarind trees of +patriarchal proportions, the ubiquitous Jak, with its huge fruits, +weighing from 5 to 50 lbs. (the largest eatable fruit in the world), +each springing from the rugged surface of the bark, and suspended by a +powerful stalk, which attaches it to the trunk of the tree. Lime-trees, +Oranges, and Shaddoks are carefully cultivated in these little gardens, +and occasionally the Rose-apple and the Cachu-nut, the Pappaya, and +invariably as plentiful a supply of Plantains as they find it prudent to +raise without inviting the visits of the wild elephants, with whom they +are especial favourites. + +[Footnote 1: See Vol. II. p. 125.] + +These, and the Bilimbi and Guava, the latter of which is naturalised in +the jungle around every cottage, are almost the only fruits of the +country; but the Pine-apple, the Mango, the Avocado-pear, the +Custard-apple, the Rambutan (_Nephelium lappaceum_), the Fig, the +Granadilla, and a number of other exotics, are successfully reared in +the gardens of the wealthier inhabitants of the towns and villages; and +within the last few years the peerless Mangustin of Malacca, the +delicacy of which we can imagine to resemble that of perfumed snow, has +been successfully cultivated in the gardens of Caltura and Colombo. + +With the exception of the orange, the fruits of Ceylon have one +deficiency, common, I apprehend, to all tropical countries. They are +wanting in that piquancy which in northern climates is attributable to +the exquisite perfection in which the sweet and aromatic flavours are +blended with the acidulous. Either the acid is so ascendant as to be +repulsive to the European palate, or the saccharine so preponderates as +to render Singhalese fruit cloying and distasteful. + +Still, all other defects are compensated by the coolness which pervades +them; and, under the exhaustion of a blazing sun, no more exquisite +physical enjoyment can be imagined than the chill and fragrant flesh of +the pine-apple, or the abundant juice of the mango, which, when freshly +pulled, feels as cool as iced water. But the fruit must be eaten +instantly; even an interval of a few minutes after it has been gathered +is sufficient to destroy the charm; for, once severed from the stem, it +rapidly acquires the temperature of the surrounding air. + +Sufficient admiration has hardly been bestowed upon the marvellous power +displayed by the vegetable world in adjusting its own temperature, +notwithstanding atmospheric fluctuations,--a faculty in the +manifestation of which it appears to present a counterpart to that +exhibited by animal oeconomy in regulating its heat. So uniform is the +exercise of the latter faculty in man and the higher animals, that there +is barely a difference of three degrees between the warmth of the body +in the utmost endurable vicissitudes of heat and cold; and in vegetables +an equivalent arrangement enables them in winter to keep their +temperature somewhat above that of the surrounding air, and in summer to +reduce it far below it. It would almost seem as if plants possessed a +power of producing cold analogous to that exhibited by animals in +producing heat; and of this beneficent arrangement man enjoys the +benefit in the luxurious coolness of the fruit which nature lavishes on +the tropics. + +The peculiar organisation by which this result is obtained is not free +from obscurity, but in all probability the means of adjusting the +temperature of plants is simply dependent on evaporation. As regards the +power possessed by vegetables of generating heat, although it has been +demonstrated to exist, it is in so trifling a degree as to be almost +inappreciable, except at the period of germination, when it probably +arises from the consumption of oxygen in generating the carbonic acid +gas which is then evolved. The faculty of retaining this warmth at night +and at other times may, therefore, be referable mainly to the closing of +the pores, and the consequent check of evaporation. + +On the other hand, the faculty of maintaining a temperature below that +of the surrounding air, can only be accounted for by referring it to the +mechanical process of imbibing a continuous supply of fresh moisture +from the soil, the active transpiration of which imparts coolness to +every portion of the tree and its fruit. It requires this combined +operation to produce the desired result; and the extent to which +evaporation can bring down the temperature of the moisture received by +absorption, may be inferred from the fact that Dr. Hooker, when in the +valley of the Ganges, found the fresh milky juice of the Mudar +(_calotropis_) to be but 72 deg., whilst the damp sand in the bed of the +river where it grew was from 90 deg. to 104 deg. + +Even in temperate climates this phenomenon is calculated to excite +admiration; but it is still more striking to find the like effect rather +increased than diminished in the tropics, where one would suppose that +the juices, especially of a small and delicate plant, before they could +be cooled by evaporation, would be liable to be heated by the blazing +sun. + +A difficulty would also seem to present itself in the instance of fruit, +whose juices, having to undergo a chemical change, their circulation +would be conjectured to be slower; and in the instance of those with +hard skins, such as the pomegranate, or with a tough leathery coating, +like the mango, the evaporation might be imagined to be less than in +those of a soft and spongy texture. But all share alike in the general +coolness of the plant, so long as circulation supplies fluid for +evaporation; and the moment this resource is cut off by the separation +of the fruit from the tree, the supply of moisture failing, the process +of refrigeration is arrested, and the charm of agreeable freshness gone. + +It only remains to notice the aquatic plants, which are found in greater +profusion in the northern and eastern provinces than in any other +districts of the island, owing to the innumerable tanks and neglected +watercourses which cover the whole surface of this once productive +province, but which now only harbour the alligator, or satisfy the +thirst of the deer and the elephant. + +[Footnote 1: See on this subject LINDLEY'S _Introduction to Botany_, +vol. ii. book ii. ch. viii. p. 215. + +CARPENTER, _Animal Physiology_, ch. ix. s. 407. CARPENTER'S _Vegetable +Physiology_, ch. xi. s. 407, Lond. 1848.] + +The chief ornaments of these neglected sheets of water are the large red +and white Lotus[1], whose flowers may be seen from a great distance +reposing on their broad green leaves. In China and some parts of India +the black seeds of these plants, which are not unlike little acorns in +shape, are served at table in place of almonds, which they are said to +resemble, but with a superior delicacy of flavour. At some of the tanks +where the lotus grows in profusion in Ceylon, I tasted the seeds +enclosed in the torus of the flowers, and found them white and +delicately-flavoured, not unlike the small kernel of the pine cone of +the Apennines. This red lotus of the island appears to be the one that +Herodotus describes as abounding in the Nile in his time, but which is +now extinct; with a flower resembling a rose, and a fruit in shape like +a wasp's nest, and containing seeds of the size of an olive stone, and +of an agreeable flavour.[2] But it has clearly no identity with those +which he describes as the food of the Lotophagi of Africa, of the size +of the mastic[3], sweet as a date, and capable of being made into wine. + +[Footnote 1: Nelumbium speciosum.] + +[Footnote 2: Herodotus, b. ii. s. 92.] + +[Footnote 3: The words are "[Greek: Esti megathos hoson te tes schinou]" +(Herod. b. iv. s. 177); and as [Greek: schinos] means also a _squill_ or +a _sea-onion_, the fruit above referred to, as the food of the +Lotophagi, must have been of infinitely larger size and in every way +different from the lotus of the Nile, described in the 2nd book, as well +as from the lotus in the East. Lindley records the conjecture that the +article referred to by Herodotus was the _nabk_, the berry of the +lote-bush (_Zizyphus lotus_), which the Arabs of Barbary still eat. +(_Vegetable Kingdom_, p. 582.)] + +One species of the water lily, the _Nymphaea rubra_, with small red +flowers, and of great beauty, is common in the ponds near Jaffna and in +the Wanny; and I found in the fosse, near the fort of Moeletivoe, the +beautiful blue lotus, _N. stellata_, with lilac petals, approaching to +purple in the centre, which had not previously been supposed to be a +native of the island. + +Another very interesting aquatic plant, which was discovered by Dr. +Gardner in the tanks north of Trincomalie, is the _Desmanthus natans_, +with highly sensitive leaves floating on the surface of the water. It is +borne aloft by masses of a spongy cellular substance, which occur at +intervals along its stem and branches, but the roots never touch the +bottom, absorbing nourishment whilst floating at liberty, and only found +in contact with the ground after the subsidence of water in the +tanks.[1] + +[Footnote 1: A species of _Utricularia_, with yellow flowers (U. +stellaris), is a common water-plant in the still lakes near the fort of +Colombo, where an opportunity is afforded of observing the extraordinary +provision of nature for its reproduction. There are small appendages +attached to the roots, which become distended with air, and thus carry +the plant aloft to the surface, during the cool season. Here it floats +till the operation of flowering is over, when the vesicles burst, and by +its own weight it returns to the bottom of the lake to ripen its seeds +and deposit them in the soil; after which the air vessels again fill, +and again it re-ascends to undergo the same process of fecundation.] + + + + +PART II. + +ZOOLOGY. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +MAMMALIA. + + +With the exception of the Mammalia and the Birds, the fauna of Ceylon +has, up to the present, failed to receive that systematic attention to +which its richness and variety so amply entitle it. The Singhalese +themselves, habitually indolent and singularly unobservant of nature in +her operations, are at the same time restrained from the study of +natural history by tenets of their religion which forbid the taking of +life under any circumstances. From the nature of their avocations, the +majority of the European residents engaged in planting and commerce, are +discouraged from gratifying this taste; and it is to be regretted that +the civil servants of the government, whose position and duties would +have afforded them influence and extended opportunity for successful +investigation, have never seen the importance of encouraging such +studies. + +The first effective impulse to the cultivation of natural science in +Ceylon, was communicated by Dr. Davy when connected with the medical +staff of the army from 1816 to 1820, and his example stimulated some of +the assistant surgeons of Her Majesty's forces to make collections in +illustration of the productions of the colony. Of the late Dr. Kinnis +was one of the most energetic and successful. He was seconded by Dr. +Templeton of the Royal Artillery, who engaged assiduously in the +investigation of various orders, and commenced an interchange of +specimens with Mr. Blyth[1], the distinguished naturalist and curator of +the Calcutta Museum. + +[Footnote 1: _Journ. Asiat. Soc. Bengal,_ vol. xv. p. 280, 314.] + +The birds and rarer vertebrata of the island were thus compared with +their peninsular congeners, and a tolerable knowledge of those belonging +to the island, so far as regards the higher classes of animals, has been +the result. The example so set has been perseveringly followed by Mr. +E.L. Layard and Dr. Kelaart, and infinite credit is due to Mr. Blyth for +the zealous and untiring energy with which he has devoted his attention +and leisure to the identification of the various interesting species +forwarded from Ceylon, and to their description in the Calcutta Journal. +To him, and to the gentleman I have named, we are mainly indebted, for +whatever accurate knowledge we now possess of the zoology of the colony. + +The mammalia, birds, and reptiles received their first scientific +description in an able work published recently by Dr. Kelaart of the +army medical staff[1], which is by far the most valuable that has yet +appeared on the Singhalese fauna. Co-operating with him, Mr. Layard has +supplied a fund of information especially in ornithology and conchology. +The zoophytes and crustacea have been investigated by Professor Harvey, +who visited Ceylon for that purpose in 1852, and by Professor Schmarda, +of the University of Prague, who was lately sent there for a similar +object. From the united labours of these gentlemen and others interested +in the same pursuits, we may hope at an early day to obtain such a +knowledge of the zoology of Ceylon, as may to some extent compensate for +the long indifference of the government officers. + +[Footnote 1: _Prodromus Faunae Zeylanicae; being Contributions to the +Zoology of Ceylon_, by F. KELAART, Esq., M.D., F.L.S., &c. &c. 2 vols. +Colombo and London, 1852. Mr. DAVY, of the Medical Staff; brother to Sir +Humphry, published in 1821 his _Account of the Interior of Ceylon and +its Inhabitants_, which contains the earliest notices of the natural +history of the island, and especially of the Ophidian reptiles.] + +I. QUADRUMANA. 1 _Monkeys_.--To a stranger in the tropics, among the +most attractive creatures in the forests are the troops of _monkeys_, +which career in ceaseless chase among the loftiest trees. In Ceylon +there are five species, four of which belong to one group, the +Wanderoos, and the other is the little graceful grimacing _rilawa_[1], +which is the universal pet and favourite, of both natives and Europeans. + +[Footnote 1: _Macacus pileatus_, Shaw and Desmmarest. The "bonneted +Macaque" is common in the south and west; and a spectacled monkey is +_said_ to inhabit the low country near to Bintenne; but I have never +seen one brought thence. A paper by Dr. TEMPLETON in the _Mag. Nat. +Hist_. n.s. xiv. p. 361, contains some interesting facts relative to the +Rilawa of Ceylon.] + +KNOX, in his captivating account of the island, gives an accurate +description of both; the Rilawas, with "no beards, white faces, and long +hair on the top of their heads, which parteth and hangeth down like a +man's, and which do a deal of mischief to the corn, and are so impudent +that they will come into their gardens, and eat such fruit as grows +there. And the Wanderoos, some as large as our English Spaniel dogs, of +a darkish grey colour, and black faces with great white beards round +from ear to ear, which makes them shew just like old men. This sort does +but little mischief, keeping in the woods, eating only leaves and buds +of trees, but when they are catched they will eat anything."[1] + +[Footnote 1: KNOX, _Historical Relation of Ceylon, an Island in the East +Indies_.--P. i. ch. vi. p. 25. Fol. Lond. 1681.] + +KNOX, whose experience was confined almost exclusively to the hill +country around Kandy, spoke in all probability of one large and +comparatively powerful species, _Presbytes ursinus_, which inhabits the +lofty forests, and which, as well as another of the same group, _P. +Thersites_, was, till recently, unknown to European naturalists. The +Singhalese word _Ouanderu_ has a generic sense, and being in every +respect the equivalent for our own term of "monkey," it necessarily +comprehends the low country species, as well as those which inhabit +other parts of the island. And, in point of fact, in the island there +are no less than four animals, each of which is entitled to the name of +"wanderoo."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Down to a very late period, a large and somewhat +repulsive-looking monkey, common to the Malabar coast, the Silenus +veter, _Linn_., was, from the circumstance of his possessing a "great +white beard," incorrectly assumed to be the "wanderoo" of Ceylon, +described by KNOX; and under that usurped name it has figured in every +author from Buffon to the present time. Specimens of the true Singhalese +species were, however, received in Europe; but in the absence of +information in this country as to their actual habitat, they were +described, first by Zimmerman, on the continent, under the name of +_Leucoprymnus cephalopterus,_ and subsequently by Mr. E. Bennett, under +that of _Semnopithecus Nestor (Proc. Zool. Soc._ pt. i. p. 67: 1833); +the generic and specific characters being on this occasion most +carefully pointed out by that eminent naturalist. Eleven years later Dr. +Templeton forwarded to the Zoological Society a description, accompanied +by drawings, of the wanderoo of the western maritime districts of +Ceylon, and noticed the fact that the wanderoo of authors (S. veter) was +not to be found in the island except as an introduced species in the +custody of the Arab horse-dealers, who visit the port of Colombo at +stated periods. Mr. Waterhouse, at the meeting (_Proc. Zool. Soc._ p. 1: +1844) at which this communication was read, recognised the identity of +the subject of Dr. Templeton's description with that already laid before +them by Mr. Bennett; and from this period the species in question was +believed to truly represent the wanderoo of Knox. The later discovery, +however, of the P. ursinus by Dr. Kelaart, in the mountains amongst +which we are assured that Knox spent so many years of captivity, reopens +the question, but at the same time appears to me to clearly demonstrate +that in this latter we have in reality the animal to which his narrative +refers.] + +Each separate species has appropriated to itself a different district of +the wooded country, and seldom encroaches on the domain of its +neighbours. + +1. Of the four species found in Ceylon, the most numerous in the island, +and the one best known in Europe, is the Wanderoo of the low country, +the _P. cephalopterus_ of Zimmerman.[1] It is an active and intelligent +creature, not much larger than the common bonneted Macaque, and far from +being so mischievous as others of the monkeys in the island. In +captivity it is remarkable for the gravity of its demeanour and for an +air of melancholy in its expression and movements, which is completely +in character with its snowy beard and venerable aspect. Its disposition +is gentle and confiding, it is in the highest degree sensible of +kindness, and eager for endearing attentions, uttering a low plaintive +cry when its sympathies are excited. It is particularly cleanly in its +habits when domesticated, and spends much of its time in trimming its +fur, and carefully divesting its hair of particles of dust. + +[Footnote 1: Leucoprymnus Nestor, _Bennett_.] + +Although common in the southern and western provinces, it is never found +at a higher elevation than 1300 feet. + +When observed in their native wilds, a party of twenty or thirty of +these creatures is generally busily engaged in the search for berries +and buds. They are seldom to be seen on the ground, and then only when +they have descended to recover seeds or fruit that have fallen at the +foot of their favourite trees. In their alarm, when disturbed, their +leaps are prodigious; but generally speaking, their progress is made not +so much by _leaping_ as by swinging from branch to branch, using their +powerful arms alternately; and when baffled by distance, flinging +themselves obliquely so as to catch the lower boughs of an opposite +tree, the momentum acquired by their descent being sufficient to cause a +rebound, that carries them again upwards, till they can grasp a higher +branch; and thus continue their headlong flight. In these perilous +achievements, wonder is excited less by the surpassing agility of these +little creatures, frequently encumbered as they are by their young, +which cling to them in their career, than by the quickness of their eye +and the unerring accuracy with which they seem almost to calculate the +angle at which a descent would enable them to cover a given distance, +and the recoil to elevate themselves again to a higher altitude. + +2. The low country Wanderoo is replaced in the hills by the larger +species, _P. ursinus_, which inhabits the mountain zone. The natives, +who designate the latter the _Maha_ or Great Wanderoo, to distinguish it +from the _Kaloo_, or black one, with which they are familiar, describe +it as much wilder and more powerful than its congener of the lowland +forests. It is rarely seen by Europeans, this portion of the country +having till very recently been but partially opened; and even now it is +difficult to observe its habits, as it seldom approaches the few roads +which wind through these deep solitudes. It was first captured by Dr. +Kelaart in the woods near Neuera-ellia, and from its peculiar appearance +it has been named _P. ursinus_ by Mr. Blyth.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Mr. Blyth quotes as authority for this trivial name a +passage from MAJOR FORBES' _Eleven Years in Ceylon_; and I can vouch for +the graphic accuracy of the remark.--"A species of very large monkey, +that passed some distance before me, when resting on all fours, looked +so like a Ceylon bear, that I nearly took him for one."] + +3. The _P. Thersites_, which is chiefly distinguished from the others by +wanting the head tuft, is so rare that it was for some time doubtful +whether the single specimen procured by Dr. Templeton from +Neuera-kalawa, west of Trincomalie, and on which Mr. Blyth conferred +this new name, was in reality native; but the occurrence of a second, +since identified by Dr. Kelaart, has established its existence as a +separate species. + +Like the common wanderoo, this one was partial to fresh vegetables, +plantains, and fruit; but he ate freely boiled rice, beans, and gram. He +was fond of being noticed and petted, stretching out his limbs in +succession to be scratched, drawing himself up so that his ribs might be +reached by the finger, and closing his eyes during the operation, +evincing his satisfaction by grimaces irresistibly ludicrous. + +4. The _P. Priamus_ inhabits the northern and eastern provinces, and the +wooded hills which occur in these portions of the island. In appearance +it differs both in size and in colour from the common wanderoo, being +larger and more inclining to grey; and in habits it is much less +reserved. At Jaffna, and in other parts of the island where the +population is comparatively numerous, these monkeys become so +familiarised with the presence of man as to exhibit the utmost daring +and indifference. A flock of them will take possession of a Palmyra +palm; and so effectually can they crouch and conceal themselves among +the leaves that, on the slightest alarm, the whole party becomes +invisible in an instant. The presence of a dog, however, excites such an +irrepressible curiosity that, in order to watch his movements, they +never fail to betray themselves. They may be seen frequently congregated +on the roof of a native hut; and, some years ago, the child of a +European clergyman stationed at Tillipalli having been left on the +ground by the nurse, was so teased and bitten by them as to cause its +death. + +The Singhalese have the impression that the remains of a monkey are +never found in the forest; a belief which they have embodied in the +proverb that "he who has seen a white crow, the nest of a paddy bird, a +straight coco-nut tree, or a dead monkey, is certain to live for ever." +This piece of folk-lore has evidently reached Ceylon from India, where +it is believed that persons dwelling on the spot where a hanuman monkey, +_S. entellus_, has been killed, will die, and that even its bones are +unlucky, and that no house erected where they are hid under ground can +prosper. Hence when a house is to be built, it is one of the employments +of the Jyotish philosophers to ascertain by their science that none such +are concealed; and Buchanan observes that "it is, perhaps, owing to this +fear of ill-luck that no native will acknowledge his having seen a dead +hanuman."[1] + +[Footnote 1: BUCHANAN'S _Survey of Bhagulpoor_, p. 142. At Gibraltar it +is believed that the body of _a dead monkey_ is never found on the +rock.] + +The only other quadrumanous animal found in Ceylon is the little +loris[1], which, from its sluggish movements, nocturnal habits, and +consequent inaction during the day, has acquired the name of the "Ceylon +Sloth." There are two varieties in the island; one of the ordinary +fulvous brown, and another larger, whose fur is entirely black. A +specimen of the former was sent to me from Chilaw, on the western coast, +and lived for some time at Colombo, feeding on rice, fruit, and +vegetables. It was partial to ants and other insects, and always eager +for milk or the bone of a fowl. The naturally slow motion of its limbs +enables the loris to approach its prey so stealthily that it seizes +birds before they can be alarmed by its presence. The natives assert +that it has been known to strangle the pea-fowl at night, and feast on +the brain. During the day the one which I kept was usually asleep in the +strange position represented below; its perch firmly grasped with all +hands, its back curved into a ball of soft fur, and its head hidden deep +between its legs. The singularly-large and intense eyes of the loris +have attracted the attention of the Singhalese, who capture the creature +for the purpose of extracting them as charms and love-potions, and this +they are said to effect by holding the little animal to the fire till +its eyeballs burst. Its Tamil name is _theivangu_, or "thin-bodied;" and +hence a deformed child or an emaciated person has acquired in the Tamil +districts the same epithet. The light-coloured variety of the loris in +Ceylon has a spot on its forehead, somewhat resembling the _namam_, or +mark worn by the worshippers of Vishnu; and, from this peculiarity, it +is distinguished as the _Nama-theivangu_.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Loris gracilis, _Geoff_.] + +[Footnote 2: There is an interesting notice of the loris of Ceylon by +Dr. TEMPLETON, in the _Mag. Nat. Hist_. 1844, ch. xiv. p. 362.] + +[Illustration: THE LORIS] + +II. CHEIROPTERA. _Bats_.--The multitude of _bats_ is one of the features +of the evening landscape; they abound in every cave and subterranean +passage, in the tunnels on the highways, in the galleries of the +fortifications, in the roofs of the bungalows, and the ruins of every +temple and building. At sunset they are seen issuing from their diurnal +retreats to roam through the twilight in search of crepuscular insects, +and as night approaches and the lights in the rooms attract the +night-flying lepidoptera, the bats sweep round the dinner-table and +carry off their tiny prey within the glitter of the lamps. Including the +frugivorous section about sixteen species have been identified in +Ceylon, and of these, two varieties are peculiar to the island. The +colours of some of them are as brilliant as the plumage of a bird, +bright yellow, deep orange, and a rich ferruginous brown inclining to +red.[1] The Roussette[2] of Ceylon (the "Flying-fox," as it is usually +called by Europeans) measures from three to four feet from point to +point of its extended wings, and some of them have been seen wanting but +a few inches of five feet in the alar expanse. These sombre-looking +creatures feed chiefly on ripe fruits, the guava, the plantain, and the +rose-apple, and are abundant in all the maritime districts, especially +at the season when the silk-cotton tree, the _pulun-imbul_,[3] is +putting forth its flower-buds, of which they are singularly fond. By day +they suspend themselves from the highest branches, hanging by the claws +of the hind legs, pressing the chin against the breast, and using the +closed membrane attached to the forearms as a mantle to envelope the +head. At sunset launching into the air, they hover with a murmuring +sound occasioned by the beating of their broad membranous wings, around +the fruit trees, on which they feed till morning, when they resume their +pensile attitude as before. They are strongly attracted to the coco-nut +trees during the period when toddy is drawn for distillation, and +exhibit, it is said, at such times symptoms resembling intoxication.[4] + +[Footnote 1: + Rhinolophus affinis? _var_. rubidus, _Kelaart_. + Hipposideros murinus, _var_. fulvus, _Kelaart_. + Hipposideros speoris, _var_. aureus, _Kelaart_. + Kerivoula picta, _Pallas_. + Scotophilus Heathii, _Horsf_.] + +[Footnote 2: Pteropus Edwardsii, _Geoff_.] + +[Footnote 3: Eriodendron orientale, _Stead_.] + +[Footnote 4: Mr. THWAITES, of the Royal Botanic Garden, at Kandy, in a +recent letter, 19th Dec. 1858, gives the following description of a +periodical visit of the pteropus to an avenue of fig-trees:--"You would +be much interested now in observing a colony of the _pteropus_ bat, +which has established itself for a season on some trees within sight of +my bungalow. They came about the same time last year, and, after staying +a few weeks, disappeared: I suppose they had demolished all the +available food in the neighbourhood. They are now busy of an evening +eating the figs of _Ficus elastica_, of which we have a long avenue in +the grounds, as I dare say you remember. + +"These bats take possession during the day of particular trees, upon +which they hang like so much ripe fruit, but they take it into their +heads to have some exercise every morning between the hours of 9 and 11, +during which they are wheeling about in the air by the hundred, +seemingly enjoying the sunshine and warmth. They then return to their +fevourite tree, and remain quiet until the evening, when they move off +towards their feeding ground. There is a great chattering and screaming +amongst them before they can get agreeably settled in their places after +their morning exercise; quarrelling, I suppose, for the most comfortable +spots to hang on by during the rest of the day. The trees they take +possession of become nearly stripped of leaves; and it is a curious +sight to see them in such immense numbers. I do not allow them to be +disturbed."] + +The flying-fox is killed by the natives for the sake of its flesh, which +I have been told, by a gentleman who has eaten it, resembles that of the +hare.[1] + +[Footnote 1: In Western India the native Portuguese eat the flying-fox, +and pronounce it delicate, and far from disagreeable in flavour.] + +There are several varieties (some of them peculiar to the island) of the +horse-shoe-headed _Rhinolophus_, with the strange leaf-like appendage +erected on the extremity of the nose. It has been suggested that bats, +though nocturnal, are deficient in that keen vision characteristic of +animals which take their prey at night. I doubt whether this conjecture +be well founded; but at least it would seem that in their peculiar +oeconomy some additional power is required to supplement that of vision, +as in insects that of touch is superadded, in the most sensitive +development, to that of sight. Hence, it is possible that the extended +screen stretched at the back of their nostrils may be intended by nature +to facilitate the collection and conduction of odours, as the vast +development of the shell of the ear in the same family is designed to +assist in the collection of sounds--and thus to reinforce their vision +when in pursuit of their prey at twilight by the superior sensitiveness +of the organs of hearing and smell, as they are already remarkable for +that marvellous sense of touch which enables them, even when deprived of +sight, to direct their flight with security, by means of the delicate +nerves of the wing. One tiny little bat, not much larger than the humble +bee[1], and of a glossy black colour, is sometimes to be seen about +Colombo. It is so familiar and gentle that it will alight on the cloth +during dinner, and manifests so little alarm that it seldom makes any +effort to escape before a wine glass can be inverted to secure it.[2] + +[Footnote 1: It is a _very_ small Singhalese variety of Scotophilus +Coromandelicus; _F. Cuv_.] + +[Footnote 2: For a notice of the curious parasite peculiar to the bat, +see Note A. end of this chapter.] + +III. CARNIVORA.--_Bears_.--Of the _carnivora_, the one most dreaded by +the natives of Ceylon, and the only one of the larger animals which +makes the depths of the forest its habitual retreat, is the bear[1], +attracted by the honey which is to be found in the hollow trees and +clefts of the rocks. Occasionally spots of fresh earth are observed +which have been turned up by them in search of some favourite root. They +feed also on the termites and ants. A friend of mine traversing the +forest near Jaffna, at early dawn, had his attention attracted by the +growling of a bear, which was seated upon a lofty branch thrusting +portions of a red-ant's nest into its mouth with one paw, whilst with +the other he endeavoured to clear his eyebrows and lips of the angry +inmates which bit and tortured him in their rage. The Ceylon bear is +found only in the low and dry districts of the northern and +south-eastern coast, and is seldom met with on the mountains or the +moist and damp plains of the west. It is furnished with a bushy tuft of +hair on the back, between the shoulders, to which the young are +accustomed to cling till sufficiently strong to provide for their own +safety. During a severe drought which prevailed in the northern province +in 1850, the district of Caretchy was so infested by bears that the +Oriental custom of the women resorting to the wells was altogether +suspended, as it was a common occurrence to find one of these animals in +the water, unable to climb up the yielding and slippery soil, down which +his thirst had impelled him to slide during the night. + +[Footnote 1: Prochilus labiatus, _Blainville_.] + +Although the structure of the bear shows him to be naturally omnivorous, +he rarely preys upon flesh in Ceylon, and his solitary habits whilst in +search of honey and fruits, render him timid and retiring. Hence he +evinces alarm on the approach of man or other animals, and, unable to +make a rapid retreat, his panic rather than any vicious disposition +leads him to become an assailant in self-defence. But so furious are his +assaults under such circumstances that the Singhalese have a terror of +his attack greater than that created by any other beast of the forest. +If not armed with a gun, a native, in the places where bears abound, +usually carries a light axe, called "kodelly," with which to strike them +on the head. The bear, on the other hand, always aims, at the face, and, +if successful in prostrating his victim, usually commences by assailing +the eyes. I have met numerous individuals on our journeys who exhibited +frightful scars from these encounters, the white seams of their wounds +contrasting hideously with the dark colour of the rest of their bodies. + +The Veddahs in Bintenne, whose chief stores consist of honey, live in +dread of the bears, because, attracted by its perfume, they will not +hesitate to attack their rude dwellings, when allured by this +irresistible temptation. The Post-office runners, who always travel by +night, are frequently exposed to danger from these animals, especially +along the coast from Putlam to Aripo, where they are found in +considerable numbers; and, to guard against surprise, they are +accustomed to carry flambeaux, to give warning to the bears, and enable +them to shuffle out of the path.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Amongst the Singhalese there is a belief that certain +charms are efficacious in protecting them from the violence of bears, +and those whose avocations expose them to encounters of this kind are +accustomed to carry a talisman either attached to their neck or +enveloped in the folds of their luxuriant hair. A friend of mine, +writing of an adventure which occurred at Anarajapoora, thus describes +an occasion on which a Moor, who attended him, was somewhat rudely +disabused of his belief in the efficacy of charms upon bears:--"Desiring +to change the position of a herd of deer, the Moorman (with his charm) +was sent across some swampy land to disturb them. As he was proceeding +we saw him suddenly turn from an old tree and run back with all speed, +his hair becoming unfastened and like his clothes streaming in the wind. +It soon became evident that he was flying from some terrific object, for +he had thrown down his gun, and, in his panic, he was taking the +shortest line towards us, which lay across a swamp covered with sedge +and rushes that greatly impeded his progress, and prevented us +approaching him, or seeing what was the cause of his flight. Missing his +steps from one hard spot to another he repeatedly fell into the water, +but he rose and resumed his flight. I advanced as far as the sods would +bear my weight, but to go further was impracticable. Just within ball +range there was an open space, and, as the man gained it, I saw that he +was pursued by a bear and two cubs. As the person of the fugitive +covered the bear, it was impossible to fire without risk. At last he +fell exhausted, and the bear being close upon him, I discharged both +barrels. The first broke the bear's shoulder, but this only made her +more savage, and rising on her hind legs she advanced with ferocious +grunts, when the second barrel, though I do not think it took effect, +served to frighten her, for turning round she retreated at full speed, +followed by the cubs. Some natives then waded through the mud to the +Moorman, who was just exhausted and would have been drowned but that he +fell with his head upon a tuft of grass: the poor man was unable to +speak, and for several weeks his intellect seemed confused. The +adventure sufficed to satisfy him that he could not again depend upon a +charm to protect him from bears, though he always insisted that but for +its having fallen from his hair where he had fastened it under his +turban, the bear would not have ventured to attack him."] + +Leopards[1] are the only formidable members of the tiger race in Ceylon, +and they are neither very numerous nor very dangerous as they seldom +attack man. By Europeans they are commonly called cheetahs; but the true +cheetah, the hunting leopard of India (_Felis jubata_), does not exist +in Ceylon. There is a rare variety which has been found in various parts +of the island, in which the skin, instead of being spotted, is of a +uniform black.[2] The leopards frequent the vicinity of pasture lands in +quest of the deer and other peaceful animals which resort to them; and +the villagers often complain of the destruction of their cattle by these +formidable marauders. In relation to them, the natives have a curious +but firm conviction that when a bullock is killed by a leopard, and, in +expiring, falls so that _its right side is undermost_, the leopard will +not return to devour it. I have been told by English sportsmen (some of +whom share in the popular belief), that sometimes, when they have +proposed to watch by the carcase of a bullock recently killed by a +leopard, in the hope of shooting the spoiler on his return in search of +his prey, the native owner of the slaughtered animal, though earnestly +desiring to be avenged, has assured them that it would be in vain, as, +the beast having fallen on its right side, the leopard would not return. + +[Footnote 1: Felis pardus, _Linn_. What is called a leopard, or a +cheetah, in Ceylon, is in reality the true panther.] + +[Footnote 2: F. melas, _Peron_ and _Leseur_.] + +The Singhalese hunt them for the sake of their extremely beautiful +skins, but prefer taking them in traps and pitfalls, and occasionally in +spring cages formed of poles driven firmly into the ground, within which +a kid is generally fastened as a bait; the door being held open by a +sapling bent down by the united force of several men, and so arranged to +act as a spring, to which a noose is ingeniously attached, formed of +plaited deer hide. The cries of the kid attract the leopards, one of +which, being tempted to enter, is enclosed by the liberation of the +spring and grasped firmly round the body by the noose. + +Like the other carnivora, they are timid and cowardly in the presence of +man, never intruding on him voluntarily and making a hasty retreat when +approached. Instances have, however, occurred of individuals having been +slain by them, and like the tiger, it is believed, that, having once +tasted human blood they acquire an habitual relish for it. A peon on +night duty at the courthouse at Anarajapoora, was some years ago carried +off by a leopard from a table in the verandah on which he had laid down +his head to sleep. At Batticaloa a "cheetah" in two instances in +succession was known to carry off men placed on a stage erected in a +tree to drive away elephants from the rice-lands: but such cases are +rare, and as compared with their dread of the bear, the natives of +Ceylon entertain but slight apprehensions of the "cheetah." It is, +however, the dread of sportsmen, whose dogs when beating in the jungle +are especially exposed to its attacks: and I am aware of one instance in +which a party having tied their dogs to the tent-pole for security, and +fallen asleep around them, a leopard sprang into the tent and carried +off a dog from the midst of its slumbering masters. + +They are strongly attracted by the peculiar odour which accompanies +small-pox. The reluctance of the natives to submit themselves or their +children to vaccination exposes the island to frightful visitations of +this disease; and in the villages in the interior it is usual on such +occasions to erect huts in the jungle to serve as temporary hospitals. +Towards these the leopards are certain to be allured; and the medical +officers are obliged to resort to increased precautions in consequence. +On one occasion being in the mountains near Kandy, a messenger +despatched to me through the jungle excused his delay by stating that a +"cheetah" had seated itself in the only practicable path, and remained +quietly licking its fore paws and rubbing them over its face, till he +was forced to drive it, with stones, into the forest. + +Major Skinner, who for upwards of forty years has had occasion to live +almost constantly in the interior, occupied in the prosecution of +surveys and the construction of roads, is strongly of opinion that +towards man the disposition of the leopard is essentially pacific, and +that, when discovered, its natural impulse is to effect its escape. In +illustration of this, I insert an extract from one of his letters, which +describes an adventure highly characteristic of this instinctive +timidity. + +"On the occasion of one of my visits to Adam's Peak in the prosecution +of my military reconnoissances of the mountain, zone, I fixed on a +pretty little patena (i.e. meadow) in the midst of an extensive and +dense forest in the southern segment of the Peak Range, as a favourable +spot for operations. It would have been difficult, after descending from +the cone of the peak, to have found one's way to this point, in the +midst of so vast a wilderness of trees, had not long experience assured +me that good game tracks would be found leading to it, and by one of +them I reached it. It was in the afternoon, just after one of those +tropical sun-showers which decorate every branch and blade with its +pendant brilliants, and the little patena was covered with game, either +driven to the open space by the drippings from the leaves or tempted by +the freshness of the pasture: there were several pairs of elk, the +bearded antlered male contrasting finely with his mate; and other +varieties of game in a profusion not to be found in any place frequented +by man. It was some time before I could allow them to be disturbed by +the rude fall of the axe, in our necessity to establish our bivouac for +the night, and they were so unaccustomed to danger, that it was long +before they took alarm at our noises. + +"The following morning, anxious to gain a height in time to avail myself +of the clear atmosphere of sunrise for my observations, I started off by +myself through the jungle, leaving orders for my men, with my surveying +instruments, to follow my track by the notches which I cut in the bark +of the trees. On leaving the plain, I availed myself of a fine wide game +track which lay in my direction, and had gone, perhaps half a mile from +the camp, when I was startled by a slight rustling in the nilloo[1] to +my right, and in another instant, by the spring of a magnificent leopard +which, in a bound of full eight feet in height over the lower brushwood, +lighted at my feet within eighteen inches of the spot whereon I stood, +and lay in a crouching position, his fiery gleaming eyes fixed on me. + +[Footnote 1: A species of one of the suffruticose _Acanthacea_ which +grows abundantly in the mountain ranges of Ceylon. See _ante_, p. 90 n.] + +"The predicament was not a pleasant one. I had no weapon of defence, and +with one spring or blow of his paw the beast could have annihilated me. +To move I knew would only encourage his attack. It occurred to me at the +moment that I had heard of the power of man's eye over wild animals, and +accordingly I fixed my gaze as intently, as the agitation of such a +moment enabled me, on his eyes: we stared at each other for some +seconds, when, to my inexpressible joy, the beast turned and bounded +down the straight open path before me." "This scene occurred just at +that period of the morning when the grazing animals retired from the +open patena to the cool shade of the forest: doubtless, the leopard had +taken my approach for that of a deer, or some such animal. And if his +spring had been at a quadruped instead of a biped, his distance was so +well measured, that it must have landed him on the neck of a deer, an +elk, or a buffalo; as it was, one pace more would have done for me. A +bear would not have let his victim off so easily." + +It is said, but I never have been able personally to verify the fact, +that the Ceylon leopard exhibits a peculiarity in being unable entirely +to retract its claws within their sheaths. + +Of the lesser feline species the number and variety in Ceylon is +inferior to that of India. The Palm-cat[1] lurks by day among the fronds +of the coco-nut trees, and by night makes destructive forays on the +fowls of the villagers; and, in order to suck the blood of its victim, +inflicts a wound so small as to be almost imperceptible. The glossy +genette[2], the "_Civet_" of Europeans, is common in the northern +province, where the Tamils confine it in cages for the sake of its musk, +which they collect from the wooden bars on which it rubs itself. Edrisi, +the Moorish geographer, writing in the twelfth century, enumerates musk +as one of the productions then exported from Ceylon.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Paradoxurus typus, _F. Cuv_.] + +[Footnote 2: Viverra Indica, _Geoffr., Hodgson_.] + +[Footnote 3: EDRISI, _Geogr_., sec. vii. Jaubert's translation, t. ii. +p. 72.] + +_Dogs_.--There is no native wild dog in Ceylon, but every village and +town is haunted by mongrels of European descent, which are known by the +generic description of _Pariahs_. They are a miserable race, +acknowledged by no owners, living on the garbage of the streets and +sewers, lean, wretched, and mangy, and if spoken to unexpectedly, +shrinking with an almost involuntary cry. Yet in these persecuted +outcasts there survives that germ of instinctive affection which binds +the dog to the human race, and a gentle word, even a look of +compassionate kindness, is sufficient foundation for a lasting +attachment. + +The Singhalese, from their religious aversion to taking away life in any +form, permit the increase of these desolate creatures till in the hot +season they become so numerous as to be a nuisance; and the only +expedient hitherto devised by the civil government to reduce their +numbers, is once in each year to offer a reward for their destruction, +when the Tamils and Malays pursue them in the streets with clubs (guns +being forbidden by the police for fear of accidents), and the +unresisting dogs are beaten to death on the side-paths and door steps, +where they had been taught to resort for food. Lord Torrington, during +his tenure of office, attempted the more civilised experiment of putting +some check on their numbers, by imposing a dog tax, the effect of which +would have been to lead to the drowning of puppies; whereas there is +reason to believe that dogs are at present _bred_ by the horse-keepers +to be killed for sake of the reward. + +_Jackal_.--The Jackal[1] in the low country hunts in packs, headed by a +leader, and these audacious prowlers have been seen to assault and pull +down a deer. The small number of hares in the districts they infest is +ascribed to their depredations. An excrescence is sometimes found on the +head of the jackal, consisting of a small horny cone about half an inch +in length, and concealed by a tuft of hair. This the natives call +_Narri-comboo_, and they aver that this "Jackal's Horn" only grows on +the head of the leader of the pack.[2] The Singhalese and the Tamils +alike regard it as a talisman, and believe that its fortunate possessor +can command by its instrumentality the realisation of every wish, and +that if stolen or lost by him, it will invariably return of its own +accord. Those who have jewels to conceal, rest in perfect security if +along with them they can deposit a Narri-comboo, fully convinced that +its presence is an effectual safeguard against robbers. + +[Footnote 1: Canis aureus. _Linn_.] + +[Footnote 2: In the Museum of the College of Surgeons, London (No. 4362 +A), there is a cranium of a jackal which exhibits this strange osseous +process on the super-occipital; and I have placed along with it a +specimen of the horny sheath, which was presented to me by Mr. +Lavalliere, the district judge of Kandy.] + +Jackals are subject to hydrophobia, and instances are frequent of cattle +being bitten by them and dying in consequence. + +_The Mongoos_.--Of the Mongoos or Ichneumons five species have been +described; and one which frequents the hills near Neuera-ellia[1], is so +remarkable from its bushy fur, that the invalid soldiers in the +sanatarium, to whom it is familiar, call it the "Ceylon Badger." I have +found universally that the natives of Ceylon attach no credit to the +European story of the Mongoos (_H. griseus_) resorting to some plant, +which no one has yet succeeded in identifying, as an antidote against +the bite of the venomous serpents on which it preys. There is no doubt +that in its conflicts with the cobra de capello and other poisonous +snakes, which it attacks with as little hesitation as the harmless ones, +it may be seen occasionally to retreat, and even to retire into the +jungle, and, it is added, to eat some vegetable; but a gentleman who has +been a frequent observer of its exploits, assures me that most usually +the herb it resorted to was grass; and if this were not at hand, almost +any other that grew near seemed equally acceptable. Hence has probably +arisen the long list of plants; such as the _Ophioxylon serpentinum_ and +_Ophiorhiza mungos_, the _Aristolochia Indica_, the _Mimosa octandru_, +and others, each of which has been asserted to be the ichneumon's +specific; whilst their multiplicity is demonstrative of the +non-existence of any one in particular to which the animal resorts for +an antidote. Were there any truth in the tale as regards the mongoos, it +would be difficult to understand, why other creatures, such as the +secretary bird and the falcon, which equally destroy serpents, should be +left defenceless, and the ichneumon alone provided with a prophylactic. +Besides, were the ichneumon inspired by that courage which would result +from the consciousness of security, it would be so indifferent to the +bite of the serpent, that we might conclude that, both in its approaches +and its assault, it would be utterly careless as to the precise mode of +its attack. Such, however, is far from being the case; and next to its +audacity, nothing is more surprising than the adroitness with which it +escapes the spring of the snake under a due sense of danger, and the +cunning with which it makes its arrangements to leap upon the back and +fasten its teeth in the head of the cobra. It is this display of +instinctive ingenuity that Lucan[2] celebrates where he paints the +ichneumon diverting the attention of the asp, by the motion of his bushy +tale, and then seizing it in the midst of its confusion. + +[Footnote 1: _Herpestes vitticollis_. Mr. W. ELLIOTT, in his _Catalogue +of Mammalia found in the Southern Maharata Country_, Madras, 1840, says, +that "One specimen of this Herpestes was procured by accident in the +Ghat forests in 1829, and is now deposited in the British Museum; it is +very rare, inhabiting only the thickest woods, and its habits are very +little known," p. 9. In Ceylon, it is comparatively common.] + +[Footnote 2: The passage in Lucan is a versification of the same +narrative related by Pliny, lib. viii. ch. 35; and AElian, lib. iii. ch. +22.] + + "Aspidas ut Pharias cauda solertior hostis + Ludit, et iratas incerta provocat umbra: + Obliquusque caput vanas serpentis in auras + Effusae toto comprendit guttura morsu + Letiferam citra saniem; tune irrita pestis + Exprimitur, faucesque fluunt pereunte veneno." + +_Pharsalia_, lib. iv. v. 729. + +The mystery of the mongoos and its antidote has been referred to the +supposition that there may be some peculiarity in its organisation which +renders it _proof against_ the poison of the serpent. It remains for +future investigation to determine how far this conjecture is founded in +truth; and whether in the blood of the mongoos there exists any element +or quality which acts as a prophylactic. Such exceptional provisions are +not without precedent in the animal oeconomy: the hornbill feeds with +impunity on the deadly fruit of the strychnos; the milky juice of some +species of euphorbia, which is harmless to oxen, is invariably fatal to +the zebra; and the tsetse fly, the pest of South Africa, whose bite is +mortal to the ox, the dog, and the horse, is harmless to man and the +untamed creatures of the forest.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Dr. LIVINGSTONE, _Tour in S. Africa_, p. 80. Is it a fact +that in America, pigs extirpate the rattlesnakes with impunity?] + +The Singhalese distinguish one species of mongoos, which they designate +"_Hotambeya_," and which they assert never preys upon serpents. A writer +in the _Ceylon Miscellany_ mentions, that they are often to be seen +"crossing rivers and frequenting mud-brooks near Chilaw; the adjacent +thickets affording them shelter, and their food consisting of aquatic +reptiles, crabs, and mollusca."[1] + +[Footnote 1: This is possibly the "musbilai" or mouse-cat of Behar, +which preys upon birds and fish. Could it be the Urva of the Nepalese +(_Urva cancrivora_, Hodgson), which Mr. Hodgson describes as dwelling in +burrows, and being carnivorous and ranivorous?--Vide _Journ. As. Soc. +Beng._, vol. vi. p. 56.] + +IV. RODENTIA. _Squirrels_.--Smaller animals in great numbers enliven the +forests and lowland plains with their graceful movements. Squirrels[1], +of which there are a great variety, make their shrill metallic call +heard at early morning in the woods, and when sounding their note of +warning on the approach of a civet or a tree-snake, the ears tingle with +the loud trill of defiance, which rings as clear and rapid as the +running down of an alarum, and is instantly caught up and re-echoed from +every side by their terrified playmates. + +[Footnote 1: Of two kinds which frequent the mountains, one which is +peculiar to Ceylon was discovered by Mr. Edgar L. Layard, who has done +me the honour to call it the _Sciurus Tennentii_. Its dimensions are +large, measuring upwards of two feet from head to tail. It is +distinguished from the _S. macrurus_ by the predominant black colour of +the upper surface of the body, with the exception of a rusty spot at the +base of the ears.] + +One of the largest, belonging to a closely allied subgenus, is known as +the "Flying Squirrel,"[1] from its being assisted in its prodigious +leaps from tree to tree, by the parachute formed by the skin of the +flanks, which on the extension of the limbs front and rear, is laterally +expanded from foot to foot. Thus buoyed up in its descent, the spring +which it is enabled to make from one lofty tree to another resembles the +flight of a bird rather than the bound of a quadruped. Of these pretty +creatures there are two species, one common to Ceylon and India, the +other (_Sciuropterus Layardii_, Kelaart) is peculiar to the island, and +is by far the most beautiful of the family. + +[Footnote 1: Pteromys oral., _Tickel_. P. petaurista, _Pallas_.] + +_Rats_.--Among the multifarious inhabitants to which the forest affords +at once a home and provender is the tree rat[1], which forms its nest on +the branches, and by turns makes its visits to the dwellings of the +natives, frequenting the ceilings in preference to the lower parts of +houses. Here it is incessantly followed by the rat-snake[2], whose +domestication is encouraged by the native servants, in consideration of +its services in destroying vermin. I had one day an opportunity of +surprising a snake which had just seized on a rat of this description, +and of covering it suddenly with a glass shade, before it had time to +swallow its prey. The serpent, which appeared stunned by its own +capture, allowed the rat to escape from its jaws, which cowered at one +side of the glass in the most pitiable state of trembling terror. The +two were left alone for some moments, and on my return to them the snake +was as before in the same attitude of sullen stupor. On setting them at +liberty, the rat bounded towards the nearest fence; but quick as +lightning it was followed by its pursuer, which seized it before it +could gain the hedge, through which I saw the snake glide with its +victim in its jaws. + +[Footnote 1: There are two species of the tree rat in Ceylon: M. +rufescens, _Gray_; (M. flavescens; _Elliot_;) and Mus nemoralis, +_Blyth_.] + +[Footnote 2: Coryphodon Blumenbachii.] + +Another indigenous variety of the rat is that which made its appearance +for the first time in the coffee plantations on the Kandyan hills in the +year 1847, and in such swarms does it infest them, that as many as a +thousand have been killed in a single day on one estate. In order to +reach the buds and blossoms of the coffee, it cuts such slender +branches, as would not sustain its weight, and feeds as they fall to the +ground; and so delicate and sharp are its incisors, that the twigs thus +destroyed are detached by as clean a cut as if severed with a knife. The +coffee-rat[1] is an insular variety of the _Mus hirsutus_ of W. Elliot, +found in Southern India. They inhabit the forests, making their nests +among the roots of the trees, and like the lemmings of Norway and +Lapland, they migrate in vast numbers on the occurrence of a scarcity of +their ordinary food. The Malabar coolies are so fond of their flesh, +that they evince a preference for those districts in which the coffee +plantations are subject to these incursions, where they fry the rats in +oil, or convert them into curry. + +[Footnote 1: Golunda Ellioti, _Gray_.] + +_Bandicoot_.--Another favourite article of food with the coolies is the +pig-rat or Bandicoot[1], which attains on those hills the weight of two +or three pounds, and grows to nearly the length of two feet. As it feeds +on grain and roots, its flesh is said to be delicate, and much +resembling young pork. Its nests, when rifled, are frequently found to +contain considerable quantities of rice, stored up against the dry +season. + +[Footnote 1: Mus bandicota, _Beckst_. The English term bandicoot is a +corruption of the Telinga name _pandikoku_, literally _pig-rat_.] + +_Porcupine_.--The Porcupine[1] is another of the _rodentia_ which has +drawn down upon itself the hostility of the planters, from its +destruction of the young coco-nut palms, to which it is a pernicious and +persevering, but withal so crafty, a visitor, that it is with difficulty +any trap can be so disguised, or any bait made so alluring, as to lead +to its capture. The usual expedient is to place some of its favourite +food at the extremity of a trench, so narrow as to prevent the porcupine +turning, whilst the direction of his quills effectually bars his +retreat. On a newly planted coco-nut tope, at Hang-welle, within a few +miles of Colombo, I have heard of as many as twenty-seven being thus +captured in a single night; but such success is rare. The more ordinary +expedient is to smoke them out by burning straw at the apertures of +their burrows. The flesh is esteemed a delicacy in Ceylon, and in +consistency, colour, and flavour, it very much resembles that of a young +pig. + +[Footnote 1: Hystrix leucurus, _Sykes_.] + +V. EDENTATA, _Pengolin._--Of the _Edentata_ the only example in Ceylon +is the scaly ant-eater, called by the Singhalese, Caballaya, but usually +known by its Malay name of _Pengolin_[1], a word indicative of its +faculty of "rolling itself up" into a compact ball, by bending its head +towards its stomach, arching its back into a circle, and securing all by +a powerful fold of its mail-covered tail. The feet of the pengolin are +armed with powerful claws, which they double in in walking like the +ant-eater of Brazil. These they use in extracting their favourite food, +the termites, from ant-hills and decaying wood. When at liberty, they +burrow in the dry ground to a depth of seven or eight feet, where they +reside in pairs, and produce annually one or two young. + +[Footnote 1: Manis pentadactyla, _Linn._] + +Of two specimens which I kept alive at different times, one from the +vicinity of Kandy, about two feet in length, was a gentle and +affectionate creature, which, after wandering over the house in search +of ants, would attract attention to its wants by climbing up my knee, +laying hold of my leg with its prehensile tail. The other, more than +double that length, was caught in the jungle near Chilaw, and brought to +me in Colombo. I had always understood that the pengolin was unable to +climb trees; but the one last mentioned frequently ascended a tree in my +garden, in search of ants, and this it effected by means of its hooked +feet, aided by an oblique grasp of the tail. The ants it seized by +extending its round and glutinous tongue along their tracks. In both, +the scales of the back were a cream-coloured white, with a tinge of red +in the specimen which came from Chilaw, probably acquired by the +insinuation of the Cabook dust which abounds along the western coast of +the island. Generally speaking, they were quiet during the day, and grew +restless as evening and night approached. + +VI. RUMINATA. _The Gaur._--Besides the deer and some varieties of the +humped ox, which have been introduced from the opposite continent of +India, Ceylon has probably but one other indigenous _ruminant_., the +buffalo.[1] There is a tradition that the gaur, found in the extremity +of the Indian peninsula, was at one period a native of the Kandyan +mountains; but as Knox speaks of one which in his time "was kept among +the king's creatures" at Kandy[2], and his account of it tallies with +that of the _Bos Gaurus_ of Hindustan, it would appear even then to have +been a rarity. A place between Neuera-ellia and Adam's Peak bears the +name of Gowra-ellia, and it is not impossible that the animal may yet be +discovered in some of the imperfectly explored regions of the island.[3] +I have heard of an instance in which a very old Kandyan, residing in the +mountains near the Horton Plains, asserted that when young he had seen +what he believed to have been a gaur, and which he described as between +an elk and a buffalo in size, dark brown in colour, and very scantily +provided with hair. + +[Footnote 1: Bubalus buffelus; _Gray_.] + +[Footnote 2: _Historical Relation of Ceylon, &c._, A.D. 1681. Book i. c, +6.] + +[Footnote 3: KELAART, _Fauna Zeylan_., p. 87.] + +_Oxen_.--Oxen are used by the peasantry both in ploughing and in +tempering the mud in the wet paddi fields before sowing the rice; and +when the harvest is reaped they "tread out the corn," after the +immemorial custom of the East. The wealth of the native chiefs and +landed proprietors frequently consists in their herds of bullocks, which +they hire out to their dependents during the seasons for agricultural +labour; and as they already supply them with land to be tilled, and lend +the seed which is to crop it, the further contribution of this portion +of the labour serves to render the dependence of the peasantry on the +chiefs and head-men complete. + +The cows are worked equally with the oxen; and as the calves are always +permitted to suck them, milk is an article which the traveller can +rarely hope to procure in a Kandyan village. From their constant +exposure at all seasons, the cattle in Ceylon, both those employed in +agriculture and on the roads, are subject to the most devastating +murrains, which sweep them away by thousands. So frequent is the +recurrence of these calamities, and so extended their ravages, that they +exercise a serious influence over the commercial interests of the +colony, by reducing the facilities of agriculture, and augmenting the +cost of carriage during the most critical periods of the coffee season. + +A similar disorder, probably peripneumonia, frequently carries off the +cattle in Assam and other hill countries on the continent of India; and +there, as in Ceylon, the inflammatory symptoms in the lungs and throat, +and the internal derangement and external eruptive appearances, seem to +indicate that the disease is a feverish influenza, attributable to +neglect and exposure in a moist and variable climate; and that its +prevention might be hoped for, and the cattle preserved by the simple +expedient of more humane and considerate treatment, especially by +affording them cover at night. + +During my residence in Ceylon an incident occurred at Neuera-ellia, +which invested one of these pretty animals with an heroic interest. A +little cow, belonging to an English gentleman, was housed, together with +her calf, near the dwelling of her owner, and being aroused during the +night by her furious bellowing, the servants, on hastening to the stall, +found her goring a leopard, which had stolen in to attack the calf. She +had got him into a corner, and whilst lowing incessantly to call for +help, she continued to pound him with her horns. The wild animal, +apparently stupified by her unexpected violence, was detained by her +till despatched by a gun. + +_The Buffalo_.--Buffaloes abound in all parts of Ceylon, but they are +only to be seen in their native wildness in the vast solitudes of the +northern and eastern provinces, where rivers, lagoons, and dilapidated +tanks abound. In these they delight to immerse themselves, till only +their heads appear above the surface; or, enveloped in mud to protect +themselves from the assaults of insects, luxuriate in the long sedges by +the water margins. + +When the buffalo is browsing, a crow will frequently be seen stationed +on his back, engaged in freeing it from the ticks and other pests which +attach themselves to his leathery hide, the smooth brown surface of +which, unprotected by hair, shines with an unpleasant polish in the +sunlight. When in motion he throws back his clumsy head till the huge +horns rest on his shoulders, and the nose is presented in a line with +the eyes. When wild they are at all times uncertain in disposition, but +so frequently savage that it is never quite safe to approach them, if +disturbed in their pasture or alarmed from their repose in the shallow +lakes. On such occasions they hurry into line, draw up in defensive +array, with a few of the oldest bulls in advance; and, wheeling in +circles, their horns clashing with a loud sound as they clank them +together in their rapid evolutions, the herd betakes itself to flight. +Then forming again at a safer distance, they halt as before, elevating +their nostrils, and throwing back their heads to take a cautious survey +of the intruders. The sportsman rarely molests them, so huge a creature +affording no worthy mark for his skill, and their wanton slaughter +adding nothing to the supply of food for their assailant. + +In the Hambangtotte country, where the Singhalese domesticate the +buffaloes, and use them to assist in the labour of the rice lands, the +villagers are much annoyed by the wild ones, which mingle with the tame +when sent out to the woods to pasture; and it constantly happens that a +savage stranger, placing himself at the head of the tame herd, resists +the attempts of the owners to drive them homewards at sunset. In the +districts of Putlam and the Seven Corles, buffaloes are generally used +for draught; and in carrying heavy loads of salt from the coast towards +the interior, they drag a cart over roads which would defy the weaker +strength of bullocks. + +In one place between Batticaloa and Trincomalie I found the natives +making an ingenious use of them when engaged in shooting water-fowl in +the vast salt marshes and muddy lakes. Being an object to which the +birds are accustomed, the Singhalese train the buffalo to the sport, +and, concealed behind, the animal browsing listlessly along, they guide +it by ropes attached to its horns, and thus creep undiscovered within +shot of the flock. The same practice prevails, I believe, in some of the +northern parts of India, where they are similarly trained to assist the +sportsman in approaching deer. One of these "sporting buffaloes" sells +for a considerable sum. + +The buffalo, like the elk, is sometimes found in Ceylon as an albino, +with purely white hair and pink iris. There is a peculiarity in the +formation of its foot, which, though it must have attracted attention, I +have never seen mentioned by naturalists. It is equivalent to an +arrangement that distinguishes the foot of the reindeer from that of the +stag and the antelope. In them, the hoofs, being constructed for +lightness and flight, are compact and vertical; but, in the reindeer, +the joints of the tarsal bones admit of lateral expansion, and the broad +hoofs curve upwards in front, while the two secondary ones behind (which +are but slightly developed in the fallow deer and others of the same +family) are prolonged till, in certain positions, they are capable of +being applied to the ground, thus adding to the circumference and +sustaining power of the foot. It has been usually suggested as the +probable design of this structure, that it is to enable the reindeer to +shovel under the snow in order to reach the lichens beneath it; but I +apprehend that another use of it has been overlooked, that of +facilitating its movements in search of food by increasing the +difficulty of its sinking in the snow. + +A formation precisely analogous in the buffalo seems to point to a +corresponding design. The ox, whose life is spent on firm ground, has +the bones of the foot so constructed as to afford the most solid support +to an animal of its great weight; but in the buffalo, which delights in +the morasses on the margins of pools and rivers, the formation of the +foot resembles that of the reindeer. The tarsi in front extend almost +horizontally from the upright bones of the leg, and spread widely on +touching the ground; the hoofs are flattened and broad, with the +extremities turned upwards; and the false hoofs descend behind till, in +walking, they make a clattering sound. In traversing the marshes, this +combination of abnormal incidents serves to give extraordinary breadth +to the foot, and not only prevents the buffalo from sinking +inconveniently in soft ground[1], but at the same time presents no +obstacle to the withdrawal of his foot from the mud. + +[Footnote 1: PROFESSOR OWEN has noticed a similar fact regarding the +rudiments of the second and fifth digits in the instance of the elk and +bison, which have them largely expanded where they inhabit swampy +ground; whilst they are nearly obliterated in the camel and dromedary, +which traverse arid deserts.--OWEN _on Limbs_, p. 34; see also BELL _on +the Hand_, ch. iii.] + +_Deer_.--"Deer," says the truthful old chronicler, Robert Knox, "are in +great abundance in the woods, from the largeness of a cow to the +smallness of a hare, for here is a creature in this land no bigger than +the latter, though every part rightly resembleth a deer: it is called +_meminna_, of a grey colour, with white spots and good meat."[1] The +little creature which thus dwelt in the recollection of the old man, as +one of the memorials of his long captivity, is the small "musk deer"[2] +so called in India, although neither sex is provided with a musk-bag; +and the Europeans in Ceylon know it by the name of the moose deer. Its +extreme length never reaches two feet; and of those which were +domesticated about my house, few exceeded ten inches in height, their +graceful limbs being of similar delicate proportion. It possesses long +and extremely large tusks, with which it inflicts a severe bite. The +interpreter moodliar of Negombo had a _milk white_ meminna in 1847, +which he designed to send home as an acceptable present to Her Majesty, +but it was unfortunately killed by an accident.[3] + +[Footnote 1: KNOX'S _Relation, &c_., book i. c. 6.] + +[Footnote 2: Moschus meminna.] + +[Footnote 3: When the English took possession of Kandy, in 1803, they +found "five beautiful milk-white deer in the palace, which was noted as +a very extraordinary thing."--_Letter_ in Appendix to PERCIVAL'S +_Ceylon_, p. 428. The writer does not say of what species they were.] + +_Ceylon Elk_.--In the mountains, the Ceylon elk[1], which reminds one of +the red deer of Scotland, attains the height of four or five feet; it +abounds in all places which are intersected by shady rivers; where, +though its hunting affords an endless resource to the sportsmen, its +venison scarcely equals in quality the inferior beef of the lowland ox. +In the glades and park-like openings that diversify the great forests of +the interior, the spotted Axis troops in herds as numerous as the fallow +deer in England; and, in journeys through the jungle, when often +dependent on the guns of our party for the precarious supply of the +table, we found the flesh of the Axis[2] and the Muntjac[3] a sorry +substitute for that of the pea-fowl, the jungle-cock, and flamingo. The +occurrence of albinos is very frequent in troops of the axis. Deer's +horns are an article of export from Ceylon, and considerable quantities +are annually sent to the United Kingdom. + +[Footnote 1: Rusa Aristotelis. Dr. GRAY has lately shown that this is +the great _axis_ of Cuvier.--_Oss. Foss._ 502, t. 39, f. 10. The +Singhalese, on following the elk, frequently effect their approaches by +so imitating the call of the animal as to induce them to respond. An +instance occurred during my residence in Ceylon, in which two natives, +whose mimicry had mutually deceived them, crept so close together in the +jungle that one shot the other, supposing the cry to proceed from the +game.] + +[Footnote 2: Axis maculata, _H. Smith_.] + +[Footnote 3: Stylocerus muntjac, _Horsf_.] + +VII. PACHYDERMATA. _The Elephant._--The elephant and the wild boar, the +Singhalese "waloora," are the only representatives of the +_pachydermatous_ order. The latter, which differs in no respect from the +wild boar of India, is found in droves in all parts of the island where +vegetation and water are abundant. The elephant, the lord paramount of +the Ceylon forests, is to be met with in every district, on the confines +of the woods, in whose depths he finds concealment and shade during the +hours when the sun is high, and from which he emerges only at twilight +to wend his way towards the rivers and tanks, where he luxuriates till +dawn, when he again seeks the retirement of the deep forests. This noble +animal fills so dignified a place both in the zoology and oeconomy of +Ceylon, and his habits in a state of nature have been so much +misunderstood, that I shall devote a separate section to his defence +from misrepresentation, and to an exposition of what, from observation +and experience, I believe to be his genuine character when free in his +native domains. + +VIII. CETACEA.--Among the Cetacea the occurrence of the Dugong[1] on +various points of the coast, and especially on the western side of the +island, will be noticed elsewhere; and whales are so frequently seen +that they have been captured within sight of Colombo, and more than once +their carcases, after having been flinched by the whalers, have floated +on shore near the light-house, tainting the atmosphere within the fort +by their rapid decomposition. + +[Footnote 1: _Halicore dugong_, F. Cuv.] + +From this sketch of the Mammalia it will be seen that, in its general +features, this branch of the Fauna bears a striking resemblance to that +of Southern India, although many of the larger animals of the latter are +unknown in Ceylon; and, on the other hand, some species discovered there +are altogether peculiar to the island. A deer[1] as large as the Axis, +but differing from it in the number and arrangement of its spots, has +been described by Dr. Kelaart, to whose vigilance the natural history of +Ceylon is indebted, amongst others, for the identification of two new +species of monkeys[2], a number of curious shrews[3], and an +orange-coloured ichneumon[4], before unknown. There are also two +descriptions of squirrels[5] that have not as yet been discovered +elsewhere, one of them belonging to those equipped with a parachute[6], +as well as some local varieties of the palm squirrel (Sciurus +penicillatus, _Leach_).[7] + +[Footnote 1: Cervus orizus, KELAART, _Prod. F. Zeyl_., p. 83.] + +[Footnote 2: Presbytes ursinus, _Blyth_, and P. Thersites, _Elliot_.] + +[Footnote 3: Sorex montanus, S. ferrugineus, and Feroculus macropus.] + +[Footnote 4: Herpestes fulvescens, KELAART, _Prod. Fann. Zeylan_., App. +p. 42.] + +[Footnote 5: Sciurus Tennentii, _Layard_.] + +[Footnote 6: Sciuropterus Layardi, _Kelaart_.] + +[Footnote 7: There is a rat found only in the Cinnamon Gardens at +Colombo, Mus Ceylonus, _Kelaart_; and a mouse which Dr. Kelaart +discovered at Trincomalie, M. fulvidi-ventris, _Blyth_, both peculiar to +Ceylon. Dr. TEMPLETON has noticed a little shrew (Corsira purpurascens, +_Mag. Nat. Hist_. 1855, p. 238) at Neuera-ellia, not as yet observed +elsewhere.] + +But the Ceylon Mammalia, besides wanting a number of minor animals found +in the Indian peninsula, cannot boast such a ruminant as the majestic +Gaur[1], which inhabits the great forests from Cape Comorin to the +Himalaya; and, providentially, the island is equally free of the +formidable tiger and the ferocious wolf of Hindustan. + +[Footnote 1: Bos cavifrons, _Hodgs_, B. frontalis, _Lamb_.] + +The Hyena and Cheetah[1], common in Southern India, are unknown in +Ceylon; and though abundant in deer, the island possesses no example of +the Antelope or the Gazelle. + +[Footnote 1: Felis jubata, _Schreb_.] + +_List of Ceylon Mammalia._ + +A list of the Mammalia of Ceylon is subjoined. In framing it, as well as +the lists appended to other chapters on the Fauna of the island, the +principal object in view has been to exhibit the extent to which its +natural history had been investigated, and collections made up to the +period of my leaving the colony in 1850. It has been considered +expedient to exclude a few individuals which have not had the advantage +of a direct comparison with authentic specimens, either at Calcutta or +in England. This will account for the omission of a number which have +appeared in other catalogues, but of which many, though ascertained to +exist, have not been submitted to this rigorous process of +identification. + +The greater portion of the species of mammals and birds contained in +these lists will be found, with suitable references to the most accurate +descriptions, in the admirable catalogue of the collection at the India +House, now in course of publication under the care of Dr. Horsfield. +This work cannot be too highly extolled, not alone for the scrupulous +fidelity with which the description of each species is referred to its +first discoverer, but also for the pains which have been taken to +elaborate synonymes and to collate from local periodicals and other +sources, little accessible to ordinary inquirers, such incidents and +traits as are calculated to illustrate characteristics and habits. + +Quadrumana. + +Presbytes cephalopterus, _Zimm_. + ursinus, _Blyth_. + Priamus, _Elliot_ & _Blyth_. + Thersites, _Blyth_. +Macacus pileatus, _Shaw_ & _Desm_. +Loris gracilis, _Geoff_. + +Cheiroptera. + +Pteropus Edwardsii, _Geoff_. + Leschenaultii, _Dum_. +Cynopterus marginatus, _Hamilt_. +Megaderma spasma, _Linn_. + lyra, _Geoff_. +Rhinolophus _affinis, Horsf_. +Hipposideros murinus, _Elliot_. + speoris, _Elliot_. + armiger, _Hodgs_. + vulgaris, _Horsf_. +Kerivoula picta, _Pall_. +Taphozous longimanus, _Hardw_. +Scotophilus Coromandelicus, _F. Cuv_. + _adversus, Horsf_. + Temminkii, _Horsf_. + Tickelli, _Blyth_. + Heathii. + +Carnivora. + +Sorex coerulescens, _Shaw_. + ferrugincus, _Kelaart_. + serpentarius, _Is. Geoff_. + montanus, _Kelaart_. +Feroculus macropus, _Kelaart_. +Ursus labiatus, _Blainv_. +Lutra nair, _F. Cuv_. +Canis aureus, _Linn_. +Viverra Indica, _Geoff., Hodgs_. +Cynictis Maccarthiae, _Gray_. +Herpestes vitticollis, _Benn_. + griseus, _Gm_. + Smithii, _Gray_. + fulvescens, _Kelaart_. +Paradoxurus typus, _F. Cuv_. + Ceylonicus, _Pall_. +Felis pardus, _Linn_. + chaus, _Guldens_. + viverrinus, _Benn_. + +Rodentia. + +Sciurus macrurus, _Forst_. + Tennentii, _Layard_. + penicillatus, _Leach_. + trilineatus, _Waterh_. +Sciuropterus Layardi, _Kelaart_. +Pteromys petaurista, _Pall_. +Mus bandicota, _Bechst_. + Kok, _Gray_. + rufescens, _Gray_. + nemoralis, _Blyth_. + Indicus, _Geoff_. + fulvidiventris, _Blyth_. +Nesoki _Hardwickii, Gray_. +Golunda Neuera, _Kelaart_. + Ellioti, _Gray_. +Gerbillus Indicus, _Hardw_. +Lepus nigricollis, _F. Cuv._ +Hystrix leucurus, _Sykes_. + +Edentata. + +Manis pentadactyla, _Linn._ + +Pachydermata. + +Elephas Indicus, _Linn._ +Sus Indicus, _Gray_. + _Zeylonicus, Blyth_. + +Ruminantia. + +Moschus meminna, _Erxl_. +Stylocerus muntjac, _Horsf_. +Axis maculata, _H. Smith_. +Rusa Aristotelis, _Cuv_. + +Cetacea. + +Halicore dugung, _F. Cuv_. + + + + +NOTE (A.) + +_Parasite of the Bat_. + +One of the most curious peculiarities connected with the bats is their +singular parasite, the Nycteribia.[1] On cursory observation, this +creature appears to have neither head, antennae, eyes, nor mouth; and the +earlier observers of its structure assured themselves that the place of +the latter was supplied by a cylindrical sucker, which, being placed +between the shoulders, the creature had no option but to turn on its +back to feed. This apparent inconvenience was thought to have been +compensated for by another anomaly: its three pairs of legs, armed with +claws, being so arranged that they seemed to be equally distributed over +its upper and under sides, the creature being thus enabled to use them +like hands, and to grasp the strong hairs above it while extracting its +nourishment. It moves by rolling itself rapidly along, rotating like a +wheel on the extremities of its spokes, or like the clown in a pantomime +hurling himself forward on hands and feet alternately. Its celerity is +so great that Colonel Montague, who was one of the first to describe it +minutely[2], says its speed exceeds that of any known insect, and as its +joints are so flexible as to yield in every direction (like what +mechanics call a "ball and socket"), its motions are exceedingly +grotesque as it tumbles through the fur of the bat. + +[Footnote 1: This extraordinary creature had formerly been discovered +only on a few European bats. Joinville figured one which he found on the +large roussette (the flying-fox), and says he had seen another on a bat +of the same family. Dr. Templeton observed them in Ceylon in great +abundance on the fur of the _Scotophilus Coromandelicus_, and they will, +no doubt, be found on many others.] + +[Footnote 2: Celeripes vespertilionis, _Mont. Lin. Trans_, xi. p. 11.] + +To enable it to attain its marvellous velocity, each foot is armed with +two sharp hooks, with elastic pads opposed to them, so that the hair can +not only be rapidly seized and firmly held, but as quickly disengaged as +the creature whirls away in its headlong career. + +The insects to which it hears the nearest affinity are the +_Hippoboscidae_ or "spider flies," that infest birds and horses, but, +unlike them, it is unable to fly. + +Its strangest peculiarity, and that which gave rise to the belief that +it is headless, is its faculty when at rest of throwing back its head +and pressing it close between its shoulders till the under side becomes +uppermost, not a vestige of head being discernible where we would +naturally look for it, and the whole seeming but a casual inequality on +its back. + +On closer examination this apparent tubercle is found to have a leathery +attachment like a flexible neck, and by a sudden jerk the little +creature is enabled to project it forward into its normal position, when +it is discovered to be furnished with a mouth, antennae, and four eyes, +two on each side. + +The organisation of such an insect is a marvellous adaptation of +physical form to special circumstances. As the nycteribia has to make +its way through fur and hairs, its feet are furnished with prehensile +hooks that almost convert them into hands; and being obliged to conform +to the sudden flights of its patron, and accommodate itself to inverted +positions, all attitudes are rendered alike to it by the arrangement of +its limbs, which enables it, after every possible gyration, to find +itself always on its feet. + + + + +CHAP. II. + +BIRDS. + + +Of the _Birds_ of the island, upwards of three hundred and twenty +species have been indicated, for which we are indebted to the +persevering labours of Dr. Templeton, Dr. Kelaart, and Mr. Layard; but +many yet remain to be identified. In fact, to the eye of a stranger, +their prodigious numbers, and especially the myriads of waterfowl which, +notwithstanding the presence of the crocodiles, people the lakes and +marshes in the eastern provinces, form one of the marvels of Ceylon. + +In the glory of their plumage, the birds of the interior are surpassed +by those of South America and Northern India; and the melody of their +song will bear no comparison with that of the warblers of Europe, but +the want of brilliancy is compensated by their singular grace of form, +and the absence of prolonged and modulated harmony by the rich and +melodious tones of their clear and musical calls. In the elevations of +the Kandyan country there are a few, such as the robin of +Neuera-ellia[1] and the long-tailed thrush[2], whose song rivals that of +their European namesakes; but, far beyond the attraction of their notes, +the traveller rejoices in the flute-like voices of the Oriole, the +Dayal-bird[3], and some others equally charming; when, at the first dawn +of day, they wake the forest with their clear _reveille_. + +[Footnote 1: Pratincola atrata, _Kelaart_.] + +[Footnote 2: Kittacincla macroura, _Gm_.] + +[Footnote 3: Copsychus saularis, _Linn_. Called by the Europeans in +Ceylon the "Magpie Robin." This is not to be confounded with the other +popular favourite, the "Indian Robin" (Thamnobia fulicata, _Linn_.), +which is "never seen in the unfrequented jungle, but, like the coco-nut +palm, which the Singhalese assert will only flourish within the sound of +the human voice, it is always found near the habitations of men."--E.L. +LAYARD.] + +It is only on emerging from the dense forests, and coming into the +vicinity of the lakes and pasture of the low country, that birds become +visible in great quantities. In the close jungle one occasionally hears +the call of the copper-smith[1], or the strokes of the great +orange-coloured woodpecker[2] as it beats the decaying trees in search +of insects, whilst clinging to the bark with its finely-pointed claws, +and leaning for support upon the short stiff feathers of its tail. And +on the lofty branches of the higher trees, the hornbill[3] (the toucan +of the East), with its enormous double casque, sits to watch the motions +of the tiny reptiles and smaller birds on which it preys, tossing them +into the air when seized, and catching them in its gigantic mandibles as +they fall.[4] The remarkable excrescence on the beak of this +extraordinary bird may serve to explain the statement of the Minorite +friar Odoric, of Portenau in Friuli, who travelled in Ceylon in the +fourteenth century, and brought suspicion on the veracity of his +narrative by asserting that he had there seen "_birds with two +heads_."[5] + +[Footnote 1: The greater red-headed Barbet (Megalaima indica, _Lath_.; +M. Philippensis, _var. A. Lath_.), the incessant din of which resembles +the blows of a smith hammering a cauldron.] + +[Footnote 2: Brachypternus aurantius, _Linn_.] + +[Footnote 3: Buceros pica, _Scop_.; B. coronata, _Bodd_. The natives +assert that B. pica builds in holes in the trees, and that when +incubation has fairly commenced, the female takes her seat on the eggs, +and the male closes up the orifice by which she entered, leaving only a +small aperture through which he feeds his partner, whilst she +successfully guards their treasures from the monkey tribes; her +formidable bill nearly filling the entire entrance. See a paper by Edgar +L. Layard, Esq. _Mag. Nat. Hist._ March, 1853. Dr. Horsfield had +previously observed the same habit in a species of Buceros in Java. (See +HORSFIELD and MOORE'S _Catal. Birds_, E.I. Comp. Mus. vol. ii.) It is +curious that a similar trait, though necessarily from very different +instincts, is exhibited by the termites, who literally build a cell +round the great progenitrix of the community, and feed her through +apertures.] + +[Footnote 4: The hornbill is also frugivorous, and the natives assert +that when endeavouring to detach a fruit, if the stem is too tough to be +severed by his mandibles, he flings himself off the branch so as to add +the weight of his body to the pressure of his beak. The hornbill abounds +in Cuttack, and bears there the name of "Kuchila-Kai," or Kuchila-eater, +from its partiality for the fruit of the Strychnus nux-vomica. The +natives regard its flesh as a sovereign specific for rheumatic +affections.--_Asiat. Res._ ch. xv. p. 184.] + +[Footnote 5: _Itinerarius_ FRATRIS ODORICI, de Foro Julii de +Portu-vahonis.--HAKLUYT, vol. ii. p. 39.] + +As we emerge from the deep shade and approach the park-like openings on +the verge of the low country, quantities of pea-fowl are to be found +either feeding amongst the seeds and nuts in the long grass or sunning +themselves on the branches of the surrounding trees. Nothing to be met +with in demesnes in England can give an adequate idea either of the size +or the magnificence of this matchless bird when seen in his native +solitudes. Here he generally selects some projecting branch, from which +his plumage may hang free of the foliage, and, if there be a dead and +leafless bough, he is certain to choose it for his resting-place, whence +he droops his wings and suspends his gorgeous train, or spreads it in +the morning sun to drive off the damps and dews of the night. + +In some of the unfrequented portions of the eastern province, to which +Europeans rarely resort, and where the pea-fowl are unmolested by the +natives, their number is so extraordinary that, regarded as game, it +ceases to be a "sport" to destroy them; and their cries at early morning +are so tumultuous and incessant as to banish sleep, and amount to an +actual inconvenience. Their flesh is excellent when served up hot, +though it is said to be indigestible; but, when cold, it contracts a +reddish and disagreeable tinge. + +But of all, the most astonishing in point of multitude, as well as the +most interesting from their endless variety, are the myriads of aquatic +birds and waders which frequent the lakes and watercourses; especially +those along the coast near Batticaloa, between the mainland and the sand +formations of the shore, and the innumerable salt marshes and lagoons to +the south of Trincomalie. These, and the profusion of perching birds, +fly-catchers, finches, and thrushes, which appear in the open country, +afford sufficient quarry for the raptorial and predatory +species--eagles, hawks, and falcons--whose daring sweeps and effortless +undulations are striking objects in the cloudless sky. + +I. ACCIPITRES. _Eagles_.--The Eagles, however, are small, and as +compared with other countries rare; except, perhaps, the crested +eagle[1], which haunts the mountain provinces and the lower hills, +disquieting the peasantry by its ravages amongst their poultry; and the +gloomy serpent eagle[2], which, descending from its eyrie in the lofty +jungle, and uttering a loud and plaintive cry, sweeps cautiously around +the lonely tanks and marshes, where it feeds upon the reptiles on their +margin. The largest eagle is the great sea Erne[3], seen on the northern +coasts and the salt lakes of the eastern provinces, particularly when +the receding tide leaves bare an expanse of beach, over which it hunts, +in company with the fishing eagle[4], sacred to Siva. Unlike its +companions, however, the sea eagle rejects garbage for living prey, and +especially for the sea snakes which abound on the northern coasts. These +it seizes by descending with its wings half closed, and, suddenly +darting down its talons, it soars aloft again with its writhing +victim.[5] + +[Footnote 1: Spizaetus limnaetus, _Horsf_.] + +[Footnote 2: Haematornis cheela, _Daud_.] + +[Footnote 3: Pontoaetus leucogaster, _Gmel_.] + +[Footnote 4: Haliastur indus, _Bodd_.] + +[Footnote 5: E.L. Layard. Europeans have given this bird the name of the +"Brahminy Kite," probably from observing the superstitious feeling of +the natives regarding it, who believe that when two armies are about to +engage, its appearance prognosticates victory to the party over whom it +hovers.] + +_Hawks_.--The beautiful Peregrine Falcon[1] is rare, but the Kestrel[2] +is found almost universally; and the bold and daring Goshawk[3] wherever +wild crags and precipices afford safe breeding places. In the district +of Anarajapoora, where it is trained for hawking, it is usual, in lieu +of a hood, to darken its eyes by means of a silken thread passed through +holes in the eyelids. The ignoble birds of prey, the Kites[4], keep +close by the shore, and hover round the returning boats of the fishermen +to feast on the fry rejected from their nets. + +[Footnote 1: Falco peregrinus, _Linn_.] + +[Footnote 2: Tinnunculus alaudarius, _Briss_.] + +[Footnote 3: Astur trivirgatus, _Temm_.] + +[Footnote 4: Milvus govinda, _Sykes_. Dr. Hamilton Buchanan remarks that +when gorged this bird delights to sit on the entablature of buildings, +exposing its back to the hottest rays of the sun, placing its breast +against the wall, and stretching out its wings _exactly as the Egyptian +Hawk is represented on their monuments_.] + +_Owls_.--Of the nocturnal accipitres the most remarkable is the brown +owl, which, from its hideous yell, has acquired the name of the +"Devil-Bird."[l] The Singhalese regard it literally with horror, and its +scream by night in the vicinity of a village is bewailed as the +harbinger of approaching calamity. + +[Footnote 1: Syrnium indranee, _Sykes_. The horror of this nocturnal +scream was equally prevalent in the West as in the East. Ovid Introduces +it in his _Fasti_, L. vi. 1. 139; and Tibullus in his Elegies, L.i. El +5. Statius says-- + + "Nocturnae-que gemunt striges, et feralia bubo + _Danna canens_." Theb. iii. I. 511. + +But Pliny, 1. xi. c. 93, doubts as to what bird produced the sound; and +the details of Ovid's description do not apply to an owl. + +Mr. Mitford, of the Ceylon Civil Service, to whom I am indebted for many +valuable notes relative to the birds of the island, regards the +identification of the Singhalese Devil-Bird as open to similar doubt: he +says--"The Devil-Bird is not am owl. I never heard it until I came to +Kornegalle, where it haunts the rocky hill at the back of +Government-House. Its ordinary note is a magnificent clear shout like +that of a human being, and which can be heard at a great distance, and +has a fine effect in the silence of the closing night. It has another +cry like that of a hen just caught, but the sounds which have earned for +it its bad name, and which I have heard but once to perfection, are +indescribable, the most appalling that can be imagined, and scarcely to +be heard without shuddering; I can only compare it to a boy in torture, +whose screams are being stopped by being strangled. I have offered +rewards for a specimen, but without success. The only European who had +seen and fired at one agreed with the natives that it is of the size of +a pigeon, with a long tail. I believe it is a Podargus or Night Hawk," +In a subsequent note he further says--"I have since seen two birds by +moonlight, one of the size and shape of a cuckoo, the other a large +black bird, which I imagine to be the one which gives these calls."] + +II. PASSERES. _Swallows_.--Within thirty-five miles of Caltura, on the +western coast, are inland caves, the resort of the Esculent Swift[1], +which there builds the "edible bird's nest," so highly prized in China. +Near the spot a few Chinese immigrants have established themselves, who +rent the royalty from the government, and make an annual export of their +produce. But the Swifts are not confined to this district, and caves +containing them have been found far in the interior, a fact which +complicates the still unexplained mystery of the composition of their +nest; and notwithstanding the power of wing possessed by these birds, +adds something to the difficulty of believing that it consists of +glutinous algae.[2] In the nests brought to me there was no trace of +organisation; and whatever may be the original material, it is so +elaborated by the swallow as to present somewhat the appearance and +consistency of strings of isinglass. The quantity of these nests +exported from Ceylon is trifling. + +[Footnote 1: Collocalia brevirostris, _McClell_.; C. nidifica, _Gray_.] + +[Footnote 2: An epitome of what has been written on this subject will be +found in _Dr. Horsfield's Catalogue_ of the Birds in the E.I. Comp. +Museum, vol. i. p. 101, etc.] + +_Kingfishers_.--In solitary places, where no sound breaks the silence +except the gurgle of the river as it sweeps round the rocks, the lonely +Kingfisher sits upon an overhanging branch, his turquoise plumage hardly +less intense in its lustre than the deep blue of the sky above him; and +so intent is his watch upon the passing fish that intrusion fails to +scare him from his post; the emblem of vigilance and patience. + +_Sun Birds_.--In the gardens the Sun Birds[1] (known as the Humming +Birds of Ceylon) hover all day long, attracted by the plants over which +they hang, poised on their glittering wings, and inserting their curved +beaks to extract the tiny insects that nestle in the flowers. Perhaps +the most graceful of the birds of Ceylon in form and motions, and the +most chaste in colouring, is that which Europeans call "the Bird of +Paradise,"[2] and the natives "the Cotton Thief," from the circumstance +that its tail consists of two long white feathers, which stream behind +it as it flies, Mr. Layard says:--"I have often watched them, when +seeking their insect prey, turn suddenly on their perch and _whisk their +long tails with a jerk_ over the bough, as if to protect them from +injury." + +[Footnote 1: Nectarina Zeylanica, _Linn_.] + +[Footnote 2: Tchitrea paradisi, _Linn_.] + +_The Bulbul_.--The _Condatchee Bulbul_[1], which, from the crest on its +head, is called by the Singhalese the "Konda Coorola," or _Tuft bird_, +is regarded by the natives as the most "_game_" of all birds; and the +training it to fight was one of the duties entrusted by the Kings of +Kandy to the Kooroowa, or Bird Head-man. For this purpose the Bulbul is +taken from the nest as soon as the sex is distinguishable by the tufted +crown; and being secured by a string, is taught to fly from hand to hand +of its keeper. When pitted against an antagonist, such is the obstinate +courage of this little creature that it will sink from exhaustion rather +than release its hold. This propensity, and the ordinary character of +its notes, render it impossible that the Bulbul of India can be +identical with the Bulbul of Iran, the "Bird of a Thousand Songs,"[2] of +which poets say that its delicate passion for the rose gives a plaintive +character to its note. + +[Footnote 1: Pycnonotus haemorrhous, _Gmel_.] + +[Footnote 2: _"Hazardasitaum,"_ the Persian name for the bulbul. "The +Persians," according to Zakary ben Mohamed al Caswini, "say the bulbul +has a passion for the rose, and laments and cries when he sees it +pulled."--OUSELEY'S _Oriental Collections_, vol. i. p. 16. According to +Pallas it is the true nightingale of Europe, Sylvia luscinia, which the +Armenians call _boulboul_, and the Crim-Tartars _byl-byl-i_.] + +_Tailor-Bird_.--_The Weaver-Bird_.--The tailor-bird[1] having completed +her nest, sewing together the leaves by passing through them a cotton +thread twisted by the creature herself, leaps from branch to branch to +testify her happiness by a clear and merry note; and the Indian +weaver[2], a still more ingenious artist, having woven its dwelling with +grass something into the form of a bottle, with a prolonged neck, hangs +it from a projecting branch with its entrance inverted so as to baffle +the approaches of its enemies, the tree snakes and other reptiles. The +natives assert that the male bird carries fire flies to the nest, +fastening them to its sides by a particle of soft mud, and Mr. Layard +assures me that although he has never succeeded in finding the fire fly, +the nest of the male bird (for the female occupies another during +incubation) invariably contains a patch of mud on each side of the +perch. + +[Footnote 1: Orthotomus longicauda, _Gmel_.] + +[Footnote 2: Ploceus baya, _Blyth_; P. Philippinus, _Auct_.] + +_Crows_.--Of all the Ceylon birds of this order the most familiar and +notorious is the small glossy crow, whose shining black plumage shot +with blue has obtained for him the title of _Corvus splendens_.[1] They +frequent the towns in companies, and domesticate themselves in the close +vicinity of every house; and it may possibly serve to account for the +familiarity and audacity which they exhibit in their intercourse with +men, that the Dutch during their sovereignty in Ceylon enforced severe +penalties against any one killing a crow, under the belief that they are +instrumental in extending the growth of cinnamon by feeding on the +fruit, and thus disseminating the undigested seed.[2] + +[Footnote 1: There is another species, the _C. culminatus_, so called +from the convexity of its bill; but though seen in the towns, it lives +chiefly in the open country, and may be constantly observed wherever +there are buffaloes, perched on their backs and engaged, in company with +the small Minah (_Acridotheres tristis_) in freeing them from ticks.] + +[Footnote 2: WOLF'S _Life and Adventures_, p. 117.] + +So accustomed are the natives to its presence and exploits, that, like +the Greeks and Romans, they have made the movements of the crow the +basis of their auguries; and there is no end to the vicissitudes of good +and evil fortune which may not be predicted from the direction of their +flight, the hoarse or mellow notes of their croaking, the variety of +trees on which they rest, and the numbers in which they are seen to +assemble. All day long they are engaged in watching either the offal of +the offices, or the preparation for meals in the dining-room; and as +doors and windows are necessarily opened to relieve the heat, nothing is +more common than the passage of crows across the room, lifting on the +wing some ill-guarded morsel from the dinner-table. + +No article, however unpromising its quality, provided only it be +portable, can with safety be left unguarded in any apartment accessible +to them. The contents of ladies' work-boxes, kid gloves, and pocket +handkerchiefs vanish instantly if exposed near a window or open door. +They open paper parcels to ascertain the contents; they will undo the +knot on a napkin if it encloses anything eatable, and I have known a +crow to extract the peg which fastened the lid of a basket in order to +plunder the provender within. + +On one occasion a nurse seated in a garden adjoining a regimental +mess-room, was terrified by seeing a bloody clasp-knife drop from the +air at her feet; but the mystery was explained on learning that a crow, +which had been watching the cook chopping mince-meat, had seized the +moment when his head was turned to carry off the knife. + +One of these ingenious marauders, after vainly attitudinising in front +of a chained watch-dog, which was lazily gnawing a bone, and after +fruitlessly endeavouring to divert his attention by dancing before him, +with head awry and eye askance, at length flew away for a moment, and +returned bringing with it a companion who perched itself on a branch a +few yards in the rear. The crow's grimaces were now actively renewed, +but with no better result, till its confederate, poising himself on his +wings, descended with the utmost velocity, striking the dog upon the +spine with all the force of his beak. The _ruse_ was successful; the dog +started with surprise and pain, but not quickly enough to seize his +assailant, whilst the bone he had been gnawing disappeared the instant +his head was turned. Two well-authenticated instances of the recurrence +of this device came within my knowledge at Colombo, and attest the +sagacity and powers of communication and combination possessed by these +astute and courageous birds. + +On the approach of evening the crows assemble in noisy groups along the +margin of the fresh-water lake which surrounds Colombo on the eastern +side; here for an hour or two they enjoy the luxury of the bath, tossing +the water over their shining backs, and arranging their plumage +decorously, after which they disperse, each taking the direction of his +accustomed quarters for the night.[1] + +[Footnote 1: A similar habit has been noticed in the damask Parrots of +Africa (_Palaeornis fuscus_), which daily resort at the same hour to +their accustomed water to bathe.] + +During the storms which usher in the monsoon, it has been observed, that +when coco-nut palms are struck by lightning, the destruction frequently +extends beyond a single tree, and from the contiguity and conduction of +the spreading leaves, or some other peculiar cause, large groups will be +affected by a single flash, a few killed instantly, and the rest doomed +to rapid decay. In Belligam Bay, a little to the east of Point-de-Galle, +a small island, which is covered with coco-nuts, has acquired the name +of "Crow Island," from being the resort of those birds, which are seen +hastening towards it in thousands towards sunset. A few years ago, +during a violent storm of thunder, such was the destruction of the crows +that the beach for some distance was covered with a black line of their +remains, and the grove on which they had been resting was to a great +extent destroyed by the same flash.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Similar instances are recorded in other countries of sudden +mortality amongst crows to a prodigious extent, but whether occasioned +by lightning seems uncertain. In 1839 thirty-three thousand dead crows +were found on the shores of a lake in the county Westmeath in Ireland +after a storm.--THOMPSON'S _Nat. Hist. Ireland_, vol. i. p. 319, and +Patterson in his Zoology, p. 356, mentions other cases.] + +III. SCANSORES. _Parroquets_.--Of the Psittacidae the only examples are +the parroquets, of which the most renowned is the _Palaeornis Alexandri_, +which has the historic distinction of bearing the name of the great +conquerer of India, having been the first of its race introduced to the +knowledge of Europe on the return of his expedition. An idea of their +number may be formed from the following statement of Mr. Layard, as to +the multitudes which are found on the western coast. "At Chilaw I have +seen such vast flights of parroquets coming to roost in the coco-nut +trees which overhang the bazaar, that their noise drowned the Babel of +tongues bargaining for the evening provisions. Hearing of the swarms +which resorted to this spot, I posted myself on a bridge some half mile +distant, and attempted to count the flocks which came from a single +direction to the eastward. About four o'clock in the afternoon, +straggling parties began to wend towards home, and in the course of half +an hour the current fairly set in. But I soon found that I had no longer +distinct flocks to count, it became one living screaming stream. Some +flew high in the air till right above their homes, and dived abruptly +downward with many evolutions till on a level with the trees; others +kept along the ground and dashed close by my face with the rapidity of +thought, their brilliant plumage shining with an exquisite lustre in the +sun-light. I waited on the spot till the evening closed, when I could +hear, though no longer distinguish, the birds fighting for their +perches, and on firing a shot they rose with a noise like the 'rushing +of a mighty wind,' but soon settled again, and such a din commenced as I +shall never forget; the shrill screams of the birds, the fluttering of +their innumerable wings, and the rustling of the leaves of the palm +trees, was almost deafening, and I was glad at last to escape to the +Government Rest House."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Annals of Nat. Hist_. vol xiii. p.263.] + +IV. COLUMBIDAE. _Pigeons_.--Of pigeons and doves there are at least a +dozen species; some living entirely on trees[1] and never alighting on +the ground; others, notwithstanding the abundance of food and warmth, +are migratory[2], allured, as the Singhalese allege, by the ripening of +the cinnamon berries, and hence one species is known in the southern +provinces as the "Cinnamon Dove." Others feed on the fruits of the +banyan: and it is probably to their instrumentality that this marvellous +tree chiefly owes its diffusion, its seeds being carried by them to +remote localities. A very beautiful pigeon, peculiar to the mountain +range, discovered in the lofty trees at Neuera-ellia, has, in compliment +to the Vicountess Torrington, been named _Carpophaga Torringtoniae._ + +[Footnote 1: Treron bicenta, _Jerd_.] + +[Footnote 2: _Alsocomus puniceus_, the "Season Pigeon" of Ceylon, so +called from its periodical arrival and departure.] + +Another, called by the natives _neela-cobeya_[1], although strikingly +elegant both in shape and colour, is still more remarkable far the +singularly soothing effect of its low and harmonious voice. A gentleman +who has spent many years in the jungle, in writing to me of this bird +and of the effects of its melodious song, says, that "its soft and +melancholy notes, as they came from some solitary place in the forest, +were the most gentle sounds I ever listened to. Some sentimental smokers +assert that the influence of the propensity is to make them feel _as if +they could freely forgive all who had ever offended them_, and I can say +with truth such has been the effect on my own nerves of the plaintive +murmurs of the neela-cobeya, that sometimes, when irritated, and not +without reason, by the perverseness of some of my native followers, the +feeling has almost instantly subsided into placidity on suddenly hearing +the loving tones of these beautiful birds." + +[Footnote 1: Chalcophaps Indicus, _Linn_.] + +V. GALLINAE. _The Ceylon Jungle-fowl_.--The jungle-fowl of Ceylon[1] is +shown by the peculiarity of its plumage to be distinct from the Indian +species. It has never yet bred or survived long in captivity, and no +living specimens have been successfully transmitted to Europe. It +abounds in all parts of the island, but chiefly in the lower ranges of +mountains; and one of the vivid memorials which are associated with our +journeys through the hills, is its clear cry, which sounds like a person +calling "George Joyce." At early morning it rises amidst mist and dew, +giving life to the scenery that has scarcely yet been touched by the +sunlight. + +[Footnote 1: Gallus Lafayetti, _Lesson_.] + +VI. GRALLAE.--On reaching the marshy plains and shallow lagoons on either +side of the island, the astonishment of the stranger is excited by the +endless multitudes of stilt-birds and waders which stand in long array +within the wash of the water, or sweep in vast clouds above it. +Ibises[1], storks[2], egrets, spoonbills[3], herons[4], and the smaller +races of sand larks and plovers, are seen busily traversing the wet +sand, in search of the red worm which burrows there, or peering with +steady eye to watch the motions of the small fry and aquatic insects in +the ripple on the shore. + +[Footnote 1: Tantalus leucocephalus, and Ibis falcinellus.] + +[Footnote 2: The violet-headed Stork (Ciconia leucocephala).] + +[Footnote 3: Platalea leucorodia, _Linn_.] + +[Footnote 4: Ardea cinerea. A. purpurea.] + +VII. ANSERES.--Preeminent in size and beauty, the tall _flamingoes_[1], +with rose-coloured plumage, line the beach in long files. The Singhalese +have been led, from their colour and their military order, to designate +them the "_English Soldier birds_." Nothing can be more startling than +the sudden flight of these splendid creatures when alarmed; their strong +wings beating the air sound like distant thunder; and as they soar over +head, the flock which appeared almost white but a moment before, is +converted into crimson by the sudden display of the red lining of their +wings. A peculiarity in the beak of the flamingo has scarcely attracted +due attention, as a striking illustration of creative wisdom in adapting +the organs of animals to their local necessities. The upper mandible, +which is convex in other birds, is in them flattened, whilst the lower, +instead of being flat, is convex. To those who have had an opportunity +of witnessing the action of the bird in its native haunts, the +expediency of this arrangement is at once apparent. The flamingo, to +counteract the extraordinary length of its legs, is provided with a +proportionately long neck, so that in feeding in shallow water the crown +of the head becomes inverted and the upper mandible brought into contact +with the bottom; where its flattened surface qualifies it for performing +the functions of the lower one in birds of the same class; and the edges +of both being laminated, it is thus enabled, like the duck, by the aid +of its fleshy tongue, to sift its food before swallowing. + +[Footnote 1: Phoenicopterus roseus, _Pallas_.] + +Floating on the surface of the deeper water, are fleets of the Anatidae, +the Coromandel teal[1], the Indian hooded gull[2], the Caspian tern, and +a countless variety of ducks and smaller fowl. Pelicans[3] in great +numbers resort to the mouths of the rivers, taking up their position at +sunrise on some projecting rock, from which to dart on the passing fish, +and returning far inland at night to their retreats among the trees +which overshadow some ruined watercourse or deserted tank. + +[Footnote 1: Nettapus Coromandelianus, _Gmel._] + +[Footnote 2: Larus brunnicephalus, _Jerd._] + +[Footnote 3: Pelicanus Philippensis, _Gmel._] + +Of the birds familiar to European sportsmen, partridges and quails are +to be had at all times; the woodcock has occasionally been shot in the +hills, and the ubiquitous snipe, which arrives in September from +Southern India, is identified not alone by the eccentricity of its +flight, but by retaining in high perfection the qualities which have +endeared it to the gastronome at home. But the magnificent pheasants +which inhabit the Himalayan range and the woody hills of the Chin-Indian +peninsula, have no representative amongst the tribes that people the +woods of Ceylon; although a bird believed to be a pheasant has more than +once been seen in the jungle, close to Rambodde, on the road to +Neuera-ellia. + +_List of Ceylon Birds_. + +In submitting this catalogue of the birds of Ceylon, I am anxious to +state that the copious mass of its contents is mainly due to the +untiring energy and exertions of my friend, Mr. E.L. Layard. Nearly +every bird in the list has fallen by his gun; so that the most ample +facilities have been thus provided, not only for extending the limited +amount of knowledge which formerly existed on this branch of the zoology +of the island; but for correcting, by actual comparison with recent +specimens, the errors which had previously prevailed as to imperfectly +described species. The whole of Mr. Layard's fine collection is at +present in England. + +Accipitres. + +Aquila Bonelli, _Temm_. + pennata, _Gm_. +Spizaetus Nipalensis, _Hodgs_. + limnaeetus, _Horsf_. +Ictinaetus Malayensis, _Reinw_. +Haematornis cheela, _Daud_. + spilogaster, _Blyth_. +Pontoaetus leucogaster, _Gm_. + ichthyaetus, _Horsf_. +Haliastur Indus, _Bodd_. +Falco peregrinus, _Linn_. + _peregrinator, Sund_. +Tinnunculus alaudarius, _Briss_. +Hypotriorchis chicquera, _Daud_. +Baza lophotes, _Cuv_. +Milvus govinda, _Sykes_. +Elanus melanopterus, _Daud_. +Astur trivirgatus, _Temm_. +Accipiter badius, _Gm_. +Circus Swainsonii, _A. Smith_. + cincrascens, _Mont_. + melanoleucos, _Gm_. + _aeruginosus, Linn._ +Athene castonatus, _Blyth_. + scutulata, _Raffles_. +Ephialtes scops, _Linn_. + lempijii, _Horsf_. + sunia, _Hodgs_. +Ketupa Ceylonensis, _Gm_. +Syrnium Indranee, _Sykes_. +Strix Javanica, _Gm_. + +Passeres. + +Batrachostomus moniliger, _Layard_. +Caprimulgus Mahrattensis, _Sykes_. + Kelaarti, _Blyth_. + Asiaticus, _Lath_. +Cypselus batassiensis, _Gray_. + melba, _Linn_. + affinis, _Gray_. +Macropteryx coronatus, _Tickell_. +Collocalia brevirostris, _McClel_. +Acanthylis caudacuta, _Lath_. +Hirundo panayana, _Gm_. + daurica, _Linn_. + hyperythra, _Layard_. + domicola, _Jerdon_. +Coracias Indica, _Linn_. +Harpactes fasciatus, _Gm_. +Eurystomus orientalis, _Linn_. +Halcyon Capensis, _Linn_. + atricapillus, _Gm_. + Smyrnensis, _Linn_. +Ceyx tridactyla, _Linn_. +Alcedo Bengalensis, _Gm_. +Ceryle rudis, _Linn_. +Merops Philippinus, _Linn_. + viridis, _Linn_. + quincticolor, _Vieill_. +Upupa nigripennis, _Gould_. +Nectarina Zeylanica, _Linn_. + minima, _Sykes_. + Asiatica, _Lath_. + Lotenia, _Linn_. +Dicaeum minimum, _Tickell_. +Phyllornis Malabarica, _Lath_. + Jerdoni, _Blyth_. +Dendrophila frontalis, _Horsf_. +Piprisoma agile, _Blyth_. +Orthotomus longicauda, _Gm_. +Cisticola cursitans, _Frankl_. + omalura, _Blyth_. +Drymoica valida, _Blyth_. + inornata, _Sykes_. +Prinia socialis, _Sykes_. +Acrocephalus dumetorum, _Blyth_. +Phyllopneuste nitidus, _Blyth_. + montanus, _Blyth_. + viridanus, _Blyth_. +Copsychus saularus, _Linn_. +Kittacincla macrura, _Gm_. +Pratincola caprata, _Linn_. + atrata, _Kelaart_. +Calliope cyanea, _Hodgs_. +Thamnobia fulicata, _Linn_. +Cyanecula Suevica, _Linn_. +Sylvia affinis, _Blyth_. +Parus cinereus, _Vieill_. +Zosterops palpebrosus, _Temm_. +Ioera Zeylanica, _Gm_. + typhia, _Linn_. +Motacilla sulphurea, _Bechs_. + Indica, _Gm_. + Madraspatana, _Briss_. +Budytes viridis, _Gm_. +Anthus rufulus, _Vieill_. + Richardii, _Vieill_. + striolatus, _Blyth_. +Brachypteryx Palliseri, _Kelaart_. +Alcippe nigrifrons, _Blyth_. +Pitta brachyura, _Jerd_. +Oreocincla spiloptera, _Blyth_. +Merula Wardii, _Jerd_. + Kinnisii, _Kelaart_. +Zoothera imbricata, _Layard_. +Garrulax cinereifrons, _Blyth_. +Pormatorhinus melanurus, _Blyth_. +Malacocercus rufescens, _Blyth_. + griseus, _Gm_. + striatus, _Swains_. +Pellorneum fuscocapillum, _Blyth_. +Dumetia albogularis, _Blyth_. +Chrysomma Sinense, _Gm_. +Oriolus melanocephalus, _Linn_. + Indicus, _Briss_. +Criniger ictericus, _Stickl_. +Pycnonotus penicillatus, _Kelaart_. + flavirictus, _Strickl_. + haemorrhous, _Gm_. + atricapillus, _Vieill_. +Hemipus picatus, _Sykes_. +Hypsipetes Nilgherriensis, _Jerd_. +Cyornis rubeculoides, _Vig_. +Myiagra azurea, _Bodd_. +Cryptolopha cinereocapilla, _Vieill_. +Leucocerca compressirostris, _Blyth_. +Tchitrea paradisi, _Linn_. +Butalis latirostris, _Raffles_. + Muttui, _Layard_. +Stoparola melanops, _Vig_. +Pericrocotus flammeus, _Forst_. + peregrinus, _Linn_. +Campephaga Macei, _Less_. + Sykesii, _Strickl_. +Artamus fuscus, _Vieill_. +Edolius paradiseus, _Gm_. +Dicrurus macrocereus, _Vieill_. + edoliformis, _Blyth_. + longicaudatus, _A. Hay_. + leucopygialis, _Blyth_. + coerulescens, _Linn_. +Irena puella, _Lath_. +Lanius superciliosus, _Lath_. + erythronotus, _Vig_. +Tephrodornis affinis, _Blyth_. +Cissa puella, _Blyth & Layard_. +Corvus splendens, _Vieille_. + culminatus, _Sykes_. +Eulabes religiosa, _Linn_. + ptilogenys, _Blyth_. +Pastor roseus, _Linn_. +Hetaerornis pagodarum, _Gm_. + _albifrontata, Layard_. +Acridotheres tristis, _Linn_. +Ploceus manyar, _Horsf_. + baya, _Blyth_. +Munia undulata, _Latr_. + _Malabarica, Linn_. + Malacca, _Linn_. + rubronigra, _Hodgs_. + striata, _Linn_. + pectoralis, _Jerd._ +Passer Indicus, _Jard. & Selb._ +Alauda gulgula, _Frank_. + Malabarica, _Scop_. +Pyrrhulauda grisea, _Scop_. +Mirafra affinis, _Jerd_. +Buceros gingalensis, _Shaw_. + coronata, _Bodd_. + +Scansores. + +Loriculus Asiaticus, _Lath_. +Palaeornis Alexandri, _Linn_. + torquatus, _Briss_. + cyanocephalus, _Linn_. + Calthropae, _Layard_. + Layardi, _Blyth_. +Megalaima Indica, _Latr_. + Zeylanica, _Gmel_. + flavifrons, _Cuv_. + rubicapilla, _Gm_. +Picus gymnophthalmus, _Blyth._ + Mahrattensis, _Lath_. + Macei, _Vieill_. +Gecinus chlorophanes, _Vieill_. +Brachypternus aurantius, _Linn_. + Ceylonus, _Forst_. + _rubescens, Vieill_. + Stricklandi, _Layard_. +Micropterus gularis, _Jerd_. +Centropus rufipennis, _Illiger_. + chlororhynchos, _Blyth_. +Oxylophus melanoleucos, _Gm_. + Coramandus, _Linn_. +Endynamys orientalis, _Linn_. +Cuculus Bartletti, _Layard_. + striatus, _Drapiez_. + canorus, _Linn_. +Polyphasia tenuirostris, _Gray_. + Sonneratii, _Lath_. +Hierococcyx varius, _Vahl_. +Surniculus dicruroides, _Hodgs_. +Phoenicophaus pyrrhocephalus, _Forst_. +Zanclostomus viridirostris, _Jerd_. + +Columbae. + +Treron bicincta, _Jerd_. + flavogularis, _Blyth_. + Pompadoura, _Gm_. + chlorogaster, _Blyth_. +Carpophaga pusilla, _Blyth_. + Torringtoniae, _Kelaart_. +Alsocomus puniceus, _Tickel_. +Columba intermedia, _Strickl_. +Turtur risorius, _Linn_. + Suratensis, _Lath_. + humilis, _Temm_. + orientalis, _Lath_. +Chalcophaps Indicus, _Linn_. + +Gallinae. + +Pavo cristatus, _Linn_. +Gallus Lafayetti, _Lesson_. +Galloperdix bicalcaratus, _Linn_. +Francolinus Ponticerianus, _Gm_. +Perdicula agoondah, _Sykes_. +Coturnix Chinensis, _Linn_. +Turnix ocellatus _var._ Bengalensis, _Blyth_. +Turnix ocellatus _var._ taigoor, _Sykes_. + +Gralliae. + +Esacus recurvirostris, _Cuv_. +Oedienemus crepitans, _Temm_. +Cursorius Coromandelicus, _Gm_. +Lobivanellus bilobus, _Gm_. + Goensis, _Gm_. +Charadrius virginicus, _Bechs_. +Hiaticula Philippensis, _Scop_. + cantiana, _Lath_. + Leschenaultii, _Less_. +Strepsilas interpres, _Linn_. +Ardea purpurea, _Linn_. + cinerea, _Linn_. + asha, _Sykes_. + intermedia, _Wagler_. + garzetta, _Linn_. + alba, _Linn_. + bubulcus, _Savig_. +Ardeola leucoptera, _Bodd_. +Ardetta cinnamomea, _Gm_. + flavicollis, _Lath_. + Sinensis, _Gm_. +Butoroides Javanica, _Horsf_. +Platalea leucorodia, _Linn_. +Nycticorax griseus, _Linn_. +Tigrisoma melanolopha, _Raffl_. +Mycteria australis, _Shaw_. +Leptophilus Javanica, _Horsf_. +Ciconia leucocephala, _Gm_. +Anastomus oscitans, _Bodd_. +Tantalus leucocephalus, _Gm_. +Geronticus melanocephalus, _Lath_. +Ibis falcinellus, _Linn_. +Numenius arquatus, _Linn_. + phoeopus, _Linn_. +Totanus fuscus, _Linn_. + ochropus, _Linn_. + calidris, _Linn_. + hypoleucos, _Linn_. + glottoides, _Vigors_. + stagnalis, _Bechst_. +Actitis glareola, _Gm_. +Tringa minuta, _Leist_. + subarquata, _Gm_. +Limicola platyrhyncha, _Temm_. +Limosa aegocephala, _Linn_. +Himantopus candidus, _Bon_. +Recurvirostra avocetta, _Linn_. +Haematopus ostralegus, _Linn_. +Rhynchoea Bengalensis, _Linn_. +Scolopax rusticola, _Linn_. +Gallinago stenura, _Temm_. + _scolopacina, Bon_. + _gallinula, Linn_. +Hydrophasianus Sinensis, _Gm_. +Ortygometra rubiginosa, _Temm_. +Corethura Zeylanica, _Gm_. +Porzana pygmaea, _Nan_. +Rallus striatus, _Linn_. + Indicus, _Blyth_. +Porphyrio poliocephalus, _Lath_. +Gallinula phoenicura, _Penn_. + chloropus, _Linn_. + cristata, _Lath_. + +ANSERES. + +Phoenicopterus ruber, _Linn_. +Sarkidiornis melanonotos, _Penn_. +Nettapus Coromandelianus, _Gm_. +Anas poecilorhyncha, _Penn_. +Dendrocygnus arcuatus, _Cuv_. +Dafila acuta, _Linn_. +Querquedula crecca, _Linn_. + circia, _Linn_. +_Fuligula rufina, Pall_. +Spatula clypeata, _Linn_. +Podiceps Philippensis, _Gm_. +Larus brunnicephalus, _Jerd_. + ichthyaetus, _Pall_. +Sylochelidon Caspius, _Lath_. +Hydrochelidon Indicus, _Steph_. +Gelochelidon Anglicus, _Mont_. +Onychoprion anasthaetus, _Scop_. +Sterna Javanica, _Horsf_. + melanogaster, _Temm_. + minuta, _Linn_. +Seena aurantia, _Gray_. +Thalasseus Bengalensis, _Less_. + cristata, _Steph_. +Dromas ardeola, _Payk_. +Atagen ariel, _Gould_. +Thalassidroma _melanogaster, Gould_. +Plotus melanogaster, _Gm_. +Pelicanus Philippensis, _Gm_. +Graculus Sinensis, _Shaw_. + pygmaeus, _Pallas_. + + + + +NOTE. + +The following is a list of the birds which are, as far as is at present +known, peculiar to the island; it will probably at some future day be +determined that some included in it have a wider geographical range. + +Haematornis spilogaster. The "Ceylon eagle;" was discovered by Mr. Layard +in the Wanny, and by Dr. Kelaart at Trincomalie. + +Athene castonotus. The chestnut-winged hawk owl. This pretty little owl +was added to the list of Ceylon birds by Dr. Templeton. + +Batrachostomus monoliger. The oil bird; was discovered amongst the +precipitous rocks of the Adam's Peak range by Mr. Layrard. Another +specimen was sent about the same time to Sir James Emerson Tennent from +Avisavelle. Mr. Mitford has met with it at Ratnapoora. + +Caprimulgus Kelaarti. Kelaart's night-jar; swarms on the marshy plains +of Neuera-ellia at dusk. + +Hirundo hyperythra. The red-bellied swallow; was discovered in 1849 by +Mr. Layard at Ambepusse. They build a globular nest with a round hole at +top. A pair built in the ring for a hanging lamp in Dr. Gardner's study +at Peradinia, and hatched their young, undisturbed by the daily trimming +and lighting of the lamp. + +Cisticola omalura. Layard's mountain grass warbler; is found in +abundance on Horton Plain and Neuera-ellia, among the long Patena grass. + +Drymoica valida. Layard's wren-warbler; frequents tufts of grass and low +bushes, feeding on insects. + +Pratincola atrata. The Neuera-ellia robin; a melodious songster; added +to our catalogue by Dr. Kelaart. + +Brachypteryx Palliseri. Ant thrush. A rare bird, added by Dr. Kelaart +from Dimboola and Neuera-ellia. + +Pellorneum fuscocapillum. Mr. Layard found two specimens of this rare +thrush creeping about shrubs and bushes, feeding on insects. + +Alcippe nigrifrons. This thrush frequents low impenetrable thickets, and +seems to be widely distributed. + +Oreocincla spiloptera. The spotted thrush is only found in the mountain +zone about lofty trees. + +Merula Kinnisii. The Neuera-ellia blackbird; was added by Dr. Kelaart. + +Garrulax cinereifrons. The ashy-headed babbler; was found by Mr. Layard +near Ratnapoora. + +Pomatorhinus melanurus. Mr. Layard states that the mountain babbler +frequents low, scraggy, impenetrable brush, along the margins of +deserted cheena land. + +Malacocercus rufescens. The red-dung thrush added by Dr. Templeton to +the Singhalese Fauna, is found in thick jungle in the southern and +midland districts. + +Pycnonotus penicillatus. The yellow-eared bulbul; was found by Dr. +Kelaart at Neuera-ellia. + +Butalis Muttui. This very handsome flycatcher was procured at Point +Pedro, by Mr. Layard. + +Dicrurus edoliformis. Dr. Templeton found this kingcrow at the Bibloo +Oya. Mr. Layard has since got it at Ambogammoa. + +Dicrurus leucopygialis. The Ceylon kingcrow was sent to Mr. Blyth from +the vicinity of Colombo, by Dr. Templeton. + +Tephrodornis affinis. The Ceylon butcher-bird. A migratory species found +in the wooded grass lands in October. + +Cissa puella. Layard's mountain jay. A most lovely bird, found along +mountain streams at Neuera-ellia and elsewhere. + +Enlabes ptilogenys. Templeton's mynah. The largest and most beautiful of +the species. It is found in flocks perching on the highest trees, +feeding on berries. + +Loriculus asiaticus. The small parroquet, abundant in various districts. + +Palaeornis Calthropae. Layard's purple-headed parroquet, found at Kandy, +is a very handsome bird, flying in flocks, and resting on the summits of +the very highest trees. Dr. Kelaart states that it is the only parroquet +of the Neuera-ellia range. + +Palaeornis Layardi. The Jaffna parroquet was discovered by Mr. Layard at +Point Pedro. + +Megalaima flavifrons. The yellow-headed barbet, is not uncommon. + +Megalaima rubricapilla, is found in most parts of the island. + +Picus gymnophthalmus. Layard's woodpecker. The smallest of the species, +was discovered near Colombo, amongst jak trees. + +Brachypternus Ceylonus. The Ceylon woodpecker, is found in abundance +near Neuera-ellia. + +Brachypternus rubescens. The red woodpecker. + +Centropus chlororhynchus. The yellow-billed cuckoo, was detected by Mr. +Layard in dense jungle near Colombo and Avisavelle. + +Phoenicophaus pyrrhocephalus. The malkoha, is confined to the southern +highlands. + +Treron flavogularis. The common green pigeon, is found in abundance at +the top of Balacaddua Pass and at Ratnapoora. It feeds on berries and +flies in large flocks. It was believed to be identical with the +following.--_Mag. Nat. Hist._ p. 58: 1854. + +Treron Pompadoura. The Pompadour pigeon. "The Prince of Canino has shown +that this is a totally distinct bird, much smaller, with the quantity of +maroon colour on the mantle greatly reduced."--Paper by Mr. BLYTH, _Mag. +Nat Hist._ p. 514: 1857. + +Carpophaga Torringtoniae. Lady Torrington's pigeon; a very handsome +pigeon discovered in the highlands by Dr. Kelaart. It flies high in long +sweeps, and makes its nest on the loftiest trees. + +Carpophaga pusilla. The little-hill dove, a migratory species found by +Mr. Layard in the mountain zone, only appearing with the ripened fruit +of the teak, banyan, &c., on which they feed. + +Gallus Lafayetti. The Ceylon jungle fowl. The female of this handsome +bird was figured by Mr. GRAY (_Ill. Ind. Zool._) under the name of G. +Stanleyi. The cock bird had long been lost to naturalists, until a +specimen was forwarded to Mr. Blyth, who at once recognised it as the +long-looked for male of Mr. Gray's recently described female. It is +abundant in all the uncultivated portions of Ceylon; coming out into the +open spaces to feed in the mornings and evenings. + + + + +CHAP. III. + +REPTILES. + + +LIZARDS. _Iguana_.--One of the earliest if not the first remarkable +animal to startle a stranger on arriving in Ceylon, whilst wending his +way from Point-de-Galle to Colombo, is a huge lizard of from four to +five feet in length, the Talla-goya of the Singhalese, and Iguana[1] of +the Europeans. It may be seen at noonday searching for ants and insects +in the middle of the highway and along the fences; when disturbed, but +by no means alarmed, by the approach of man, it moves off to a safe +distance; and, the intrusion being over, returns again to the occupation +in which it had been interrupted. Repulsive as it is in appearance, it +is perfectly harmless, and is hunted down by dogs in the maritime +provinces, where its delicate flesh is converted into curry, and its +skin into shoes. When seized, it has the power of inflicting a smart +blow with its tail. The Talla-goya lives in almost any convenient +hollow, such as a hole in the ground, or the deserted nest of the +termites; and home small ones which frequented my garden at Colombo, +made their retreat in the heart of a decayed tree. A still larger +species, the Kabragoya[2], which is partial to marshy ground, when +disturbed upon land, will take refuge in the nearest water. From the +somewhat eruptive appearance of the yellow blotches on its scales, a +closely allied species, similarly spotted, formerly obtained amongst +naturalists the name of _Monitor exanthemata_, and it is curious that +the native appellation of this one, Kabra[3], is suggestive of the same +idea. The Singhalese, on a strictly homoeopathic principle, believe that +its fat, externally applied, is a cure for cutaneous disorders, but that +inwardly taken it is poisonous.[4] It is one of the incidents which seem +to indicate that Ceylon belongs to a separate circle of physical +geography, this lizard has not hitherto been discovered on the continent +of Hindustan, though it is found to the eastward in Burmah.[5] + +[Footnote 1: Monitor dracaena, _Linn_. Among the barbarous nostrums of +the uneducated natives both Singhalese and Tamil, is the tongue of the +iguana, which they regard as a specific for consumption, if plucked from +the living animal and swallowed whole.] + +[Footnote 2: Hydrosaurus salvator, _Wagler_.] + +[Footnote 3: In the _Mahawanso_ the hero, Tisso, is said to have been +"afflicted with a cutaneous complaint which, made his skin scaly like +that of the _godho_."--Ch. xxiv. p. 148. "Godho" is the Pali name for +the Kabra-goya.] + +[Footnote 4: In the preparation of the mysterious poison, the +_Cobra-tel_, which is regarded with so much horror by the Singhalese; +the unfortunate Kabra-goya is forced to take a painfully prominent part. +The receipt, as written down by a Kandyan, was sent to me from +Kornegalle, by Mr. Morris, in 1840; and in dramatic arrangement it far +outdoes the cauldron of _Macbeth's_ witches. The ingredients are +extracted from venomous snakes, the Cobra de Capello (from which it +takes its name), the Carawella, and the Tic prolonga, by making an +incision in the head and suspending the reptiles over a chattie to +collect the poison. To this, arsenic and other drugs are added, and the +whole is to be "boiled in a human skull, with the aid of the three +Kabra-goyas, which are tied on three sides of the fire, with their heads +directed towards it, and tormented by whips to make them hiss, so that +the fire may blaze. The froth from their lips is then to be added to the +boiling mixture, and so soon as an oily scum rises to the surface, the +_cobra-tel_ is complete." + +Although it is obvious that the arsenic is the main ingredient in the +poison, Mr. Morris reported to me that this mode of preparing it was +actually practised in his district; and the above account was +transmitted by him apropos to the murder of a Mohatal and his wife, +which was then under investigation, and which had been committed with +the _cobra-tel_. Before commencing the operation of preparing the +poison, a cock is first sacrificed to the yakkos or demons.] + +[Footnote 5: In corroboration of the view propounded elsewhere (see pp. +7, 84, &c.), and opposed to the popular belief that Ceylon, at some +remote period, was detached from the continent of India by the +interposition of the sea, a list of reptiles will be found at p. 203, +including, not only individual species, but whole genera peculiar to the +island, and not to be found on the mainland. See a paper by DR. A. +GUENTHER on _The Geog. Distribution of Reptiles_, Magaz. Nat. Hist. for +March, 1859, p. 230.] + +_Blood-suckers_.--These, however, are but the stranger's introduction to +innumerable varieties of lizards, all most attractive in their sudden +movements, and some unsurpassed in the brilliancy of their colouring, +which bask on banks, dart over rocks, and peer curiously out of the +decaying chinks of every ruined wall. In all their motion there is that +vivid and brief energy, the rapid but restrained action which is +associated with their limited power of respiration, and which justifies +the accurate picture of-- + + "The green lizard, rustling thro' the grass, + And up the fluted shaft, _with short, quick, spring_ + To vanish in the chinks which time has made."[1] + +[Footnote 1: ROGERS' _Paestum_.] + +One of the most beautiful of this race is the _green calotes_[1], in +length about twelve inches, which, with the exception of a few dark +streaks about the head, is as brilliant as the purest emerald or +malachite. Unlike its congeners of the same family, it never alters this +dazzling hue, whilst many of them possess the power, like the chameleon, +but in a less degree, of exchanging their ordinary colours for others +less conspicuous. The _C. ophiomachus_, and another, the _C. +versicolor_, exhibit this faculty in a remarkable manner. The head and +neck, when the animal is irritated or hastily swallowing its food, +becomes of a brilliant red (whence the latter has acquired the name of +the "blood-sucker"), whilst the usual tint of the rest of the body is +converted into pale yellow. The _sitana_[2], and a number of others, +exhibit similar phenomena. + +[Footnote 1: Calotes viridis, _Gray_.] + +[Footnote 2: Sitana Ponticereana, _Cuv_.] + +_Chameleon_.--The true chameleon[1] is found, but not in great numbers, +in the dry districts in the north of Ceylon, where it frequents the +trees, in slow pursuit of its insect prey. Whilst the faculty of this +creature to blush all the colours of the rainbow has attracted the +wonder of all ages, sufficient attention has hardly been given to the +imperfect sympathy which subsists between the two lobes of the brain, +and the two sets of nerves which permeate the opposite sides of its +frame. Hence, not only have each of the eyes an action quite independent +of the other, but one side of its body would appear to be sometimes +asleep whilst the other is vigilant and active: one will assume a green +tinge whilst the opposite one is red; and it is said that the chameleon +is utterly unable to swim, from the incapacity of the muscles of the two +sides to act in concert. + +[Footnote 1: Chamaelio vulgaris, _Daud_.] + +_Ceratophora_.--A unique lizard, and hitherto known only by two +specimens, one in the British Museum, and another in that of Leyden, is +the _Ceratophora Stoddartii_, distinguished by the peculiarity of its +having no external ear, whilst its muzzle bears on its extremity the +horn-like process from which it takes its name. It has recently been +discovered by Dr. Kelaart to be a native of the higher Kandyan hills, +where it is sometimes seen in the older trees in pursuit of sect +larvae.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Dr. Kelaart has likewise discovered at Neuera-ellia a +_Salea_, distinct from the S. Jerdoni.] + +_Geckoes_.--But the most familiar and attractive of the class are the +_Geckoes_[1], which frequent the sitting-rooms, and being furnished with +pads to each toe, are enabled to ascend perpendicular walls and adhere +to glass and ceilings. Being nocturnal in their habits, the pupil of the +eye, instead of being circular as in the diurnal species, is linear and +vertical like those of the cat. As soon as evening arrives, they emerge +from the chinks and recesses where they conceal themselves during the +day, in search of insects which retire to settle for the night, and are +to be seen in every house in keen and crafty pursuit of their prey. In a +boudoir where the ladies of my family spent their evenings, one of these +familiar and amusing little creatures had its hiding-place behind a gilt +picture frame, and punctually as the candles were lighted, it made its +appearance on the wall to be fed with its accustomed crumb; and, if +neglected, it reiterated its sharp quick call of _chic, chic, chit_, +till attended to. It was of a delicate grey colour, tinged with pink; +and having by accident fallen on a work-table, it fled, leaving its tail +behind it, which, however, it reproduced within less than a month. This +faculty of reproduction is doubtless designed to enable the creature to +escape from its assailants: the detaching of the limb is evidently its +own act; and it is observable, that when reproduced, the tail generally +exhibits some variation from its previous form, the diverging spines +being absent, the new portion covered with small square uniform scales +placed in a cross series, and the scuta below being seldom so distinct +as in the original member.[2] In an officer's quarters in the fort of +Colombo, a Geckoe had been taught to come daily to the dinner-table, and +always made its appearance along with the dessert. The family were +absent for some months, during which the house underwent extensive +repairs, the roof having been raised, the walls stuccoed, and ceilings +whitened. It was naturally surmised that so long a suspension of its +accustomed habits would have led to the disappearance of the little +lizard; but on the return of its old friends, at their first dinner it +made its entrance as usual the instant the cloth had been removed. + +[Footnote 1: Hemidactylus maculatus, _Dum_. et _Bib., Gray_; H. +Leschenaultii, _Dum_. et _Bib_.; H. frenatus, _Schlegel_.] + +[Footnote 2: _Brit. Mus. Cat_. p. 143; KELAART'S Prod. Faun. Zeylan. p. +183.] + +_Crocodile_.--The Portuguese in India, like the Spaniards in South +America, affixed the name of _lagarto_ to the huge reptiles which infest +the rivers and estuaries of both continents; and to the present day the +Europeans in Ceylon apply the term _alligator_ to what are in reality +_crocodiles_, which literally swarm in the still waters and tanks +throughout the northern provinces, but rarely frequent rapid streams, +and have never been found in the marshy elevations among the hills. +Their instincts in Ceylon present no variation from their habits in +other countries. There would appear to be two well-distinguished species +in the island, the _Allie Kimboola_[1], the Indian crocodile, which +inhabits the rivers and estuaries throughout the low countries of the +coasts, attaining the length of sixteen or eighteen feet, and which will +assail man when pressed by hunger; and the Marsh crocodile[2], which +lives exclusively in fresh water, frequenting the tanks in the northern +and central provinces, and confining its attacks to the smaller animals: +in length it seldom exceeds twelve or thirteen feet. Sportsmen complain +that their dogs are constantly seized by both species; and water-fowl, +when shot, frequently disappear before they can be secured by the +fowler.[3] The Singhalese believe that the crocodile can only move +swiftly on sand or smooth clay, its feet being too tender to tread +firmly on hard or stony ground. In the dry season, when the watercourses +begin to fail and the tanks become exhausted, the Marsh crocodiles are +sometimes encountered wandering in search of water in the jungle; but +generally, during the extreme drought, when unable to procure their +ordinary food from the drying up of the watercourses, they bury +themselves in the mud, and remain in a state of torpor till released by +the recurrence of the rains.[4] At Arne-tivoe, in the eastern province, +whilst riding across the parched bed of the tank, I was shown the +recess, still bearing the form and impress of the crocodile, out of +which the animal had been seen to emerge the day before. A story was +also related to me of an officer attached to the department of the +Surveyor-General, who, having pitched his tent in a similar position, +had been disturbed during the night by feeling a movement of the earth +below his bed, from which on the following day a crocodile emerged, +making its appearance from beneath the matting.[5] + +[Footnote 1: Crocodilus biporcatus. _Cuvier._] + + +[Footnote 2: Crocodilus palustris, _Less_.] + +[Footnote 3: In Siam the flesh of the crocodile is sold for food in the +markets and bazaars. "Un jour je vis plus de cinquante crocodiles, +petits et grands, attaches aux colonnes de leurs maisons. Ils les +vendent la chair comme on vendrait de la chair de porc, mais a bien +meilleur marche."--PALLEGOIX, _Siam_, vol. i. p. 174.] + +[Footnote 4: HERODOTUS records the observations of the Egyptians that +the crocodile of the Nile abstains from food during the four winter +months.--_Euterpe_, lviii.] + +[Footnote 5: HUMBOLDT relates a similar story as occurring at Calabazo, +in Venezuela.--_Personal Narrative_, c. xvi.] + +The species which inhabits the fresh water is essentially cowardly in +its instincts, and hastens to conceal itself on the appearance of man. A +gentleman (who told me the circumstance), when riding in the jungle, +overtook a crocodile, evidently roaming in search of water. It fled to a +shallow pool almost dried by the sun, and, thrusting its head into the +mud till it covered up its eyes, it remained unmoved in profound +confidence of perfect concealment. In 1833, during the progress of the +Pearl Fishery, Sir Robert Wilmot Horton employed men to drag for +crocodiles in a pond which was infested with them in the immediate +vicinity of Aripo. The pool was about fifty yards in length, by ten or +twelve wide, shallowing gradually to the edge, and not exceeding four or +five feet in the deepest part. As the party approached the bund, from +twenty to thirty reptiles, which had been basking in the sun, rose and +fled to the water. A net, specially weighted so as to sink its lower +edge to the bottom, was then stretched from bank to bank and swept to +the further end of the pond, followed by a line of men with poles to +drive the crocodiles forward: so complete was the arrangement, that no +individual could evade the net, yet, to the astonishment of the +Governor's party, not one was to be found when it was drawn on shore, +and no means of escape was apparent or possible except descending into +the mud at the bottom of the pond.[1] + +[Footnote 1: A remarkable instance of the vitality of the common +crocodile, _C. biporcatus_, was related to me by a gentleman at Galle: +he had caught on a baited hook an unusually large one, which his coolies +disembowelled, the aperture in the stomach being left expanded by a +stick placed across it. On returning in the afternoon with a view to +secure the head, they found that the creature had crawled for some +distance, and made its escape into the water.] + +TESTUDINATA. _Tortoise_,--Of the _testudinata_ the land tortoises are +numerous, but present no remarkable features beyond the beautiful +marking of the starred variety[1], which is common, in the north-western +province around Putlam and Chilaw, and is distinguished by the bright +yellow rays which diversify the deep black of its dorsal shield. From +one of these which was kept in my garden I took a number of flat ticks +(_Ixodes_), which adhered to its fleshy neck in such a position as to +baffle any attempt of the animal itself to remove them; but as they were +exposed to constant danger of being crushed against the plastron during +the protrusion and retraction of the head, each was covered with a horny +case almost as resistant as the carapace of the tortoise itself. Such an +adaptation of structure is scarcely less striking than that of the +parasites found on the spotted lizard of Berar by Dr. Hooker, each of +which presented the distinct colour of the scale to which it adhered.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Testudo stellata, _Schweig_.] + +[Footnote 2: HOOKER'S _Himalayan Journals_, vol. i. p. 37.] + +The marshes and pools of the interior are frequented by the +terrapins[1], which the natives are in the habit of keeping alive in +wells under the conviction that they clear them of impurities. The +edible turtle[2] is found on all the coasts of the island, and sells for +a few shillings or a few pence, according to its size and abundance at +the moment. At certain seasons the turtle on the south-western coast of +Ceylon is avoided as poisonous, and some lamentable instances are +recorded of death which was ascribed to their use. At Pantura, to the +south of Colombo, twenty-eight persons who had partaken of turtle in +October, 1840, were seized with sickness immediately, after which coma +succeeded, and eighteen died during the night. Those who survived said +there was nothing unusual in the appearance of the flesh except that it +was fatter than ordinary. Other similarly fatal occurrences have been +attributed to turtle curry; but as they have never been proved to +proceed exclusively from that source, there is room for believing that +the poison may have been contained in some other ingredient. In the Gulf +of Manaar turtle is frequently found of such a size as to measure +between four and five feet in length; and on one occasion, in riding +along the sea-shore north of Putlam, I saw a man in charge of some +sheep, resting under the shade of a turtle shell, which he had erected +on sticks to protect him from the sun--almost verifying the statement of +AElian, that in the seas off Ceylon there are tortoises so large that +several persons may find ample shelter beneath a single shell.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Emyda Ceylonensis_, GRAY, _Catalogue_, p. 64, tab. 29 a.; +_Mag. Nat. Hist._ p. 265: 1856. Dr. KELAART, in his _Prodromus_ (p. +179), refers this to the common Indian species, _E. punctata_; but Dr. +Gray has shown it to be a distinct one. It is generally distributed in +the lower parts of Ceylon, in lakes and tanks. It is put into wells to +act the part of a scavenger. By the Singhalese it is named _Kiri-ibba_.] + +[Footnote 2: Chelonia virgata, _Schweig_.] + +[Footnote 3: "Tiktontai de ara en taute te thalatte, kai chelonai +megintai, onper oun ta elytra orophoi ginontai kai gar esti kai +mentekaideka pechon en cheloneion, hos hypoikein ouk oligous, kai tous +helious pyroiestatous apostegei, kai skian asmetois parechei."--Lib. +xvi. c. 17. AElian copied this statement literatim from MEGASTHENES, +_Indica Frag_. lix. 31; and may not Megasthenes have referred to some +tradition connected with the gigantic fossilised species discovered on +the Sewalik Hills, the remains of which are now in the Museum at the +East India House?] + +The hawksbill turtle[1], which supplies the tortoise-shell of commerce, +was at former times taken in great numbers in the vicinity of +Hambangtotte during the season when they came to deposit their eggs, and +there is still a considerable trade in this article, which is +manufactured into ornaments, boxes, and combs by the Moormen resident at +Galle. If taken from the animal after death and decomposition, the +colour of the shell becomes clouded and milky, and hence the cruel +expedient is resorted to of seizing the turtles as they repair to the +shore to deposit their eggs, and suspending them over fires till heat +makes the plates on the dorsal shields start from the bone of the +carapace, after which the creature is permitted to escape to the +water.[2] In illustration of the resistless influence of instinct at the +period of breeding, it may be mentioned that the same tortoise is +believed to return again and again to the same spot, notwithstanding +that at each visit she had to undergo a repetition of this torture. In +the year 1826, a hawksbill turtle was taken near Hambangtotte, which +bore a ring attached to one of its fins that had been placed there by a +Dutch officer thirty years before, with a view to establish the fact of +these recurring visits to the same beach.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Chelonia imbricata; _Linn_.] + +[Footnote 2: At Celebes, whence the finest tortoise-shell is exported to +China, the natives kill the turtle by blows on the head, and immerse the +shell in boiling water to detach the plates. Dry heat is only resorted +to by the unskilful, who frequently destroy the tortoise-shell in the +operation.--_Journ. Indian Archipel._ vol. iii. p. 227, 1849.] + +[Footnote 3: BENNETT'S _Ceylon_, ch. xxxiv.] + +_Snakes_.--It is perhaps owing to the aversion excited by the ferocious +expression and unusual action of serpents, combined with an instinctive +dread of attack, that exaggerated ideas prevail both as to their numbers +in Ceylon, and the danger to be apprehended from encountering them. The +Singhalese profess to distinguish a great many kinds, of which not more +than one half have as yet been scientifically identified; but so +cautiously do serpents make their appearance, that the surprise of long +residents is invariably expressed at the rarity with which they are to +be seen; and from my own journeys, through the jungle, often of two to +five hundred miles, I have frequently returned without seeing a single +snake.[1] Davy, whose attention was carefully directed to the poisonous +serpents of Ceylon[2], came to the conclusion that but _four_, out of +twenty species examined by him, were venomous, and that of these only +two (the _tic-polonga[3]_ and _cobra de capello_[4]) were capable of +inflicting a wound likely to be fatal to man. The third is the +_caraicilla_[5], a brown snake of about twelve inches in length; and for +the fourth, of which only a few specimens have been, procured, the +Singhalese have no name in their vernacular,--a proof that it is neither +deadly nor abundant. + +[Footnote 1: Mr. Bennett, who resided much in the south-east of the +island, ascribes the rarity of serpents in the jungle to the abundance +of the wild peafowl, whose partiality to snakes renders them the chief +destroyers of these reptiles.] + +[Footnote 2: See DAVY'S _Ceylon_, ch. xiv.] + +[Footnote 3: Dabois elegans, _Grey_.] + +[Footnote 4: Naja tripadians, _Gunther_.] + +[Footnote 5: Trigonocephalus hypnale, _Wegl_.] + +_Cobra de Capello_.--The cobra de capello is the only one exhibited by +the itinerant snake-charmers: and the accuracy of Davy's conjecture, +that they control it, not by extracting its fangs, but by courageously +availing themselves of its accustomed timidity and extreme reluctance to +use its fatal weapons, received a painful confirmation during my +residence in Ceylon, by the death of one of these performers, whom his +audience had provoked to attempt some unaccustomed familiarity with the +cobra; it bit him on the wrist, and he expired the same evening. The +hill near Kandy, on which the official residences of the Governor and +Colonial Secretary had been built, is covered in many places with the +deserted nests of the white ants (_termites_), and these are the +favourite retreats of the sluggish and spiritless cobra, which watches +from their apertures the toads and lizards on which it preys. Here, when +I have repeatedly come upon them, their only impulse was concealment; +and on one occasion, when a cobra of considerable length could not +escape sufficiently quickly, owing to the bank being nearly precipitous +on both sides of the road, a few blows from my whip were sufficient to +deprive it of life. There is a rare variety which the natives fancifully +designate the "king of the cobras;" it has the head and the anterior +half of the body of so light a colour, that at a distance it seems like +a silvery white.[1] A gentleman who held a civil appointment at +Kornegalle, had a servant who was bitten by a snake, and he informed me +that on enlarging a hole near the foot of the tree under which the +accident occurred, he unearthed a cobra of upwards of three feet long, +and so purely white as to induce him to believe that it was an albino. +With the exception of the rat-snake[2], the cobra de capello is the only +serpent which seems from choice to frequent the vicinity of human +dwellings, but it is doubtless attracted by the young of the domestic +fowl and by the moisture of the wells and drainage. The Singhalese +remark that if one cobra be destroyed near a house, its companion is +almost certain to be discovered immediately after,--a popular belief +which I had an opportunity of verifying on more than one occasion. Once, +when a snake of this description was killed in a bath of Government +House at Colombo, its mate was found in the same spot the day after; and +again, at my own stables, a cobra of five feet long, having fallen into +the well, which was too deep to permit its escape, its companion of the +same size was found the same morning in an adjoining drain.[3] On this +occasion the snake, which had been several hours in the well, swam with +ease, raising its head and hood above water; and instances have +repeatedly occurred of the cobra de capello voluntarily taking +considerable excursions by sea. When the "Wellington," a government +vessel employed in the conservancy of the pearl banks, was anchored +about a quarter of a mile from land, in the bay of Koodremale, a cobra +was seen, about an hour before sunset, swimming vigorously towards the +ship. It came within twelve yards, when the sailors assailed it with +billets of wood and other missiles, and forced it to return to land. The +following morning they discovered the track which it had left on the +shore, and traced it along the sand till it disappeared in the +jungle.[4] On a later occasion, in the vicinity of the same spot, when +the "Wellington" was lying at some distance from the shore, a cobra was +found and killed on board, where it could only have gained access by +climbing up the cable. It was first discovered by a sailor, who felt the +chill as it glided over his foot.[5] + +[Footnote 1: A Singhalese work, the _Sarpa Doata_, quoted in the _Ceylon +Times_, January, 1857, enumerates four species of the cobra;--the +_raja_, or king; the _velyander_, or trader; the _baboona_, or hermit; +and the _goore_, or agriculturist. The young cobras, it says, are not +venomous till after the thirteenth day, when they shed their coat for +the first time.] + +[Footnote 2: Coryphodon Blumenbachii. WOLF, in his interesting story of +his _Life and Adventures in Ceylon_, mentions that rat-snakes were often +so domesticated by the natives as to feed at their table. He says: "I +once saw an example of this in the house of a native. It being meal +time, he called his snake, which immediately came forth from the roof +under which he and I were sitting. He gave it victuals from his own +dish, which the snake took of itself from off a fig-leaf that was laid +for it, and ate along with its host. When it had eaten its fill, he gave +it a kiss and bade it go to its hole." + +Since the above was written, Major Skinner, writing to me 12th Dec. +1858, mentions the still more remarkable case of the domestication of +the cobra de capello in Ceylon. "Did you ever hear," he says, "of tame +cobras being kept and domesticated about a house, going in and out at +pleasure, and in common with the rest of the inmates? In one family, +near Negombo, cobras are kept as protectors, in the place of dogs, by a +wealthy man who has always large sums of money in his house. But this is +not a solitary case of the kind. I heard of it only the other day, but +from undoubtedly good authority. The snakes glide about the house, a +terror to thieves, but never attempting to harm the inmates."] + +[Footnote 3: PLINY notices the affection that subsists between the male +and female asp; and that if one of them happens to be killed, the other +seeks to avenge its death.--Lib. viii. c. 37.] + +[Footnote 4: STEWART'S _Account of the Pearl Fisheries of Ceylon_, p. 9: +Colombo, 1843. + +The Python reticulatus (the "rock-snake") has been known like the cobra +de capello, to make short voyages at sea. One was taken on board H.M.S. +"Hastings," when off the coast of Burmah, in 1853; it is now in the +possession of the surgeon, Dr. Scott.] + +[Footnote 5: SWAINSON, in his _Habits and Instincts of Animals_, c. iv. +p. 187, says that instances are well attested of the common English +snake having been met with in the open channel; between the coast of +Wales and the island of Anglesea, as if they had taken their departure +from the one and were bound for the other.] + +In BENNETT'S account of "_Ceylon and its Capabilities_" there is a +curious piece of Singhalese folk-lore, to the effect, that the cobra de +capello every time it expends its poison _loses a joint of its tail_, +and eventually acquires a head which resembles that of a toad. A recent +discovery of Dr. Kelaart has thrown light on the origin of this popular +fallacy. The family of "false snakes" (_pseudo-typhlops_), as Schlegel +names the group, have till lately consisted of but three species, one +only of which was known to inhabit Ceylon. They belong to a family +intermediate between the lizards and serpents with the body of the +latter, and the head of the former, with which they are moreover +identified by having the upper jaw fixed to the skull as in mammals and +birds, instead of movable as amongst the true ophidians. In this they +resemble the amphisbaenidae; but the tribe of _Uropeltidae_, or "rough +tails," has the further peculiarity, that the tail is truncated, instead +of ending, like that of the typhlops, in a point more or less acute; and +the reptile assists its own movements by pressing the flat end to the +ground. Within a very recent period an important addition has been made +to this genus, by the discovery of five new species in Ceylon; in some +of which the singular construction of the tail is developed to an extent +much more marked than in any previously existing specimen. One of these, +the _Uropeltis grandis_ of Kelaart, is distinguished by its dark brown +colour, shot with a bluish metallic lustre, closely approaching the +ordinary shade of the cobra; and the tail is abruptly and flatly +compressed as though it had been severed by a knife. The form of this +singular reptile will be best understood by a reference to the +accompanying figure; and there can be, I think, little doubt that to its +strange and anomalous structure is to be traced the fable of the +transformation of the cobra de capello. The colour alone would seem to +identify the two reptiles, but the head and mouth are no longer those of +a serpent, and the disappearance of the tail might readily suggest the +mutilation which the tradition asserts. + +[Illustration: UROPELTIS GRANDIS] + +The Singhalese Buddhists, in their religious abstinence from inflicting +death on any creature, are accustomed, after securing a venomous snake, +to enclose it in a basket of woven palm leaves, and to set it afloat on +a river. During my residence in Ceylon, I never heard of the death of a +European which was caused by the bite of a snake; and in the returns of +coroners' inquests which were made officially to my department, such +accidents to the natives appear chiefly to have happened at night, when +the animal having been surprised or trodden on, had inflicted the wound +in self-defence.[1] For these reasons the Singhalese, when obliged to +leave their houses in the dark, carry a stick with a loose ring, the +noise[2] of which as they strike it on the ground is sufficient to warn +the snakes to leave their path. + +[Footnote 1: In a return of 112 coroners' inquests, in cases of death +from wild animals, held in Ceylon in five years, from 1851 to 1855 +inclusive, 68 are ascribed to the bites of serpents; and in almost every +instance the assault is set down as having taken place _at night_. The +majority of the sufferers were children and women.] + +[Footnote 2: PLINY notices that the serpent has the sense of hearing +more acute than that of sight; and that it is more frequently put in +motion by the sound of footsteps than by the appearance of the intruder, +"excitatur pede saepius."--Lib. viii. c. 36.] + +_The Python_.--The great python[1] (the "boa," as it is commonly +designated by Europeans, the "anaconda" of Eastern story), which is +supposed to crush the bones of an elephant, and to swallow the tiger, is +found, though not of so portentous dimensions, in the cinnamon gardens +within a mile of the fort of Colombo, where it feeds on hog-deer and +other smaller animals. + +[Footnote 1: Python reticulatus, _Gray_.] + +The natives occasionally take it alive, and securing it to a pole expose +it for sale as a curiosity. One which was brought to me in this way +measured seventeen feet with a proportionate thickness: but another +which crossed my path on a coffee estate on the Peacock Mountain at +Pusilawa, considerably exceeded these dimensions. Another which I +watched in the garden at Elie House, near Colombo, surprised me by the +ease with which it erected itself almost perpendicularly in order to +scale a wall upwards of ten feet high. + +Of ten species which ascend the trees to search for squirrels and +lizards, and to rifle the nests of birds, one half, including the green +_carawilla_, and the deadly _tic polonga_, are believed by the natives +to be venomous; but the fact is very dubious. I have heard of the cobra +being found on the crown of a coco-nut palm, attracted, it was said, by +the toddy which was flowing at the time, as it was the season for +drawing it. + +_Water-Snakes_.--The fresh-water snakes, of which four species have been +described as inhabiting the still water and pools, are all harmless in +Ceylon. A gentleman, who found near a river an agglutinated cluster of +the eggs of one variety _(Tropidonotus umbratus)_, placed them under a +glass shade on his drawing-room table, where one by one the young +serpents emerged from the shell to the number of twenty. + +The use of the Pamboo-Kaloo, or snake-stone, as a remedy in cases of +wounds by venomous serpents, has probably been communicated to the +Singhalese by the itinerant snake-charmers who resort to the island from +the coast of Coromandel; and more than one well-authenticated instance +of its successful application has been told to me by persons who had +been eye-witnesses to what they described. On one occasion, in March, +1854, a friend of mine was riding, with some other civil officers of the +government, along a jungle path in the vicinity of Bintenne, when they +saw one of two Tamils, who were approaching them, suddenly dart into the +forest and return, holding in both hands a cobra de capello which he had +seized by the head and tail. He called to his companion for assistance +to place it in their covered basket, but, in doing this, he handled it +so inexpertly that it seized him by the finger, and retained its hold +for a few seconds, as if unable to retract its fangs. The blood flowed, +and intense pain appeared to follow almost immediately; but, with all +expedition, the friend of the sufferer undid his waistcloth, and took +from it two snake-stones, each of the size of a small almond, intensely +black and highly polished, though of an extremely light substance. These +he applied one to each wound inflicted by the teeth of the serpent, to +which the stones attached themselves closely, the blood that oozed from +the bites being rapidly imbibed by the porous texture of the article +applied. The stones adhered tenaciously for three or four minutes, the +wounded man's companion in the meanwhile rubbing his arm downwards from +the shoulder towards the fingers. At length the snake-stones dropped off +of their own accord; the suffering of the man appeared to have subsided; +he twisted his fingers till the joints cracked, and went on his way +without concern. Whilst this had been going on, another Indian of the +party who had come up took from his bag a small piece of white wood, +which resembled a root, and passed it gently near the head of the cobra, +which the latter immediately inclined close to the ground; he then +lifted the snake without hesitation, and coiled it into a circle at the +bottom of his basket. The root by which he professed to be enabled to +perform this operation with safety he called the _Naya-thalee Kalinga_ +(the root of the snake-plant), protected by which he professed his +ability to approach any reptile with impunity. + +In another instance, in 1853, Mr. Lavalliere, the District Judge of +Kandy, informed me that he saw a snake-charmer in the jungle, close by +the town, search for a cobra de capello, and, after disturbing it in its +retreat, the man tried to secure it, but, in the attempt, he was bitten +in the thigh till blood trickled from the wound. He instantly applied +the _Pamboo-Kaloo_, which adhered closely for about ten minutes, during +which time he passed the root which he held in his hand backwards and +forwards above the stone, till the latter dropped to the ground. He +assured Mr. Lavalliere that all danger was then past. That gentleman +obtained from him the snake-stone he had relied on, and saw him +repeatedly afterwards in perfect health. + +The substances which were used on both these occasions are now in my +possession. The roots employed by the several parties are not identical. +One appears to be a bit of the stem of an Aristolochia; the other is so +dried as to render it difficult to identify it, but it resembles the +quadrangular stem of a jungle vine. Some species of Aristolochia, such +as the _A. serpentaria_ of North America, are supposed to act as a +specific in the cure of snake-bites; and the _A. indica_ is the plant to +which the ichneumon is popularly believed to resort as an antidote when +bitten[1]; but it is probable that the use of any particular plant by +the snake-charmers is a pretence, or rather a delusion, the reptile +being overpowered by the resolute action of the operator, and not by the +influence of any secondary appliance, the confidence inspired by the +supposed talisman enabling its possessor to address himself fearlessly +to his task, and thus to effect, by determination and will, what is +popularly believed to be the result of charms and stupefaction. Still it +is curious that, amongst the natives of Northern Africa, who lay hold of +the _Cerastes_ without fear or hesitation, their impunity is ascribed to +the use of a plant with which they anoint themselves before touching the +reptile[2]; and Bruce says of the people of Sennar that they acquire +exemption from the fatal consequences of the bite by chewing a +particular root and washing themselves with an infusion of certain +plants. He adds that a portion of this root was given him, with a view +to test its efficacy in his own person, but that he had not sufficient +resolution to undergo the experiment. + +[Footnote 1: For an account of the encounter between the ichneumon and +the venomous snakes of Ceylon, see Pt. II. ch. i. p. 149.] + +[Footnote 2: Hassellquist.] + +As to the snake-stone itself, I submitted one, the application of which +I have been describing, to Mr. Faraday, and he has communicated to me, +as the result of his analysis, his belief that it is "a piece of charred +bone which has been filled with blood perhaps several times, and then +carefully charred again. Evidence of this is afforded, as well by the +apertures of cells or tubes on its surface as by the fact that it yields +and breaks under pressure, and exhibits an organic structure within. +When heated slightly, water rises from it, and also a little ammonia; +and, if heated still more highly in the air, carbon burns away, and a +bulky white ash is left, retaining the shape and size of the stone." +This ash, as is evident from inspection, cannot have belonged to any +vegetable substance, for it is almost entirely composed of phosphate of +lime. Mr. Faraday adds that "if the piece of matter has ever been +employed as a spongy absorbent, it seems hardly fit for that purpose in +its present state; but who can say to what treatment it has been +subjected since it was fit for use, or to what treatment the natives may +submit it when expecting to have occasion to use it?" + +The probability is, that the animal charcoal, when instantaneously +applied, may be sufficiently porous and absorbent to extract the venom +from the recent wound, together with a portion of the blood, before it +has had time to be carried into the system; and that the blood which Mr. +Faraday detected in the specimen submitted to him was that of the Indian +on whose person the effect was exhibited on the occasion to which my +informant was an eye-witness. The snake-charmers from the coast who +visit Ceylon profess to prepare the snake-stones for themselves, and +preserve the composition as a secret. Dr. Davy[1], on the authority of +Sir Alexander Johnston, says the manufacture of them is a lucrative +trade, carried on by the monks of Manilla, who supply the merchants of +India--and his analysis confirms that of Mr. Faraday. Of the three +different kinds which he examined--one being of partially burnt bone, +and another of chalk, the third, consisting chiefly of vegetable matter, +resembled a bezoar,--all of them (except the first, which possessed a +slight absorbent power) were quite inert, and incapable of having any +effect exclusive of that on the imagination of the patient. Thunberg was +shown the snake-stone used by the boers at the Cape in 1772, which was +imported for them "from the Indies, especially from Malabar," at so high +a price that few of the farmers could afford to possess themselves of +it; he describes it as convex on one side black, and so porous that +"when thrown into water, it caused bubbles to rise;" and hence, by its +absorption, it served, if speedily applied, to extract the poison from +the wound.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Account of the Interior of Ceylon_, ch. iii. p. 101.] + +[Footnote 2: _Thunberg_, vol. 1. p. 155.] + +_Caecilia_.--The rocky jungle, bordering the higher coffee estates, +provides a safe retreat for a very singular animal, first introduced to +the notice of European naturalists about a century ago by Linnaeus, who +gave it the name _Caecilia glutinosa_, to indicate two peculiarities +manifest to the ordinary observer--an apparent defect of vision, from +the eyes being so small and imbedded as to be scarcely distinguishable; +and a power of secreting from minute pores in the skin a viscous fluid, +resembling that of snails, eels, and some salamanders. Specimens are +rare in Europe from the readiness with which it decomposes, breaking +down into a flaky mass in the spirits in which it is attempted to be +preserved. + +The creature is about the length and thickness of an ordinary round desk +ruler, a little flattened before and rounded behind. It is brownish, +with a pale stripe along either side. The skin is furrowed into 350 +circular folds, in which are imbedded minute scales. The head is +tolerably distinct, with a double row of fine curved teeth for seizing +the insects and worms on which it is supposed to live. + +Naturalists are most desirous that the habits and metamorphoses of this +creature should be carefully ascertained, for great doubts have been +entertained as to the position it is entitled to occupy in the chain of +creation. + +_Frogs_.--In the numerous marshes formed by the overflowing of the +rivers in the vast plains of the low country, there are many varieties +of frogs, which, both by their colours and by their extraordinary size, +are calculated to excite the surprise of strangers.[1] In the lakes +around Colombo and the still water near Trincomalie, there are huge +creatures of this family, from six to eight inches in length[2], of an +olive hue, deepening into brown on the back and yellow on the under +side. The Kandian species, recently described, is much less in +dimensions, but distinguished by its brilliant colouring, a beautiful +grass green above and deep orange underneath.[3] + +[Footnote 1: The Indian toad (Bufo melanostictus, _Schneid_) is found In +Ceylon, and the belief in its venomous nature is as old as the third +century B.C., when the _Mahawanso_ mentions that the wife of "King Asoca +attempted to destroy the great bo-tree (at Magadha) _with the poisoned +fang of a toad_."--Ch. xx. p. 122.] + +[Footnote 2: Rana eutipora, and the Malabar bull-frog, R. Malabarica.] + +[Footnote 3: R. Kandiana, _Kelaart_.] + +In the shrubberies around my house at Colombo the graceful little +hylas[1] were to be found in great numbers, crouching under broad leaves +to protect them from the scorching sun; some of them utter a sharp +metallic sound at night, similar to that produced by smacking the lips. +They possess in a high degree the power of changing their colour; and +one which had seated itself on the gilt pillar of a dinner lamp was +scarcely to be distinguished from the or-molu to which it clung. They +are enabled to ascend glass by means of the suckers at the extremity of +their toes. Their food consists of flies and minute coleoptera. + +[Footnote 1: The tree-frog, Hyla leucomystax, _Gracer_.] + +_List of Ceylon Reptiles_. + +I am indebted to Dr. Gray of the British Museum for a more complete +enumeration of the reptiles of Ceylon than is to be found in Dr. +Kelaart's published lists; but many of those new to Europeans have been +carefully described by the latter gentleman in his _Prodromus Faunae +Zeylanicae_ and its appendices, as well as in the 13th vol. _Magaz. Nat. +Hist._ (1854). + +Saura. + +Monitor dracaena, _Linn._ +_Hydrosaurus salvator, Wagl._ +_Mabouya elegans, Gray_. +_Riopa punctata, Linn._ + _Hardwichii, Gray_. +_Tiliqua rufescens, Shaw_. +_Eumeces_ Taprobanius, _Kel._ +Nessia Burtoni, _Gray_. + _Acontias_ Layardi, _Kelaart_. +Argyrophis bramieus, _Daud._ +Rhinophis Blythii, _Kelaart_. +Mytilia Gerrardii, _Gray_. + Templetonii, _Gray_. + animaculata, _Gray_. + melanogaster, _Gray_. +Siluboura Ceylonica, _Cuv._ +Uropeltis Saffragamus, _Kelaart_. + grandis, _Kelaart_. + pardalis, _Kelaart_. +Dapatnaya Laukadivana, _Kel._ + Trevelyanii, _Kelaart_. +Hemidactylus frenatus, _Schleg._ + Leschenaultii, _Dum & Bib._ + _trihedrus, Less._ + maculatus, _Dum & Bib._ + Piresii, _Kelaart_. + Coctoei, _Dum & Bib._ +Peripia Peronii, _Dum & Bib._ +Gymnodactylus Kandianus, _Kel._ +Sitana Ponticercana, _Cuv._ +Lyriocephalus scutatus, _Wagl._ +Ceratophora Stoddartii, _Gray_. +Salea Jerdoni, _Gray_. +Calotes ophiomachus, _Gray_. + versicolor, _Dum. & Bib._ + Rouxii, _Dum. & Bib._ + mystaceus, _Dum. & Bib._ +Chamelo vuelgaris, _Daud._ + +Ophidia. + +Trimesuras viridis, _Lucep._ + Ceylonensis, _Gray_. + nigro-marginatus, _Gthr._ +Megaera trigonoerphalux, _Latr._ +Trigonocephalus hypnalis, _Wagl._ +Dabois elegans, _Gray_. +Pelamys bicolor, _Doud._ +Aturia lapemoides, _Gray_. +Hydrophis sublaevis, _Gray_. +Chersydrus granulatus, _Merr._ +Cerberus cinereus, _Gray_. +Tropidophis schistosus, _Daud._ +Python reticulatus, _Gray_. +Cylindrophis rufa, _Gray_. + maculata, _Linn._ +Aspidura brachyorrhos, _Boie._ +Haplocercus Ceylonensis, _Gthr._ +Ohgodon subquadratus, _Dum. & Bib._ + subgriseus, _Dum. & Bib._ + sublineatus, _Dum. & Bib._ +Simotes Russellii, _Daud_. + purpurascens, _Schleg._ +Ablabes collaris, _Gray_. +Tropidonotus quincunciatus, _Schleg._ + var. funebris. + var. carinatus. + stolatus, _Linn_. + chrysargus, _Boie_. +Cynophis Helena, _Daud_. +Coryphodon Blumenbachii, _Merr._ +Cyclophis calamaria, _Guenther_. +Chrysopelea ornata, _Shaw_. +Dendrophis picta, _Gm._ + punctulata, _Gray_. +Dryiophis _prasina, Reinw._ +Passerita, myeterizans, _Linn_. + var. fusca. +Dipsas _multimaculata Reinw._ +Dipsadomorphus Ceylonensis, _Gray_. +Lycodon aulicus, _Dum. & Bib._ +Cercaspis carinata, _Kuhl._ +Bungarus fascinatus, _Schneid._ +Naja tripudians, _Merr._ + +Chelonia. + +Testudo stellata, _Schweig._ +Emys Sebae, _Gray_. +Emyda Ceylonensis, _Gray_. +_Caretta imbrieuta, Limm._ +_Chelonia virgata, Schweig._ + +Emydosauri. + +Crocodyius biporderes, _Cuv._ + palastris, _Less._ + +BATRACHIA. + +Rana cutipora, _Dum. & Bib._ + Kuhlii, _Schleg._ + vittigera, _Wiegm._ + robusta, _Blyth._ + tigrina, _Daud._ + _Leschenaultii, Dum & Bib._ + Kandiana, _Kelaart._ + Neuera-elliana, _Kelaart._ +Rana Malabarica, _Dum. & Bib._ +Ixalus variabilis, _Gray._ + leucorhinus, _Martens._ + poecilopleurus, _Martens._ + aurifasciatus, _Dum. & Bib._ +Pyxicephalus fodiens, _Jerd._ +Polypedates leucomystax, _Gray._ +Polypedates microtympanum, _Gray._ + eques, _Gray._ + _stellata, Kelaart._ + _schmardana, Kelaart._ +Limnodytes lividus, _Blyth._ + macularis, _Blyth._ + mutabilis, _Kelaart._ + maculatus, _Kelaart._ +Bufo melanostictus, _Schneid._ + Kelaartii, _Gray._ +Engystoma marmoratum, _Cuv._ + rubrum, _Jerd._ +Kaloula pulchra, _Gray._ + balteata, _Guenther._ + +PSEUDOPHIDIA. + +Caecilia glutinosa, _Linn._ + +NOTE.--The following species are peculiar to Ceylon; and the genera +Aspidura, Cercaspis, and Haplocercus would appear to be similarly +restricted. Trimesurus Ceylonensis, T. nigro-marginatus; Megaera +Trigonocephala; Trigonocephalus hypnalis; Daboia elegans; Cylindrophis +maculata; Aspidura brachyorrhos; Haplocercus Ceylonensis; Oligodon +sublineatus; Cynophis Helena; Cyclophis calamaria; Dipsadomorphus +Ceylonensis; Cercaspis carinata; Ixalus variabilis, I. Leucorhinus, I. +poecilopleurus; Polypedates microtympanum, P. eques. + + + + +CHAP. IV. + +FISHES. + + +Little has been yet done to examine and describe the fishes of Ceylon, +especially those which frequent the rivers and inland waters. Mr. +Bennett, who was for some years employed in the Civil Service, directed +his attention to the subject, and published in 1830 some portions of a +projected work on the marine ichthyology of the island[1], but it never +proceeded beyond the description of about thirty individuals. The great +work of Cuvier and Valenciennes[2] particularises about one hundred +species, specimens of which were procured from Ceylon by Reynard +Leschenault and other correspondents, but of these not more than half a +dozen belong to fresh water. + +[Footnote 1: _A Selection of the most Remarkable and Interesting Fishes +found on the Coast of Ceylon_. By J.W. BENNETT, Esq. London, 1830.] + +[Footnote 2: _Historie Naturelle des Poissons_.] + +The fishes of the coast, so far as they have been examined, present few +which are not common to the seas of Ceylon and India. A series of +drawings, including upwards of six hundred species and varieties, of +Ceylon fish, all made from recently-captured specimens, has been +submitted to Professor Huxley, and a notice of their general +characteristics forms an interesting article in the appendix to the +present chapter.[1] + +[Footnote 1: See note C to this chapter.] + +Of those in ordinary use for the table the finest by far is the +Seir-fish[1], a species of scomber, which is called _Tora-malu_ by the +natives. It is in size and form very similar to the salmon, to which the +flesh of the female fish, notwithstanding its white colour, bears a very +close resemblance both in firmness and flavour. + +[Footnote 1: Cybium (Scomber, _Linn_.) guttatum.] + +Mackerel, dories, carp, whitings, mullet, red and striped, perches and +soles, are abundant, and a sardine (_Sardinella Neohowii_, Val.) +frequents the southern and eastern coast in such profusion that on one +instance in 1839 a gentleman, who was present, saw upwards of four +hundred thousand taken in a haul of the nets in the little bay of +Goyapanna, east of Point-de-Galle. As this vast shoal approached the +shore the broken water became as smooth as if a sheet of ice had been +floating below the surface.[1] + +[Footnote 1: These facts serve to explain the story told by the friar +ODORIC of Friule, who visited India about the year 1320 A.D., and says +there are "fishes in those seas that come swimming towards the said +country in such abundance that for a great distance into the sea nothing +can be seen but the backs of fishes, which casting themselves on the +shore, do suffer men for the space of three daies to come and to take as +many of them as they please, and then they return again into the +sea."--_Hakluyt_, vol. ii. p. 57.] + +_Poisonous Fishes_.--The sardine has the reputation of being poisonous +at certain seasons, and accidents ascribed to its use are recorded in +all parts of the island. Whole families of fishermen who have partaken +of it have died. Twelve persons in the jail of Chilaw were thus poisoned +about the year 1829; and the deaths of soldiers have repeatedly been +ascribed to the same cause. It is difficult in such instances to say +with certainty whether the fish were in fault; whether there may not +have been a peculiar susceptibility in the condition of the recipients; +or whether the mischief may not have been occasioned by the wilful +administration of poison, or its accidental occurrence in the brass +cooking vessels used by the natives. The popular belief was, however, +deferred to by an order passed by the Governor in Council in February, +1824, which, after reciting that "Whereas it appears by information +conveyed to the Government that at three several periods at Trincomalie +death has been the consequence to several persons from eating the fish +called Sardinia during the months of January and December," enacts that +it shall not be lawful in that district to catch sardines during these +months, under pain of fine and imprisonment. This order is still in +force, but the fishing continues notwithstanding.[1] + +[Footnote 1: There are two species of Sardine at Ceylon; the _S. +neohowii_, Val., alluded to above, and the _S. leiogaster_, Val. and +Cuv. xx. 270, which was found by Mr. Reynaud at Trincomalie. It occurs +also off the coast of Java. Another Ceylon fish of the same group, a +Clupea, is known as the "poisonous sprat," the bonito (_Scomber +pelamys?_), the kangewena, or unicorn fish (_Balistes?_), and a number +of others, are more or less in bad repute from the same imputation.] + +_Sharks_.--Sharks appear on all parts of the coast, and instances +continually occur of persons being seized by them whilst bathing even in +the harbours of Trincomalie and Colombo. In the Gulf of Manaar they are +taken for the sake of their oil, of which they yield such a quantity +that "shark's oil" is now a recognised export. A trade also exists in +drying their fins, and from the gelatine contained in them, they find a +ready market in China, to which the skin of the basking shark is also +sent;--it is said to be there converted into shagreen. + +_Saw Fish._--The huge saw fish, the _Pristis antiquorum_[1], infests the +eastern coast of the island[2], where it attains a length of from twelve +to fifteen feet, including the powerful weapon from which its name is +derived. + +[Footnote 1: Two other species are found in the Ceylon waters, _P. +cuspidatus_ and _P. pectinatus_.] + +[Footnote 2: ELIAN mentions, amongst the extraordinary marine animals +found in the seas around Ceylon, a fish _with feet instead of fins; +[Greek: poias ge men chelas e pteri gia.]_--Lib xvi. c. 18. Does not +this drawing of a species of Chironectes, captured near Colombo, justify +his description? + +[Illustration: CHIRONECTES]] + +But the most striking to the eye of a stranger are those fishes whose +brilliancy of colouring has won for them the wonder even of the listless +Singhalese. Some, like the Red Sea Perch (_Helocentrus ruber_, Bennett) +and the Great Fire Fish[1], are of the deepest scarlet and flame colour; +in others purple predominates, as in the _Serranus flavo-caeruleus_; in +others yellow, as in the _Chaeetodon Brownriggii_[2], and _Acanthurus +vittatus_, Bennett[3], and numbers, from the lustrous green of their +scales, have obtained from the natives the appropriate name of +_Giraway_, or _parrots_, of which one, the _Sparus Hardwickii_ of +Bennett, is called the "Flower Parrot," from its exquisite colouring, +being barred with irregular bands of blue, crimson, and purple, green, +yellow, and grey, and crossed by perpendicular stripes of black. + +[Footnote 1: _Pterois muricata_, Cuv. and Val. iv. 363. _Scorpaena +miles_, Bennett; named, by the Singhalese, "_Maha-rata-gini_," the Great +Red Fire, a very brilliant red species spotted with black. It is very +voracious, and is regarded on some parts of the coast as edible, while +on others it is rejected. Mr. Bennett has given a drawing of this +species, (pl. 9), so well marked by the armature of the head. The French +naturalists regard this figure as being only a highly-coloured variety +of their species "dont l'eclat est occasionne par la saison de l'amour." +It is found in the Red Sea and Bourbon and Penang. Dr. CANTOR calls it +_Pterois miles_, and reports that it preys upon small crustaceae.--_Cat. +Malayan Fishes_, p. 44.] + +[Footnote 2: _Glyphisodon Brownriggii_, Cuv. and Val. v. 484; _Chaetodon +Brownriggii_, Bennett. A very small fish about two inches long, called +_Kaha bartikyha_ by the natives. It is distinct from Chaetodon, in which +Mr. Bennett placed it. Numerous species of this genus are scattered +throughout the Indian Ocean. It derives its name from the fine hair-like +character of its teeth. They are found chiefly among coral reefs, and, +though eaten, are not much esteemed. In the French colonies they are +called "Chauffe-soleil." One species is found on the shores of the New +World (_G. saxatilis_), and it is curious that Messrs. Quoy and Gaimard +found this fish at the Cape de Verde Islands in 1827.] + +[Footnote 3: This fish has a sharp round spine on the side of the body +near the tail; a formidable weapon, which is generally partially +concealed within a scabbard-like incision. The fish raises or depresses +this spine at pleasure. It is yellow, with several nearly parallel blue +stripes on the back and sides; the belly is white, the tail and fins +brownish green, edged with blue. + +It is found in rocky places; and according to Mr. Bennett, who has +figured it in his second plate, it is named _Seweya_. It is scarce on +the southern coast of Ceylon.] + +_Fresh-water Fishes._--Of the fresh-water fish, which inhabit the rivers +and tanks, so very little has hitherto been known to naturalists[1], +that of nineteen drawings sent home by Major Skinner in 1852, although +specimens of well-known genera, Colonel Hamilton Smith pronounced nearly +the whole to be new and undescribed species. + +[Footnote 1: In extenuation of the little that is known of the +fresh-water fishes of Ceylon, it may be observed that very few of them +are used at table by Europeans, and there is therefore no stimulus on +the part of the natives to catch them. The burbot and grey mullet are +occasionally eaten, but they taste of mud, and are not in request.] + +Of eight of these, which were from the Mahawelli-ganga, and caught in +the vicinity of Kandy, five were carps[1], of which two were _Leucisci_, +and one a _Mastacemblus_, to which Col. H. Smith has given the name of +its discoverer, _M. Skinneri_[2], one was an _Ophicephalus_, and one a +_Polyacanthus_, with no serrae on the gills. Six were from the +Kalany-ganga, close to Colombo, of which two were _Helastoma_, in shape +approaching the Choetodon; two _Ophicephali_, one a _Silurus_, and one +an _Anabas_, but the gills were without denticulation. From the still +water of the lake, close to the walls of Colombo, there were two species +of _Eleotris_, one _Silurus_ with barbels, and two _Malacopterygians_, +which appear to be _Bagri_. + +[Footnote 1: Of the fresh-water fishes belonging to the family +Cyprinidae, there are about eighteen species from Ceylon in the +collection of the British Museum.] + +[Footnote 2: This fish bears the native name of _Theliya_ in Major +Skinner's list; and is described by Colonel Hamilton Smith as being "of +the proportions of an eel; beautifully mottled, with eyes and spots of a +lighter olive upon a dark green." This so nearly corresponds with a fish +of the same name, _Theliya_, which was brought to Gronovius from Ceylon, +and proved to be identical with the _Aral_ of the Coromandel coast, that +it may be doubtful whether it be not the individual already noted by +Cuvier as _Rhyncobdella ocellata_, Cuv. and Val. viii. 445.] + +In this collection, brought together without premeditation, the +naturalist will be struck by the preponderance of those genera which are +adapted by nature to endure a temporary privation of moisture; and this, +taken in connection with the vicissitudes affecting the waters they +inhabit, exhibits a surprising illustration of the wisdom of the Creator +in adapting the organisation of His creatures to the peculiar +circumstances under which they are destined to exist. + +So abundant are fish in all parts of the island, that Knox says, not the +running streams alone, but the reservoirs and ponds, "nay, every ditch +and little plash of water but ankle deep hath fish in it."[1] But many +of these reservoirs and tanks are, twice in each year, liable to be +evaporated to dryness till the mud of the bottom is converted into dust, +and the clay cleft by the heat into gaping apertures. Yet within a very +few days after the change of the monsoon, the natives are busily engaged +in fishing in those very spots and in the hollows contiguous to them, +although entirely unconnected with any pool or running streams; in the +way in which Knox described nearly 200 years ago, with a funnel-shaped +basket, open at bottom and top, which, as he says, they "jibb down, and +the end sticks in the mud, which often happens upon a fish; which, when +they feel beating itself against the sides, they put in their hands and +take it out, and reive a ratan through their gills, and so let them drag +after them."[2] + +[Footnote 1: KNOX'S _Historical Relation of Ceylon_, Part 1. ch. vii. +The occurrence of fish in the most unlooked-for situations, is one of +the mysteries of other eastern countries as well as Ceylon and India. In +Persia irrigation is carried on to a great extent by means of wells sunk +in line in the direction in which it is desired to lead a supply of +water, and these are connected by channels, which are carefully arched +over to protect them from evaporation. These _kanats_, as they are +called, are full of fish, although neither they nor the wells they unite +have any connection with streams or lakes.] + +[Footnote 2: KNOX, _Historical Relation of Ceylon_, Part I. ch. vii.] + +[Illustration: FROM KNOX'S CEYLON, A.D. 1681] + +This operation may be seen in the lowlands, which are traversed by the +high road leading from Colombo to Kandy, the hollows on either side of +which, before the change of the monsoon, are covered with dust or +stunted grass; but when flooded by the rains, they are immediately +resorted to by the peasants with baskets, constructed precisely as Knox +has stated, in which the fish are encircled and taken out by the +hand.[1] + +[Footnote 1: As anglers, the native Singhalese exhibit little +expertness; but for fishing the rivers, they construct with singular +ingenuity fences formed of strong stakes, protected by screens of ratan, +which stretch diagonally across the current; and along these the fish +are conducted into a series of enclosures from which retreat is +impracticable. Mr. LAYARD, in the _Magazine of Natural History_ for May, +1853, has given a diagram of one of these fish "corrals," as they are +called. + +[Illustration: FISH CORRAL]] + +So singular a phenomenon as the sudden reappearance of full-grown fishes +in places which a few days before had been encrusted with hardened clay, +has not failed to attract attention; but the European residents have +been contented to explain it by hazarding the conjecture, either that +the spawn had lain imbedded in the dried earth till released by the +rains, or that the fish, so unexpectedly discovered, fall from the +clouds during the deluge of the monsoon. + +As to the latter conjecture; the fall of fish during showers, even were +it not so problematical in theory, is too rare an event to account for +the punctual appearance of those found in the rice-fields, at stated +periods of the year. Both at Galle and Colombo in the south-west +monsoon, fish are popularly thought to have fallen from the clouds +during violent showers, but those found on the occasions that give rise +to this belief, consist of the smallest fry, such as could be caught up +by waterspouts, and vortices analogous to them, or otherwise blown on +shore from the surf; whereas those which suddenly appear in the +replenished tanks and in the hollows which they overflow, are mature and +well-grown fish.[1] Besides, the latter are found, under the +circumstances I have described, in all parts of the interior, whilst the +prodigy of a supposed fall of fish from the sky has been noticed, I +apprehend, only in the vicinity of the sea, or of some inland water. + +[Footnote 1: I had an opportunity, on one occasion only, of witnessing +the phenomenon which gives rise to this popular belief. I was driving in +the cinnamon gardens near the fort of Colombo, and saw a violent but +partial shower descend at no great distance before me. On coming to the +spot I found a multitude of small silvery fish from one and a half to +two inches in length, leaping on the gravel of the high road, numbers of +which I collected and brought away in my palankin. The spot was about +half a mile from the sea, and entirely unconnected with any watercourse +or pool. + +Mr. WHITING, who was many years resident at Trincomalie, writes me that +he "had often been told by the natives on that side of the island that +it sometimes rained fishes; and on one occasion (he adds) I was taken by +them, in 1849, to a field at the village of Karran-cotta-tivo, near +Batticaloa, which was dry when I passed over it in the morning, but had +been covered in two hours by sudden rain to the depth of three inches in +which there was then a quantity of small fish. The water had no +connection with any pond or stream whatsoever." Mr. CRIPPS, in like +manner, in speaking of Galle, says: "I have seen in the vicinity of the +fort, fish taken from rain-water that had accumulated in the hollow +parts of land that in the hot season are perfectly dry and parched. The +place is accessible to no running stream or tank; and either the fish, +or the spawn from which they were produced, must of necessity have +fallen with the rain." + +Mr. J. PRINSEP, the eminent secretary to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, +found a fish in the pluviometer at Calcutta, in 1838.--_Journ. Asiat. +Soc. Bengal_, vol. vi p. 465. + +A series of instances in which fishes have been found on the continent +of India under circumstances which lead to the conclusion that they must +have fallen from the clouds, have been collected by Dr. BUIST of Bombay, +and will be found in the appendix to this chapter.] + +The surmise of the buried spawn is one sanctioned by the very highest +authority. Mr. YARRELL in his "_History of British Fishes_," adverting +to the fact that ponds which had been previously converted into hardened +mud, are replenished with small fish in a very few days after the +commencement of each rainy season, offers this solution of the problem +as probably the true one: "The impregnated ova of the fish of one rainy +season, are left unhatched in the mud through the dry season, and from +their low state of organisation as ova, the vitality is preserved till +the recurrence, and contact of the rain and oxygen in the next wet +season, when vivification takes place from their joint influence."[1] + +[Footnote 1: YARRELL, _History of British Fishes_, introd. vol. i. p. +xxvi.] + +This hypothesis, however, appears to have been offered upon imperfect +data; for although some fish like the salmon scrape grooves in the sand +and place their spawn in inequalities and fissures; yet as a general +rule spawn is deposited not beneath but on the surface of the ground or +sand over which the water flows, the adhesive nature of each egg +supplying the means of attachment. But in the Ceylon tanks not only is +the surface of the soil dried to dust after the evaporation of the +water, but the earth itself, twelve or eighteen inches deep, is +converted into sun-burnt clay, in which, although the eggs of mollusca, +in their calcareous covering, are in some instances preserved, it would +appear to be as impossible for the ova of fish to be kept from +decomposition as for the fish themselves to sustain life. Besides, +moisture in such situations is only to be found at a depth to which +spawn could not be conveyed by the parent fish, by any means with which +we are yet acquainted. + +But supposing it possible to carry the spawn sufficiently deep, and to +deposit it safely in the mud below, which is still damp, whence it could +be liberated on the return of the rains, a considerable interval would +still be necessary after the replenishing of the ponds with water to +admit of vivification and growth. But so far from this interval being +allowed to elapse, the rains have no sooner ceased than the fishing of +the natives commences, and those captured in wicker cages are mature and +full grown instead of being "small fish" or fry, as affirmed by Mr. +Yarrell. + +Even admitting the soundness of his theory, and the probability that, +under favourable circumstances, the spawn in the tanks might be +preserved during the dry season so as to contribute to the perpetuation +of their inhabitants, the fact is no longer doubtful, that adult fish in +Ceylon, like some of those that inhabit similar waters both in the New +and Old World, have been endowed by the Creator with the singular +faculty of providing against the periodical droughts either by +journeying overland in search of still unexhausted water, or, on its +utter disappearance, by burying themselves in the mud to await the +return of the rains. + +_Travelling Fishes._--It was well known to the Greeks that certain +fishes of India possessed the power of leaving the rivers and returning +to them again after long migrations[1] on dry land, and modern +observation has fully confirmed their statements. The fish leave the +pools and nullahs in the dry season, and led by an instinct as yet +unexplained, shape their course through the grass towards the nearest +pool of water. A similar phenomenon is observable in countries similarly +circumstanced. The Doras of Guiana[2] have been seen travelling over +land during the dry season in search of their natural element[3], in +such droves that the negroes have filled baskets with them during these +terrestrial excursions. + +[Footnote 1: I have collected into a note, which will be found in the +appendix to this chapter, the opinions entertained by the Greeks and +Romans upon this habit of the fresh-water fishes of India. See note B.] + +[Footnote 2: _D. Hancockii_, Cuv. et Val.] + +[Footnote 3: Sir R. Schomburgk's _Fishes of Guiana_, vol. i. pp. 113, +151, 160. Another migratory fish was found by Bose very numerous in the +fresh waters of Carolina and in ponds liable to become dry in summer. +When captured and placed on the ground, "they _always directed +themselves towards the nearest water, which they could not possibly +see_, and which they must have discovered by some internal index." They +belong to the genus _Hydrargyra_, and are called Swampines.-- KIBBY, +_Bridgewater Treatise_, vol i. p. 143. + +Eels kept in a garden, when August arrived (the period at which instinct +impels them to go to the sea to spawn) were in the habit of leaving the +pond and were invariably found moving eastward _in the direction of the +sea_.--YARRELL, vol. ii. p. 384. Anglers observe that fish newly caught, +when placed out of sight of water, always struggle towards it to +escape.] + +Pallegoix in his account of Siam, enumerates three species of fishes +which leave the tanks and channels and traverse the damp grass[1]; and +Sir John Bowring, in his account of the embassy to the Siamese kings in +1855, states, that in ascending and descending the river Meinam to +Bankok, he was amused with the novel sight of fish leaving the river, +gliding over the wet banks, and losing themselves amongst the trees of +the jungle.[2] + +[Footnote 1: PALLEGOIX, vol. i. p. 144.] + +[Footnote 2: Sir J. BOWRING'S _Siam_, vol. i. p. 10.] + +The class of fishes which possess this power are chiefly those with +labyrinthiform pharyngeal bones, so disposed in plates and cells as to +retain a supply of moisture, which, whilst crawling on land, gradually +exudes so as to keep the gills damp.[1] + +[Footnote 1: CUVIER and VALENCIENNES, _Hist. Nat. des Poissons, _tom. +vii. p. 246.] + +The individual which is most frequently seen in these excursions in +Ceylon is a perch called by the Singhalese _Kavaya_ or _Kawhy-ya_, and +by the Tamils _Pannei-eri_, or _Sennal_. It is closely allied to, if not +identical with, the _Anabas scandens_ of Cuvier, the _Perca scandens_ of +Daldorf. It grows to about six inches in length, the head round and +covered with scales, and the edges of the gill-covers strongly +denticulated. Aided by the apparatus already adverted to in its head, +this little creature issues boldly from its native pools and addresses +itself to its toilsome march generally at night or in the early morning, +whilst the grass is still damp with the dew; but in its distress it is +sometimes compelled to travel by day, and Mr. E.L. Layard on one +occasion encountered a number of them travelling along a hot and dusty +gravel road under the midday sun.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist_., May, 1853, p. 390. Mr. +Morris, the government-agent of Trincomalie, writing to me on this +subject in 1856, says--"I was lately on duty inspecting the bund of a +large tank at Nade-cadua, which, being out of repair, the remaining +water was confined in a small hollow in the otherwise dry bed. Whilst +there heavy rain came on, and, as we stood on the high ground, we +observed a pelican on the margin of the shallow pool gorging himself; +our people went towards him and raised a cry of fish! fish! We hurried +down, and found numbers of fish struggling upwards through the grass in +the rills formed by the trickling of the rain. There was scarcely water +enough to cover them, but nevertheless they made rapid progress up the +bank, on which our followers collected about two bushels of them at a +distance of forty yards from the tank. They were forcing their way up +the knoll, and, had they not been intercepted first by the pelican and +afterwards by ourselves, they would in a few minutes have gained the +highest point and descended on the other side into a pool which formed +another portion of the tank. They were chub, the same as are found in +the mud after the tanks dry up." In a subsequent communication in July, +1857, the same gentleman says--"As the tanks dry up the fish congregate +in the little pools till at last you find them in thousands in the +moistest parts of the beds, rolling in the blue mud which is at that +time about the consistence of thick gruel." + +"As the moisture further evaporates the surface fish are left uncovered, +and they crawl away in search of fresh pools. In one place I saw +hundreds diverging in every direction, from the tank they had just +abandoned to a distance of fifty or sixty yards, and still travelling +onwards. In going this distance, however, they must have used muscular +exertion sufficient to have taken them half a mile on level ground, for +at these places all the cattle and wild animals of the neighbourhood had +latterly come to drink; so that the surface was everywhere indented with +footmarks in addition to the cracks in the surrounding baked mud, into +which the fish tumbled in their progress. In those holes which were deep +and the sides perpendicular they remained to die, and were carried off +by kites and crows." + +"My impression is that this migration takes place at night or before +sunrise, for it was only early in the morning that I have seen them +progressing, and I found that those I brought away with me in chatties +appeared quiet by day, but a large proportion managed to get out of the +chatties at night--some escaped altogether, others were trodden on and +killed." + +"One peculiarity is the large size of the vertebral column, quite +disproportioned to the bulk of the fish. I particularly noticed that all +in the act of migrating had their gills expanded."] + +Referring to the _Anabas scandens_, Mr. Hamilton Buchanan says, that of +all the fish with which he was acquainted it is the most tenacious of +life; and he has known boatmen on the Ganges to keep them for five or +six days in an earthen pot without water, and daily to use what they +wanted, finding them as lively and fresh as when caught.[1] Two Danish +naturalists residing at Tranquebar, have contributed their authority to +the fact of this fish ascending trees on the coast of Coromandel, an +exploit from which it acquired its epithet of _Perca scandens_. Daldorf, +who was a lieutenant in the Danish East India Company's service, +communicated to Sir Joseph Banks, that in the year 1791 he had taken +this fish from a moist cavity in the stem of a Palmyra palm, which grew +near a lake. He saw it when already five feet above the ground +struggling to ascend still higher;--suspending itself by its +gill-covers, and bending its tail to the left, it fixed its anal fin in +the cavity of the bark, and sought by expanding its body to urge its way +upwards, and its march was only arrested by the hand with which he +seized it.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Fishes of the Ganges_, 4to. 1822.] + +[Footnote 2: _Transactions Linn. Soc._ vol. iii. p. 63. It is +remarkable, however, that this discovery of Daldorf, which excited so +great an interest in 1791, had been anticipated by an Arabian voyager a +thousand years before. Abou-zeyd, the compiler of the remarkable MS. +known since Renandot's translation by the title of the _Travels of Two +Mahometans_, states that Suleyman, one of his informants, who visited +India at the close of the ninth century, was told there of a fish which, +issuing from the waters, ascended the coco-nut palms to drink their sap, +and returned to the sea. "On parle d'un poisson de mer que sortant de +l'eau, monte sur la cocotier et boit le suc de la plante; ensuite il +retourne a la mer." See REINAUD, _Relations des Voyages faits par les +Arabes et Persans dans le neuvieme siecle_, tom. i. p. 21, tom ii. p. +93.] + +There is considerable obscurity about the story of this ascent, although +corroborated by M. John. Its motive for climbing is not apparent, since +water being close at hand it could not have gone for sake of the +moisture contained in the fissures of the palm; nor could it be in +search of food, as it lives not on fruit but on aquatic insects.[1] The +descent, too, is a question of difficulty. The position of its fins, and +the spines on its gill-covers, might assist its journey upwards, but the +same apparatus would prove anything but a facility in steadying its +journey down. The probability is, as suggested by Buchanan, that the +ascent which was witnessed by Daldorf was accidental, and ought not to +be regarded as the habit of the animal. In Ceylon I heard of no instance +of the perch ascending trees[2], but the fact is well established that +both it, the _pullata_ (a species of polyacanthus), and others, are +capable of long journeys on the level ground.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Kirby says that it is "in pursuit of certain crustaceans +that form its food" (_Bridgewater Treatise_, vol. i. p. 144); but I am +not aware of any crustaceans in the island which ascend the palmyra or +feed upon its fruit. Birgus latro, which inhabits Mauritius and is said +to climb the coco-nut for this purpose, has not been observed in +Ceylon.] + +[Footnote 2: This assertion must be qualified by a fact stated by Mr. +E.A. Layard, who mentions that on visiting one of the fishing stations +on a Singhalese river, where the fish are caught in staked enclosures, +as described at p. 212, and observing that the chambers were covered +with netting, he asked the reason, and was told "_that some of the fish +climbed up the sticks and got over_."--_Mag. Nat. Hist._ for May 1828, +p. 390-1.] + +[Footnote 3: Strange accidents have more than once occurred in Ceylon +arising from the habit of the native anglers; who, having neither +baskets nor pockets in which to place what they catch, will seize a fish +in their teeth whilst putting fresh bait on their hook. In August 1853, +a man carried into the Pettah hospital at Colombo, having a climbing +perch, which he thus attempted to hold, firmly imbedded in his throat. +The spines of its dorsal fin prevented its descent, whilst those of the +gill-covers equally forbade its return. It was eventually extracted by +the forceps through an incision in the oesophagus, and the patient +recovered. Other similar cases have proved fatal.] + +_Burying Fishes._--But a still more remarkable power possessed by some +of the Ceylon fishes, is that of secreting themselves in the earth in +the dry season, at the bottom of the exhausted ponds, and there awaiting +the renewal of the water at the change of the monsoon. + +The instinct of the crocodile to resort to the same expedient has been +already referred to[1], and in like manner the fish, when distressed by +the evaporation of the tanks, seek relief by immersing first their +heads, and by degrees their whole bodies, in the mud; and sinking to a +depth at which they find sufficient moisture to preserve life in a state +of lethargy long after the bed of the tank has been consolidated by the +intense heat of the sun. It is possible, too, that the cracks which +reticulate the surface may admit air to some extent to sustain their +faint respiration. + +[Footnote 1: See _ante_, P. II. ch. iii. p. 189.] + +The same thing takes place in other tropical regions, subject to +vicissitudes of draught and moisture. The Protopterus[1] which inhabits +the Gambia (and which, though demonstrated by Professor Owen to possess +all the essential organisation of fishes, is nevertheless provided with +true lungs), is accustomed in the dry season, when the river retires +into its channel, to bury itself to the depth of twelve or sixteen +inches in the indurated mud of the banks, and to remain in a state of +torpor till the rising of the stream after the rains enables it to +resume its active habits. At this period the natives of the Gambia, like +those of Ceylon, resort to the river, and secure the fish in +considerable numbers as they flounder in the still shallow water. A +parallel instance occurs in Abyssinia in relation to the fish of the +Mareb, one of the sources of the Nile, the waters of which are partially +absorbed in traversing the plains of Taka. During the summer its bed is +dry, and in the slime at the depth of more than six feet is found a +species of fish without scales, different from any known to inhabit the +Nile.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Lepidosiren annectans_, Owen. See _Linn. Trans._ 1839.] + +[Footnote 2: This statement will be found in QUATREMERE'S _Memoires sur +l'Egypte_, tom. i. p. 17, on the authority of Abdullah ben Ahmed ben +Solaim Assouany, in his _History of Nubia_, "Simon, heritier presomptif +du royanme d'Alouah, m'a assure que l'on trouve, dans la vase qui couvre +le fond de cette riviere, un grand poisson sans ecailles, qui ne +ressemble en rien aux poissons du Nil, et que, pour l'avoir, il faut +creuser a une toise et plus de profondeur." To this passage there is +appended this note:--"Le patriarche Mendes, cite par Legrand (_Relation +Hist. d'Abyssinie_, du P. LOBO, p. 212-3) rapporte que le fleuve Mareb, +apres avoir arrose une etendue de pays considerable, se perd sous terre; +et que quand les Portugais faisaient la guerre dans ce pays, ils +fouilloient dans le sable, et y trouvoient de la bonne eau et du bon +poison. Au rapport de l'auteur de _l'Ayin Akbery_ (tom. ii. p. 146, ed. +1800), dans le Soubah de Caschmir, pres du lieu nomme Tilahmoulah, est +une grande piece de terre qui est inondee pendant la saison des pluies. +Lorsque les eaux se sont evaporees, et que la vase est presque seche, +les habitans prennent des batons d'environ une aune de long, qu'ils +enfoncent dans la vase, et ils y trouvent quantite de grands et petits +poissons." In the library of the British Museum there is an unique MS. +of MANOEL DE ALMEIDA, written in the sixteenth century, from which +Balthasar Tellez compiled his _Historia General de Ethiopia alta_, +printed at Coimbra in 1660, and in it the above statement of Mendes is +corroborated by Almeida, who says that he was told by Joao Gabriel, a +Creole Portuguese, born in Abyssinia, who had visited the Merab, and who +said that the "fish were to be found everywhere eight or ten palms down, +and that he had eaten of them."] + +In South America the "round-headed hassar" of Guiana, _Callicthys +littoralis_, and the "yarrow," a species of the family Esocidae, although +they possess no specially modified respiratory organs, are accustomed to +bury themselves in the mud on the subsidence of water in the pools +during the dry season.[1] The _Loricaria_ of Surinam, another Siluridan, +exhibits a similar instinct, and resorts to the same expedient. Sir R. +Schomburgk, in his account of the fishes of Guiana, confirms this +account of the Callicthys, and says "they can exist in muddy lakes +without any water whatever, and great numbers of them are sometimes dug +up from such situations." + +[Footnote 1: See Paper "_on some Species of Fishes and Reptiles in +Demerara_," by J. HANDCOOK, Esq., M.D., _Zoological Journal_, vol. iv. +p. 243.] + +In those portions of Ceylon where the country is flat, and small tanks +are extremely numerous, the natives in the hot season are accustomed to +dig in the mud for fish. Mr. Whiting, the chief civil officer of the +eastern province, informs me that, on two occasions, he was present +accidentally when the villagers were so engaged, once at the tank of +Moeletivoe, within a few miles of Kottiar, near the bay of Trincomalie, +and again at a tank between Ellendetorre and Arnetivoe, on the bank of +the Vergel river. The clay was firm, but moist, and as the men flung out +lumps of it with a spade, it fell to pieces, disclosing fish from nine +to twelve inches long, which were full grown and healthy, and jumped on +the bank when exposed to the sun light. + +Being desirous of obtaining a specimen of the fish so exhumed, I +received from the Moodliar of Matura, A.B. Wickremeratne, a fish taken +along with others of the same kind from a tank in which the water had +dried up; it was found at a depth of a foot and a half where the mud was +still moist, whilst the surface was dry and hard. The fish which the +moodliar sent to me proved to be an Anabas, and closely resembles the +_Perca scandens_ of Daldorf. + +[Illustration: THE ANABAS OF THE DRY TANKS] + +But the faculty of becoming torpid at such periods is not confined in +Ceylon to the crocodiles and fishes, it is equally possessed by some of +the fresh-water mollusca and aquatic coleoptera. The largest of the +former, the _Ampullaria glauca_, is found in still water in all parts of +the island, not alone in the tanks, but in rice-fields and the +watercourses by which they are irrigated. There it deposits a bundle of +eggs with a white calcareous shell, to the number of one hundred and +more in each group, at a considerable depth in the soft mud, under +which, when the water is about to evaporate during the dry season, it +burrows and conceals itself[1] till the returning rains restore it to +liberty, and reproduce its accustomed food. The _Melania Paludina_ in +the same way retires during the droughts into the muddy soil of the rice +lands; and it can only be by such an instinct that this and other +mollusca are preserved when the tanks evaporate, to re-appear in full +growth and vigour immediately on the return of the rains.[2] + +[Footnote 1: A knowledge of this fact was turned to prompt account by +Mr. Edgar S. Layard, when holding a judicial office at Point Pedro in +1849. A native who had been defrauded of his land complained before him +of his neighbour, who, during his absence, had removed their common +landmark by diverting the original watercourse and obliterated its +traces by filling it to a level with the rest of the field. Mr. Layard +directed a trench to be sunk at the contested spot, and discovering +numbers of the Ampullaria, the remains of the eggs, and the living +animal which had been buried for months, the evidence was so resistless +as to confound the wrongdoer, and terminate the suit.] + +[Footnote 2: For a similar fact relative to the shells and water beetles +in the pools near Rio Janeiro, see DARWIN'S _Nat. Journal_, ch. v. p. +90. BENSON, in the first vol. of _Gleanings of Science_, published at +Calcutta in 1829, describes a species of _Paludina_ found in pools, +which are periodically dried up in the hot season but reappear with the +rains, p. 363. And in the _Journal of the Asiatic Soc. of Bengal_ for +Sept. 1832, Lieut. HUTTON, in a singularly interesting paper, has +followed up the same subject by a narrative of his own observations at +Mirzapore, where in June, 1832, after a few heavy showers of rain, which +formed pools on the surface of the ground near a mango grove, he saw the +_Paludinae_ issuing from the ground, "pushing aside the moistened earth +and coming forth from their retreats; but on the disappearance of the +water not one of them was to be seen above ground. Wishing to ascertain +what had become of them, he turned up the earth at the base of several +trees, and invariably found the shells buried from an inch to two inches +below the surface." Lieut. Hutton adds that the _Ampullariae_ and +_Planorbes_, as well as the _Paludinae_, are found in similar situations +during the heats of the dry season. The British _Pisidea_ exhibit the +same faculty (see a monograph in the _Camb. Phil. Trans._ vol. iv.). The +fact is elsewhere alluded to in the present work of the power possessed +by the land leech of Ceylon of retaining vitality even after being +parched to hardness during the heat of the rainless season. Vol. I. ch. +vii. p. 312.] + +Dr. John Hunter[1] has advanced the opinion that hybernation, although a +result of cold, is not its immediate consequence, but is attributable to +that deprivation of food and other essentials which extreme cold +occasions, and against the recurrence of which nature makes a timely +provision by a suspension of her functions. Excessive heat in the +tropics produces an effect upon animals and vegetables analogous to that +of excessive cold in northern regions, and hence it is reasonable to +suppose that the torpor induced by the one may be but the counterpart of +the hybernation which results from the other. The frost which imprisons +the alligator in the Mississippi as effectually cuts him off from food +and action as the drought which incarcerates the crocodile in the +sun-burnt clay of a Ceylon tank. The hedgehog of Europe enters on a +period of absolute torpidity as soon as the inclemency of winter +deprives it of its ordinary supply of slugs and insects; and the +_Tenrec_[2] of Madagascar, its tropical representative, exhibits the +same tendency during the period when excessive heat produces in that +climate a like result. + +[Footnote 1: HUNTER'S _Observations on parts of the Animal Oeconomy_, p. +88.] + +[Footnote 2: _Centetes ecaudatus_, Illiger.] + +The descent of the _Ampullaria_, and other fresh-water molluscs, into +the mud of the tank, has its parallel in the conduct of the _Bulimi_ and +_Helices_ on land. The European snail, in the beginning of winter, +either buries itself in the earth or withdraws to some crevice or +overarching stone to await the returning vegetation of spring. So, in +the season of intense heat, the _Helix Waltoni_ of Ceylon, and others of +the same family, before retiring under cover, close the aperture of +their shells with an impervious epiphragm, which effectually protects +their moisture and juices from evaporation during the period of their +aestivation. The Bulimi of Chili have been found alive in England in a +box packed in cotton after an interval of two years, and the animal +inhabiting a land-shell from Suez, which was attached to a tablet and +deposited in the British Museum in 1846, was found in 1850 to have +formed a fresh epiphragm, and on being immersed in tepid water, it +emerged from its shell. It became torpid again on the 15th November, +1851, and was found dead and dried up in March, 1852.[1] But the +exceptions serve to prove the accuracy of Hunter's opinion almost as +strikingly as accordances, since the same genera of animals which +hybernate in Europe, where extreme cold disarranges their oeconomy, +evince no symptoms of lethargy in the tropics, provided their food be +not diminished by the heat. Ants, which are torpid in Europe during +winter, work all the year round in India, where sustenance is +uniform.[2] The Shrews of Ceylon (_Sorex montanus_ and _S. ferrugineus_ +of Kelaart) which, like those at home, subsist upon insects, inhabit a +region where the equable temperature admits of the pursuit of their prey +at all seasons of the year; and hence, unlike those of Europe, they +never hybernate. A similar observation applies to the bats, which are +dormant during a northern winter when insects are rare, but never become +torpid in any part of the tropics. + +[Footnote 1: _Annals of Natural History_, 1850. See Dr. BAIRD's _Account +of Helix desertorum; Excelsior, &c._, ch. i. p. 345.] + +[Footnote 2: Colonel SYKES has described in the _Entomological Trans._ +the operations of an ant which laid up a store of hay against the rainy +season.] + +The bear, in like manner, is nowhere deprived of its activity except +when the rigour of severe frost cuts off its access to its accustomed +food. On the other hand, the tortoise, which immerses itself in +indurated mud during the hot months in Venezuela, shows no tendency to +torpor in Ceylon, where its food is permanent; and yet is subject to +hybernation when carried to the colder regions of Europe. + +To the fish in the detached tanks and pools when the heat, by exhausting +the water, deprives them at once of motion and sustenance, the practical +effect must be the same as when the frost of a northern winter encases +them in ice. Nor is it difficult to believe that they can successfully +undergo the one crisis when we know beyond question that they may +survive the other.[1] + +[Footnote 1: YARRELL, vol. i. p. 364, quotes the authority of Dr. J. +Hunter in his _Animal OEconomy_, that fish, "after being frozen still +retain so much of life as when thawed to resume their vital actions;" +and in the same volume (_Introd._ vol. i. p. xvii.) he relates from +JESSE'S _Gleanings in Natural History_, the story of a gold fish +(_Cyprinus auratus_) which, together with the water in a marble basin, +was frozen into one solid lump of ice, yet, on the water being thawed, +the fish became as lively as usual Dr. RICHARDSON, in the third vol. of +his _Fauna Borealis Americana_, says the grey sucking carp found in the +fur countries of North America, may be frozen and thawed again without +being killed in the process.] + +_Hot-water Fishes_.--Another incident is striking in connection with the +fresh-water fishes of Ceylon. I have mentioned elsewhere the hot springs +of Kannea, in the vicinity of Trincomalie, the water in which flows at a +temperature varying at different seasons from 85 deg. to 115 deg. In the +stream formed by these wells M. Reynaud found and forwarded to Cuvier +two fishes which he took from the water at a time when his thermometer +indicated a temperature of 37 deg. Reaumur, equal to 115 deg. of +Fahrenheit. The one was an Apogon, the other an Ambassis, and to each, +from the heat of its habitat, he assigned the specific name of +"Thermalis."[1] + +[Footnote 1: CUV. and VAL., vol. iii. p. 363. In addition to the two +fishes above named, a loche _Cobitis thermalis_, and a carp, _Nuria +thermoicos_, were found in the hot-springs of Kannea at a heat 40 deg. +Cent., 114 deg. Fahr., and a roach, _Leuciscus thermalis_, when the +thermometer indicated 50 deg. Cent., 122 deg. Fahr.--_Ib_. xviii. +p. 59, xvi. p. 182, xvii. p. 94. Fish have been taken from a hot spring +at Pooree when the thermometer stood at 112 deg. Fahr., and as they +belonged to a carnivorous genus, they must have found prey living in the +same high temperature.--_Journ. Asiatic Soc. Beng_. vol. vi. p. 465. +Fishes have been observed in a hot spring at Manilla which raises the +thermometer to 187 deg., and in another in Barbary, the usual +temperature of which is 172 deg.; and Humboidt and Bonpland, when +travelling in South America, saw fishes thrown up alive from a volcano, +in water that raised the temperature to 210 deg., being two degrees +below the boiling point. PATTERSON'S _Zoology_. Pt. ii p. 211; YARRELL'S +_History of British Fishes_, vol. i. In. p. xvi.] + +_List of Ceylon Fishes._ + +I. OSSEOUS. + +Acanthopterygii. + +_Perca_ argentea, _Bennett_. +Apogon roseipinnis, _Cuv. & Val_. + Zeylonicus, _Cuv. & Val_. + thermalis, _Cuv. & Val_. +Ambassis thermalis, _Cuv. & Val_. +Serranus biguttatus, _Cuv. & Val_. + Tankervillae, _Benn_. + lemniscatus, _Cuv. & Val_. + Sonneratii, _Cuv. & Val_. + flavo-ceruleus, _Lacep_. + marginalis, _Cuv. & Val_. + Boelang, _Cuv. & Val_. +Serranus faveatus, _Cuv. & Val_. + angularis, _Cuv. & Val_. + punctulatas, _Cuv. & Val_. +Diacope decem-lineatus, _Cuv. & Val_. + spilura, _Benn_. + xanthopus, _Cuv. & Val_. +Mesoprion annularis, _Cuv. & Val_. +Holocentrus orientale, _Cuv. & Val_. + spinifera, _Cuv. & Val_. + argenteus, _Cuv. & Val_. +Upeneus taeniopterus, _Cuv. & Val_. + Zeylonicus, _Cuv. & Val_. + Russeli, _Cuv. & Val_. + cinnabarinus, _Cuv. & Val_. +Platycephalus punctatus, _Cuv. & Val_. + scaber, _Linn_. + tuberculatus, _Cuv. & Val_. + serratus, _Cuv. & Val_. +Pterois volitans, _Gm_. + muricata, _Cuv. & Val_. +Diagramma cinerascens, _Cuv. & Val_. + Blochii, _Cuv. & Val_. + poeciloptera, _Cuv. & Val_. + Cuvieri, _Benn_. + Sibbaldi, _E. Benn_. +Lobotes crate, _Cuv. & Val_. +Scolopsides bimaculatus, _Rupp_. +Amphiprion Clarkii, _J. Benn_. +Dascyllus aruanus, _Cuv. & Val_. +Glyphisodon Rahti, _Cuv. & Val_. + Brownrigii, _Benn_. +_Sparus_ Hardwickii, _J. Benn_. +Pagrus longifilis, _Cuv. & Val_. +Lethrinus opercularis, _Cuv. & Val_. + fasciatus, _Cuv. & Val_. + fraenatus, _Cuv. & Val_. + cythrurus, _Cuv. & Val_. + cinereus, _Cuv. & Val_. +Smaris balteatus, _Cuv. & Val_. +Caesio coerulaureus, _Lacep_. +Gerres oblongus, _Cuv. & Val_. +Chaetodon vagabundus, _Linn_. + Sebanus, _Cuv. & Val_. + Layardi, _Blyth_. + xanthocephalus, _E. Bennett_. + guttatissimus, _E. Benn_. +Haeniochus macrolepidotus, _Linn_. +Scatophagus argus, _Cuv. & Val_. +Holacanthus xanthurus, _E. Benn_. +Platax Raynaldi, _Cuv. & Val_. + ocellatus _Cuv. & Val_. + Ehrenbergii, _Cuv. & Val_. +Anabas _scandens_, _Dald_. +_Helostoma_. +_Polyacanthus_. +_Ophicephalus_. +Cybium guttatum, _Bloeh_. +Chorinemus moadetta, _Ehren_. +Rhynchobdella ocellata, _Cuv. & Val_. +Mastocemblus Skinneri, _H. Smith_. +Caranx Heberi, _J. Benn_. + speciosus, _Forsk_. +Rhombus triocellatus, _Cuv. & Val_. +Equula dacer, _Cuv. & Val_. + filigera, _Cuv. & Val_. +Amphacanthus javus, _Linn_. + sutor, _Cuv. & Val_. +Acanthurus xanthurus, _Blyth_. + triostegus, _Bloch_. + Delisiani, _Cuv. & Val_. + lineatus, _Lacep_. + melas, _Cuv. & Val_. +Atherina duodecimalis, _Cuv. & Val_. +_Blennius_. +Salarias marmoratus, _Benn_. + alticus, _Cuv. & Val_. +Eleotris sexguttata, _Cuv. & Val_. +Cheironectes hispidus, _Cuv. & Val_. +Tautoga fasciata, _Bloch_. +Julis lunaris, _Linn_. + decussatus, _W. Benn_. + formosus, _Cuv. & Val_. + quadricolor, _Lesson_. + dorsalis, _Quoy & Gaim_. + aureomaculatus, _W. Benn_. + Ceilanicus, _E. Benn_. + Finlaysoni, _Cuv. & Val_. + purpureo-lineatus, _Cuv. & Val_. +Gomphosus fuscus, _Cuv. & Val_. + viridis, _W. Benn_. +Scarus pepo, _W. Benn_. + harid, _Forsk_. + + +Malacopterygrii (abdominales). + +_Silurus_. +Bagrus albilabris, _Cuv. & Val_. +Plotosus lineatus, _Cuv. & Val_. +_Cyprinus_. +Barbus tor, _Cuv. & Val_. +Nuria thermoicos, _Cuv. & Val_. +Leuciscus Zeylonicus, _E. Benn_. + thermalis, _Cuv. & Val_. +Cobitis thermalis, _Cuv. & Val_. +Hemirhamphus Reynaldi, _Cuv. & Val_. + Georgii, _Cuv. & Val_. +Exocoetus evolans, _Linn_. +Sardinella leiogaster, _Cuv. & Val_. + lineolata, _Cuv. & Val_. +Saurus myops, _Val_. + + +Malacopterygii (Sub-brachiati). + +_Pleuronectes, L._ + + +Malacopterygii (Apoda). + +_Muraena_. + + +Lophobranchi. + +_Syngnathus, L._ + + +Plectognathii. + +Tetraodon ocellatus, _W. Benn_. + argyropleura, _E. Bennett_. + argentatus, _Blyth_. +Balistes biaculeatus, _W. Benn_. +Triacanthus biaculeatus, _W. Benn_. + + +II. CARTILAGINOUS + +_Squabus, L._ +Pristis antiquorum, _Lath._ + cuspidatus, _Lath._ + pectinatus, _Lath._ +_Raia, L._ + + + + +NOTE (A.) + +INSTANCES OF FISHES FALLING FROM THE CLOUDS IN INDIA. + +_From the Bombay Times_, 1856. + + +Dr. Buist, after enumerating cases in which fishes were said to have +been thrown out from volcanoes in South America and precipitated from +clouds in various parts of the world, adduces the following instances of +similar occurrences in India. "In 1824," he says, "fishes fell at +Meerut, on the men of Her Majesty's 14th Regiment, then out at drill, +and were caught in numbers. In July, 1826, live fish were seen to fall +on the grass at Moradabad during a storm. They were the common cyprinus, +so prevalent in our Indian waters. On the 19th of February, 1830, at +noon, a heavy fall of fish occurred at the Nokulhatty factory, in the +Daccah zillah; depositions on the subject were obtained from nine +different parties. The fish were all dead; most of them were large: some +were fresh, others were rotten and mutilated. They were seen at first in +the sky, like a flock of birds, descending rapidly to the ground; there +was rain drizzling, but no storm. On the 16th and 17th of May, 1833, a +fall of fish occurred in the zillah of Futtehpoor, about three miles +north of the Jumna, after a violent storm of wind and rain. The fish +were from a pound and a half to three pounds in weight, and of the same +species as those found in the tanks in the neighbourhood. They were all +dead and dry. A fall of fish occurred at Allahabad, during a storm in +May, 1835; they were of the chowla species, and were found dead and dry +after the storm had passed over the district. On the 20th of September, +1839, after a smart shower of rain, a quantity of live fish, about three +inches in length and all of the same kind, fell at the Sunderbunds, +about twenty miles south of Calcutta. On this occasion it was remarked +that the fish did not fall here and there irregularly over the ground, +but in a continuous straight line, not more than a span in breadth. The +vast multitudes of fish, with which the low grounds round Bombay are +covered, about a week or ten days after the first burst of the monsoon, +appear to be derived from the adjoining pools or rivulets and not to +descend from the sky. They are not, so far as I know, found in the +higher parts of the island. I have never seen them, though I have +watched carefully, in casks collecting water from the roofs of +buildings, or heard of them on the decks or awnings of vessels in the +harbour, where they must have appeared had they descended from the sky. +One of the most remarkable phenomena of this kind occurred during a +tremendous deluge of rain at Kattywar, on the 25th of July, 1850, when +the ground around Rajkote was found literally covered with fish; some of +them were found on the tops of haystacks, where probably they had been +drifted by the storm. In the course of twenty-four successive hours +twenty-seven inches of rain fell, thirty-five fell in twenty-six hours, +seven inches within one hour and a half, being the heaviest fall on +record. At Poonah, on the 3rd of August, 1852, after a very heavy fall +of rain, multitudes of fish were caught on the ground in the +cantonments, full half a mile from the nearest stream. If showers of +fish are to be explained on the assumption that they are carried up by +squalls or violent winds, from rivers or spaces of water not far away +from where they fall, it would be nothing wonderful were they seen to +descend from the air during the furious squalls which occasionally occur +in June." + + * * * * * + + + + +NOTE (B.) + +MIGRATION OF FISHES OVER LAND. + +_Opinions of the Greeks and Romans_. + + +It is an illustration of the eagerness with which, after the expedition +of Alexander the Great, particulars connected with the natural history +of India were sought for and arranged by the Greeks, that in the works +both of ARISTOTLE and THEOPHRASTUS the facts are recorded of the fishes +in the Indian rivers migrating in search of water, of their burying +themselves in the mud on its failure, of their being dug out thence +alive during the dry season, and of their spontaneous reappearance on +the return of the rains. The earliest notice is in the treatise of +ARISTOTLE _De Respiratione_, chap. ix., who mentions the strange +discovery of living fish found beneath the surface of the soil, [Greek: +ton ichthuon oi polloi zosin en te ge, akinetizontes mentoi, kai +euriskontai oruttomenoi]; and in his History of Animals he conjectures +that in ponds periodically dried the ova of the fish so buried become +vivified at the change of the season.[1] HERODOTUS had previously +hazarded a similar theory to account for the sudden appearance of fry in +the Egyptian marshes on the rising of the Nile; but the cases are not +parallel. THEOPHRASTUS, the friend and pupil of Aristotle, gave +importance to the subject by devoting to it his essay [Greek: Peri tes +ton ichthyon en zero diamones], _De Piscibus in sicco degentibus_. In +this, after adverting to the fish called _exocoetus_, from its habit of +going on shore to sleep, [Greek: apo tes koites], he instances the small +fish ([Greek: ichthydia]), which leave the rivers of India to wander +like frogs on the land; and likewise a species found near Babylon, +which, when the Euphrates runs low, leave the dry channels in search of +food, "moving themselves along by means of their fins and tail." He +proceeds to state that at Heraclea Pontica there are places in which +fish are dug out of the earth, ([Greek: oryktoi ton ichthyon]), and he +accounts for their being found under such circumstances by the +subsidence of the rivers, "when the water being evaporated the fish +gradually descend beneath the soil in search of moisture; and the +surface becoming hard they are preserved in the damp clay below it, in a +state of torpor, but are capable of vigorous movements when disturbed. +In this manner, too," Theophrastus adds, "the buried fish propagate, +leaving behind them their spawn, which becomes vivified on the return of +the waters to their accustomed bed." This work of Theophrastus became +the great authority for all subsequent writers on this question. +ATHENAEUS quotes it[2], and adds the further testimony of POLYBIUS, that +in Gallia Narbonensis fish are similarly dug out of the ground.[3] +STRABO repeats the story[4], and one and all the Greek naturalists +received the statement as founded on reliable authority. + +[Footnote 1: Lib. vi. ch, 15, 16, 17.] + +[Footnote 2: Lib. viii. ch. 2.] + +[Footnote 3: Ib. ch. 4.] + +[Footnote 4: Lib. iv. and xii.] + +Not so the Romans. LIVY mentions it as one of the prodigies which were +to be "expiated," on the approach of a rupture with Macedon, that "in +Gallico agro qua induceretur aratrum sub glebis pisces emersisse,"[1] +thus taking it out of the category of natural occurrences. POMPONIUS +MELA, obliged to notice the matter in his account of Narbon Gaul, +accompanies it with the intimation that although asserted by both Greek +and Roman authorities, the story was either a delusion or a fraud.[2] +JUVENAL has a sneer for the rustic-- + + "miranti sub aratro + Piscibus inventis."--_Sat_. xiii. 63. + +[Footnote 1: Lib. xlii. ch. 2.] + +[Footnote 2: Lib. ii ch, 5.] + +And SENECA, whilst he quotes Theophrastus, adds ironically, that now we +must go to fish with a _hatchet_ instead of a hook; "non cum hamis, sed +cum dolabra ire piscatum."[1] PLINY, who devotes the 35th chapter of his +9th book to this subject, uses the narrative of Theophrastus, but with +obvious caution, and universally the Latin writers treated the story as +a fable. + +[Footnote 1: _Nat. Quaest._ vii 16.] + +In later times the subject received more enlightened attention, and +Beckmann, who in 1736 published his commentary on the collection [Greek: +Peri Thaumasion akousmaton], ascribed to Aristotle, has given a list of +the authorities about his own times,--Georgius Agricola, Gesner, +Rondelet, Dalechamp, Bomare, and Gronovius, who not only gave credence +to the assertions of Theophrastus, but adduced modern instances in +corroboration of his Indian authorities. + + * * * * * + + + + +NOTE (C.) + +CEYLON FISHES. + +(_Memorandum, by Professor Huxley._) + +See p. 205. + +The large series of beautifully coloured drawings of the fishes of +Ceylon, which has been submitted to my inspection, possesses an unusual +value for several reasons. + +The fishes, it appears, were all captured at Colombo, and even had those +from other parts of Ceylon been added, the geographical area would not +have been very extended. Nevertheless there are more than 600 drawings, +and though it is possible that some of these represent varieties in +different stages of growth of the same species, I have not been able to +find definite evidence of the fact in any of those groups which I have +particularly tested. If, however, these drawings represent _six hundred_ +distinct species of fish, they constitute, so far as I know, the largest +collection of fish from one locality in existence. + +The number of known British fishes may be safely assumed to be less than +250, and Mr. Yarrell enumerates only 226, Dr. Cantor's valuable work on +Malayan fishes enumerates not more than 238, while Dr. Russell has +figured only 200 from Coromandel. Even the enormous area of the Chinese +and Japanese seas has as yet not yielded 800 species of fishes. + +The large extent of the collection alone, then, renders it of great +importance; but its value is immeasurably enhanced by two +circumstances,--the _first_, that every drawing was made while the fish +retained all that vividness of colouring which becomes lost so soon +after its removal from its native element; _second_, that when the +sketch was finished its subject was carefully labelled, preserved in +spirits, and forwarded to England, so that at the present moment the +original of every drawing can be subjected to anatomical examination, +and compared with already named species. + +Under these circumstances, I do not hesitate to say that the collection +is one of the most valuable in existence, and might, if properly worked +out, become a large and secure foundation for all future investigation +into the ichthyology of the Indian Ocean. + +It would be very hazardous to express an opinion as to the novelty or +otherwise of the species and genera figured without the study of the +specimens themselves, as the specific distinctions of fish are for the +most part based upon character; the fin-rays, teeth, the operculum, &c., +which can only be made out by close and careful examination of the +object, and cannot be represented in ordinary drawings however accurate. + +There are certain groups of fish, however, whose family traits are so +marked as to render it almost impossible to mistake even their +portraits, and hence I may venture, without fear of being far wrong, +upon a few remarks as to the general features of the ichthyological +fauna of Ceylon. + +In our own seas rather less than a tenth of the species of fishes belong +to the cod tribe. I have not found one represented in these drawings, +nor do either Russell or Cantor mention any in the surrounding seas, and +the result is in general harmony with the known laws of distribution of +these most useful of fishes. + +On the other hand, the mackerel family, including the tunnies, the +bonitos, the dories, the horse-mackerels, &c., which form not more than +one sixteenth of our own fish fauna, but which are known to increase +their proportion in hot climates, appear in wonderful variety of form +and colour, and constitute not less than one fifth of the whole of the +species of Ceylon fish. In Russell's catalogue they form less than one +fifth, in Cantor's less than one sixth. + +Marine and other siluroid fishes, a group represented on the continent +of Europe, but doubtfully, if at all, in this country, constitute one +twentieth of the Ceylon fishes. In Russell's and Cantor's lists they +form about one thirtieth of the whole. + +The sharks and rays form about one seventh of our own fish fauna. They +constitute about one tenth or one eleventh of Russell and Cantor's +lists, while among these Ceylon drawings I find not more than twenty, or +about one thirtieth of the whole, which can be referred to this group of +fishes. It must be extremely interesting to know whether this +circumstance is owing to accident, or to the local peculiarities of +Colombo, or whether the fauna of Ceylon really is deficient in such +fishes. + +The like exceptional character is to be noticed in the proportion of the +tribe of flat fishes, or _Pleuronectidae_. Soles, turbots, and the like, +form nearly one twelfth of our own fishes. Both Cantor and Russell give +the flat fishes as making one twenty-second part of their collection, +while in the whole 600 Ceylon drawings I can find but five +_Pleuronectidae_. + +When this great collection has been carefully studied, I doubt not that +many more interesting distributional facts will be evolved. + + * * * * * + +Since receiving this note from Professor Huxley, the drawings in +question have been submitted to Dr. Gray, of the British Museum, and +that eminent naturalist, after a careful analysis, has favoured me with +the following memorandum of the fishes they exhibit, numerically +contrasting them with those of China and Japan, so far as we are +acquainted with the ichthyology of those seas:-- + +Cartilaginea. + China and + Ceylon Japan. + +Squali 12 15 +Raiae 19 20 +Sturiones 0 1 + +Ostinopterygii. + +Plectognathi. + tetraodontidae 10 21 + balistidae 9 19 +Lophobranchii + syngnathidae 2 2 + pegasidae 0 3 +Ctenobranchii + lophidae 1 3 +Cyclopodii. + echeneidae 0 1 + cyclopteridae 0 1 + gobidae 7 35 + + China and + Ceylon Japan. + +Percini. + callionymidae 0 7 + uranoscopidae 0 7 + cottidae 0 13 + triglidae 11 37 + polynemidae 12 3 + mullidae 1 7 + percidae 26 12 + berycidae 0 5 + sillaginidae 3 1 + sciaenidae 19 13 + haemulinidae 6 12 + serranidae 31 38 + theraponidae 8 20 + cirrhitidae 0 2 + maenidiae 37 25 + sparidae 16 17 + acanthuridae 14 6 + chaetodontidae 25 21 + fistularidae 2 3 +Periodopharyngi. + mugilidae 5 7 + anabantidae 6 15 + pomacentridae 10 11 +Pharyngognathi. + labridae 16 35 + scomberesocidae 13 6 + blenniidae 3 8 +Scomberina. + zeidae 0 2 + sphyraenidae 5 4 + scomberidae 118 62 + xiphiidae 0 1 + cepolidae 0 5 +Heterosomata. + platessoideae 5 22 + siluridae 31 24 + cyprinidae 19 52 + scopelinidae 2 7 + salmonidae 0 1 + clupeidae 43 22 + gadidae 0 2 + macruridae 1 0 +Apodes. + anguillidae 8 12 + muraenidae 8 6 + sphagebranchidae 8 10 + + + + +CHAP. V. + +CONCHOLOGY, ETC. + +I. THE SHELLS OF CEYLON. + + +Allusion has been made elsewhere to the profusion and variety of shells +which abound in the seas and inland waters of Ceylon[1], and to the +habits of the Moormen, who monopolise the trade of collecting and +arranging them in satin-wood cabinets for transmission to Europe. But, +although naturalists have long been familiar with the marine testacea of +this island, no successful attempt has yet been made to form a +classified catalogue of the species; and I am indebted to the eminent +conchologist, Mr. Sylvanus Hanley, for the list which accompanies this +notice of those found in the island. + +[Footnote 1: See Vol. II. P. ix. ch. v.] + +In drawing it up, Mr. Hanley observes that he found it a task of more +difficulty than would at first be surmised, owing to the almost total +absence of reliable data from which to construct it. Three sources were +available: collections formed by resident naturalists, the contents of +the well-known satin-wood boxes prepared at Trincomalie, and the +laborious elimination of locality from the habitats ascribed to all the +known species in the multitude of works on conchology in general. + +But, unfortunately, the first resource proved fallacious. There is no +large collection in this country composed exclusively of Ceylon shells. +And the very few cabinets rich in the marine treasures of the island +having been filled as much by purchase as by personal exertion, there is +an absence of the requisite confidence that all professing to be +Singhalese have been actually captured in the island and its waters. + +The cabinets arranged by the native dealers, though professing to +contain the productions of Ceylon, include shells which have been +obtained from other islands in the Indian seas; and books, probably from +these very facts, are either obscure or deceptive. The old writers +content themselves with assigning to any particular shell the +too-comprehensive habitat of "the Indian Ocean," and seldom discriminate +between a specimen from Ceylon and one from the Eastern Archipelago or +Hindustan. In a very few instances, Ceylon has been indicated with +precision as the habitat of particular shells, but even here the views +of specific essentials adopted by modern conchologists, and the +subdivisions established in consequence, leave us in doubt for which of +the described forms the collective locality should be retained. + +Valuable notices of Ceylon shells are to be found in detached papers, in +periodicals, and in the scientific surveys of exploring voyages. The +authentic facts embodied in the monographs of Reeve, Kuster, Sowerby, +and Kienn, have greatly enlarged the knowledge of the marine testacea; +and the land and fresh-water mollusca have been similarly illustrated by +the contributions of Benson and Layard in the _Annals of Natural +History_. + +The dredge has been used but only in a few insulated spots along the +coasts of Ceylon; European explorers have been rare; and the natives, +anxious only to secure the showy and saleable shells of the sea, have +neglected the less attractive ones of the land and the lakes. Hence Mr. +Hanley finds it necessary to premise that the list appended, although +the result of infinite labour and research, is less satisfactory than +could have been wished. "It is offered," he says, "with diffidence, not +pretending to the merit of completeness as a shell-fauna of the island, +but rather as a form, which the zeal of other collectors may hereafter +elaborate and fill up." + +Looking at the little that has yet been done, compared with the vast and +almost untried field which invites explorers, an assiduous collector may +quadruple the species hitherto described. The minute shells especially +may be said to be unknown; a vigilant examination of the corals and +excrescences upon the spondyli and pearl-oysters would signally increase +our knowledge of the Rissoae, Chemnitziae, and other perforating testacea, +whilst the dredge from the deep water will astonish the amateur by the +wholly new forms it can scarcely fail to display. + +Dr. Kelaart, an indefatigable observer, has recently undertaken to +investigate the Nudibranchiata, Inferobranchiata, and Tectibranchiata; +and a recently-received report from him, in the Journal of the Ceylon +Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, in which he has described fifty-six +species,--thirty-three belonging to the genus Doris alone--gives ample +evidence of what may be expected from the researches of a naturalist of +his acquirements and industry. + + +_List of Ceylon Shells._ + +The arrangement here adopted is a modified Lamarckian one, very similar +to that used by Reeve and Sowerby, and by MR. HANLEY, in his +_Illustrated Catalogue of Recent Shells_.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Below will be found a general reference to the Works or +Papers in which are given descriptive notices of the shells contained +in the following list; the names of the authors (in full or abbreviated) +being, as usual, annexed to each species. + +ADAMS, _Proceed. Zool. Soc._ 1853, 54, 56; _Thesaur. Conch._ ALBERS, +_Zeitsch. Malakoz._ 1853. ANTON, _Wiegm. Arch. Nat._ 1837; _Verzeichn. +Conch._ BECK in _Pfeiffer, Symbol. Helic._ BENSON, _Ann. Nat. Hist._ +vii. 1851; xii. 1853; xviii. 1856. BLAINVILLE, _Dict. Sc. Nat.; Nouv. +Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat._ i. BOLTEN, _Mus._ BORN, _Test. Mus. Caes. Vind._ +BRODERIP, _Zool. Journ._ i. iii. BRUGUIDRE, _Ency. Method. Vers._ +CARPENTER, _Proc. Zool. Soc._ 1856. CHEMNITZ, _Conch. Cab._ CHENU, +_Illus. Conch._ DESHAYES, _Encyc. Meth. Vers.; Mag. Zool._ 1831; _Voy. +Belanger; Edit. Lam. An. s. Vert.; Proceed. Zool. Soc._ 1853, 54, 55. +DILLWYN, _Descr. Cat. Shells._ DOHRN, _Proc. Zool. Soc._ 1857, 58; +_Malak. Blatter; Land and Fluviatile Shells of Ceylon._ DUCLOS, _Monog. +of Oliva_. FABRICIUS, _in Pfeiffer Monog. Helic.; in Dohrn's MSS._ +FERUSSAC, _Hist. Mollusques._ FORSKAEL, _Anim. Orient._ GMELIN, _Syst. +Nat_. GRAY, _Proc. Zool. Soc._ 1834, 52; _Index Testaceologicus Suppl.; +Spicilegia Zool.; Zool. Journ._ i.; _Zool. Beechey Voy_. GRATELOUP, +_Act. Linn. Bourdeaux_, xi. GUERIN, _Rev. Zool_. 1847. HANLEY, _Thesaur. +Conch_. i.; _Recent Bivalves; Proc. Zool. Soc_. 1858. HINDS, _Zool. Voy. +Sulphur; Proc. Zool. Soc_. HUTTON, _Journ. As. Soc_. KARSTEN, _Mus. +Lesk_. KIENER, _Coquilles Vivantes_. KRAUSS, _Sud-Afrik Mollusk_. +LAMARCK, _An. sans Verteb_. LAYARD, _Proc. Zool. Soc_. 1854. LEA, +_Proceed. Zool. Soc_. 1850, LINNAEUS, _Syst. Nat_. MARTINI, _Conch. Cab_. +MAWE, _Introd. Linn. Conch.; Index. Test. Suppl_. MEUSCHEN, in _Gronov. +Zoophylac_. MENKE, _Synop. Mollus_. MULLER, _Hist. Verm. Terrest_. +PETIT, _Pro. Zool. Soc_. 1842. PFEIFFER, _Monog. Helic.; Monog. +Pneumon.; Proceed. Zool. Soc_. 1852, 53, 54, 55, 56 _Zeitschr. Malacoz_. +1853. PHILIPPI, _Zeitsch. Mal_. 1846, 47; _Abbild. Neuer Conch_. POTIEZ +et MICHAUD, _Galerie Douai_. RANG, _Mag. Zool_. ser. i. p. 100. RECLUZ, +_Proceed. Zool. Soc_. 1845; _Revue Zool. Cuv_.1841; _Mag. Conch_. REEVE, +_Conch. Icon.; Proc. Zool. Soc_. 1842, 52. SCHUMACHER, _Syst_. +SHUTTLEWORTH. SOLANDER, in _Dillwyn's Desc. Cat. Shells_. SOWERBY, +_Genera Shells; Species Conch.; Conch. Misc.; Thesaur. Conch.; Conch. +Illus.; Proc. Zool. Soc.; App. to Tankerville Cat_. SPENGLER, _Skrivt. +Nat. Selsk. Kiobenhav_. 1792. SWAINSON, _Zool. Illust_. ser. ii. +TEMPLETON, _Ann. Nat. Hist_. 1858. TROSCHEL, in _Pfeiffer, Mon. Pneum; +Zeitschr. Malak_. 1847; _Weigm. Arch. Nat_. 1837. WOOD, _General +Conch_.] + +Aspergillum Javanum, _Brug._ Enc. Met. + sparsum, _Sowerby_, Gen. Shells.[1] + clavatum, _Chenu_, Illust. Conch. +Teredo nucivorus, _Spengl_. Skr. Nat. Sels.[2] +Solen truncatus, _Wood_, Gen. Conch. + linearis, _Wood_, Gen. Conch. + cultellus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + radiatus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. +Anatina subrostrata, _Lamarck_, Anim. s. Vert. +Anatinella Nicobarica, _Gm_. Syst. Nat. +Lutraria Egyptiaca, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. +Blainvillea vitrea, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[3] +Scrobicularia angulata, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[4] +Mactra complanata, _Deshayes_, Proc. Zool. Soc.[5] + tumida, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. + antiquata, _Reeve_ (as of _Spengler_), Conch. Icon. + cygnea, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. + Corbiculoides, _Deshayes_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. +Mesodesma Layardi, _Deshayes_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. + striata, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[6] +Crassatella rostrata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + sulcata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. +Amphidesma duplicatum, _Sowerby_. Species Conch. +Pandora Ceylonica, _Sowerby_, Conch. Mis. +Galeomma Layardi. _Deshayes_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856. +Kellia peculiaris, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856. +Petricola cultellus, _Deshayes_ Proc. Zool. Soc. 1853. +Sanguinolaria rosea, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. +Psammobia rostrata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + occidens, _Gm_. Systema Naturae. + Skinneri, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon.[7] + Layardi, _Desh_. P.Z. Soc. 1854. + lunulata, _Desh_. P.Z. Soc. 1854. + amethystus, _Wood_, Gen. Conch.[8] + rugosa, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert.[9] +Tellina virgata, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.[10] + rugosa, _Born_. Test. Mus. Caes. Vind. + ostracea, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + ala, _Hanley_, Thesaur. Conch. i. + inaequalis, _Hanley_, Thesaur. Conch. i. + Layardi, _Deshayes_, P.Z. Soc. 1854. + callosa, _Deshayes_, P.Z. Soc. 1854. + rubra, _Deshayes_, P.Z. Soc. 1854. + abbreviata, _Deshayes_, P.Z. Soc. 1854. + foliacea, _Linn_. Systema Naturae. + lingua-felis, _Linn_. Systema Naturae, + vulsella, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[11] +Lucina interrupta, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert.[12] + Layardi, _Deshayes_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1855. +Donax scortum, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + cuneata, _Linn_. Syst, Nat. + faba, _Chem_. Conch. Cab. + spinosa, _Gm_. Syst. Nat. + paxillus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. +Cyrena Ceylanica, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. + Tennentii, _Hanley_, P. Z. Soc. 1858. +Cytherea Erycina, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.[13] + meretrix, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.[14] + castanea, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + castrensis, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + casta, _Gm_. Syst. Nat. + costata, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. + laeta, _Gm_. Syst. Nat. + trimaculata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + Hebraea, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + rugifera, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + scripta, _Linn_. Syst. Nat + gibbia, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + Meroe, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + testudinalis, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + seminuda, _Anton_. Wiegm. Arch. Nat. 1837. +Cytherea seminuda, _Anton._[15] +Venus reticulata, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.[16] + pinguis, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. + recens, _Philippi_, Abbild. Neuer Conch. + thiara, _Dillw_. Descriptive Cat. Shells. + Malabarica, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. + Bruguieri, _Hanley_, Recent Bivalves, + papilionacea, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + Indica, _Sowerby_, Thesaur. Conch. ii. + inflata, _Deshayes_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1853.[17] + Ceylonensis, _Sowerby_, Thes. Conch. ii. + literata, _Linn_. Systema Naturae, + textrix, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[18] +Cardium unedo, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + maculosum, _Wood_, Gen. Con. + leucostomum, _Born_. Test. Mus. Caes. Vind. + rugosum, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + biradiatum, _Bruguiere_, Encyc. Meth. Vers. + attenuatum, _Sowerby_, Conch. Illust. + enode, _Sowerby_, Conch Illust. + papyraceum, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. + ringiculum, _Sowerby_, Conch. Illust. + subrugosum, _Sowerby_, Conch. Illust. + latum, _Born_, Test. Mus. Caes. Vind. + Asiaticum, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. +Cardita variegata, _Bruguiere_, Encyc. Method. Vers. + bicolor, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. +Arca rhombea, _Born_, Test. Mus. + vellicata, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + cruciata, _Philippi_, Ab. Neuer Conch. + decussata, _Reeve_ (as of Sowerby), Conch. Icon.[19] + scapha, _Meuschen_, in Gronov. Zoo. +Pectunculus nodosus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + pectiniformis, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + Nucula mitralis, _Hinds_, Zool. voy. Sul. + Layardi, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856. +Nucula Mauritii (_Hanley_ as of _Hinds_), Recent Bivalves. +Unio corrugatus, _Mueller_, Hist. Verm Ter.[20] + marginalis, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. +Lithodomus cinnamoneus, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. +Mytilus viridis, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.[21] + bilocularis, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. +Pinna inflata, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. + cancellata, _Mawe_, Intr. Lin. Conch. +Malleus vulgaris, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + albus, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. +Meleagrina margaritifera, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + vexillum, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon.[22] +Avicula macroptera, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. +Lima squamosa, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. +Pecten plica, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + radula, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + pleuronectes, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + pallium, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + senator, _Gm_. Syst. Nat. + histrionicus, _Gm_, Syst. Nat. + Indicus, _Deshayes_, Voyage Belanger. + Layardi, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. +Spondylus Layardi, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon, + candidus, _Reeve_ (as of _Lam_.) Conch. Icon. +Ostrea hyotis, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + glaucina, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + Mytiloides, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert, + cucullata? var. _Born_. Test. Mus Vind.[23] + Vulsella Pholadiformis, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. (immature). +Placuna placenta, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. +Lingula anatina, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. +Hyalaea tridentata, _For_. Anim. Orient.[24] +Chiton, 2 species (_Layard_). +Patella Reynaudii, _Deshayes_, Voy. Be. + testudinaria, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. +Emarginula fissurata, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[25] _Lam_. +Calyptraea (Crucibulum) violascens, + _Carpenter_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856. +Dentalium octogonum, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert + aprinum, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. +Bulla soluta, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[26] + vexillum, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. + Bruguieri, _Adams_, Thes. Conch. + elongata, _Adams_, Thes. Conch. + ampulla, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. +Lamellaria (as Marsenia Indica, _Leach_. in Brit. Mus.) allied to + L. Mauritiana, if not it. +Vaginula maculata, _Templ_. An. Nat. +Limax, 2 sp. +Parmacella Tennentii, _Templ_.[27] +Vitrina irradians, _Pfeiffer_, Hon. Helic. + Edgariana, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) + membranacea, _Benson_, Annal. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) +Helix haemastoma, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + vittata, _Mueller_, Vermium Terrestrium. + bistrialis, _Beck_, in Pfeiffer, Symbol. Helic. +Tranquebarica, _Fabricius_, in _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + Juliana, _Gray_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1834. + Waltoni, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1842. + Skinneri, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon, vii. + corylus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. vii. + umbrina, (_Reeve_, as of _Pfeiff_.), Conch. Icon. vii. + fallaciosa, _Ferassac_ Hist. Mollus. + Rivolii, _Deshayes_, Enc. Meth. Vers. ii. + Charpentieri, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + erronea, _Albers, Zeitschr_. Mal. 1853. + carneola, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + convexiuscula, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + ganoma, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + Chenui, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + semidecussata, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + phoenix, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + superba, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + Ceylanica, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + Gardneri, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + coriaria, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + Layardi, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + concavospira, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + novella, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + verrucula, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + hyphasma, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + Emiliana, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + Woodiana, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + partita, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + biciliata, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + Isabellina, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. + trifilosa, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool Soc. 1854. + politissima, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. + Thwaitesii, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. + nepos, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1855. + subopaca, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1853. + subconoidea, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. + ceraria. _Benson_, Annals Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) + vilipensa, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) + perfucata, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) + puteolus, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) + mononema, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) + marcida, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) + galerus, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1856 (xviii.) + albizonata, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. + Nietneri, _Dohrn_, MS.[28] + Grevillei, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856. +Streptaxis Layardi, _Pfeiff._ Mon. Helic. + Cingalensis, _Pfeiff._ Monog. Helic. +Pupa muscerda, _Benson_, Annals Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) + mimula, _Benson_, Ann. Nat Hist. 1856 (xviii.) + Ceylanica, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. +Bulimus + trifasciatus, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + pullus, _Gray._ Proc. Zool. Soc. 1834. + gracilis, _Hutton_, Journ. Asiat. Soc. iii. + punctatus, _Anton_, Verzeichn. Conch. + Ceylanicus, _Pfeiff_. (? laevis, _Gray_, in Index + Testaceologicus.) + adumbratus, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + intermedius, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + proletarius, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + albizonatus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + mavortius, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + fuscoventris, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1856 (xviii.) + rufopictus, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1856 (xviii.) + panos, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) +Achatina nitens, _Gray_, Spicilegia Zool. + inornata, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + capillacea, _Pfeiff_. Monog, Helic. + Ceylanica, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + Punctogallana, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. + pachycheila, _Benson_. + veruina, _Bens_. Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) + parabilis, _Bens_. Ann. Nat. Hist 1856 (xviii.) +Succinea Ceylanica, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Helic. +Auricula Ceylanica, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854.[29] + Ceylanica, _Petit_, Proc. Zool Soc. 1842.[30] + Layardi, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854.[31] + pellucens, _Menke_, Synopsis Moll. +Pythia Ceylanica, _Pfeiff_. Zeitschr. Malacoz. 1853. + ovata, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. +Truncatella Ceylanica, _Pfeiff_ Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856. +Cyclostoma (_Cyclophorus_) Ceylanicum, _Sowerby_, Thes. Conch. + involvulum, _Mueller_, Verm. Terrest. + Menkeanum, _Philippi_, Zeitsch. Mal. 1847. + punctatum, _Grateloup_. Act. Lin. Bordeaux (xi.) + Loxostoma, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. + alabastrum, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. + Bairdii, _Pfeiff_. Monog Pneumon. + Thwaitesii, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. + annulatum, _Troschel_, in Pfeiff. Mon. Pneumon. + parapsis, _Bens_. Ann. Nat. Hist 1853 (xii.) + parma, _Bens_. Ann. Nat Hist. 1856 (xviii.) + cratera, _Bens_. Ann. Nat. Hist 1856 (xviii.) +(_Leptopoma_) halophilum, _Benson_, Ann. Nat. Hist. + (ser. 2. vii.) 1851. + orophilum, _Bens_. Annals Nat. Hist. (ser. 2. xi.) + apicatum, _Bens_. Ann. Nat Hist 1856 (xviii.) + conulus, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. + flammeum, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. + semiclausum, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. + poecilum, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. + elatum, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. +Cyclostoma _(Aulopoma)_. + Itieri, _Guerin_, Rev. Zool. 1847. + helicinum, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. + Hoffmeisteri, _Troschel_, Zeitschr. Mal. 1847. + grande, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. + spheroideum, _Dohrn_, Malak. Blaetter. + (?) gradatum, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneum. +Cyclostoma (_Pterocyclos_). + Cingalense, _Bens_. Ann. Nat Hist. (ser. 2. xi.) + Troscheli, _Bens_. Ann. Nat. Hist 1851. + Cumingii, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. + bifrons, _Pfeiff_. Monog. Pneumon. +Cataulus Templemani, _Pfeiff_. Mon. Pneu. + eurytrema, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. + marginatus, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1853. + duplicatus, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. + aureus, _Pfeiff._ Proc. Zool. Soc. 1855. + Layardi, _Gray_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. + Austenianus _Bens._ Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853 (xii.) +Thwaitesii, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. + Cumingii, _Pfeiff_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856. + decorus, _Bens_. Ann. Nat. Hist. 1853. + haemastoma, _Pfeiff_. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1856. +Planorbis Coromandelianus, _Fabric_, in _Dorhrn's_ MS. + Stelzeneri, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. + elegantulus, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. +Limnaea tigrina, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. + pinguis, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. +Melania tuberculata, _Mueller_, Verm. Ter.[32] + spinulosa, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. + corrugata, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. + rudis, _Lea_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1850. + acanthica, _Lea_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1850. + Zeylanica, _Lea_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1850. + confusa, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. + datura, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. + Layardi, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. +Paludomus abbreviatus, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. + clavatus, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. + dilatatus, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. + globulosus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + decussatus, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. + nigricans, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + constrictus, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. + bicinctus, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. + phasianinus, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. + laevis, _Layard_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. + palustris, _Layard_, Proc. Zool. So. 1854. + fulguratus, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. So. 1857. + nasutus, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1857. + sphaericus, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. So. 1857. + solidus, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1857. + distinguendus, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1857. + Cumingianus, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1857. + dromedarius, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1857. + Skinneri, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1857. + Swainsoni, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. So. 1857. + nodulosus, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. So. 1857. +Paludomus (_Tanalia_). + loricatus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + erinaceus, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. + aereus, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. + Layardi, _Reeve_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1852. + undatus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + Gardneri, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + Tennentii, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + Reevei, _Layard_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. + violaceus, _Layard_, Proc. Zool. So. 1854. + similis, _Layard_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. + funiculatus, _Layard_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. +Paludomus (_Philopotamis_). + sulcatus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + regalis, _Layard_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. + Thwaitesii, _Layard_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. +Pirena atra, _Linn_. Systema Naturae. +Paludina melanostoma, _Bens_. + Ceylanica, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. So. 1857. +Bythinia stenothyroides, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1857. + modesta, _Dohrn_, MS. + inconspicua, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1857. +Ampullaria Layardi, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + moesta, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + cinerea, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + Woodwardi, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. + Tischbeini, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. + carinata, _Swainson_, Zool. Illus ser. 2 + paludinoides, Cat. _Cristofori & Jan._[33] + Malabarica, _Philippi_, in Kust. ed. Chem.[33] + Luzonica, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon.[33] + Sumatrensis, _Philippi_, in Kust. ed. Chem.[33] +Navicella eximia, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon, + reticulata, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + Livesayi, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858. + squamata, _Dohrn_, Proc. Zool. So. 1858. + depressa, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. +Neritina crepidularia, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + melanostoma, _Troschel_, Wiegm. Arch. Nat. 1837. + triserialis, _Sowerby_, Conch. Illustr. + Colombaria, _Recluz_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1845. + Perottetiana, _Recluz_, Revue Zool. Cuvier, 1841. + Ceylanensis, _Recluz_, Mag. Conch. 1851. + Layardi, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + rostrata, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + reticulata, _Sowerby_, Conch. Illustr. +Nerita plicata, _Linn_. Systema Naturae. + costata, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. + plexa, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab.[34] +Natica aurantia, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + mammilla, _Linn_. Systema Naturae. + picta, _Reeve (as of Recluz)_, Conch. Icon. + arachnoidea, _Gm_. Systema Naturae. + lineata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + adusta, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab f. 1926-7, and _Karsten_.[35] + pellis-tigrina, _Karsten_, Mus. Lesk.[36] + didyma, _Bolten_, Mus.[37] +Ianthina prolongata, _Blainv._, Diction. Sciences Nat. xxiv. + communis, _Krauss_, (as of _Lamarck_ in part) Sud-Afrik. + Mollusk. +Sigaretus. A species (possibly Javanicus) is known to have been + collected. I have not seen it. +Stomatella calliostoma, _Adams_, Thesaur. Conch +Holiotis varia, _Linn._ Systema Naturae. + striata, _Martini_ (as of _Linn._), Conch. Cab. i. + semistriata, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. +Tornatella solidula, _Linn._ Systema Nat. +Pyramidella maculosa, _Lam._, Anim. s. Vert. +Eulima Martini, _Adams_, Thes. Conch. ii. +Siliquaria muricata, _Born_, Test. Mus. Caes. Vind. +Scalaria raricostata, _Lam._, Anim. s. Vert. +Delphinula laciniata, _Lam._, Anim. s. Vert. + distorta, _Linn._, Syst. Nat.[38] +Solarium perdix, _Hinds._, Proc. Zool. Soc. + Layardi, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854.[39] +Rotella vestiaria, _Linn._, Syst. Nat. +Phorus pallidulus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. i. +Trochus elegantulus, _Gray_, Index Tes. Suppl. + Niloticus, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. +Monodonta labio, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. + canaliculata, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. +Turbo versicolor, _Gm._ Syst. Nat. + princeps, _Philippi_.[40] +Planaxis undulatus, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert.[41] +Littorina angulifera, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. + melanostoma, _Gray_, Zool., Beech. +Chemnitzia trilineata, _Adams_, Proc. Zool Soc. 1853.. + lirata, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1853. +Phasianella lineolata, _Gray_, Index Test. Suppl. +Turritella bacillum, _Kiener_, Coquilles Vivantes. + columnaris, _Kiener_, Coquilles Vivantes. + duplicata, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. + attenuata, _Reeve_, Syst. Nat. +Cerithium fluviatile, _Potiez & Michaud_, Galerie Douai. + Layardi (Cerithidea), _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. + aluco, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. + asperum, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. + telescopium, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. + palustre obeliscus, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. + fasciatum, _Brug._, Encycl. Meth. Vers + rubus, _Sowerby_ (as of _Martyn_), Thes. Conch. ii. + Sowerbyi, _Kiener_, Coquilles Vivantes (teste Sir E. Tennent). +Pleurotoma Indica, _Deshayes_, Voyage Belanger. + virgo, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. +Turbinella pyrum, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. + rapa, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. (the Chank.) + cornigera, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. + spirillus, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. +Cancellaria trigonostoma, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert.[43] + scalata, _Sowerby_, Thesaur. Conch. + articularis, _Sowerby_, Thesaur, Conch. + Littoriniformis, _Sowerby_, Thes. Conch. + contabulata, _Sowerby_, Thes. Conch. +Fasciolaria filamentosa, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. + trapezium, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. +Fusus longissimus, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. + colus, _Linn._ Mus. Lud. Ulricae. + toreuma, _Deshayes_, (as Murex t. _Martyn_). ed. + _Lam._ Amin. s. Vert. + laticostatus, _Deshayes_, Magas. Zool. 1831. + Blosvillei, _Deshayes_, Encyl. Method. Vers., ii. +Pyrula rapa, _Linn._ Syst. Nat.[44] + citrina, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. + pugilina, _Born_, Test. Mus. Vind.[45] + ficus, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. + ficoides, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. +Ranella crumena, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. + spinosa, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. + rana, _Linn._ Syst. Nat.[46] + margaritula, _Deshayes_, Voy. Belanger. +Murex haustellum, _Linn._ Syst. Nat. + adustus, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. + microphyllus, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. + anguliferus, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. + palmarosae, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. + ternispina, _Kiener_, (as of _Lam._), Coquilles Vivantes. + tenuispina, _Lam._ Anim. s. Vert. + ferrugo, _Mawe_, Index. Test. Suppl.[47] + Reeveanus, _Shuttleworth_, (teste _Cuming_) +Triton anus, _Linn_, Syst. Nat.[48] + mulus, _Dillwyn_, Descript. Cat. Shells. + retusus, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + pyrum, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + clavator, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. + Ceylonensis, _Sowerby_, Proc. Zool. Soc. + lotorium, _Lam_. (not _Linn_.) Anim. s. Vert. + lampas, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. +Pterocera lambis, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + millepeda, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. +Strombus canarium, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.[49] + succinctus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + fasciatus, _Born_, Test. Mus. Caes. Vind. + Sibbaldii, _Sowerby_, Thesaur. Conch. t. + lentiginosus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + marginatus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + Lamarckii, _Sowerby_, Thesaur. Conch. +Cassis glauca, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.[50] + canaliculata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + Zeylanica, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + areola, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. +Ricinula alboiabris, _Blainv_. Nouv. Ann. Mus. H. N. i.[51] + horrida, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + morus, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. +Purpura fiscella, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. + Persica, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + hystrix, _Lam_. (not _Linn_.) Anim. s. Vert. + granatina, _Deshayes_, Voy. Belanger. + mancinella, _Lam_. (as of _Linn_.) Anim. s. Vert. + bufo, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + carinifera, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. +Harpa conoidalis, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + minor, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. +Dolium pomum, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + olearium, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + perdix, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + maculatum, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. +Nassa ornata, _Kiener_, Coq. Vivantes.[52] + verrucosa, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + crenulata, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + olivacea, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + glans, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + arcularia, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + papillosa, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. +Phos virgatus, _Hinds_, Zool. Sul. Moll. + retecosus, _Hinds_, Zool. Sulphur, Moll. + senticosus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. +Buccinum melanostoma, _Sowerly_, App. to Tankerv. Cat. + erythrostoma, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + Proteus, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + rubiginosum, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. +Eburna spirata, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.[53] + canaliculata, _Schumacher_, Sys. Anim. s. Vert.[54] + Ceylanica, _Bruguiere_, En. Meth. Vers. +Bullia vittata, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + lineolata, _Sowerby_, Tankerv. Cat.[55] + Melanoides, _Deshayes_, Voy. Belan +Terebra chlorata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + muscaria, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + laevigata, _Gray_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1834. + maculata, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + subulata, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + concinna, _Deshayes_, ed. _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + myurus, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + tigrina, _Gm_. Syst. Nat. + Cerithina, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. +Columbella flavida, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + fulgurans, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + mendicaria, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + scripta, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert.(teste _Jay_). +Mitra episcopalis, _Dillwyn_, Descript. Cat. Shells. + cardinalis, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + crebrilirata, _Reeve_, Conch. Icon. + punctostriata, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. + insculpta, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854. + Layard, _Adams_, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1854.[56] +Voluta vexillum, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. + Lapponica, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. +Melo Indicus, _Gm_. Syst. Nat. +Marginella Sarda, _Kiener_, Coq. Vivantes. +Ovulum ovum, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + verrucosum, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + pudicum, _Adams_, Proc. Zool Soc. 1854. +Cypraea Argus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + Arabica, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + Mauritiana, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + hirundo, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + Lynx, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + asellus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + erosa, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + vitellus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + stolida, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + mappa, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + helvola, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + errones, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + cribraria, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + globulus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + clandestina, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + ocellata, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + caurica, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + tabescens, _Solander_, in Dillwyn Descr. Cat. Shells. + gangrenosa, _Solander_, in Dillwyn Desc. Cat. Shells. + interrupta, _Gray_, Zool. Journ. i. + lentiginosa, _Gray_, Zool. Journ. i. + pyriformis, _Gray_, Zool. Journ. i. + nivosa, _Broderip_, Zool. Journ. iii. + poraria, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + testudinaria, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. +Terebellum subulatum, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. +Ancillaria glabrata, _Linn_. Syst Nat. + candida, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. +Oliva Maura, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + erythrostoma, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert, + gibbosa, _Born_, Test. Mus. Caes.[57] + nebulosa, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + Macleayana, _Duclos_, Monograph of Oliva. + episcopalis, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert, + elegans, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert, + ispidula, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. (partly).[58] + Zeilanica, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert, + undata, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + frisans, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert, (teste _Duclos_). +Conus miles, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + generalis, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + betulinus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + stercus-muscarum, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + Hebraeus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + virgo, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + geographicus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + aulicus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + figulinus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + striatus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + senator, _Linn_. Syst. Nat.[58] + literatus, _Linn_. Syst. Nat + imperialis, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + textile, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + terebra, _Born_, Test. Mus. Caes. Vind. + tessellatus, _Born_, Test. Mus. Caes. Vind. + Augur, _Bruguiere_, Encycl. Meth. Vers. + obesus, _Bruguiere_ Encycl. Meth. Vers. + araneosus, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + gubernator, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + monile, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + nimbosus, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + eburneus, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + vitulinus, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + quercinus, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + lividus, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + Omaria, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + Maldivus, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + nocturnus, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + Ceylonensis, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + arenatus, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + Nicobaricus, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + glans, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + Amadis, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. + punctatus, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. + minimus, _Reeve_ (as of _Linn_.), Conch. Icon. + terminus, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vert. + lineatus, _Chemn_. Conch. Cab. + episcopus, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + verriculum, _Reeve_, Conch. Cab. + zonatus, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + rattus, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. (teste _Chemn_.) + pertusus, _Brug_. Encycl. Meth. Vers. + Nussatella, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + lithoglyphus, _Brug_. En. Meth. Vers.[59] + tulipa, _Linn_. Syst. Nat. + Ammiralis, _var. Linn,_ teste _Brug._ +Spirula Peronii, _Lam_. Anim. s. Vett. +Sepia Hieredda, _Rang_. Magas, Zool, ser. i. p. 100. +Sepioteuthis, _Sp_. +Loligo, _Sp_. + +[Footnote 1: A. dichotomum, _Chenu_.] + +[Footnote 2: Fistulana gregata, _Lam_.] + +[Footnote 3: Blainvillea, _Hupe_.] + +[Footnote 4: Latraria tellinoides, _Lam_.] + +[Footnote 5: I have also seen M. hians of Philippi in a Ceylon +collection.] + +[Footnote 6: M. Taprobanensis, _Index Test. Suppl_.] + +[Footnote 7: Psammotella Skinneri, _Reeve_.] + +[Footnote 8: P. caerulescens, _Lam_.] + +[Footnote 9: Sanguinolaria rugosa, _Lam_.] + +[Footnote 10: T. striatula of Lamarck is also supposed to be indigenous +to Ceylon.] + +[Footnote 11: T. rostrata, _Lam_.] + +[Footnote 12: L. divaricata is found, also, in mixed Ceylon +collections.] + +[Footnote 13: C. dispar of Chemnitz is occasionally found in Ceylon +collections.] + +[Footnote 14: C. impudica, _Lam_.] + +[Footnote 15: As Donax.] + +[Footnote 16: V. corbis, _Lam_.] + +[Footnote 17: As Tapes.] + +[Footnote 18: V. textile, _Lam_.] + +[Footnote 19: ? Arca Helblingii, _Chemn_.] + +[Footnote 20: Mr. Cuming informs me that he has forwarded no less than +six distinct _Uniones_ from Ceylon to Isaac Lea of Philadelphia for +determination or description.] + +[Footnote 21: M. smaragdinus, _Chemn_.] + +[Footnote 22: As Avicula.] + +[Footnote 23: The specimens are not in a fitting state for positive +determination. They are strong, extremely narrow, with the beak of the +lower valve much produced, the inner edge of the upper valve +denticulated throughout. The muscular impressions are dusky brown.] + +[Footnote 24: An Anomia.] + +[Footnote 25: The fissurata of Humphreys and Dacosta, pl. 4--E. rubra, +_Lamarck_.] + +[Footnote 26: B. Ceylanica, _Brug_.] + +[Footnote 27: P. Tennentii. "Greyish brown, with longitudinal rows of +rufous spots, forming interrupted bands along the sides. A singularly +handsome species, having similar habits to _Limax_. Found in the valleys +of the Kalany Ganga, near Ruanwelle."--_Templeton_ MSS.] + +[Footnote 28: Not far from bistrialis and Ceylanica. The manuscript +species of Mr. Dohrn will shortly appear in his intended work upon the +land and fluviatile shells of Ceylon.] + +[Footnote 29: As Ellobium.] + +[Footnote 30: As Melampus.] + +[Footnote 31: As Ophicardelis.] + +[Footnote 32: M. fasciolata, _Olivier_.] + +[Footnote 33: These four species are included on the authority of Mr. +Dohrn.] + +[Footnote 34: N. exuvia, _Lam_. not _Linn_.] + +[Footnote 35: Conch. Cab. f. 1926-7, and N. melanostoma, _Lam_. in +part.] + +[Footnote 36: Chemn, Conch. Cab, 1892-3.] + +[Footnote 37: N. glaucina, _Lam._ not _Linn._] + +[Footnote 38: Not of _Lamarck_. D. atrata. _Reeve_.] + +[Footnote 39: Philippia L.] + +[Footnote 40: Zeit. Mal. 1846 for T. argyrostoma, _Lam._ not _Linn._] + +[Footnote 41: Buccinum pyramidatum, _Gm._ in part: B. sulcatum, var. C. +of _Brug_.] + +[Footnote 42: Teste Cuming.] + +[Footnote 43: As Delphinulat.] + +[Footnote 44: P. papyracea, _Lam._ In mixed collections I have seen the +Chinese P. bezoar of _Lamarck_ as from Ceylon.] + +[Footnote 45: P. vespertilio, _Gm._] + +[Footnote 46: R. albivaricosa, _Reeve_.] + +[Footnote 47: M. anguliferus var. _Lam._] + +[Footnote 48: T. cynocephalus of _Lamarck_ is also met with in Ceylon +collections.] + +[Footnote 49: S. incisus of the Index Testaceologicus (urceus, var. +_Sow_. Thesaur.) is found in mixed Ceylon collections.] + +[Footnote 50: C. plicaria of _Lamarck_, and C. coronulata of _Sowerby_, +are also said to be found in Ceylon.] + +[Footnote 51: As Purpura.] + +[Footnote 52: N. suturalis, _Reeve_ (as of _Lam_.), is met with in mixed +Ceylon collections.] + +[Footnote 53: E. areolata _Lam_.] + +[Footnote 54: E. spirata, _Lam_. not _Linn_.] + +[Footnote 55: B Belangeri, _Kiener_.] + +[Footnote 56: As Turricula L.] + +[Footnote 57: 0. utriculus, _Dillwyn_.] + +[Footnote 58: C. planorbis, _Born_; C, vulpinus, _Lam_.] + +[Footnote 59: Conus ermineus, _Born_, in part.] + +A conclusion not unworthy of observation may be deduced from this +catalogue; namely, that Ceylon was the unknown, and hence +unacknowledged, source of almost every extra-European shell which has +been described by Linnaeus without a recorded habitat. This fact gives to +Ceylon specimens an importance which can only be appreciated by +collectors and the students of Mollusca. + +2 RADIATA. + +The eastern seas are profusely stocked with radiated animals, but it is +to be regretted that they have as yet received but little attention from +English naturalists. Dr. Kelaart has, however, devoted himself to the +investigation of some of the Singhalese species, and has given the +fruits of his discoveries in the Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the +Asiatic Society for 1856-8. Our information respecting the radiata on +the confines of the island is, therefore, very scanty; with the +exception of the genera[1] examined by him. Hence the notice of this +extensive class of animals must be limited to indicating a few of those +which exhibit striking peculiarities, or which admit of the most common +observation. + +[Footnote 1: Actinia, 9 sp.: Anthea, 4 sp.; Actinodendron, 3 sp.; +Dioscosoma, 1 sp.; Peechea, 1 sp.; Zoanthura, 1 sp.] + +_Star Fish._--Very large species of _Ophiuridae_ are to be met with at +Trincomalie, crawling busily about, and insinuating their long +serpentine arms into the irregularities and perforations in the rocks. +To these they attach themselves with such a firm grasp, especially when +they perceive that they have attracted attention, that it is next to +impossible to procure unmutilated specimens without previously depriving +them of life, or at least modifying their muscular tenacity. The upper +surface is of a dark purple colour, and coarsely spined; the arms of the +largest specimens are more than a foot in length, and very fragile. + +The star fishes, with immovable rays[1], are not by any means rare; many +kinds are brought up in the nets, or may be extracted from the stomachs +of the larger market fish. One very large species[2], figured by +Joinville in the manuscript volume in the library at the India House, is +not uncommon; it has thick arms, from which and the disc numerous large +fleshy cirrhi of a bright crimson colour project downwards, giving the +creature a remarkable aspect. No description of it, so far as I am aware +has appeared in any systematic work on zoology. + +[Footnote 1: _Asterias_, Linn.] + +[Footnote 2: _Pentaceros?_] + +_Sea Slugs._--There are a few species of _Holothuriae_, of which the +trepang is the best known example. It is largely collected in the Gulf +of Manaar, and dried in the sun to prepare it for export to China. A +good description and figure of it are still desiderata. + +_Parasitic Worms._--Of these entozoa, the _Filaria medinensis_, or +guinea worm, which burrows in the cellular tissue under the skin, is +well known in the north of the island, but rarely found in the damper +districts of the south and west. In Ceylon, as elsewhere, the natives +attribute its occurrence to drinking the waters of particular wells; but +this belief is inconsistent with the fact that its lodgment in the human +body is almost always effected just above the ankle, which shows that +the minute parasites are transferred to the skin of the leg from the +moist vegetation bordering the footpaths leading to wells. The creatures +are at this period minute, and the process of insinuation is painless +and imperceptible. It is only when they attain to considerable size, a +foot or more in length, that the operation of extracting them is +resorted to, when exercise may have given rise to inconvenience and +inflammation. + +_Planaria_.--In the journal above alluded to, Dr. Kelaart has given +descriptions of fifteen species of planaria, and four of a new genus, +instituted by him for the reception of those differing from the normal +kinds by some peculiarities which they exhibit in common. At Point +Pedro, Mr. Edgar Layard met with one on the bark of trees, after heavy +rain, which would appear to belong to the subgenus _geoplana_.[1] + +[Footnote 1: "A curious species, which is of a light brown above, white +underneath; very broad and thin, and has a peculiarly shaped tail, +half-moon-shaped, in fact, like a grocer's cheese knife."] + +_Acalephae_.--Acalephae[1] are plentiful, so much so, indeed, that they +occasionally tempt the larger cetacea into the Gulf of Manaar. In the +calmer months of the year, when the sea is glassy, and for hours +together undisturbed by a ripple, the minute descriptions are rendered +perceptible by their beautiful prismatic tinting. So great is their +transparency that they are only to be distinguished from the water by +the return of the reflected light that glances from their delicate and +polished surfaces. Less frequently they are traced by the faint hues of +their tiny peduncles, arms, or tentaculae; and it has been well observed +that they often give the seas in which they abound the appearance of +being crowded with flakes of half-melted snow. The larger kinds, when +undisturbed in their native haunts, attain to considerable size. A +faintly blue medusa, nearly a foot across, may be seen in the Gulf of +Manaar, where, no doubt, others of still larger growth are to be found. + +[Footnote 1: Jellyfish.] + +The remaining orders, including the corals, madrepores, and other +polypi, have yet to find a naturalist to undertake their investigation, +but in all probability the species are not very numerous. + + + + +CHAP. VI + +INSECTS. + + +Owing to the combination of heat, moisture, and vegetation, the myriads +of insects in Ceylon form one of the characteristic features of the +island. In the solitude of the forests there is a perpetual music from +their soothing and melodious hum, which frequently swells to a startling +sound as the cicada trills his sonorous drum on the sunny bark of some +tall tree. At morning the dew hangs in diamond drops on the threads and +gossamer which the spiders suspend across every pathway; and above the +pool dragon flies, of more than metallic lustre, flash in the early +sunbeams. The earth teems with countless ants, which emerge from beneath +its surface, or make their devious highways to ascend to their nests in +the trees. Lustrous beetles, with their golden elytra, bask on the +leaves, whilst minuter species dash through the air in circles, which +the ear can follow by the booming of their tiny wings. Butterflies of +large size and gorgeous colouring flutter over the endless expanse of +flowers, and frequently the extraordinary sight presents itself of +flights of these delicate creatures, generally of a white or pale yellow +hue, apparently miles in breadth, and of such prodigious extension as to +occupy hours, and even days, uninterruptedly in their passage--whence +coming no one knows; wither going no one can tell.[1] As day declines, +the moths issue from their retreats, the crickets add their shrill +voices to swell the din; and when darkness descends, the eye is charmed +with the millions of emerald lamps lighted up by the fire-flies amidst +the surrounding gloom. + +[Footnote 1: The butterflies I have seen in these wonderful migrations +in Ceylon were mostly _Callidryas Hilariae, C. Alcmeone_, and _C. +Pyranthe_, with straggling individuals of the genus _Euploea, E. Coras_, +and _E. Prothoe_. Their passage took place in April and May, generally +in a north-easterly direction.] + +No attempt has as yet been made to describe the class systematically, +much less to enumerate the prodigious number of species which abound in +every locality. Occasional observers have, from time to time, +contributed notices of particular families to the Scientific +Associations of Europe, but their papers remain undigested, and the time +has not yet arrived for the preparation of an Entomology of the island. + +What Darwin remarks of the Coleoptera of Brazil is nearly as applicable +to the same order of insects in Ceylon: "The number of minute and +obscurely coloured beetles is exceedingly great; the cabinets of Europe +can as yet, with partial exceptions, boast only of the larger species +from tropical climates, and it is sufficient to disturb the composure of +an entomologist to look forward to the future dimensions of a catalogue +with any pretensions to completeness."[l] + +[Footnote 1: _Nat. Journal_, p. 39.] + +M. Neitner, a German entomologist, who has spent some years in Ceylon, +has recently published, in one of the local periodicals, a series of +papers on the Coleoptera of the island, in which every species +introduced is stated to be previously undescribed.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Republished in the _Ann. Nat. Hist_.] + +COLEOPTERA.--_Buprestidoe; Golden Beetles_.--In the morning the +herbaceous plants, especially on the eastern side of the island, are +studded with these gorgeous beetles whose golden elytra[1] are used to +enrich the embroidery of the Indian zenana, whilst the lustrous joints +of the legs are strung on silken threads, and form necklaces and +bracelets of singular brilliancy. + +[Footnote 1: _Sternocera Chrysis; S. sternicornis_.] + +These exquisite colours are not confined to one order, and some of the +Elateridae[1] and Lamellicorns exhibit hues of green and blue, that rival +the deepest tints of the emerald and sapphire. + +[Footnote 1: Of the family of _Elateridae_, one of the finest is a +Singhalese species, the _Compsosternus Templetonii_, of an exquisite +golden green colour, with blue reflections (described and figured by Mr. +WESTWOOD in his _Cabinet of Oriental Entomology_, pl. 35, f. 1). In the +same work is figured another species of large size, also from Ceylon, +this is the _Alaus sordidus_.--WESTWOOD, 1. c. pl. 35, f. 9.] + +_Scavenger Beetles_.--Scavenger beetles[1] are to be seen wherever the +presence of putrescent and offensive matter affords opportunity for the +display of their repulsive but most curious instincts; fastening on it +with eagerness, severing it into lumps proportionate to their strength, +and rolling it along in search of some place sufficiently soft in which +to bury it, after having deposited their eggs in the centre. I had +frequent opportunities, especially in traversing the sandy jungles in +the level plains to the north of the island, of observing the unfailing +appearance of these creatures instantly on the dropping of horse dung, +or any other substance suitable for their purpose; although not one was +visible but a moment before. Their approach through the air is announced +by a loud and joyous booming sound, as they dash in rapid circles in +search of the desired object, led by their sense of smell, but evidently +little assisted by the eye in shaping their course towards it. In these +excursions they exhibit a strength of wing and sustained power of +flight, such as is possessed by no other class of beetles with which I +am acquainted, but which is obviously indispensable for the due +performance of the useful functions they discharge. + +[Footnote 1: _Ateuchus sacer; Copris sagax; C. capucinus_, &c. &c.] + +_The Coco-nut Beetle._--In the luxuriant forests of Ceylon, the +extensive family of Longicorns live in destructive abundance. Their +ravages are painfully familiar to the coco-nut planters.[1] The larva of +one species of large dimensions, _Batocera rubus_[2], called by the +Singhalese "_Cooroominya_" makes its way into the stems of the younger +trees, and after perforating them in all directions, it forms a cocoon +of the gnawed wood and sawdust, in which it reposes during its sleep as +a pupa, till the arrival of the period when it emerges as a perfect +beetle. Notwithstanding the repulsive aspect of the large pulpy larvae of +these beetles, they are esteemed a luxury by the Malabar coolies, who so +far avail themselves of the privilege accorded by the Levitical law, +which permitted the Hebrews to eat "the beetle after his kind."[3] + +[Footnote 1: There is a paper in the _Journ. of the Asiat. Society of +Ceylon_, May, 1845, by Mr. CAPPER, on the ravages perpetrated by these +beetles. The writer had recently passed through several coco-nut +plantations, "varying in extent from 20 to 150 acres, and about two to +three years old; and in these he did not discover a single young tree +untouched by the cooroominya."--P. 49.] + +[Footnote 2: Called also B. _octo-maculatus; Lamia rubus_, Fabr.] + +[Footnote 3: Leviticus, xi. 22.] + +_Tortoise Beetles_.--There is one family of insects, the members of +which cannot fail to strike the traveller by their singular beauty, the +_Cassidiadae_ or tortoise beetles, in which the outer shell overlaps the +body, and the limbs are susceptible of being drawn entirely within it. +The rim is frequently of a different tint from the centre, and one +species which I have seen is quite startling from the brilliancy of its +colouring, which gives it the appearance of a ruby enclosed in a frame +of pearl; but this wonderful effect disappears immediately on the death +of the insect.[1] + +[Footnote 1: One species, the _Cassida farinosa_, frequent in the jungle +which surrounded my official residence at Kandy, is covered profusely +with a snow-white powder, arranged in delicate filaments, which it moves +without dispersing: but when dead they fall rapidly to dust.] + +ORTHOPTERA. _The Soothsayer_.--But the admiration of colours is still +less exciting than the astonishment created by the forms in which some +of the insect families present themselves, especially the "soothsayers" +(_Mantidae_) and "walking leaves." The latter[1], exhibiting the most +cunning of all nature's devices for the preservation of her creatures, +are found in the jungle in all varieties of hue, from the pale yellow of +an opening bud to the rich green of the full-blown leaf, and the +withered tint of decaying foliage. And so perfect is the imitation in +structure and articulation, that these amazing insects when at rest are +almost indistinguishable from the verdure around them: not the wings +alone being modelled to resemble ribbed and fibrous follicles, but every +joint of the legs being expanded into a broad plait like a half-opened +leaflet. + +[Footnote 1: _Phyllium siccifolium._] + +It rests on its abdomen, the legs serving to drag it slowly along, and +thus the flatness of its attitude serves still further to add to the +appearance of a leaf. One of the most marvellous incidents connected +with its organisation was exhibited by one which I kept under a glass +shade on my table; it laid a quantity of eggs, that, in colour and +shape, were not to be discerned from _seeds_. They were brown and +pentangular, with a short stem, and slightly punctured at the +intersections. + +[Illustration: EGGS OF THE LEAF INSECT.] + +The "soothsayer," on the other hand _(Mantis superstitiosa_ Fab.[1]), +little justifies by its propensities the appearance of gentleness, and +the attitudes of sanctity, which have obtained for it its title of the +praying mantis. Its habits are carnivorous, and degenerate into +cannibalism, as it preys on the weaker individuals of its own species. +Two which I enclosed in a box were both found dead a few hours after, +literally severed limb from limb in their encounter. The formation of +the foreleg enables the tibia to be so closed on the sharp edge of the +thigh as to amputate any slender substance grasped within it. + +[Footnote 1: _M. aridifolia_ and _M. extensicollis_, as well as _Empusa +gongyloides_, remarkable for the long leaf-like head, and dilatations on +the posterior thighs, are common in the island.] + +_The Stick-insect_--The _Phasmidoe_ or spectres, another class of +orthoptera, present as close a resemblance to small branches or leafless +twigs as their congeners do to green leaves. The wing-covers, where they +exist, instead of being expanded, are applied so closely to the body as +to detract nothing from its rounded form, and hence the name which they +have acquired of "_walking-sticks_." Like the _Phyllium_, the _Phasma_ +lives exclusively on vegetables, and some attain the length of several +inches. + +Of all the other tribes of the _Orthoptera_ Ceylon possesses many +representatives; in swarms of cockroaches, grasshoppers, locusts, and +crickets. + +NEUROPTERA. _Dragon-flies._--Of the _Neuroptera_, some of the +dragon-flies are pre-eminently beautiful; one species, with rich +brown-coloured spots upon its gauzy wings, is to be seen near every +pool.[1] Another[2], which dances above the mountain streams in Oovah, +and amongst the hills descending towards Kandy, gleams in the sun as if +each of its green enamelled wings had been sliced from an emerald.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Libellula pulchella._] + +[Footnote 2: _Euphoea splendens_, Hagen.] + +[Footnote 3: _Gymnacantha subinterrupta_, Ramb. distinguished by its +large size, is plentiful about the mountain streamlets.] + +_The Ant-lion_.--Of the ant-lion, whose larvae have earned a bad renown +from their predaceous ingenuity, Ceylon has, at least, four species, +which seem peculiar to the island.[1] This singular creature, +preparatory to its pupal transformation, contrives to excavate a conical +pitfall in the dust to the depth of about an inch, in the bottom of +which it conceals itself, exposing only its open mandibles above the +surface; and here every ant and soft-bodied insect which, curiosity +tempts to descend, or accident may precipitate into the trap, is +ruthlessly seized and devoured by its ambushed inhabitant. + +[Footnote 1: _Palpares contrarius_, Walker; _Myrmeleon gravis_, Walker; +_M. dirus_, Walker; _M. barbarus_, Walker.] + +_The White Ant_--But of the insects of this order the most noted are the +_white ants_ or termites (which are ants only by a misnomer). They are, +unfortunately, at once ubiquitous and innumerable in every spot where +the climate is not too chilly, or the soil too sandy, for them to +construct their domed edifices. + +These they raise from a considerable depth under ground, excavating the +clay with their mandibles, and moistening it with tenacious saliva[1] +until it assume the appearance, and almost the consistency, of +sandstone. So delicate is the trituration to which they subject this +material, that the goldsmiths of Ceylon employ the powdered clay of the +ant hills in preference to all other substances in the preparation of +crucibles and moulds for their finer castings; and KNOX says, in his +time, "the people used this clay to make their earthen gods of, it is so +pure and fine."[2] These structures the termites erect with such +perseverance and durability that they frequently rise to the height of +ten or twelve feet from the ground, with a corresponding diameter. They +are so firm in their texture that the weight of a horse makes no +apparent indentation on their solidity; and even the intense rains of +the monsoon, which no cement or mortar can long resist, fail to +penetrate the surface or substance of an ant hill.[3] + +[Footnote 1: It becomes an interesting question whence the termites +derive the large supplies of moisture with which they not only temper +the clay for the construction of their long covered-ways above ground, +but for keeping their passages uniformly damp and cool below the +surface. Yet their habits in this particular are unvarying, in the +seasons of droughts as well as after rain; in the driest and least +promising positions, in situations inaccessible to drainage from above, +and cut off by rocks and impervious strata from springs from below. Dr. +Livingstone, struck with this phenomenon in Southern Africa, asks: "Can +the white ants possess the power of combining the oxygen and hydrogen of +their vegetable food by vital force so as to form water?"--_Travels_, p. +22. And he describes at Angola an insect (A. goudotti? Bennett.) +resembling the _Aphrophora spumaria_; seven or eight individuals of +which distil several pints of water every night.--P. 414. It is highly +probable that the termites are endowed with some such faculty: nor is it +more remarkable that an insect should combine the gases of its food to +produce water, than that a fish should decompose water in order to +provide itself with gas. FOURCROIX found the contents of the air-bladder +in a carp to be pure nitrogen.--_Yarrell_, vol. i. p. 42. And the +aquatic larva of the dragon-fly extracts air for its respiration from +the water in which it is submerged. A similar mystery pervades the +inquiry whence plants under peculiar circumstances derive the water +essential to vegetation.] + +[Footnote 2: KNOX'S _Ceylon_, Part I, ch. vi. p. 24.] + +[Footnote 3: Dr. HOOKER, in his _Himalayan Journal_ (vol. i. p. 20) is +of opinion that the nests of the termites are not independent +structures, but that their nucleus is "the debris of clumps of bamboos +or the trunks of large trees which these insects have destroyed." He +supposes that the dead tree falls leaving the stump coated with sand, +_which the action of the weather soon fashions info a cone_. But +independently of the fact that the "action of the weather" produces +little or no effect on the closely cemented clay of the white ants' +nest, they may be daily seen constructing their edifices in the very +form of a cone, which they ever after retain. Besides which, they appear +in the midst of terraces and fields where no trees are to be seen; and +Dr. Hooker seems to overlook the fact that the termites rarely attack a +living tree; and although their nests may be built against one, it +continues to flourish not the less for their presence.] + +In their earlier stages the termites proceed with such energetic +rapidity, that I have seen a pinnacle of moist clay, six inches in +height and twice as large in diameter, constructed underneath a table +between sitting down to dinner and the removal of the cloth. + +As these lofty mounds of earth have all been carried up from beneath the +surface, a cave of corresponding dimensions is necessarily scooped out +below, and here, under the multitude of cupolas and pinnacles which +canopy it above, the termites hollow out the royal chamber for their +queen, with spacious nurseries surrounding it on all sides. Store-rooms +and magazines occupy the lower apartments, and all are connected by +arched galleries, long passages, and doorways of the most intricate and +elaborate construction. In the centre and underneath the spacious dome +is the recess for the queen--a hideous creature, with the head and +thorax of an ordinary termite, but a body swollen to a hundred times its +usual and proportionate bulk, and presenting the appearance of a mass of +shapeless pulp. From this great progenitrix proceed the myriads which +people the subterranean hive, consisting, like the communities of the +genuine ants, of labourers and soldiers, which are destined never to +acquire a fuller development than that of larvas, and the perfect +insects which in due time become invested with wings and take their +departing flight from the cave. But their new equipment seems only +destined to facilitate their dispersion from the parent nest, which +takes place at dusk; and almost as quickly as they leave it they divest +themselves of their ineffectual wings, waving them impatiently and +twisting them in every direction till they become detached and drop off, +and the swarm, within a few hours of their emancipation, become a prey +to the night-jars and bats, which are instantly attracted to them as +they issue in a cloud from the ground. I am not prepared to say that the +other insectivorous birds would not gladly make a meal of the termites, +but, seeing that in Ceylon their numbers are chiefly kept in check by +the crepuscular birds, it is observable, at least as a coincidence, that +the dispersion of the swarm generally takes place at _twilight_. Those +that escape the _caprimulgi_ lose their wings before morning, and are +then disposed of by the crows. + +The strange peculiarity of the omnivorous ravages of the white ants is +that they shrink from the light, in all their expeditions for providing +food they construct a covered pathway of moistened clay, and their +galleries above ground extend to an incredible distance from the central +nest. No timber, except ebony and ironwood, which are too hard, and +those which are strongly impregnated with camphor or aromatic oils, +which they dislike, presents any obstacle to their ingress. I have had a +case of wine filled, in the course of two days, with almost solid clay, +and only discovered the presence of the white ants by the bursting of +the corks. I have had a portmanteau in my tent so peopled with them in +the course of a single night that the contents were found worthless in +the morning. In an incredibly short time a detachment of these pests +will destroy a press full of records, reducing the paper to fragments; +and a shelf of books will be tunnelled into a gallery if it happen to be +in their line of march. + +The timbers of a house when fairly attacked are eaten from within till +the beams are reduced to an absolute shell, so thin that it may be +punched through with the point of the finger: and even kyanized wood, +unless impregnated with an extra quantity of corrosive sublimate, +appears to occasion them no inconvenience. The only effectual precaution +for the protection of furniture is incessant vigilance--the constant +watching of every article, and its daily removal from place to place, in +order to baffle their assaults. + +They do not appear in the hills above the elevation of 2000 feet. One +species of white ant, the _Termes Taprobanes_, was at one time believed +by Mr. Walker to be peculiar to the island, but it has recently been +found in Sumatra and Borneo, and in some parts of Hindustan. + +HYMENOPTERA. _Mason Wasp_.--In Ceylon as in all other countries, the +order of hymenopterous insects arrests us less by the beauty of their +forms than the marvels of their sagacity and the achievements of their +instinct. A fossorial wasp of the family of _Sphegidoe_,[1] which is +distinguished by its metallic lustre, enters by the open windows, and +disarms irritation at its movements by admiration of the graceful +industry with which it stops up the keyholes and similar apertures with +clay in order to build in them a cell, into which it thrusts the pupa of +some other insect, within whose body it has previously introduced its +own eggs; and, enclosing the whole with moistened earth, the young +parasite, after undergoing its transformations, gnaws its way into +light, and emerges a four-winged fly.[2] + +[Footnote 1: It belongs to the genus _Pelopoeus_, _P. Spinoloe_, St. +Fargeau. The _Ampulex compressa_, which drags about the larvae of +cockroaches into which it has implanted its eggs, belongs to the same +family.] + +[Footnote 2: Mr. E. L. Layard has given an interesting account of this +Mason wasp in the _Annals and Magazine of Nat. History_ for May, 1853. + +"I have frequently," he says, "selected one of these flies for +observation, and have seen their labours extend over a period of a +fortnight or twenty days; sometimes only half a cell was completed in a +day, at others as much as two. I never saw more than twenty cells in one +nest, seldom indeed that number, and whence the caterpillars were +procured was always to me a mystery. I have seen thirty or forty brought +in of a species which I knew to be very rare in the perfect state, and +which I had sought for in vain, although I knew on what plant they fed. + +"Then again how are they disabled by the wasp, and yet not injured so as +to cause their immediate death? Die they all do, at least all that I +have ever tried to rear, after taking them from the nest. + +"The perfected fly never effects its egress from the closed aperture, +through which the caterpillars were inserted, and when cells are placed +end to end, as they are in many instances, the outward end of each is +always selected. I cannot detect any difference in the thickness in the +crust of the cell to cause this uniformity of practice. It is often as +much as half an inch through, of great hardness, and as far as I can see +impervious to air and light. How then does the enclosed fly always +select the right end, and with what secretion is it supplied to +decompose this mortar?"] + +_Wasps_.--Of the wasps, one formidable species (_Sphex ferruginea_ of +St. Fargeau), which is common to India and most of the eastern islands, +is regarded with the utmost dread by the unclad natives, who fly +precipitately on finding themselves in the vicinity[1] of its nests, +which are of such ample dimensions, that when suspended from a branch, +they often measure upwards of six feet in length.[2] + +[Footnote 1: In ought to be remembered in travelling in the forests of +Ceylon that sal volatile applied immediately is a specific for the sting +of a wasp.] + +[Footnote 2: At the January (1839) meeting of the Entomological Society, +Mr. Whitehouse exhibited portions of a wasps' nest from Ceylon, between +seven and eight feet long and two feet in diameter, and showed that the +construction of the cells was perfectly analogous to those of the hive +bee, and that when connected each has a tendency to assume a circular +outline. In one specimen where there were three cells united the outer +part was circular, whilst the portions common to the three formed +straight walls. From this Singhalese nest Mr. Whitehouse demonstrated +that the wasps at the commencement of their comb proceed slowly, forming +the bases of several together, whereby they assume the hexagonal shape, +whereas, if constructed separately, he thought each single cell would be +circular. See _Proc. Ent. Soc_. vol. iii. p. xvi.] + +_Bees_.--Bees of several species and genera, some divested of stings, +and some in size scarcely exceeding a house-fly, deposit their honey in +hollow trees, or suspend their combs from a branch; and the spoils of +their industry form one of the chief resources of the uncivilised +Veddahs, who collect the wax in their upland forests, to be bartered for +arrow points and clothes in the lowlands.[1] I have never heard of an +instance of persons being attacked by the bees of Ceylon, and hence the +natives assert, that those most productive of honey are destitute of +stings. + +[Footnote 1: A gentleman connected with the department of the +Surveyor-General writes to me that he measured a honey-comb which he +found fastened to the overhanging branch of a small tree in the forest +near Adam's Peak, and found it nine links of his chain or about six feet +in length and a foot in breadth where it was attached to the branch, but +tapering towards the other extremity. "It was a single comb with a layer +of cells on either side, but so weighty that the branch broke by the +strain."] + +_The Carpenter Bee_.--The operations of one of the most interesting of +the tribe, the Carpenter bee,[1] I have watched with admiration from the +window of the Colonial Secretary's official residence at Kandy. So soon +as the day grew warm, these active creatures were at work perforating +the wooden columns which supported the verandah. They poised themselves +on their shining purple wings, as they made the first lodgment in the +wood, enlivening the work with an uninterrupted hum of delight, which +was audible to a considerable distance. When the excavation had +proceeded so far as that the insect could descend into it, the music was +suspended, but renewed from time to time, as the little creature came to +the orifice to throw out the chips, to rest, or to enjoy the fresh air. +By degrees, a mound of saw-dust was formed at the base of the pillar, +consisting of particles abraded by the mandibles of the bee; and these, +when the hollow was completed to the depth of several inches, were +partially replaced in the excavation after being agglutinated to form +partitions between the eggs, as they are deposited within. + +[Footnote 1: _Xylocopa tenuiscapa_, Westw.; X. _latipes_, Drury.] + +_Ants_.--As to ants, I apprehend that, notwithstanding their numbers and +familiarity, information is very imperfect relative to the varieties and +habits of these marvellous insects in Ceylon.[1] In point of multitude +it is scarcely an exaggeration to apply to them the figure of "the sands +of the sea." They are everywhere; in the earth, in the houses, and in +the trees; they are to be seen in every room and cupboard, and almost on +every plant in the jungle. To some of the latter they are, perhaps, +attracted by the sweet juices secreted by the aphides and coccidae; and +such is the passion of the ants for sugar, and their wonderful faculty +of discovering it, that the smallest particle of a substance containing +it, though placed in the least conspicuous position, is quickly covered +with them, where not a single one may have been visible a moment before. +But it is not sweet substances alone that they attack; no animal or +vegetable matter comes amiss to them; no aperture appears too small to +admit them; it is necessary to place everything which it may be +desirable to keep free from their invasion, under the closest cover, or +on tables with cups of water under every foot. As scavengers, they are +invaluable; and as ants never sleep, but work without cessation, during +the night as well as by day, every particle of decaying vegetable or +putrid animal matter is removed with inconceivable speed and certainty. +In collecting shells, I have been able to turn this propensity to good +account; by placing them within their reach, the ants in a few days will +remove every vestige of the mollusc from the innermost and otherwise +inaccessible whorls; thus avoiding all risk of injuring the enamel by +any mechanical process. + +[Footnote 1: Mr. Jerdan, in a series of papers in the thirteenth volume +of the _Annals of Natural History_, has described forty-seven species of +ants in Southern India. But M. Nietner has recently forwarded to the +Berlin Museum upwards of seventy species taken by him in Ceylon, chiefly +in the western province and the vicinity of Colombo, Of these many are +identical with those noted by Mr. Jerdan as belonging to the Indian +continent. One (probably _Drepanognathus saltator_ of Jerdan) is +described by M. Nietner as "moving by jumps of several inches at a +spring."] + +But the assaults of the ants are not confined to dead animals alone, +they attack equally such small insects as they can overcome, or find +disabled by accidents or wounds; and it is not unusual to see some +hundreds of them surrounding a maimed beetle, or a bruised cockroach, +and hurrying it along in spite of its struggles. I have, on more than +one occasion, seen a contest between them and one of the viscous +ophidians, _Coecilia glutinosa_[1], a reptile resembling an enormous +earthworm, common in the Kandyan hills, of an inch in diameter, and +nearly two feet in length. It would seem as if the whole community had +been summoned and turned out for such a prodigious effort; they +surrounded their victim literally in tens of thousands, inflicting +wounds on all parts, and forcing it along towards their nest in spite of +resistance. In one instance to which I was a witness, the conflict +lasted for the latter part of a day, but towards evening the Caecilia was +completely exhausted, and in the morning it had totally disappeared, +having been carried away either whole or piecemeal by its assailants. + +[Footnote 1: See ante, Pt, 1. ch. iii. p. 201] + +The species I here allude to, is a very small ant, called the _Koombiya_ +in Ceylon. There is a still more minute description, which frequents the +caraffes and toilet vessels, and is evidently a distinct species. A +third, probably the _Formica nidificans_ of Jerdan, is black, of the +same size as that last mentioned, and, from its colour, called the _Kalu +koombiya_ by the natives. In the houses its propensities and habits are +the same as the others; but I have observed that it frequents the trees +more profusely, forming small paper cells for its young, like miniature +wasps' nests, in which it deposits its eggs, suspending them from the +leaf of a plant. + +The most formidable of all is the great red ant or Dimiya.[1] It is +particularly abundant in gardens, and on fruit trees; it constructs its +dwellings by glueing the leaves of such species as are suitable from +their shape and pliancy into hollow balls, which it lines with a kind of +transparent paper, like that manufactured by the wasp. I have watched +them at the interesting operation of forming their dwellings;--a line of +ants standing on the edge of one leaf bring another into contact with +it, and hold both together with their mandibles till their companions +within attach them firmly by means of their adhesive paper, the +assistants outside moving along as the work proceeds. If it be necessary +to draw closer a leaf too distant to be laid hold of by the immediate +workers, they form a chain by depending one from the other till the +object is reached, when it is at length brought into contact, and made +fast by cement. + +[Footnote 1: _Formica smaragdina_, Fab.] + +Like all their race, these ants are in perpetual motion, forming lines +on the ground along which they pass, in continual procession to and from +the trees on which they reside. They are the most irritable of the whole +order in Ceylon, biting with such intense ferocity as to render it +difficult for the unclad natives to collect the fruit from, the mango +trees, which the red ants especially frequent. They drop from the +branches upon travellers in the jungle, attacking them with venom and +fury, and inflicting intolerable pain both upon animals and man. On +examining the structure of the head through a microscope, I found that +the mandibles, instead of merely meeting in contact, are so hooked as to +cross each other at the points, whilst the inner line is sharply +serrated throughout its entire length; thus occasioning the intense pain +of their bite, as compared with that of the ordinary ant. + +To check the ravages of the coffee bug (_Lecanium coffeoe_, Walker), +which for some years past has devastated some of the plantations in +Ceylon, the experiment was made of introducing the red ants, who feed +greedily on the Coccus. But the remedy threatened to be attended with +some inconvenience, for the Malabar Coolies, with bare and oiled skins, +were so frequently and fiercely assaulted by the ants as to endanger +their stay on the estates. + +The ants which burrow in the ground in Ceylon are generally, but not +invariably, black, and some of them are of considerable size. One +species, about the third of an inch in length, is abundant in the hills, +and especially about the roots of trees, where they pile up the earth in +circular heaps round the entrance to their nests, and in doing this I +have observed a singular illustration of their instinct. To carry up +each particle of sand by itself would be an endless waste of labour, and +to carry two or more loose ones securely would be to them embarrassing, +if not impossible; they therefore overcome the difficulty by glueing +together with their saliva so much earth or sand as is sufficient for a +burden, and each one may be seen hurrying up from below with his load, +carrying it to the top of the circular heap outside, and throwing it +over, whilst it is so strongly attached as to roll to the bottom without +breaking asunder. + +The ants I have been here describing are inoffensive, differing in this +particular from the Dimiya and another of similar size and ferocity, +which is called by the Singhalese _Kaddiya_; and they have a legend +illustrative of their alarm for the bites of the latter, to the effect +that the cobra de capello invested the Kaddiya with her own venom in +admiration of the singular courage displayed by these little +creatures.[1] + +[Footnote 1: KNOX'S _Historical Relation of Ceylon_, pt i. ch vi. p. +23.] + +LEPIDOPTERA. _Butterflies_.--Butterflies in the interior of the island +are comparatively rare, and, contrary to the ordinary belief, they are +seldom to be seen in the sunshine, They frequent the neighbourhood of +the jungle, and especially the vicinity of the rivers and waterfalls, +living mainly in the shade of the moist foliage, and returning to it in +haste after the shortest flights, as if their slender bodies were +speedily dried up and exhausted by the exposure to the intense heat. + +Among the largest and most gaudy of the Ceylon Lepidoptera is the great +black and yellow butterfly (_Ornithoptera darsius_, Gray); the upper +wings, of which measure six inches across, are of deep velvet black, the +lower, ornamented by large particles of satiny yellow, through which the +sunlight passes, and few insects can compare with it in beauty, as it +hovers over the flowers of the heliotrope, which furnish the favourite +food of the perfect fly, although the caterpillar feeds on the +aristolochia and the _betel leaf_ and suspends its chrysalis from its +drooping tendrils. + +Next in size as to expanse of wing, though often exceeding it in +breadth, is the black and blue _Papilio Polymnestor_, which darts +rapidly through the air, alighting on the ruddy flowers of the hibiscus, +or the dark green foliage of the citrus, on which it deposits its eggs. +The larvae of this species are green with white bands, and have a hump on +the fourth or fifth segment. From this hump the caterpillar, on being +irritated, protrudes a singular horn of an orange colour, bifurcate at +the extremity, and covered with a pungent mucilaginous secretion. This +is evidently intended as a weapon of defence against the attack of the +ichneumon flies, that deposit their eggs in its soft body, for when the +grub is pricked, either by the ovipositor of the ichneumon, or by any +other sharp instrument, the horn is at once protruded, and struck upon +the offending object with unerring aim. + +Amongst the more common of the larger butterflies is the _P. Hector_, +with gorgeous crimson spots set in the black velvet of the inferior +wings; these, when fresh, are shot with a purple blush, equalling in +splendour the azure of the European "_Emperor_." + +Another butterfly, but belonging to a widely different group, is the +"sylph" (_Hestia Jasonia_), called by the Europeans by the various names +of _Floater, Spectre,_ and _Silver-paper-fly_, as indicative of its +graceful flight. It is found only in the deep shade of the damp forest, +frequenting the vicinity of pools of water and cascades, about which it +sails heedless of the spray, the moisture of which may even be +beneficial in preserving the elasticity of its thin and delicate wings, +that bend and undulate in the act of flight. + +The _Lycoenidoe_[1], a particularly attractive group, abound near the +enclosures of cultivated grounds, and amongst the low shrubs edging the +patenas, flitting from flower to flower, inspecting each in turn, and as +if attracted by their beauty, in the full blaze of sun-light; and +shunning exposure less sedulously than the other diurnals. Some of the +more robust kinds[2] are magnificent in the bright light, from the +splendour of their metallic blues and glowing purples, but they yield in +elegance of form and variety to their tinier and more +delicately-coloured congeners. + +[Footnote 1: _Lycana polyommatus, &c._] + +[Footnote 2: _Amblypodia pseudocentaurus, &c._] + +Short as is the eastern twilight, it has its own peculiar forms, and the +naturalist marks with interest the small, but strong, _Hesperiidoe_,[1] +hurrying, by abrupt and jerking flights, to the scented blossoms of the +champac or the sweet night-blowing moon-flower; and, when darkness +gathers around, we can hear, though hardly distinguish amid the gloom, +the humming of the powerful wings of innumerable hawk moths, which hover +with their long proboscides inserted into the starry petals of the +periwinkle. + +[Footnote 1: _Pamphila hesperia, &c._] + +Conspicuous amidst these nocturnal moths is the richly-coloured +_Acherontia Satanas_, one of the Singhalese representatives of our +Death's head moth, which utters a sharp and stridulous cry when seized. +This sound has been variously conjectured to be produced by the friction +of its thorax against the abdomen, and Reaumur believed it to be caused +by rubbing the palpi against the tongue. I have never been able to +observe either motion, and Mr. E. L. Layard is of opinion that the sound +is emitted from two apertures concealed by tufts of wiry bristles thrown +out from each side of the inferior portion of the thorax.[1] + +[Footnote 1: There is another variety of the same moth in Ceylon which +closely resembles it in its markings, but I have never detected in it +the utterance of this curious cry. It is smaller than the _A. Satanas_, +and, like it, often enters dwellings at night, attracted by the lights; +but I have not found its larvae, although that of the other species is +common on several widely different plants.] + +_Moths._--Among the strictly nocturnal _Lepidoptera_ are some gigantic +species. Of these the cinnamon-eating _Atlas_, often attains the +dimensions of nearly a foot in the stretch of its superior wings. It is +very common in the gardens about Colombo, and its size, and the +transparent talc-like spots in its wings cannot fail to strike even the +most careless saunterer. But little inferior to it in size is the famed +Tusseh silk moth[1], which feeds on the country almond (_Terminalia +catappa_) and the palma Christi or Castor-oil plant; it is easily +distinguishable from the Atlas, which has a triangular wing, whilst its +[wing] is falcated, and the transparent spots are covered with a curious +thread-like division drawn across them. + +[Footnote 1: _Antheroea mylitta_, Drury.] + +Towards the northern portions of the island this valuable species +entirely displaces the other, owing to the fact that the almond and +_palma Christi_ abound there. The latter plant springs up spontaneously +on every manure-heap or neglected spot of ground; and might be +cultivated, as in India, with great advantage, the leaf to be used as +food for the caterpillar, the stalk as fodder for cattle, and the seed +for the expression of castor-oil. The Dutch took advantage of this +facility, and gave every encouragement to the cultivation of silk at +Jaffna[1], but it never attained such a development as to become an +article of commercial importance. Ceylon now cultivates no silkworms +whatever, notwithstanding this abundance of the favourite food of one +species; and the rich silken robes sometimes worn by the Buddhist +priesthood are still imported from China and the continent of India. + +[Footnote 1: The Portuguese had made the attempt previous to the arrival +of the Dutch, and a strip of land on the banks of the Kalany river near +Colombo, still bears the name of Orta Seda, the silk garden. The attempt +of the Dutch to introduce the true silkworm, the _Bombyx mori_, took +place under the governorship of Ryklof Van Goens, who, on handing over +the administration to his successor in A.D. 1663, thus apprises him of +the initiation of the experiment:--"At Jaffna Palace a trial has been +undertaken to feed silkworms, and to ascertain whether silk may be +reared at that station. I have planted a quantity of mulberry trees, +which grow well there, and they ought to be planted in other +directions."--VALENTYN, chap. xiii. The growth of the mulberry trees is +noticed the year after in a report to the governor-general of India, but +the subject afterwards ceased to be attended to.] + +In addition to the Atlas moth and the Mylitta, there are many other +_Bombycidoe_ in Ceylon; and, though the silk of some of them, were it +susceptible of being unwound from the cocoon, would not bear a +comparison with that of the _Bombyx mori_, or even of the Tusseh moth, +it might still prove to be valuable when carded and spun. If the +European residents in the colony would rear the larvae of these +Lepidoptera, and make drawings of their various changes, they would +render a possible service to commerce, and a certain one to +entomological knowledge. + +_The Wood-carrying Moth._--There is another family of insects, the +singular habits of which will not fail to attract the traveller in the +cultivated tracts of Ceylon--these are moths of the genus +_Oiketicus_,[1] of which the females are devoid of wings, and some +possess no articulated feet; the larvae construct for themselves cases, +which they suspend to a branch frequently of the pomegranate,[2] +surrounding them with the stems of leaves, and thorns or pieces of twigs +bound together by threads, till the whole presents the appearance of a +bundle of rods about an inch and a half long; and, from the resemblance +of this to a Roman fasces, one African species has obtained the name of +"Lictor." The German entomologists denominated the group _Sack-traeger_, +the Singhalese call them _Dalmea kattea_ or "billets of firewood," and +regard the inmates as human beings, who, as a punishment for stealing +wood in some former stage of existence, have been condemned to undergo a +metempsychosis under the form of these insects. + +[Footnote 1: _Eumeta_, Wlk.] + +[Footnote 2: The singular instincts of a species of Thecla, _Dipsas +Isocrates_, Fab., in connection with the fruit of the pomegranate, were +fully described by Mr. Westwood, in a paper read before the +Entomological Society of London in 1835.] + +The male, at the close of the pupal rest, escapes from one end of this +singular covering, but the female makes it her dwelling for life; moving +about with it at pleasure, and entrenching herself within it, when +alarmed, by drawing together the purse-like aperture at the open end. Of +these remarkable creatures there are five ascertained species in Ceylon. +_Psyche Doubledaii_, Westw.; _Metisa plana_, Walker; _Eumeta Cramerii_, +Westw.; _E. Templetonii_, Westw.; and _Cryptothelea consorta_, Temp. + +All the other tribes of minute _Lepidoptera_ have abundant +representatives in Ceylon; some of them most attractive from the great +beauty of their markings and colouring. The curious little split-winged +moth (_Pterophorus_) is frequently seen in the cinnamon gardens and the +vicinity of the fort, resting in the noonday heat in the cool grass +shaded by the coco-nut topes. Three species have been captured, all +characterised by the same singular feature of having the wings fan-like, +separated nearly their entire length into detached sections resembling +feathers in the pinions of a bird expanded for flight. + +HOMOPTERA. _Cicada._--Of the _Homoptera_, the one which will most +frequently arrest attention is the cicada, which, resting high up on the +bark of a tree, makes the forest re-echo with a long-sustained noise so +curiously resembling that of a cutler's wheel that the creature which +produces it has acquired the highly-appropriate name of the +"knife-grinder." + +HEMIPTERA. _Bugs._--On the shrubs in his compound the newly-arrived +traveller will be attracted by an insect of a pale green hue and +delicately-thin configuration, which, resting from its recent flight, +composes its scanty wings, and moves languidly along the leaf. But +experience will teach him to limit his examination to a respectful view +of its attitudes; it is one of a numerous family of bugs, (some of them +most attractive[1] in their colouring,) which are inoffensive if +unmolested, but if touched or irritated, exhale an odour that, once +perceived, is never after forgotten. + +[Footnote 1: Such as _Cantuo ocellatus, Leptopelis Marginalis, Callidea +Stockerius_, &c. &c. Of the aquatic species, the gigantic _Belostoma +Indicum_ cannot escape notice, attaining a size of nearly three inches.] + +APHANIPTERA. _Fleas._--Fleas are equally numerous, and may be seen in +myriads in the dust of the streets or skipping in the sunbeams which +fall on the clay floors of the cottages. The dogs, to escape them, +select for their sleeping places spots where a wood fire has been +previously kindled; and here prone on the white ashes, their stomachs +close to the earth, and their hind legs extended behind, they repose in +comparative coolness, and bid defiance to their persecutors. + +DIPTERA. _Mosquitoes._--But of all the insect pests that beset an +unseasoned European the most provoking by far are the truculent +mosquitoes.[1] Even in the midst of endurance from their onslaughts one +cannot but be amused by the ingenuity of their movements; as if aware of +the risk incident to an open assault, a favourite mode of attack is, +when concealed by a table, to assail the ankles through the meshes of +the blocking, or the knees which are ineffectually protected by a fold +of Russian duck. When you are reading, a mosquito will rarely settle on +that portion of your hand which is within range of your eyes, but +cunningly stealing by the underside of the book fastens on the wrist or +finger, and noiselessly inserts his proboscis there. I have tested the +classical expedient recorded by Herodotus, who states that the fishermen +inhabiting the fens of Egypt cover their beds with their nets, knowing +that the mosquitoes, although they bite through linen robes, will not +venture though a net.[2] But, notwithstanding the opinion of Spence,[3] +that nets with meshes an inch square will effectually exclude them, I +have been satisfied by painful experience that (if the theory is not +altogether fallacious) at least the modern mosquitoes of Ceylon are +uninfluenced by the same considerations which restrained those of the +Nile under the successors of Cambyses. + +[Footnote 1: _Culex laniger_? Wied. In Kandy Mr. Thwaites finds _C. +fuscanus, C. circumvolens_, &c., and one with a most formidable hooked +proboscis, to which he has assigned the appropriate name _C. Regius_.] + +[Footnote 2: HERODOTUS, _Euterpe_, xcv.] + +[Footnote 3: KIRBY and SPENCE'S _Entomology_, letter iv.] + + +_List of Ceylon Insects._ + +For the following list of the insects of the island, and the remarks +prefixed to it, I am indebted to Mr. F. Walker, by whom it has been +prepared after a careful inspection of the collections made by Dr. +Templeton, Mr. E.L. Layard, and others; as well as those in the British +Museum and in the Museum of the East India Company. + +"A short notice of the aspect of the Island will afford the best means +of accounting, in some degree, for its entomological Fauna: first, as it +is an island, and has a mountainous central region, the tropical +character of its productions, as in most other cases, rather diminishes, +and somewhat approaches that of higher latitudes. + +"The coast-region of Ceylon, and fully one-third of its northern part, +have a much drier atmosphere than that of the rest of its surface; and +their climate and vegetation are nearly similar to those of the +Carnatic, with which this island may have been connected at no very +remote period.[1] But if, on the contrary, the land in Ceylon is +gradually rising, the difference of its Fauna from that of Central +Hindostan is less remarkable. The peninsula of the Dekkan might then be +conjectured to have been nearly or wholly separated from the central +part of Hindostan, and confined to the range of mountains along the +eastern coast; the insect-fauna of which is as yet almost unknown, but +will probably be found to have more resemblance to that of Ceylon than +to the insects of northern and western India--just as the insect-fauna +of Malaya appears more to resemble the similar productions of +Australasia than those of the more northern continent. + +[Footnote 1: On the subject of this conjecture see _ante_, Vol. I. Pt. +I, ch. i. p. 7.] + +"Mr. Layard's collection was partly formed in the dry northern province +of Ceylon; and among them more Hindostan insects are to be observed than +among those collected by Dr. Templeton, and found wholly in the district +between Colombo and Kandy. According to this view the faunas of the +Neilgherry Mountains, of Central Ceylon, of the peninsula of Malacca, +and of Australasia would be found to form one group;--while those of +Northern Ceylon, of the western Dekkan, and of the level parts of +Central Hindostan would form another of more recent origin. The +insect-fauna of the Carnatic is also probably similar to that of the +lowlands of Ceylon; but it is still unexplored. The regions of Hindostan +in which species have been chiefly collected, such as Bengal, Silhet, +and the Punjaub, are at the distance of from 1,300 to 1,600 miles from +Ceylon, and therefore the insects of the latter are fully as different +from those of the above regions as they are from those of Australasia, +to which Ceylon is as near in point of distance, and agrees more with +regard to latitude. + +"Dr. Hagen has remarked that he believes the fauna of the mountains of +Ceylon to be quite different from that of the plains and of the shores. +The south and west districts have a very moist climate, and as their +vegetation is like that of Malabar, their insect-fauna will probably +also resemble that of the latter region. + +"The insects mentioned in the following list are thus distributed:-- + + +Order COLEOPTERA. + +"The recorded species of _Cicindelidoe_ inhabit the plains or the coast +country of Ceylon, and several of them are also found in Hindostan. + +"Many of the species of _Carabidoe_ and of _Staphylinidoe_, especially +those collected by Mr. Thwaites, near Kandy, and by M. Nietner at +Colombo, have much resemblance to the insects of these two families in +North Europe; in the _Scydmoenidoe,_ _Ptiliadoe, Phalacridoe, +Nitidulidoe, Colydiadoe_, and _Lathridiadoe_ the northern form is still +more striking, and strongly contrasts with the tropical forms of the +gigantic _Copridoe, Buprestidoe_, and _Cerambycidoe_, and with the +_Elateridoe, Lampyridoe, Tenebrionidoe, Helopidoe, Meloidoe, +Curculionidoe, Prionidoe, Cerambycidoe, Lamiidoe_, and _Endomychidoe_. + +"The _Copridoe, Dynastidoe, Melolonthidoe, Cetoniadoe_, and _Passalidoe_ +are well represented on the plains and on the coast, and the species are +mostly of a tropical character. + +"The _Hydrophilidoe_ have a more northern aspect, as is generally the +case with aquatic species. + +"The order _Strepsiptera_ is here considered as belonging to the +_Mordellidoe_, and is represented by the genus _Myrmecolax_, which is +peculiar, as yet, to Ceylon. + +"In the _Curculionidoe_ the single species of _Apion_ will recall to +mind the great abundance of that genus in North Europe. + +"The _Prionidoe_ and the two following families have been investigated +by Mr. Pascoe, and the _Hispidoe_, with the five following families, by +Mr. Baly; these two gentlemen are well acquainted with the above tribes +of beetles, and kindly supplied me with the names of the Ceylon species. + + +Order ORTHOPTERA. + +"These insects in Ceylon have mostly a tropical aspect. The _Physapoda_, +which will probably be soon incorporated with them, are likely to be +numerous, though only one species has as yet been noticed. + + +Order NEUROPTERA. + +"The list here given is chiefly taken from the catalogue published by +Dr. Hagen, and containing descriptions of the species named by him or by +M. Nietner. They were found in the most elevated parts of the island, +near Rambodde, and Dr. Hagen informs me that not less than 500 species +have been noticed in Ceylon, but that they are not yet recorded, with +the exception of the species here enumerated. It has been remarked that +the _Trichoptera_ and other aquatic _Neuroptera_ are less local than the +land species, owing to the more equable temperature of the habitation of +their larvae, and on account of their being often conveyed along the +whole length of rivers. The species of _Psocus_ in the list are far more +numerous than those yet observed in any other country, with the +exception of Europe. + + +Order HYMENOPTERA. + +"In this order the _Formicidoe_ and the _Poneridoe_ are very numerous, +as they are in other damp and woody tropical countries. Seventy species +of ants have been observed, but as yet few of them have been named. The +various other families of aculeate _Hymenoptera_ are doubtless more +abundant than the species recorded indicate, and it may be safely +reckoned that the parasitic _Hymenoptera_ in Ceylon far exceed one +thousand species in number, though they are yet only known by means of +about two dozen kinds collected at Kandy by Mr. Thwaites. + + +Order LEPIDOPTERA. + +"The fauna of Ceylon is much better known in this order than in any +other of the insect tribes, but as yet the _Lepidoptera_ alone in their +class afford materials for a comparison of the productions of Ceylon +with those of Hindostan and of Australasia; 932 species have been +collected by Dr. Templeton and by Mr. Layard in the central, western, +and northern parts of the island. All the families, from the +_Papilionidoe_ to the _Tineidoe_, abound, and numerous species and +several genera appear, as yet, to be peculiar to the island. As Ceylon +is situate at the entrance to the eastern regions, the list in this +volume will suitably precede the descriptive catalogues of the +heterocerous _Lepidoptera_ of Hindostan, Java, Borneo, and of other +parts of Australasia, which are being prepared for publication. In some +of the heterocerous families several species are common to Ceylon and to +Australasia, and in various cases the faunas of Ceylon and of +Australasia seem to be more similar than those of Ceylon and of +Hindostan. The long intercourse between those two regions may have been +the means of conveying some species from one to the other. Among the +_Pyralites, Hymenia recurvalis_ inhabits also the West Indies, South +America, West Africa, Hindostan, China, Australasia, Australia, and New +Zealand; and its food-plant is probably some vegetable which is +cultivated in all those regions; so also _Desmia afflictalis_ is found +in Sierra Leone, Ceylon, and China. + + +Order DIPTERA. + +"About fifty species were observed by Dr. Templeton, but most of those +here recorded were collected by Mr. Thwaites at Kandy, and have a great +likeness to North European species. + +"The mosquitoes are very annoying on account of their numbers, as might +be expected from the moisture and heat of the climate. _Culex laniger_ +is the coast species, and the other kinds here mentioned are from Kandy. +Humboldt observed that in some parts of South America each stream had +its peculiar mosquitoes, and it yet remains to be seen whether the gnats +in Ceylon are also thus restricted in their habitation. The genera +_Sciara, Cecidomyia_, and _Simulium_, which abound so exceedingly in +temperate countries, have each one representative species in the +collection made by Mr. Thwaites. Thus an almost new field remains for +the Entomologist in the study of the yet unknown Singhalese Diptera, +which must be very numerous. + + +Order HEMIPTERA. + +"The species of this order in the list are too few and too similar to +those of Hindustan to need any particular mention. _Lecanium coffeoe_ +may be noticed, on account of its infesting the coffee plant, as its +name indicates, and the ravages of other species of the genus will be +remembered, from the fact that one of them, in other regions, has put a +stop to the cultivation of the orange as an article of commerce. + +"In conclusion, it may be observed that the species of insects in Ceylon +may be estimated as exceeding 10,000 in number, of which about 2,000 are +enumerated in this volume. + + +Class ARACHNIDA. + +"Four or five species of spiders, of which the specimens cannot be +satisfactorily described; one _Ixodes_ and one _Chelifer_ have been +forwarded to England from Ceylon by Mr. Thwaites." + +NOTE.--The asterisk prefixed denotes the species discovered in Ceylon +since Sir J.E. Tennent's departure from the Island in 1849. + + +ORDER, Coleoptera, _Linn._ + +Fam. CICINDELIDAE, _Steph._ + Cicindela, _Linn._ + flavopunctata, _Aud._ + discrepans, _Wlk._ + aurofasciata, _Guer._ + quadrilineata, _Fabr._ + biramosa, _Fabr._ + catena, _Fabr._ + *insignificans, _Dohrn._ + Tricondyla, _Latr._ + femorata, _Wlk._ + *tumidula, _Wlk._ + *scitiscabra, _Wlk._ + *concinna, _Dohrn._ + + +Fam. CARABIDAE, _Leach._ + Casnouia, _Latr._ + *punctata, _Niet._ + *pilifera, _Niet._ + Ophionea, _Klug._ + *cyanocephala, _Fabr._ + Euplynes, _Niet._ + Dohrnii, _Niet._ + Heteroglossa, _Niet._ + *elegans, _Niet._ + *ruficollis, _Niet._ + *bimaculata, _Niet._ + Zuphium, _Latr._. + *pubescens, _Niet._ + Pheropsophus, _Solier._ + Catoirei, _Dej._ + bimaculatus, _Fabr._ + Cymindis, _Latr._. + rufiventris, _Wlk._ + Anchista, _Niet._ + *modesta, _Niet._ + Dromius, _Bon._ + marginifer, _Wlk._ + repandens, _Wlk._ + Lebia, _Latr._ + bipars, _Wlk._ + Creagris, _Niet._ + labrosa, _Niet._ + Elliotia, _Niet._ + pallipes, _Niet._ + Maraga, _Wlk._. + planigera, _Wlk._ + Catascopus, _Kirby._ + facialis, _Wied._ + reductus, _Wlk._ + Scarites, _Fabr._ + obliterans, _Wlk._ + subsignans, _Wlk._ + designans, _Wlk._ + *minor, _Niet._ + Clivina, _Latr._ + *rugosifrons, _Niet._ + *elongatula, _Niet._ + *maculata, _Niet._ + recta, _Wlk._ + Leistus, _Froehl._ + linearis, _Wlk._ + Isotarsus, _Laferte._ + quadrimaculatus, _Oliv._ + Panagaeeus, _Latr._ + retractus, _Wlk._ + Chlaenius, _Bon._. + bimaculatus, _Dej._ + diffinis, _Reiche._ + *Ceylanicus, _Niet._ + *quinque-maculatus, + _Niet._ + pulcher, _Niet._ + cupricollis, _Niet._ + rugulosus, _Niet._ + Anchomenus, _Bon._ + illocatus, _Wlk._ + Agonum, _Bon._ + placidulum, _Wlk._ + Colpodes? _Macl._ + marginicollis, _Wlk._ + Argutor, _Meg._. + degener, _Wlk._ + relinquens, _Wlk._ + Simphyus, _Niet._ + *unicolor, _Niet._ + Bradytus, _Steph._ + stolidus, _Wlk._ + Curtonotus, _Steph._ + compositus, _Wlk._ + Harpalus, _Latr._ + *advolans, _Niet._ + dispellens, _Wlk._ + Calodromus, _Niet._ + *exornatus, _Niet._ + Megaristerus, _Niet._ + *mandibularis, _Niet._ + *stenolophoides, _Niet._ + *Indicus, _Niet._ + Platysma, _Bon._ + retinens, _Wlk._ + Morio, _Latr._ + trogositoides, _Wlk._ + cucujoides, _Wlk._ + Barysomus, _Dej_ + *Gyllenhalii, _Dej._ + Oodes, _Bon._ + *piceus, _Niet._ + Selenophorus, _Dej._ + infixus, _Wlk._ + Orthogonius, _Dej._ + femoratus, _Dej._ + Helluodes, _Westw._ + Taprobanae, _Westw._ + Physocrotaphus, _Parry._ + Ceylonicus, _Parry._ + *minax, _West._ + Psysodera, _Esch._ + Eschscholtzii, _Parry._ + Omphra, _Latr._ + *ovipennis, _Reiche._ + Planetes, _Macl._ + bimaculatus, _Macleay._ + Cardiaderus, _Dej._ + scitus, _Wlk._ + Distrigus, _Dej._ + *costatus, _Niet._ + *submetallicus, _Niet._ + *rufopiceus, _Niet._ + *aeeneus, _Niet._ + *Dejeani, _Niet._ + Drimostoma, _Dej._ + *Ceylanicum, _Niet._ + *marginale, _Wlk._ + Cyclosomus, _Latr._ + flexuosus, _Fabr._ + Ochthephilus, _Niet._ + *Ceylanicus, _Niet._ + Spathinus, _Niet._ + *nigriceps, _Niet._ + Acupalpus, _Latr._ + derogatus, _Wlk._ + extremus, _Wlk._ + Bembidium, _Latr._ + finitimum, _Wlk._ + *opulentum, _Niet._ + *truncatum, _Niet._ + *tropicum, _Niet._ + *triangalare, _Niet._ + *Ceylanicum, _Niet._ + Klugii, _Niet._ + *ebeninum, _Niet._ + *orientale, _Niet._ + *emarginatum, _Niet._ + *ornatum, _Niet._ + *scydmaenoides, _Niet._ + +Fam. PAUSSIDAE, _Westw._ + Cerapterus, _Swed._ + latipes, _Swed._ + Pleuropterus, _West._ + Westermanni, _West._ + Paussus, _Linn._ + pacificus, _West._ + + +Fam. DYTISCIDAE, _Macl._ + Cybister, _Curt._ + limbatus, _Fabr._ + Dytiscus, _Linn._ + extenuans, _Wlk._ + Eunectes, _Erich._ + griseus, _Fabr._ + Hydaticus, _Leach._ + festivus, _Ill._ + vittatus, _Fabr._ + disclocans, _Wlk._ + fractifer, _Wlk._ + Colymbetes, _Clairv._ + interclusus, _Wlk._ + Hydroporus, _Clairv._ + interpulsus, _Wlk._ + intermixtus, _Wlk._ + laetabilis, _Wlk._ + *inefficiens, _Wlk._ + +Fam. GYRINIDAE, _Leach_. + Dineutes, _Macl._ + spinosus, _Fabr._ + Porrorhynchus, _Lap._ + indicans, _Wlk._ + Gyretes, _Brulle_. + discifer, _Wlk._ + Gyrinus, _Linn_. + nitidulus, _Fabr._ + obliquus, _Wlk._ + Orectochilus, _Esch._ + *lenoeinium, _Dohrn_. + +Fam. STAPHILINIDAE, + _Leach_. + Ocypus, _Kirby_. + longipennis, _Wlk._ + congruus, _Wlk._ + punctilinea, _Wlk._ + *lineatus, _Wlk._ + Philonthus, _Leach_. + *pedestris, _Wlk._ + Xantholinus, _Dahl_. + cinctus, _Wlk._ + *inclinans, _Wlk._ + Sunius, _Leach_. + *obliquus, _Wlk._ + Oedichirus, _Erich_. + *alatus, _Niet._ + Poederus, _Fabr_. + alternans, _Wlk._ + Stenus, _Latr._ + *barbatus, _Niet._ + *lacertoides, _Niet._ + Osorius? _Leach_. + *compactus, _Wlk._ + Prognatha, _Latr._ + decisa, _Wlk._ + *tenuis, _Wlk._ + Leptochirus, _Perty_. + *bispinus, _Erich_. + Oxytelus, _Grav._ + rudis, _Wlk._ + productus, _Wlk._ + *bicolor, _Wlk._ + Trogophloeus? _Mann_. + *Taprobanae, _Wlk._ + Omalium, _Grav._ + filiforme, _Wlk._ + Aleochara, _Grav._ + postica, _Wlk._ + *translata, _Wlk._ + *subjecta, _Wlk._ + Dinarda, _Leach_. + serricornis, _Wlk._ + +Fam. PSELAPHIDAE, _Leach_. + Pselaphanax, _Wlk._ + setosus, _Wlk._ + +Fam. SCYDMAENIDAE, _Leach_. + Erineus, _Wlk._ + monstrosus, _Wlk._ + Scydmaenus, _Latr._ + *megamelas, _Wlk_. + *alatus, _Niet._ + *femoralis, _Niet._ + *Ceylanicus, _Niet._ + *intermedius, _Niet._ + *pselaphoides, _Niet._ + *advolans, _Niet._ + *pubescens, _Niet._ + *pygmaeus, _Niet._ + *glanduliferus, _Niet._ + *graminicola, _Niet._ + *pyriformis, _Niet._ + *angusticeps, _Niet._ + *ovatus, _Niet._ + +Fam. PTILIADAE, _Woll._ + Trichopteryx, _Kirby_. + *cursitans, _Niet._ + *immatura, _Niet._ + *invisibilis, _Niet._ + Ptilium, _Schuepp._. + *subquadratum, _Niet._ + Ptenidium, _Erich_. + *macrocephalum, _Niet._ + +Fam. PHALACRIDAE, _Leach_. + Phalacrus, _Payk._ + conjiciens, _Wlk._ + confectus, _Wlk._ + +Fam. NITIDULIDAE, _Leach_. + Nitidula, _Fabr._ + contigens, _Wlk._ + intendens, _Wlk._ + significans, _Wlk._ + tomentifera, _Wlk._ + *submaculata, _Wlk._ + *glabricula, _Dohrn._ + Nitidulopsis, _Wlk._ + aequalis, _Wlk._ + Meligethes, _Kirby_. + *orientalis, _Niet._ + *respondens, _Wlk._ + Rhizophagus, _Herbst_. + parallelus, _Wlk_. + +Fam. COLYDIADAE, _Woll._ + Lyctus, _Fabr._ + retractus, _Wlk._ + disputans, _Wlk._ + Ditoma, _Illig._ + rugicollis, _Wlk._ + +Fam. TROGOSITIDAE, _Kirby_. + Trogosita, _Oliv._ + insinuans, _Wlk._ + *rhyzophagoides, _Wlk._ + +Fam. CUCUJIDAE, _Steph._ + Loemophloeus, _Dej._ + ferrugineus, _Wlk._ + Cucujus? _Fabr._ + *incommodus, _Wlk._ + Silvanus, _Latr._ + retrahens, _Wlk._ + *scuticollis, _Wlk._ + *porrectus, _Wlk._ + Brontes, _Fabr._ + *orientalis, _Dej._ + +Fam. LATHRIDIADAE, _Woll._ + Lathridius, _Herbst_. + perpusillus, _Wlk._ + Corticaria, _Marsh_. + resecta, _Wlk._ + Monotoma, _Herbst_. + concinnula, _Wlk._ + +Fam. DERMESTIDAE, _Leach_. + Dermestes, _Linn_. + vulpinus, _Fabr._ + Attagenus, _Latr._ + defectus, _Wlk._ + rufipes, _Wlk._ + Trinodes, _Meg._ + hirtellus, _Wlk._ + +Fam. BYRRHIDAE, _Leach_. + Inclica, _Wlk._ + solida, _Wlk._ + +Fam. HISTERIDAE, _Leach_. + Hister, _Linn_. + Bengalensis, _Weid._ + encaustus, _Mars._ + orientalis, _Payk_. + bipustulatus, _Fabr._ + *mundissimus, _Wlk._ + Saprinus, _Erich_. + semipunctatus, _Fabr._ + Platysoma, _Leach_. + atratum? _Erichs_. + desinens, _Wlk._ + restoratum, _Wlk._ + Dendrophilus, _Leach._ + finitimus, _Wlk._ + +Fam. APHODIADAE, _Macl._ + Aphodius, _Illig._ + robustus, _Wlk._ + dynastoides, _Wlk._ + pallidicornis, _Wlk._ + mutans, _Wlk._ + sequens, _Wlk._ + Psammodius, _Gyll._ + inscitus, _Wlk._ + +Fam. TROGIDAE, _Macl._ + Trox, _Fabr._ + inclusus, _Wlk._ + cornutus, _Fabr._ + +Fam. COPRIDAE, _Leach._ + Ateuchus, _Weber._ + sacer. _Linn._ + Gymnopleurus, _Illig._ + smaragdifer, _Wlk._ + Koenigii, _Fabr._ + Sisyphus, _Latr._ + setosulus, _Wlk._ + subsidens, _Wlk._ + prominens, _Wlk._ + Orepanocerus, _Kirby._ + Taprobanae, _West._ + Copris, _Geoffr._ + Pirmal, _Fabr._ + sagax, _Quens._ + capucinus, _Fabr._ + cribricollis, _Wlk._ + repertus, _Wlk._ + sodalis, _Wlk._ + signatus, _Wlk._ + diminutivus, _Wlk._ + Onthophagus, _Latr._ + Bonassus, _Fabr._ + cervicornis, _Fabr._ + prolixus, _Wlk._ + gravis, _Wlk._ + diffieilis, _Wlk._ + lucens, _Wtk._ + negligens, _Wlk._ + moerens, _Wlk._ + turbatus _Wlk._ + Onitis, _Fabr._ + Philemon, _Fabr._ + +Fam. DYNASTIDAE, _Macl._ + Oryetes, _Illig._ + rhinoceros, _Linn._ + Xylotrupes, _Hope._ + Gideon, _Linn._ + reductus, _Wlk._ + solidipes, _Wlk._ + Phileurus, _Latr._ + detractus, _Wlk._ + Orphnus, _Macl._ + detegens, _Wlk._ + scitissimus, _Wlk._ + +Fam. GEOTRUPIDAE, _Leach._ + Bolboceras, _Kirby._ + lineatus, _Westw._ + +Fam. MELOLONTHIDAE, + _Macl._ + Melolontha, _Fabr._ + nummicudens, _Newm._ + rubiginosa, _Wlk._ + ferruginosa, _Wlk._ + seriata, _Hope._ + pinguis, _Wlk._ + setosa, _Wlk._ + Rhizotrogus, _Lair._ + hirtipectus, _Wlk._ + aequalis, _Wlk._ + costatus, _Wlk._ + inductus, _Wlk._ + exactus, _Wlk._ + sulcifer, _Wlk._ + Phyllopertha, _Kirby._ + transversa, _Burm._ + Silphodes, _Westw._ + Indica, _Westw._ + Trigonostoma, _Dej._ + assimile, _Hope._ + compressum? _Weid._ + nanum, _Wlk._ + Serica, _Macl._ + pruinosa, _Hope._ + Popilia, _Leach._ + marginicollis, _Newm._ + cyanella, _Hope._ + discalis, _Wlk._ + Sericesthis, _Dej._ + rotundata, _Wlk._ + subsignata, _Wlk._ + mollis, _Wlk._ + confirmata, _Wlk._ + Plectris, _Lep. & Serv._ + solida, _Wlk._ + punctigera, _Wlk._ + glabrilinea, _Wlk._ + Isonychus, _Mann._ + ventralis, _Wlk._ + pectoralis, _Wlk._ + Omaloplia, _Meg._ + fracta, _Wlk._ + interrupta, _Wlk._ + semicincta, _Wlk._ + *hamifera, _Wlk._ + *picta, _Dohrn._ + *nana, _Dohrn._ + Apogonia, _Kirby_. + nigrieaus, _Hope._ + Phytalus, _Erich._ + eurystomus; _Burm._ + Ancylonycha, _Dej._ + Reynaudii, _Blanch._ + Leucopholis, _Dej._ + Mellei, _Guer._ + pinguis, _Burm._ + Anomala, _Meg._ + elata, _Fabr._ + humeralis, _Wlk._ + discalis, _Wlk._ + varicolor, _Sch._ + conformis, _Wlk._ + similis, _Hope._ + punctatissima, _Wlk._ + infixa, _Wlk._ + Mimela, _Kirby_ + variegata, _Wlk._ + mundissima, _Wlk._ + Parastasia, _Westw._ + rufopicta, _Westw._ + Euchlora, _Macl._ + viridis, _Fabr._ + perplexa, _Hope._ + +Fam. CETONIADAE, _Kirby._ + Glycyphana, _Burm._ + versicolor, _Fabr._ + luctuosa, _Gory._ + variegata, _Fabr._ + marginicollis, _Gory._ + Clinteria, _Burm._ + imperialis, _Schaum._ + incerta, _Parry._ + chloronota, _Blanch_ + Taeniodera, _Burm._ + Malabariensis, _Gory._ + quadrivittata, _White._ + alboguttata, _Vigors._ + Protaetia, _Burm._ + maculata, _Fabr._ + Whitehousii, _Parry._ + Agestrata, _Erich._ + nigrita, _Fabr._ + orichalcea, _Linn._ + Coryphocera, _Burm._ + elegans, _Fabr._ + Macronota, _Hoffm._ + quadrivittata, _Sch._ + +Fam. TRICHIADAE, _Leach._ + Valgus, _Scriba._ + addendus, _Wlk._ + +Fam. LUCANIDAE, _Leach._ + Odontolabis, _Burm._ + Bengalensis, _Parry._ + emarginatus, _Dej._ + AEgus, _Macl._ + acuminatus, _Fabr._ + lunatus, _Fabr._ + Singhala, _Blanch._ + tenella, _Blanch._ +Fam. PASSALIDAE, _Macl_. + Passalus, _Fabr_. + transversus, _Dohrn_. + interstitialis, _Perch_. + punctiger? _Lefeb_. + bicolor, _Fabr_. + +Fam. SPHAERIDIADAE, _Leach_. + Sphaeridium, _Fabr_. + tricolor, _Wlk_. + Cercyon, _Leach_. + *vicinale, _Wlk_. + +Fam. HYDROPHILIDAE, _Leach_. + Hydrous, _Leach_. + *rufiventris, _Niet_. + *inconspicuus, _Niet_. + Hydrobius, _Leach_. + stultus, _Wlk_. + Philydrus, _Solier_. + esuriens, _Wlk_. + Berosus, _Leach_. + *decrescens, _Wlk_. + Hydrochus, _Germ_. + *lacustris, _Niet_. + Georyssus, _Latr_. + *gemma, _Niet_. + *insularis, _Dohrn_. + Dastarcus, _Wlk_. + porosus, _Wlk_. + +Fam. BUPRESTIDAE, _Stph_. + Sternocera, _Esch_. + chrysis, _Linn_. + sternicornis, _Linn_. + Chrysochroa, _Solier_. + ignita, _Linn_. + Chinensis, _Lap_. + Rajah, _Lap_. + *cyaneocephala, _Fabr_. + Chyrsodema, _Lap_. + sulcata, _Thunb_. + Belionota, _Esch_. + scutellaris, _Fabr_. + *Petiti, _Gory_. + Chrysobothris, _Esch_. + suturalis, _Wlk_. + Agrilus, _Meg_. + sulcicollis, _Wlk_. + *cupreiceps, _Wlk_. + *cupreicollis, _Wlk_. + *armatus, _Fabr_. + +Fam. ELATERIDAE, _Leach_. + Campsosternos, _Latr_. + Templetonii, _Westw_. + aureolus, _Hope_. + Bohemannii, _Cand_. + venustulus, _Cand_. + pallidipes, _Cand_. + Agrypnus, _Esch_. + fuscipes, _Fabr_. + Alaus, _Esch_. + speciosus, _Linn_. + sordidus, _Westw_. + Cardiophorus, _Esch_. + humerifer, _Wlk_. + Corymbites, _Latr_. + dividens, _Wlk_. + divisa, _Wlk_. + *bivittava, _Wlk_. + Lacon, _Lap_. + *obesus, _Cand_. + Athous, _Esch_. + punctosus, _Wlk_. + inapertus, _Wlk_. + decretus, _Wlk_. + inefficiens, _Wlk_. + Ampedus, _Meg_. + *acutifer, _Wlk_. + *discicollis, _Wlk_. + Legna, _Wlk_. + idonea, _Wlk_. + +Fam. LAMPYRIDAE, _Leach_. + Lycus, _Fabr_. + triangularis, _Hope_. + geminus, _Wlk_. + astutus, _Wlk_. + fallax, _Wlk_. + planicornis, _Wlk_. + melanopterus, _Wlk_. + pubicornis, _Wlk_. + duplex, _Wlk_. + costifer, _Wlk_. + revocans, _Wlk_. + dispellens, _Wlk_. + *pubipennis, _Wlk_. + *humerifer, _Wlk_. + expansicornis, _Wlk_. + divisus, _Wlk_. + Dictyopterus, _Latr_. + internexus, _Wlk_. + Lampyris, _Geoff_. + tenebrosa, _Wlk_. + diffinis, _Wlk_. + lutescens, _Wlk_. + *vitrifera, _Wlk_. + Colophotia, _Dej_. + humeralis, _Wlk_. + [vespertina, _Fabr_. + perplexa, _Wlk_.?] + intricata, _Wlk_. + extricans, _Wlk_. + promelas, _Wlk_. + Harmatelia, _Wlk_. + discalis, _Wlk_. + bilinea, _Wlk_. + +Fam. TELEPHORIDAE, _Leach_. + Telephorus, _Schaeff_. + dimidiatus, _Fabr_. + malthinoides, _Wlk_. + Eugeusis, _Westw_. + palpator, _Westw_. + gryphus, _Hope_. + olivaceus, _Hope_. + +Fam. CEBRIONIDAE, _Steph_. + Callirhipis, _Latr_. + Templetonii, _Westw_. + Championii, _Westw_. + +Fam. MERLYRIDAE, _Leach_. + Malachius, _Fabr_. + plagiatus, _Wlk_. + Malthinus, _Latr_. + *forticornis, _Wlk_. + *retractus, _Wlk_. + fragilis, _Dohrn_. + Enciopus, _Steph_. + proficiens, _Wlk_. + Honosca, _Wlk_. + necrobioides, _Wlk_. + +Fam. CLERIDAE, _Kirby_. + Cylidrus, _Lap_. + sobrinus, _Dohrn_. + Stigmatium, _Gray_. + elaphroides, _Westw_. + Necrobia, _Latr_. + rufipes, _Fabr_. + aspera, _Wlk_. + +Fam. PTINIDAE, _Leach_. + Ptinus, _Linn_. + *nigerrimus, _Boield_. + +Fam. DIAPERIDAE, _Leach_. + Diaperis, _Geoff_. + velutina, _Wlk_. + fragilis, _Dohrn_. + +Fam. TENEBRIONIDAE, _Leach_. + Zophobas, _Dej_. + errans? _Dej_. + clavipes, _Wlk_. + ?solidus, _Wlk_. + Pseudoblaps, _Guer_. + nigrita, _Fabr_. + Tenebrio, _Linn_. + rubripes, _Hope_. + retenta, _Wlk_. + Trachyscelis, _Latr_. + brunnea, _Dohrn_. + +Fam. OPATRIDAE, _Shuck_. + Opatrum, _Fabr_. + contrahens, _Wlk_. + bilineatum, _Wlk_. + planatum, _Wlk_. + serricolle, _Wlk._ + Asida, _Latr_. + horrida, _Wlk._ + Crypticus, _Latr_. + detersus, _Wlk_. + longipennis, _Wlk._ + Phaleria, _Latr_. + rufipes, _Wlk._ + Toxicum, _Latr_. + oppugnans, _Wlk_. + biluna, _Wlk._ + Boletophagus, _Ill._ + *morosus, _Dohrn_. + *exasperatus, _Doh._ + Uloma, _Meg_. + scita, _Wlk._ + Alphitophagus, _Steph_. + subfascia, _Wlk_. + +Fam. HELOPIDAE, _Steph_. + Osdara, _Wlk_. + picipes, _Wlk_. + Cholipus, _Dej_. + brevicornis, _Dej_. + parabolicus, _Wlk_. + laeviusculus, _Wlk_. + Helops, _Fabr_. + ebenius, _Wlk_. + Camaria, _Lep. & Serv_. + amethystina, _L. & S_. + Amarygmus, _Dalm_. + chrysomeloides, _Dej_. + +Fam. MELOIDAE, _Woll_. + Epicauta, _Dej_. + nigrifinis, _Wlk_. + Cissites, _Latr_. + testaceus, _Fabr_. + Mylabris, _Fabr_. + humeralis, _Wlk_. + alterna, _Wlk_. + *recognita, _Wlk._ + Atractocerus, _Pal., Bv_. + debilis, _Wlk_. + reversus, _Wlk_. + +Fam. OEDEMERIDAE, _Steph_. + Cistela, _Fabr._ + congrua, _Wlk_. + *falsitica, _Wlk_. + Allecula, _Fabr_. + fusiformis, _Wlk_. + elegans, _Wlk_. + *flavifemur], _Wlk_. + Sora, _Wlk_. + *marginata, _Wlk_. + Thaccona, _Wlk_. + dimelas, _Wlk_. + +Fam. MORDELLIDAE, _Steph_. + Acosmus, _Dej_. + languidus, _Wlk_. + Rhipiphorus, _Fabr_. + *tropicus, _Niet_. + Mordella, _Linn_. + composita, _Wlk_. + *defectiva, _Wlk_. + Myrmecolax, _Westw_. + *Nietneri, _Westw_. + +Fam. ANTHICIDAE, _Wlk_. + Anthicus, _Payk_ + *quisquilarius, _Niet_. + *insularius, _Niet_. + *sticticollis, _Wlk_. + +Fam. CISSIDAE, _Leach_. + Cis, _Latr_. + contendens, _Wlk_. + +Fam. TOMICIDAE, _Shuck_. + Apate, _Fabr_. + submedia, _Wlk_. + Bostrichus, _Geoff_. + mutilatus, _Wlk_. + *vertens, _Wlk_. + *moderatus, _Wlk_. + *testaceus, _Wlk_. + *exiguus, _Wlk_. + Platypus, _Herbst_. + minax, _Wlk_. + solidus, _Wlk_. + *latitinis, _Wlk_. + Hylurgus, _Latr_. + determinans, _Wlk_. + *concinnulus, _Wlk_. + Hylesinus, _Fabr_. + curvifer, _Wlk_. + despectus, _Wlk_. + irresolutus, _Wlk_. + +Fam. CURCULIONIDAE, _Leach_. + Bruchus, _Linn_. + scutellaris, _Fabr_. + Spermophagus, _Steven_. + convolvuli, _Thumb_. + figuratus, _Wlk_. + Cisti, _Fabr_. + incertus, _Wlk_. + decretus, _Wlk_. + Dendropemon _Schoen_. + *melancholicus, _Dohrn_. + Dendrotrogus, _Jek_. + Dohrnii, _Jek_. + discrepans, _Dohrn_. + Eucorynus, _Schoen_. + colligendus, _Wlk_. + colligens, _Wlk_. + Basitropis, _Jek_. + *disconotatus, _Jek_. + Litocerus, _Schoen_. + punctulatus, _Dohrn_. + Tropideres, _Sch_. + punctulifer, _Dohrn_. + fragilis, _Wlk_. + Cedus, _Waterh_. + *cancellatus, _Dohrn_. + Xylinades, _Latr_. + sobrinulus, _Dohrn_. + indignus, _Wlk_. + Xenocerus, _Germ_. + anguliferus, _Wlk_. + revocans, _Wlk_. + *anchoralis, _Dohrn_. + Callistocerus, _Dohrn_. + *Nietneri, _Dohrn_. + Anthribus, _Geoff_. + longicornis, _Fabr_. + apicalis, _Wlk_. + facilis, _Wlk_. + Araecerus, _Schoen_. + coffeae, _Fabr_. + *insidiosus, _Fabr_. + *musculus, _Dohrn_. + *intangens, _Wlk_. + *bifovea, _Wlk_. + Dipieza, _Pasc_. + *insignis, _Dohrn_. + Apolecta, _Pasc_. + *Nietneri, _Dohrn_. + *musculus, _Dohrn_ + Arrhenodes, _Steven_. + miles, _Sch_. + pilicornis, _Sch_. + dentirostris, _Jek_. + approximans, _Wlk_. + Veneris, _Dohrn_ + Cerobates, _Schoen_. + thrasco, _Dohrn_. + aciculatus, _Wlk_. + Ceocephalus, _Schoen_. + cavus, _Wlk_. + *reticulatus, _Fabr_. + Nemocephalus, _Latr_. + sulcirostris, _De Haan_. + planicollis, _Wlk_. + spinirostris, _Wlk_. + Apoderus, _Oliv_. + longicollis ? _Fabr_. + Tranquebaricus, _Fabr_. + cygneus, _Fabr_.? + scitulus, _Wlk_. + *triangularis, _Fabr_. + *echinatus, _Sch_. + Rhynchites, _Herbst_. + suffundens, _Wlk._ + *restituens, _Wlk._ + Apion, _Herbst_. + *Cingalense, _Wlk._ + Strophosomus, _Bilbug_. + *suturalis, _Wlk._ + Piazomias, _Schoen._ + aequalis, _Wlk._ + Astycus, _Schoen._ + lateralis, _Fabr.?_ + ebeninus, _Wlk._ + *immunis, _Wlk._ + Cleonus, _Schoen._ + inducens, _Wlk._ + Myllocerus, _Schoen._ + transmarinus, _Herbst_.? + spurcatus, _Wlk._ + *retrahens, _Wlk._ + *posticus, _Wlk._ + Phyllobius, _Schoen._ + *mimicus, _Wlk._ + Episomus, _Schoen._ + pauperatus, _Fabr._ + Lixus, _Fabr._ + nebulifascia, _Wlk._ + Aclees, _Schoen._ + cribratus, _Dej._ + Alcides, _Dalm._ + signatus, _Boh._ + obliquus, _Wlk._ + transversus, _Wlk._ + *clausus, _Wlk._ + Acicnemis, _Fairm._ + Ceylonicus, _Jek._ + Apotomorhinus, _Schoen._ + signatus, _Wlk._ + alboater, _Wlk._ + Cryptorhynchus, _Illig._ + ineffectus, _Wlk._ + assimilans, _Wlk._ + declaratus, _Wlk._ + notabilis, _Wlk._ + vexatus, _Wlk._ + Camptorhinus, _Schoen.?_ + reversus, _Wlk._ + *indiscretus, _Wlk._ + Desmidophorus, _Chevr._ + hebes, _Fabr._ + communicans, _Wlk._ + strenuus, _Wlk._ + *discriminans _Wlk._ + inexpertus, _Wlk._ + *fasciculicollis, _Wlk._ + Sipalus, _Schoen._ + granulatus, _Fabr._ + porosus, _Wlk._ + tinctus, _Wlk._ + Mecopus, _Dalm._ + *Waterhousei, _Dohrn._ + Rhynchophorus, _Herbst_. + ferrugineus, _Fabr._ + introducens, _Wlk._ + Protocerus, _Schoen._ + molossus? _Oliv._ + Sphaenophorus, _Schoen._ + glabridiscus, _Wlk._ + exquisitus, _Wlk._ + Dehaani? _Jek._ + cribricollis, _Wlk._ + ? panops, _Wlk._ + Cossonus, _Clairv._ + *quadrimacula, _Wlk._ + ? hebes, _Wlk._ + ambiguus, _Sch.?_ + Sitophilus, _Schoen._ + oryzae, _Linn._ + disciferus, _Wlk._ + Mecinus, _Germ._ + *? relictus, _Wlk._ + +Fam. PRIONIDAE, _Leach_. + Trictenotoma, _G.H. Gray_. + Templetoni, _Westw._ + Prionomma, _White_. + orientalis, _Oliv._ + Acanthophorus, _Serv._ + serraticornis, _Oliv._ + Cnemoplites, _Newm._ + Rhesus, _Motch._ + AEgosoma, _Serv._ + Cingalense, _White_. + +Fam. CERAMIBYCIDAE, _Kirby_. + Cerambyx, _Linn._ + indutus, _Newm._ + vernicosus, _Pasc._ + consocius, _Pasc._ + versutus, _Pasc._ + nitidus, _Pasc._ + macilentus, _Pasc._ + venustus, _Pasc._ + torticollis, _Dohrn._ + Sebasmia, _Pasc._ + Templetoni, _Pasc._ + Callichroma, _Lair._ + trogoninum, _Pasc._ + telephoroides, _Westw._ + Homalomelas, _White_. + gracilipes, _Parry_. + zonatus, _Pasc._ + Colobus, _Serv._ + Cingalensis, _White_. + Thranius, _Pasc._ + gibbosus, _Pasc._ + Deuteromma, _Pasc._ + mutica, _Pasc._ + Obrium, _Meg._ + laterale, _Pasc._ + moestum, _Pasc._ + Psilomerus, _Blanch._ + macilentus, _Pasc._ + Clytus _Fabr._ + vicinus, _Hope_. + ascendens, _Pasc._ + Walkeri, _Pasc._ + annularis, _Fabr._ + *aurilinea, _Dohrn._ + Rhaphuma, _Pasc._ + leucoscutellata, _Hope_. + Ceresium, _Newm._ + cretatum, _White_. + Zeylanicum, _White._ + Stromatium, _Serv._ + barbatum, _Fabr._ + maculatum, _White._ + Hespherophanes, _Muls._ + simplex, _Gyll._ + +Fam. LAMIIDAE, _Kirby_. + Nyphona, _Muls._ + cylindracea, _White_. + Mesosa, _Serv._ + columba, _Pasc._ + Coptops, _Serv._ + bidens, _Fabr._ + Xylorhiza, _Dej._ + adusta, _Wied._ + Cacia, _Newm._ + triloba, _Pasc._ + Batocera, _Blanch._ + rubus, _Fabr._ + ferruginea, _Blanch._ + Monohammus, _Meg._ + fistulator, _Germ._ + crucifer, _Fabr._ + nivosus, _White_. + commixtus, _Pasc._ + Cereopsius, _Dup._ + patronus, _Pasc._ + Pelargoderus, _Serv._ + tigrinus, _Chevr._ + Olenocamptus, _Chevr._ + bilobus, _Fabr._ + Praonetha, _Dej._ + annulata, _Chevr._ + posticalis, _Pasc._ + Apomecyna, _Serv._ + histrio, _Fabr._ var.? + Ropica, _Pasc._ + praeusta, _Pasc._ + Hathlia, _Serv._ + procera, _Pasc._ + Iolea, _Pasc._ + proxima, _Pasc._ + histrio, _Pasc._ + Glenea, _Newm._ + sulphurella, _White_. + commissa, _Pasc._ + scapifera, _Pasc._ + vexator, _Pasc._ + Stibara, _Hope_. + nigricornis, _Fabr._ + +Fam. HISPIDAE, _Kirby_. + Oncocephala, _Dohrn_. + deltoides, _Dohrn_. + Leptispa, _Baly_. + pygmaea, _Baly_. + Amblispa, _Baly_, + Doehrnii, _Baly_. + Estigmena, _Hope_. + Chinensis, _Hope_. + Hispa, _Linn_. + hystrix, _Fabr_. + erinacea, _Fabr_. + nigrina, _Dohrn_. + *Walkeri, _Baly_. + Platypria, _Guer_. + echidna, _Guer_. + +Fam. CASSIDIDAE, _Westw_. + Epistictia, _Boh_. + matronula, _Boh_. + Hoplionota, _Hope_. + tetraspilota, _Baly_. + rubromarginata, _Boh_. + horrifica, _Boh_. + Aspidomorpha, _Hope_. + St. crucis, _Fabr_. + miliaris, _Fabr_. + pallidimarginata, _Baly_. + dorsata, _Fabr_. + calligera, _Boh_. + micans, _Fabr_. + Cassida, _Linn_. + clathrata, _Fabr_. + timefacta, _Boh_. + farinosa, _Boh_. + Laccoptera, _Boh_. + 14-notata, _Boh_. + Coptcycla, _Chevr_. + sex-notata, _Fabr_. + 13-signata, _Boh_. + 13-notata, _Boh_. + ornata, _Fabr_. + Ceylonica, _Boh_. + Balyi, _Boh_. + trivittata, _Fabr_. + 15-punctate, _Boh_. + catenata, _Dej_. + +Fam. SAGRIDAE:, _Kirby_. + Sagra, _Fabr_. + nigrita, _Oliv_. + +Fam. DONACIDAE, _Lacord_. + Donacia, _Fabr_. + Delesserti, _Guer_ + Coptocephala, _Chev_. + Templetoni, _Baly_. + +Fam. EUMOLPIDAE, _Baly_. + Corynodes, _Hope_. + cyaneus, _Hope_. + aeneus, _Baly_. + Glyptoscelis, _Chevr_. + Templetoni, _Baly_. + pyrospilotus, _Baly_. + micans, _Baly_. + cupreus, _Baly_. + Eumolpus, _Fabr_. + lemoides, _Wlk_. + +Fam. CRYPTOCEPHALIDAE, _Kirby_. + Cryptocephalus, _Geoff_. + sex-punctatus, _Fabr_. + Walkeri, _Baly_. + Diapromorpha, _Lac_. + Turcica, _Fabr_. + +Fam. CHRYSOMELIDAE, _Leach_. + Chalcolampa, _Baly_. + Templetoni, _Baly_. + Lina, _Meg_. + convexa, _Baly_. + Chrysomela, _Linn_. + Templetoni, _Baly_. + +Fam. GALERUCIDAE, _Steph_. + Galeruca, _Geoff_. + *pectinata, _Dohrn_. + Graptodera, _Chevr_. + cyanea, _Fabr_. + Monolepta, _Chevr_. + pulchella, _Baly_. + Thyamis, _Steph_. + Ceylonicus, _Baly_. + +Fam. COCCINELLIDAE, _Latr_. + Epilachna, _Chevr_. + 28-punctata, _Fabr_. + Delessortii, _Guer_. + pubescens, _Hope_. + innuba, _Oliv_. + Coccinella, _Linn_. + tricincta, _Fabr_. + *repanda, _Muls_. + tenuilinea, _Wlk_. + rejiciens, _Wlk_. + interrumpens, _Wlk_. + quinqueplaga, _Wlk_. + simplex, _Wlk_. + antica, _Wlk_. + flaviceps, _Wlk_. + Neda, _Muls_. + tricolor, _Fabr_. + Coelophora, _Muls_. + 9-maculata, _Fabr_. ? + Chilocorus, _Leach_. + opponens, _Wlk_. + Seymnus, _Kug_. + variabilis, _Wlk_. + +Fam. EROTYLIDAE, _Leach_. + Fatua, _Dej_. + Nepalensis, _Hope_. + Triplax, _Payk_. + decorus, _Wlk_. + Tritoma, _Fabr_. + *bifacies, _Wlk_. + *preposita, _Wlk_. + Ischyrus, _Cherz_. + grandis, _Fabr_. + +Fam. ENDOMYCHIDAE, _Leach._ + Eugonius, _Gerst_. + annularis, _Gerst_. + lunulatus, _Gerst_. + Eumorphus, _Weber_. + pulchripes, _Gerst_. + *tener, _Dohrn_. + Stenotarsus, _Perty_. + Nietneri, _Gerst_. + *castaneus, _Gerst_. + *tomentosus, _Gerst_. + *vallatus, _Gerst_. + Lycoperdina, _Latr_. + glabrata, _Wlk_. + Ancylopus, _Gerst_. + melanocephalus, _Oliv_. + Saula, _Gerst_. + *nigripes, _Gerst_. + *ferruginea, _Gerst_. + Mycetina, _Gerst_. + castanea, _Gerst_. + + +Order Orthoptera, _Linn_. + +Fam. FORFICULIDAE, _Steph_. + Forficula, _Linn_. + +Fam. BLATTIDAE, _Steph_. + Panesthia, _Serv_. + Javanica, _Serv_. + plagiata, _Wlk_. + Polyzosteria, _Burm_. + larva. + Corydia, _Serv_. + Petiveriana, _Linn_. + +Fam. MANTIDAE, _Leach_. + Empusa, _Illig_. + gongylodes, _Linn_. + Harpax, _Serv_. + signifer, _Wlk_. + Schizocephala, _Serv_, + bicornis, _Linn_. + Mantis, _Linn_. + superstitiosa, _Fabr_. + aridifolia, _Stoll_ + extensicollis ? _Serv_. + +Fam. PHASMIDAE, _Serv_. + Acrophylla, _Gray_. + systropedon, _Westw_. + Phasma, _Licht_. + sordidum, _De Haan_. + Phyllium, _Illig_. + siccifolium, _Linn_. + +Fam. GRYLLIDAE, _Steph_. + Acheta, _Linn_. + bimaculata, _Deg_. + supplicans, _Wlk_. + aequalis, _Wlk_. + confirmata, _Wlk_. + Platydactylus, _Brull_. + crassipes, _Wlk_. + Steirodon, _Serv_. + lanceolatum, _Wlk_. + Phyllophora, _Thunb_. + falsifolia, _Wlk_. + Acanthodis, _Serv_. + rugosa, _Wlk_. + Phaneroptera, _Serv_. + attenuata, _Wlk_. + Phymateus, _Thunb_. + miharis, _Linn_. + Truxalis, _Linn_. + exaltata, _Wlk_. + porrecta, _Wlk_. + Acridium, _Geoffr_. + extensum, _Wlk_. + deponens, _Wlk_. + rufitibia, _Wlk_. + cinctifemur, _Wlk_. + respondens, _Wlk_. + nigrifascia, _Wlk_. + +Order, Physapoda, _Dum_. + Thrips, _Linn_. + stenomelas, _Wlk_. + +Order, Neuroptera, _Linn_. + +Fam. SERICOSTOMIDAE, _Steph_. + Mormonia, _Curt_. + *ursina, _Hagen_. + +Fam. LEPTOCERIDAE, _Leach_. + Macronema, _Pict_. + multitarium, _Wlk_. + *splendidum, _Hagen_. + *nebulosum, _Hagen_. + *obliquum, _Hagen_. + *Ceylanicum, _Niet_. + *annulicorne, _Niet_. + Molanna, _Curt_. + mixta, _Hagen_. + Sctodes, _Ramb_. + *Iris, _Hagen_. + *Ino, _Hagen_. + +Fam. PSYCHOMIDAE, _Curt_. + Chimarra, _Leach_. + *auriceps, _Hagen_. + *funesta, _Hagen_. + *sepulcralis, _Hagen_. + +Fam. HYDROPSYCHIDAE, _Curt_. + Hydropsyche, _Pict_. + *Taprobanes, _Hagen_. + *mitis, _Hagen_. + +Fam. RHYACOPHILIDAE, _Steph_. + Rhyacophila, _Pict_. + *castanea, _Hagen_. + +Fam. PERLIDAE, _Leach_. + Perla, _Geoffr_. + angulata, _Wlk_. + *testacea, _Hagen_. + *limosa, _Hagen_. + +Fam. SILIADAE, _Westw_. + Dilar, _Ramb_. + *Nietneri, _Hagen_. + +Fam. HEMEROBIDAE, _Leach_. + Mantispa, _Illig_. + *Indica, _Westw_. + mutata, _Wlk_. + Chrysopa, _Leach_. + invaria, _Wlk_. + *tropica, _Hagen_. + aurifera, _Wlk_. + *punctata, _Hagen_. + Micromerus, _Ramb_. + *linearis, _Hagen_. + *australis, _Hagen_. + Hemerobius, _Linn_. + *frontalis, _Hagen_. + Coniopteryx, _Hal_. + *cerata, _Hagen_. + +Fam. MYRMELEONIDAE, _Leach_. + Palpares, _Ramb_. + contrarius, _Wlk_. + Acanthoclisis, _Ramb_. + *--n. s. _Hagen_. + *molestus, _Wlk_. + Myrmeleon, _Linn_. + gravis, _Wlk_. + dirus, _Wlk_. + barbarus, _Wlk_. + Ascalaphus, _Fabr_. + nugax, _Wlk_. + incusans, _Wlk_. + *cervinus, _Niet_. + +Fam. PSOCIDAE, _Leach_. + + Psocus, _Latr_. + *Taprobanes, _Hagen_. + *oblitus, _Hagen_. + *consitus, _Hagen_. + *trimaculatus, _Hagen_. + *obtusus, _Hagen_. + *elongatus, _Hagen_. + *chloroticus, _Hagen_. + *aridus, _Hagen_. + *coleoptratus, _Hagen_. + *dolabratus, _Hagen_. + *infelix, _Hagen_. + +Fam. TERMITIDAE, _Leach_. + Termes, _Linn_. + Taprobanes, _Wlk_. + fatalis, _Koen_. + monoceros, _Koen_. + *umbilicatus, _Hagen_. + *n.s. _Jouv_. + *n.s. _Jouv_. + +Fam. EMBIDAE, _Hagen_. + + Oligotoma, _Westw_. + *Saundersii, _Westw_. + +Fam. EPHEMERIDAE, _Leach_. + Baetis, _Leach_. + Taprobanes, _Wlk_. + Potamanthus, _Pict_. + *fasciatus, _Hagen_. + *annulatus, _Hagen_. + *femoralis, _Hagen_. + Cloe, _Burm_. + *tristis, _Hagen_. + *consueta, _Hagen._ + *solida, _Hagen_. + *sigmata, _Hagen_. + *marginalis, _Hagen_. + Caenis, _Steph_. + perpusilla, _Wlk_. + +Fam. LIBELLULIDAE. + Calopteryx, _Leach_. + Chinensis, _Linn_. + Euphoea, _Selys_. + splendens, _Hagen_. + Micromerus, _Ramb_. + lineatus, _Burm_. + Trichocnemys, _Selys_. + *serapica, _Hagen_. + Lestes, _Leach_. + *elata, _Hagen_. + *gracilis, _Hagen_. + Agrion, _Fabr._ + *Coromandelianum, _F._ + *tenax, _Hagen._ + *hilare, _Hagen._ + *velare, _Hagen._ + *delicatum, _Hagen._ + Gynacantha, _Ramb._ + subinterrupta, _Ramb._ + Epophthalmia, _Burm._ + vittata, _Burm._ + Zyxomma, _Ramb._ + petiolatum, _Ramb._ + Acisoma, _Ramb._ + panorpoides, _Ramb._ + Libellula, _Linn._ + Marcia, _Drury._ + Tillarga, _Fabr._ + variegata, _Linn._ + flavescens, _Fabr._ + Sabina, _Drury._ + viridula, _Pal. Beauv._ + congener, _Ramb._ + soror, _Ramb._ + Aurora, _Burm._ + violacea, _Niet._ + perla, _Hagen._ + sanguinea, _Burm._ + trivialis, _Ramb._ + contaminata, _Fabr._ + equestris, _Fabr._ + nebulosa, _Fabr._ + +Order, Hymenoptera, _Linn_. + +Fam. FORMICIDAE, _Leach._ + Formica, _Linn._ + smaragdina, _Fabr._ + mitis, _Smith._ + *Taprobane, _Smith._ + *variegata, _Smith._ + *exercita, _Wlk._ + *exundans, _Wlk._ + *meritans, _Wlk._ + *latebrosa, _Wlk_ + *pangens, _Wlk._ + *ingruens _Wlk._ + *detorquens, _Wlk._ + *diffidens, _Wlk._ + *obscurans, _Wlk._ + *indeflexa, _Wik._ + consultans, _Wlk._ + Polyrhachis, _Smith._ + *illaudatus, _Wlk._ + +Fam. PONERIDAE, _Smith._ + Odontomachus, _Latr._ + simillimus, _Smith._ + Typhlopone, _Westw._ + Cartisii, _Shuck._ + Myrmica, _Latr._ + basalis, _Smith._ + contigua, _Smith._ + glyciphila, _Smith._ + *consternens, _Wlk._ + Crematogaster, _Lund._ + *pellens, _Wlk._ + *deponens, _Wlk._ + *forticulus, _Wlk._ + Pseudomyrma, _Gure._ + *atrata, _Smith._ + allaborans, _Wlk._ + Atta, _St. Farg._ + didita, _Wlk._ + Pheidole, _Westw._ + Janus, _Smith._ + *Taprobanae, _Smith._ + *rugosa, _Smith._ + Meranoplus, _Smith._ + *dimicans, _Wlk._ + Cataulacus, _Smith._ + Taprobanae, _Smith._ + +Fam. MUTILLIDAE, _Leach._ + Mutilla, _Linn._ + *Sibylla, _Smith._ + Tiphia, _Fabr._ + *decrescens, _Wlk._ + +Fam. EUMENIDAE, _Westw._ + Odynerus, _Latr._ + *tinctipennis, _Wlk._ + *intendens, _Wlk._ + Scolia, _Fabr._ + auricollis, _St. Farg._ + +Fam, CRABRONIDAE, _Leach._ + Philanthus, _Fabr._ + basalis, _Smith._ + Stigmus, _Jur._ + *congruus, _Wlk._ + +Fam. SPHEGIDAE, _Steph._ + Ammophila, _Kirby._ + atripes, _Smith._ + Pelopoaeus, _Latr._ + Spinolae, _St. Farg._ + Sphex, _Fabr._ + ferruginea, _St. Farg._ + Ampulex, _Jur._ + conapressa, _Fabr._ + +Fam. LARRIDAE, _Steph._ + Larrada, _Smith._ + *extensa, _Wlk._ + +Fam. POMPILIDAE, _Leach._ + Pompilus, _Fabr._ + analis, _Fabr._ + +Fam. APIDAE, _Leach._ + Andrena, _Fabr._ + *exagens, _Wlk._ + Nomia, _Latr._ + rustica, _Westw._ + *vincta, _Wlk._ + Allodaps, _Smith._ + *marginata, _Smith._ + Ceratina, _Latr._ + viridis, _Guer._ + picta, _Smith._ + *simillima, _Smith._ + Caelioxys, _Latr._ + capitata, _Smith._ + Crocisa, _Jur._ + *ramosa, _St. Farg._ + Stelis, _Panz._ + carbonaria, _Smith._ + Anthophora, _Latr._ + zonata, _Smith._ + Xylocopa, _Latr._ + tenuiscapa, _Westw._ + latipes, _Drury._ + Apis, _Linn._ + Indica, _Smith._ + Trigona, _Jur._ + iridipennis, _Smith._ + *praeterita, _Wlk._ + +Fam, CHRYSIDAE, _Wlk._ + Stilbum, _Spin._ + splendidum, _Dahl._ + +Fam. DORYLIDAE, _Shuck._ + Enictus, _Shuck._ + porizonoides, _Wlk._ + +Fam. ICHNEUMONIDAE, _Leach._ + Cryptus, _Fabr._ + *onustus, _Wlk._ + Hemiteles ? _Grav._ + *varius, _Wlk._ + Porizon, _Fall._ + *dominans, _Wlk._ + Pimpla, _Fabr._ + albopicta, _Wlk._ + +Fam. BRACONIDAE, _Hal._ + Microgaster, _Latr._ + *recusans, _Wlk._ + *significans, _Wlk._ + *subducens, _Wlk._ + *detracta, _Wlk._ + Spathius, _Nees._ + *bisignatus, _Wlk._ + *signipennis, _Wlk._ + Heratemis, _Wlk_ + *filosa, _Wlk._ + Nebartha, _Wlk_. + *macropoides, _Wlk_. + Psyttalia, _Wlk_. + *testacea, _Wlk_. + +Fam. CHALCIDIAE, _Spin_. + Chalcis, _Fabr_. + *dividens, _Wlk_. + *pandens, _Wlk_. + Halticella, _Spin_. + *rufimanus, _Wlk_. + *inficiens, _Wlk_. + Dirrhinus, _Dalm_. + *Anthracia, _Wlk_. + Eurytoma, _Ill_. + *contraria, _Wlk_. + *indefensa, _Wlk_. + Eucharis, _Latr_. + *convergens, _Wlk_. + *deprivata, _Wlk_. + Pteromalus, _Swed_. + *magniceps, _Wlk_. + Encyrtus, _Latr_. + *obstructus, _Wlk_. + +Fam. DIAPHIDAE, _Hal_. + Diapria, _Latr_. + apicalis, _Wlk_. + +Order, Lepidoptera, _Linn_. + +Fam. PAPILIONIDAE, _Leach_. + Ornithoptera, _Boisd_. + Darsius, _G. R. Gray_. + Papilio, _Linn_. + Diphilus, _Esp_. + Jophon, _G. R. Gray_. + Hector, _Linn_. + Romulus, _Cram_. + Polymnestor, _Cram_. + Crino, _Fabr_. + Helenus, _Linn_. + Pammon, _Linn_. + Polytes, _Linn_. + Erithonius, _Cram_. + Antipathis, _Cram_. + Agamemnon, _Linn_. + Eurypilos, _Linn_. + Bathycles, _Zinck-Som_. + Sarpedon, _Linn_. + dissimilis, _Linn_. + Pontia, _Fabr_. + Nina, _Fabr_. + Pieris, _Schr_. + Eacharis, _Drury_. + Coronis, _Cram_. + Epicharis, _Gudt_. + Nama, _Doubl_. + Remba, _Moore_. + Mesentina, _Godt_. + Severina, _Cram_. + Namouna, _Doubl_. + Phryne, _Fabr_. + Paulina, _Godt_. + Thestylis, _Doubl_. + Callosune, _Doubl_. + Eucharis, _Fabr_. + Danae, _Fabr_. + Etrida, _Boisd_. + Idmais, _Boisd_. + Calais, _Cram_. + Thestias, _Boisd_. + Mariamne, _Cram_. + Pirene, _Linn_. + Hebomoia, _Huebn_. + Glaucippe, _Linn_. + Eronia, _Huebn_. + Valeria, _Cram_. + Callidryas, _Boisd_. + Phillipina, _Boisd_. + Pyranthe, _Linn_. + Hilaria, _Cram_. + Alemeone, _Cram_. + Thisorella, _Boisd_. + Terias, _Swain_. + Drona, _Horsf_. + Hecabe, _Linn_. + +Fam. NYMPHALIDAE, _Swain_. + Euploea, _Fabr_. + Prothoe, _Godt_. + Core, _Cram_. + Alcathoe, _Godt_. + Danais, _Latr_. + Chrysippus, _Linn_. + Plexippus, _Linn_. + Aglae, _Cram_. + Melissa, _Cram_. + Limniacae, _Cram_. + Juventa, _Cram_. + Hestia, _Huebn_. + Jasonia, _Westw_. + Telchinia, _Huebn_. + violae, _Fabr_. + Cethosia, _Fabr_. + Cyane, _Fabr_. + Messarus, _Doubl_. + Erymanthis, _Drury_. + Atella, _Doubl_. + Phalanta, _Drury_. + Argynnis, _Fabr_. + Niphe, _Linn_. + Clagia, _Godt_. + Ergolis, _Boisd_. + Taprobana, _West_. + Vanessa, _Fabr_. + Charonia, _Drury_. + Libythea, _Fabr_. + Medhavina, _Wlk_. + Pushcara, _Wlk_. + Pyrameis, _Huebn_. + Charonia, _Drury_. + Cardui, _Linn_. + Callirhoe, _Huebn_. + Junonia, _Huebn_. + Limonias, _Linn_. + Oenone, _Linn_. + Orithyia, _Linn_. + Laomedia, _Linn_. + Asterie, _Linn_. + Precis, _Huebn_. + Iphita, _Cram_. + Cynthia, _Fabr_. + Arsinoe, _Cram_. + Parthenos, _Huebn_. + Gambrisius, _Fabr_. + Limenitis, _Fabr_. + Calidusa, _Moore_. + Neptis, _Fabr_. + Heliodore, _Fabr_. + Columella, _Cram_. + aceris, _Fabr_. + Jumbah, _Moore_. + Hordonia, _Stoll_. + Diadema, _Boisd_. + Auge, _Cram_. + Bolina, _Linn_. + Symphaedra, _Huebn_. + Thyelia, _Fabr_. + Adolias, _Boisd_. + Evelina, _Stoll_. + Lubentina, _Fabr_. + Vasanta, _Moore_. + Garada, _Moore_. + Nymphalis, _Latr_. + Psaphon, _Westw_. + Bernardus, _Fabr_. + Athamas, _Cram_. + Fabius, _Fabr_. + Kallima, _Doubl_. + Philarchus, _Westw_. + Melanitis, _Fabr_. + Banksia, _Fabr_. + Leda, _Linn_. + Casiphone, _G. R. Gray_. + unduluris, _Boisd_. + Ypththima, _Huebn_. + Lysandra, _Cram_. + Parthalis, _Wlk_. + Cyllo, _Boisd_. + Gorya, _Wlk_. + Cathaena, _Wlk_. + Embolima, _Wlk_. + Neilgherriensis, _Guer_. + Purimata, _Wlk_. + Pushpamitra, _Wlk_. + Mycalesis, _Huebn_. + Patnia, _Moore_. + Gamuliba, _Wlk_. + Dosaron, _Wlk_. + Samba, _Moore_. + Caenonympha, _Huebn_. + Euaspla, _Wlk._ + Emesis, _Fabr._ + Echerius, _Stoll._ + +Fam. LYCAENIDAE, _Leach._ + Anops, _Boisd._ + Bulis, _Boisd._ + Thetys, _Drury._ + Loxura, _Horsf._ + Atymnus, _Cram._ + Myrina, _Godt._ + Selimnus, _Doubled._ + Triopas, _Cram._ + Amblypodia, _Horsf._ + Longinus, _Fabr._ + Narada, _Horsf._ + Pseudocentaurus, _Do._ + quercetorum, _Boisd._ + Aphnaeus, _Huebn._ + Pindarus, _Fabr._ + Etolus, _Cram._ + Hephaestos, _Doubled._ + Crotus, _Doubled._ + Dipsas, _Doubled._ + Chrysomallos, _Huebn._ + Isocrates, _Fabr._ + Lycaena, _Fabr._ + Alexis, _Stoll._ + Boetica, _Linn._ + Cnejus, _Horsf._ + Rosimon, _Fabr._ + Theophrastus, _Fabr._ + Pluto, _Fabr._ + Parana, _Horsf._ + Nyseus, _Guer._ + Ethion, _Boisd._ + Celeno, _Cram._ + Kandarpa, _Horsf._ + Elpis, _Godt._ + Chimonas, _Wlk._ + Gandara, _Wlk._ + Chorienis, _Wlk._ + Geria, _Wlk._ + Doanas, _Wlk._ + Sunya, _Wlk._ + Audhra, _Wlk._ + Polyommatus, _Latr._ + Akasa, _Horsf._ + Puspa, _Horsf._ + Laius, _Cram._ + Ethion, _Boisd._ + Cattigara, _Wlk._ + Gorgippia, _Wlk._ + Lucia, _Westw._ + Epius, _Westw._ + Pithecops, _Horsf._ + Hylax, _Fabr._ + +Fam. HESPERIDAE, _Steph._ + Goniloba, _Westw._ + Iapetus, _Cram._ + Pyrgus, _Huebn._ + Superna, _Moore._ + Danna, _Moore._ + Genta, _Wlk._ + Sydrus, _Wlk._ + Nisoniades, _Huebn._ + Diocles, _Boisd._ + Salsala, _Moore._ + Toides, _Wlk._ + Pamphila, _Fabr._ + Angias, _Linn._ + Achylodes, _Huebn._ + Temala, _Wlk._ + Hesperia, _Fabr._ + Indrani, _Moore._ + Chaya, _Moore._ + Cinnara, _Moore._ + gremius, _Latr._ + Cendochates, _Wlk._ + Tiagara, _Wlk._ + Cotiaris, _Wlk._ + Sigala, _Wlk._ + +Fam. SPHINGIDAE. _Leach._ + Sesia, _Fabr._ + Hylas, _Linn._ + Macroglossa, _Ochs._ + Stellatarum, _Linn._ + gyrans, _Boisd._ + Corythus, _Boisd._ + divergens, _Wlk._ + Calymnia, _Boisd._ + Panopus, _Cram._ + Choerocampa, _Dup._ + Thyelia, _Linn._ + Nyssus, _Drury._ + Clotho, _Drury._ + Oldenlandiae, _Fabr._ + Lycetus, _Cram._ + Silhetensis, _Boisd._ + Pergesa, _Wlk._ + Acteus, _Cram._ + Panacra, _Wlk._ + vigil, _Guer._ + Daphnis, _Huebn._ + Nerii, _Linn._ + Zonilia, _Boisd._ + Morpheus, _Cram._ + Macrosila, _Boisd._ + obliqua, _Wlk._ + discistriga, _Wlk._ + Sphinx, _Linn._ + convolvuli, _Linn._ + Acherontia, _Ochs._ + Satanas, _Boisd._ + Smerinthus, _Latr._ + Dryas, _Boisd._ + +Fam. CASTNIIDAE _Wlk._ + Eusemia, _Dalm._ + bellatrix, _Westw._ + AEgocera, _Latr._ + Venulia, _Cram._ + bimacula, _Wlk._ + +Fam. ZYGAENIDAE, _Leach._ + Syntomis, _Ochs._ + Schoenherri, _Boisd._ + Creusa, _Linn._ + Imaon, _Cram._ + Glaucopis, _Fabr._ + subaurata, _Wlk._ + Enchromia, _Huebn._ + Polymena, _Cram._ + diminuta, _Wlk._ + +Fam. LITHOSIIDAE, _Steph._ + Scaptesyle, _Wlk._ + bicolor, _Wlk._ + Nyctemera, _Huebn._ + lacticinia, _Cram._ + latistriga, _Wlk._ + Coleta, _Cram._ + Euschema, _Huebn._ + subrepleta, _Wlk._ + transversa, _Wlk._ + vilis, _Wlk._ + Chalcosia, _Huebn._ + Tiberina, _Cram._ + venosa, _Anon._ + Eterusia, _Hope._ + AEdea, _Linn._ + Trypanophora, _Wlk._ + Taprobanes, _Wlk._ + Heteropan, _Wlk._ + scintillans, _Wlk._ + Hypsa, _Huebn._ + plana, _Wlk._ + caricae, _Fabr._ + ficus, _Fabr._ + Vitessa, _Moor._ + Zemire, _Cram._ + Lithosia, _Fabr._ + antica, _Wlk._ + brevipennis, _Wlk._ + Setina, _Schr._ + semifascia, _Wlk._ + solita, _Wlk._ + Doliche, _Wlk._ + hilaris, _Wlk._ + Pitane, _Wlk._ + conserta, _Wlk._ + AEmene, _Wlk._ + Taprobanes, _Wlk._ + Dirades, _Wlk._ + attacoides, _Wlk._ + Cyllene, _Wlk._ + transversa, _Wlk._ + *spoliata, _Wlk._ + Bizone, _Wlk._ + subornata, _Wlk._ + peregrina, _Wlk._ + Deiopeia, _Steph._ + pulchella, _Linn._ + Astrea, _Drury._ + Argus, _Kollar._ + +Fam. ARCTIIDAE, _Leach_. + Alope, _Wlk._ + ocellifera, _Wlk._ + Sangarida, _Cram._ + Tinolius, _Wlk._ + eburneigutta, _Wlk._ + Creatonotos, _Huebn._ + interrupta, _Linn._ + emittens, _Wlk._ + Acmonia, _Wlk._ + lithosioides, _Wlk._ + Spilosoma, _Steph._ + subfascia, _Wlk._ + Cycnia, _Huebn._ + rubida, _Wlk._ + sparsigutta, _Wlk._ + Antheua, _Wlk._ + discalis, _Wlk._ + Aloa, _Wlk_. + lactinea, _Cram._ + candidula, _Wlk._ + erosa, _Wlk._ + Amerila, _Wlk._ + Melanthus, _Cram._ + Ammatho, _Wlk._ + cunionotatus, _Wlk._ + +Fam. LIPARIDAE, _Wlk._ + Artaxa, _Wlk._ + guttata, _Wlk._ + *varians, _Wlk._ + atomaria, _Wlk._ + Acyphas, _Wlk._ + viridescens, _Wlk._ + Lacida, _Wlk._ + rotundata, _Wlk._ + antica, _Wlk._ + subnotata, _Wlk._ + complens, _Wlk._ + promittens, _Wlk._ + strigulifera, _Wlk._ + Amsacta? _Wlk._ + tenebrosa, _Wlk._ + Antipha, _Wlk._ + costalis, _Wlk._ + Anaxila, _Wlk._ + notata, _Wlk._ + Procodeca, _Wlk._ + augulifera, _Wlk._ + Redoa, _Wlk._ + submarginata, _Wlk._ + Euproctis, _Huebn._ + virguncula, _Wlk._ + bimaculata, _Wlk._ + lunata, _Wlk._ + tinctifera, _Wlk._ + Cispia, _Wlk._ + plagiata, _Wlk._ + Dasychira, _Huebn._ + pudibunda, _Linn._ + Lymantria, _Huebn._ + grandis, _Wlk._ + marginata, _Wlk._ + Enome, _Wlk._ + ampla, _Wlk._ + Dreata, _Wlk._ + plumipes, _Wlk._ + geminata, _Wlk._ + mutans, _Wlk._ + mollifera. _Wlk._ + Pandala, _Wlk._ + dolosa, _Wlk._ + Charnidas, _Wlk._ + junctifera, _Wlk._ + +Fam PSYCHIDAE, _Bru._ + Psyche, _Schr._ + Doubledaii, _Westw._ + Metisa, _Wlk._ + plana, _Wlk._ + Eumeta, _Wlk._ + Cramerii, _Westw._ + Templetonii, _Westw._ + Cryptothelea, _Templ._ + consorta, _Templ._ + +Fam. NOTODONTIDAE, _St._ + Cerura, _Schr._ + liturata, _Wlk._ + Stauropus, _Germ._ + alternans, _Wlk._ + Nioda, _Wlk._ + fusiformis, _Wlk._. + transversa, _Wlk._ + Rilia, _Wlk._ + lanceolata, _Wlk._ + basivitta, _Wlk._ + Ptilomacra, _Wlk._ + juvenis, _Wlk._ + Elavia, _Wlk._ + metaphaea, _Wlk._ + Notodonta, _Ochs._ + ejecta, _Wlk._ + Ichthyura, _Huebn._ + restituens, _Wlk._ + +Fam. LIMACODIDAE, _Dup_. + Scopelodes, _Westw._ + unicolor, _Westw._ + Messata, _Wlk._ + rubiginosa, _Wlk._ + Miresa, _Wlk._ + argentifera, _Wlk._ + aperiens, _Wlk._ + Nyssia, _Herr. Sch._ + laeta, _Westw._ + Nesera, _Herr. Sch._ + graciosa, _Westw._ + Narosa, _Wlk._ + conspersa, _Wlk._ + Naprepa, _Wlk._ + varians, _Wlk._ + +Fam. DREPANULIDAE, _Wlk._ + Oreta, _Wlk._ + suffusa, _Wlk._ + extensa, _Wlk._ + Arna, _Wlk._ + apicalis, _Wlk._ + Ganisa, _Wlk._ + postica, _Wlk._ + +Fam. SATURINIDAE, _Wlk._ + Attacus, _Linn._ + Atlas, _Linn._ + lunula, _Anon._ + Antheraea, _Huebn._ + Mylitta, _Drury._ + Assama, _Westw._ + Tropaea, _Huebn._ + Selene, _Huebn._ + +Fam. BOMBYCIDAE, _Steph._ + Trabala, _Wlk._ + basalis, _Wlk._ + prasina, _Wlk._ + Lasiocampa, _Schr._ + trifascia, _Wlk._ + Megasoma, _Boisd._ + venustum, _Wlk._ + Lebeda, _Wlk._ + repanda, _Wlk._ + plagiata, _Wlk._ + bimaculata, _Wlk._ + scriptiplaga, _Wlk._ + +Fam. COSSIDAE, _Newm._ + Cossus, _Fabr._ + quadrinotatus, _Wlk._ + Zeuzera, _Latr_. + leuconota, _Steph._ + pusilla, _Wlk._ + +Fam. HEPIALIDAE, _Steph._ + Phassus, _Steph._ + signifer, _Wlk._ + +Fam. CYMATOPHORIDAE, _Herr. Sch._ + Thyatira, _Ochs._ + repugnans, _Wlk._ + +Fam. BRYOPHILIDAE, _Guen._ + Bryophila, _Treit._ + semipars, _Wlk._ + +Fam. BOMBYCOIDAE, _Guen._ + Diphtera, _Ochs._ + deceptura, _Wlk._ + +Fam. LEUCANIDAE, _Guen._ + Leucania, _Ochs._ + confusa, _Wlk._ + exempta, _Wlk._ + inferens, _Wlk._ + collecta, _Wlk._ + Brada, _Wlk._ + truncata, _Wlk._ + Crambopsis, _Wlk._ + excludens, _Wlk._ + +Fam. GLOTTULIDAE, _Guen._ + Polytela, _Guen._ + gloriosa, _Fabr._ + Glottula, _Guen._ + Dominica, _Cram._ + Chasmina, _Wlk._ + pavo, _Wlk._ + cygnus, _Wlk._ + +Fam. APAMIDAE, _Guen._ + Laphygma, _Guen._ + obstans, _Wlk._ + trajiciens, _Wlk._ + Prodenia, _Guen._ + retina, _Friv._ + glaucistriga, _Wlk._ + apertura, _Wlk._ + Calogramma, _Wlk._ + festiva, _Don._ + Heliophobus, _Boisd._ + discrepans, _Wlk._ + Hydraecia, _Guen._ + lampadifera, _Wlk._ + Apamea, _Ochs._ + undecilia, _Wlk._ + Celaena, _Steph._ + serva, _Wlk._ + +Fam. CARADRINIDAE, _Guen._ + Amyna, _Guen._ + selenampha, _Guen._ + +Fam. NOCTUIDAE, _Guen._ + Agrotis, _Ochs._ + aristifera, _Guen._ + congrua, _Wlk._ + punctipes, _Wlk._ + mundata, _Wlk._ + transducta, _Wlk._ + plagiata, _Wlk._ + plagifera, _Wlk._ + +Fam. HADENIDAE, _Guen._ + Eurois, _Huebn._ + auriplena, _Wlk._ + inclusa, _Wlk._ + Epiceia, _Wlk._ + subsignata, _Wlk._ + Hadena, _Treit._ + subcurva, _Wlk._ + postica, _Wlk._ + retrahens, _Wlk._ + confundens, _Wlk._ + congressa, _Wlk._ + ruptistriga, _Wlk._ + Ansa, _Wlk._ + filipalpis, _Wlk._ + +Fam. XYLINIDAE, _Guen,_ + Ragada, _Wlk._ + pyrorchroma, _Wlk._ + Cryassa, _Wlk._ + bifacies, _Wlk._ + Egelista, _Wlk._ + rudivitta, _Wlk._ + Xylina, _Ochs._ + deflexa, _Wlk._ + inchoans, _Wlk._ + +Fam. HELIOTHIDAE, _Guen._ + Heliothis, _Ochs._ + armigera, _Huebn._ + +Fam. HAEMEROSIDAE, _Guen._ + Ariola, _Wlk._ + coelisigna, _Wlk._ + dilectissima, _Wlk._ + saturata, _Wlk._ + +Fam. ACONTIDAE, _Guen._ + Xanthodes, _Guen._ + intersepta, _Guen._ + Acontia, _Ochs._ + tropica, _Guen._ + olivacea, _Wlk._ + fasciculosa, _Wlk._ + signifera, _Wlk._ + turpis, _Wlk._ + mianoeides, _Wlk._ + approximans, _Wlk._ + divulsa, _Wlk._ + *egens, _Wlk._ + plenicosta, _Wlk._ + determinata, _Wlk._ + hypaetroides, _Wlk._ + Chlumetia, _Wlk._ + multilinea, _Wlk._ + +Fam. ANTHOPHILIDAE, _Guen._ + Micra, _Guen._ + destituta, _Wlk._ + derogata, _Wlk._ + simplex, _Wlk._ + +Fam. ERIOPIDAE, _Guen._ + Callopistria, _Huebn._ + exotica, _Guen._ + rivularis, _Wlk._ + duplicans, _Wlk._ + +Fam. EURHIPIDAE, _Guen._ + Penicillaria, _Guen._ + nugatrix, _Guen._ + resoluta, _Wlk._ + solida, _Wlk._ + ludatrix, _Wlk._ + Rhesala, _Wlk._ + imparata, _Wlk._ + Eutelia, _Huebn._ + favillatrix, _Wlk._ + thermesiides, _Wlk._ + +Fam. PLUSIIDAE, _Boisd._ + Abrostola, _Ochs._ + transfixa, _Wlk._ + Plusia, _Ochs._ + aurifera, _Huebn._ + verticillata, _Guen._ + agramma, _Guen._ + obtusisigna, _Wlk._ + nigriluna, _Wlk._ + signata, _Wlk._ + dispellens, _Wlk._ + propulsa, _Wlk._ + +Fam. CALPIDAE, _Guen._ + Calpe, _Treit._ + minuticornis, _Guen._ + Oroesia, _Guen._ + emarginata, _Fabr._ + Deva, _Wlk._ + conducens, _Wlk._ + +Fam. HEMICERIDAE, _Guen._ + Westermannia, _Huebn._ + superba, _Huebn._ + +Fam. HYBLAEIDAE, _Guen._ + Hyblaea, _Guen._ + Puera, _Cram._ + constellata, _Guen._ + Nolasena, _Wlk._ + ferrifervens, _Wlk._ + +Fam. GONOPTERIDAE, _Guen._ + Cosmophila, _Boisd._ + Indica, _Guen._ + xanthindyma, _Boisd._ + Anomis, _Huebn._ + fulvida, _Guen._ + iconica, _Wlk._ + Gonitis, _Guen._ + combinans, _Wlk._ + albitibia, _Wlk._ + mesogona, _Wlk._ + guttanivis, _Wlk._ + involuta, _Wlk._ + basalis, _Wlk_. + Eporedia, _Wlk_. + damnipennis, _Wlk_. + Rusicada, _Wlk_. + nigritarsis, _Wlk_. + Pasipeda, _Wlk_. + rufipalpis, _Wlk_. + +Fam. TOXOCAMPIDAE, _Guen_. + Toxocampa, _Guen_. + metaspila, _Wlk_. + sexlinea, _Wlk_. + quinquelina, _Wlk_. + Albonica, _Wlk_. + reversa, _Wlk_. + +Fam. POLYDESMIDAE, _Guen._ + Polydesma, _Boisd_. + boarmoides, _Wlk_. + erubescens, _Wlk_. + +Fam. HOMOPTERIDAE, _Bois_. + Alamis, _Guen._ + spoliata, _Wlk_. + Homoptera, _Boisd_. + basipallens, _Wlk_. + retrahens, _Wlk_. + costifera, _Wlk_. + divisistriga, _Wlk_. + procumbens, _Wlk_. + Diacuista, _Wlk_. + homopteroides, _Wlk_. + Daxata, _Wlk_. + bijungens, _Wlk_. + +Fam. HYPOGRAMMIDAE, _Guen_. + Briarda, _Wlk_. + precedens, _Wlk_. + Brana, _Wlk_. + calopasa, _Wlk_. + Corsa, _Wlk_. + lignicolor, _Wlk_. + Avatha, _Wlk_. + includens, _Wlk_. + Gadirtha, _Wlk_. + decrescens, _Wlk_. + impingens, _Wlk_. + spurcata, _Wlk_. + rectifera, _Wlk_. + duplicans, _Wlk_ + intrusa, _Wlk_. + Ercheia, _Wlk_. + diversipennis, _Wlk_. + Plotheia, _Wlk_. + frontalis, _Wlk_. + Diomea, _Wlk_. + rotundata, _Wlk_, + chloromela, _Wlk_. + orbicularis, _Wlk_. + muscosa, _Wlk_. + Dinumma, _Wlk_. + placens, _Wlk_. + Lusia, _Wlk_. + geometroides, _Wlk_. + perficita, _Wlk_, + repulsa, _Wlk_. + Abunis, _Wlk_. + trimesa, _Wlk_. + +Fam. CATEPHIDAE, _Guen_ + Cocytodes, _Guen._ + coerula, _Guen_. + modesta, _Wlk_. + Catephia, _Ochs_. + lioteola, _Guen_. + Anophia, _Guen_. + acronyctoides, _Guen_. + Steiria, _Wlk_. + subobliqua, _Wlk_. + trajiciens, _Wlk_. + Aucha, _Wlk_. + velans, _Wlk_. + AEgilia, _Wlk_. + describens, _Wlk_. + Maceda, _Wlk_. + mansueta, _Wlk_. + +Fam. HYPOCALIDAE, _Guen_. + Hypocala, _Guen_. + efflorescens, _Guen_. + subsatura, _Guen_. + +Fam. CATOCALIDAE, _Boisd_. + Blenina, _Wlk_. + donans, _Wlk_. + accipiens, _Wlk_. + +Fam. OPHIDERIDAE, _Guen_. + Ophideres, _Boisd_. + Materna, _Linn_. + fullonica, _Linn_. + Cajeta, _Cram_. + Ancilla, _Cram_. + Salaminia, _Cram_. + Hypermnestra, _Cram_. + multiscripta, _Wlk_. + bilineosa, _Wlk_. + Potamophera, _Guen._ + Manlia, _Cram_. + Lygniodes, _Guen_. + reducens, _Wlk_, + disparans, _Wlk_. + hypoleuca, _Guen_. + +Fam. EREBIDAE, _Guen._ + Oxyodes, _Guen_. + Clytia, _Cram_. + +Fam. OMMATOPHORIDAE, _Guen_. + Speiredonia, _Huebn_. + retrahens, _Wlk_. + Sericia, _Guen._ + anops, _Guen_. + parvipennis, _Wlk_. + Patula, _Guen_. + macrops, _Linn_. + Argiva, _Huebn_. + hieroglyphica, _Drury_. + Beregra, _Wlk_. + replenens, _Wlk_. + +Fam. HYPOPYRIDAE, _Guen_. + Spiramia, _Guen_. + Heliconia, _Huebn_. + triloba, _Guen_. + Hypopyra, _Guen._ + vespertilio, _Fabr_. + Ortospana, _Wlk_. + connectens, _Wlk_. + Entomogramma, _Guen_. + fautrix, _Guen_. + +Fam. BENDIDAE, _Guen_. + Homaea, _Guen_. + clathrum _Guen_. + Hulodes, _Guen_. + caranea, _Cram_. + palumba, _Guen_. + +Fam. OPHIUSIDAE, _Guen._ + Sphingomorpha, _Guen._ + Chlorea _Cram_. + Lagoptera, _Guen_. + honesta, _Huebn_. + magica, _Huebn_. + dotata, _Fabr_, + Ophiodes, _Guen_. + discriminans, _Wlk_. + basistigma, _Wlk_. + Cerbia, _Wlk_. + fugitiva, _Wlk_. + Ophisma, _Guen_. + laetabilis, _Guen_. + deficiens, _Wlk_. + gravata, _Wlk_. + circumferens, _Wlk_. + terminans, _Wlk_. + Achaea, _Huebn_. + Melicerta, Drury. + Mezentia, Cram. + Cyllota, _Guen._ + Cyllaria, _Cram_. + fusifera, _Wlk_. + signivitta, _Wlk_. + reversa, _Wlk_. + combinans, _Wlk_. + expectans, _Wlk_. + Serrodes, _Guen_. + campana, _Guen_. + Naxia, _Guen_. + absentimacula, _Guen_. + Onelia, _Guen_. + calefaciens, _Wlk_. + calorifica, _Wlk_. + Calesia, _Guen_. + hoemorrhoda, _Guen_. + Hypaetra, _Guen_. + trigonifera, _Wlk_. + curvifera, _Wlk_. + condita, _Wlk_. + complacens, _Wlk_. + divisa, _Wlk_. + Ophiusa, _Ochs_. + myops, _Guen_. + albivitta, _Guen_. + Achatina, _Sulz_. + fulvotaenia, _Guen_. + simillima, _Guen_. + festinata, _Wlk_. + pallidilinea, _Wlk_. + luteipalpis, _Wlk_. + Fodina, _Guen_. + stola, _Guen_. + Grammodes, _Guen_. + Ammonia, _Cram_. + Mygdon, _Cram_. + stolida, _Fabr_. + mundicolor, _Wlk_. + +Fam. EUCLIDIDAE, _Guen_. + Trigonodes, _Guen_. + Hippasia, _Cram_. + +Fam. REMIGIDAE, _Guen_. + Remigia, _Guen_. + Archesia, _Cram_. + frugalis, _Fabr_. + pertendens, _Wlk_. + congregata, _Wlk_. + opturata, _Wlk_. + +Fam. FOCILLIDAE, _Guen_. + Focilla, _Guen_. + submemorans, _Wlk_. + +Fam. AMPHIGANIDAE, _Guen_. + Lacera, _Guen_. + capella, _Guen_. + Amphigonia, _Guen_. + hepatizans, _Guen_. + +Fam. THERMISIDAE, _Guen_. + Sympis, _Guen_. + rufibasis, _Guen_. + Thermesia, _Huebn_. + finipalpis, _Wlk_. + soluta, _Wlk_. + Azazia, _Wlk_. + rubricans, _Boisd_. + Selenis, _Guen_. + nivisapex, _Wlk_. + multiguttata, _Wlk_. + semilux, _Wlk_. + Ephyrodes, _Guen_. + excipiens, _Wlk_. + crististera, _Wlk_. + lineifera, _Wlk_. + Capnodes, _Guen_. + *maculicosta, _Wlk_. + Ballatha, _Wlk_. + atrotumens, _Wlk_. + Daranissa, _Wlk_. + digramma, _Wlk_. + Darsa, _Wlk_. + defectissima, _Wlk_. + +Fam. URAPTERYDAE, _Guen_. + Lagyra, _Wlk_. + Talaca, _Wlk_. + +Fam. ENNOMIDAE, _Guen_. + Hyperythra, _Guen_. + limbolaria, _Guen_. + deductaria, _Wlk_. + Orsonoba, _Wlk_. + Rajaca, _Wlk_. + Sabaria, _Wlk_. + contractaria, _Wlk_. + Angerona, _Dup_. + blandiaria, _Wlk_. + Fascellina, _Wlk_. + chromataria, _Wlk_. + +Fam. BOARMIDAE, _Guen_. + Amblychia, _Guen_. + angeronia, _Guen_. + Hemerophila, _Steph_. + Vidhisara, _Wlk_. + poststrigaria, _Wlk_. + Boarmia, _Treit_. + sublavaria, _Guen_. + admissaria, _Guen_. + raptaria, _Wlk_. + Medasina, _Wlk_. + Bhurmitra, _Wlk_. + Suiasasa, _Wlk_. + diffluaria, _Wlk_. + caritaria, _Wlk_. + exclusaria, _Wlk_. + Hypochroma, _Guen_. + minimaria, _Guen_. + Gnophos, _Treit_. + Pulinda, _Wlk_. + Culataria, _Wlk_. + Hemerophila, _Steph_. + vidhisara, _Wlk_. + Agathia, _Guen_. + blandiaria, _Wlk_. + Bulonga, _Wlk_. + Ajaia, _Wlk_. + Chacoraca, _Wlk_. + Chandubija, _Wlk_. + +Fam. GEOMETRIDAE, _Guen_. + Geometra, _Linn_. + specularia, _Guen_. + Nanda, _Wlk_. + Nemoria, _Huebn_. + caudularia, _Guen_. + solidaria, _Guen_. + Thalassodes, _Guen_. + quadraria, _Guen_. + catenaria, _Wlk_. + immissaria, _Wlk_. + Sisunaga, _Wlk_. + adornataria, _Wlk_. + meritaria, _Wlk_. + coelataria, __WlK_. + gratularia, _Wlk_. + chlorozonaria, _Wlk_. + laesaria, _Wlk_. + simplicaria, _Wlk_. + immissaria, _Wlk_. + Comibaena, _Wlk_. + Divapala, _Wlk_. + impulsaria, _Wlk_. + Celenna, _Wlk_. + saturaturia, _Wlk_. + Pseudoterpna, _Wlk_. + Vivilaca, _Wlk_. + Amaurinia, _Guen_. + rubrolimbaria, _Wlk_. + +Fam. PALYADAE, _Guen_. + Eumelea, _Dunc_. + ludovicata, _Guen_. + aureliata, _Guen_. + carnearia, _Wlk_. + +Fam. EPHYRIDAE, _Guen_. + Ephyra, _Dap_. + obrinaria, _Wlk_. + decursaria, _Wlk_. + Cacavena, _Wlk_. + abhadraca, _Wlk_. + Vasudeva, _Wlk_. + Susarmana, _Wlk_. + Vutumana, _Wlk_. + inaequata, _Wlk_. + +Fam. ACIDALIDAE, _Guen_. + Drapetodes, _Guen_. + mitaria, _Guen_. + Pomasia, _Guen_. + Psylaria, _Guen_. + Sunandaria, _Wlk_. + Acidalia, _Treit._ + obliviaria, _Wlk._ + adeptaria, _Wlk._ + nexiaria, _Wlk._ + addictaria, _Wlk._ + actiosaria, _Wlk._ + defamataria, _Wlk._ + negataria, _Wlk._ + actuaria, _Wlk._ + caesaria, _Wlk._ + Cabera, _Steph._ + falsaria, _Wlk._ + decussaria, _Wlk._ + famularia, _Wlk._ + nigrarenaria, _Wlk._ + Hyria, _Steph._ + elataria, _Wlk._ + marcidaria, _Wlk._ + oblataria, _Wlk._ + grataria, _Wlk._ + rhodinaria, _Wlk._ + Timandra, _Dup._ + Ajuia, _Wlk._ + Vijuia, _Wlk._ + Agyris, _Guen._ + deliaria, _Guen._ + Zanclopteryx, _Herr. Sch._ + saponaria, _Herr. Sch._ + +Fam. MICRONIDAE, _Guen._ + Micronia, _Guen._ + caudata, _Fabr._ + aculeata, _Guen._ + +Fam. MACARIDAE, _Guen._ + Macaria, _Curt._ + Eleonora, _Cram._ + Varisara, _Wlk._ + Rhagivata, _Wlk._ + Palaca, _Wlk._ + honestaria, _Wlk._ + Sangata, _Wlk._ + honoraria, _Wlk._ + cessaria, _Wlk._ + subcandaria, _Wlk._ + Doava, _Wlk._ + adjutaria, _Wlk._ + figuraria, _Wlk._ + +Fam. LARENTIDAE, _Guen._ + Sauris, _Guen._ + hirudinata, _Guen._ + Camptogramma, _Steph._ + baccata, _Guen._ + Blemyia, _Wlk._ + Bataca, _Wlk._ + blitiaria, _Wlk._ + Coremia, _Guen._ + Gomatina, _Wlk._ + Lobophora, _Curt._ + Salisuca, _Wlk._ + Ghosha, _Wlk._ + contributaria, _Wlk._ + Mesogramma, _Steph._ + lactularia, _Wlk._ + scitaria, _Wlk._ + Eupithecia, _Curt._ + recensitaria, _Wlk._ + admixtaria, _Wlk._ + immixtaria, _Wlk._ + Gathynia, _Wlk._ + miraria, _Wlk._ + +Fam. PLATYDIDAE, _Guen._ + Trigonia, _Guen._ + Cydonialis, _Cram._ + +Fam. HYPENIDAE, _Herr. Sch._ + Dichromia, _Guen._ + Orosialis, _Cram._ + Hypena, _Schr._ + rhombalis. _Guen._ + jocosalis, _Wlk._ + mandatalis, _Wlk._ + quaesitalis, _Wlk._ + laceratalis, _Wlk._ + iconicalis, _Wlk._ + labatalis, _Wlk._ + obacerralis, _Wlk._ + pactalis, _Wlk._ + raralis, _Wlk._ + paritalis, _Wlk._ + surreptalis, _Wlk._ + detersalis, _Wlk._ + ineffectalis, _Wlk._ + incongrualis, _Wlk._ + rubripunctum, _Wlk._ + Gesonia, _Wlk._ + *obeditalis, _Wlk._ + duplex, _Wlk._ + +Fam. HERMINIDAE, _Dup._ + Herminia, _Latr._ + Timonalis, _Wlk._ + diffusalis, _Wlk_ + interstans, _Wlk._ + Adrapsa, _Wlk._ + ablualis, _Wlk._ + Bertula, _Wlk._ + abjudicalis, _Wlk._ + raptatalis, _Wlk._ + contigens, _Wlk._ + Bocana, _Wlk._ + jutalis, _Wlk._ + manifestalis, _Wlk._ + ophiusalis, _Wlk._ + vagalis, _Wlk._ + turpatalis, _Wlk._ + hypernalis, _Wlk._ + gravatalis, _Wlk._ + tumidalis, _Wlk._ + Orthaga, _Wlk._ + Euadrusalis, _Wlk._ + Hipoepa, _Wlk._ + lapsalis, _Wlk._ + Lamura, _Wlk._ + oberratalis, _Wlk._ + Echana, _Wlk._ + abavalis, _Wlk._ + Dragana, _Wlk._ + pansalis, _Wlk._ + Pingrasa, _Wlk._ + accuralis, _Wlk._ + Egnasia, _Wlk._ + ephyradalis, _Wlk._ + accingalis, _Wlk._ + participalis, _Wlk._ + usurpatalis, _Wlk._ + Berresa, _Wlk._ + natalis, _Wlk._ + Imma, _Wlk._ + rugosalis, _Wlk._ + Chusaris, _Wlk._ + retatalis, _Wlk._ + Corgatha, _Wlk._ + zonalis, _Wlk._ + Catada, _Wlk._ + glomeralis, _Wlk._ + captiosalis, _Wlk._ + +Fam. PYRALIDAE, _Guen._ + Pyralis, _Linn._ + igniflualis, _Wlk._ + Palesalis, _Wlk._ + reconditalis, _Wlk._ + Idalialis, _Wlk._ + Janassalis, _Wlk._ + Aglossa, _Latr._ + Gnidusalis, _Wlk._ + Isabanda, _Wlk._ + herbealis. _Wlk._ + +Fam. ENNYCHIDAE, _Dup._ + Pyrausta, _Schr._ + *absistalis, _Wlk._ + +Fam. ASOPIDAE, _Guen._ + Desmia, _Westw._ + afflictalis, _Guen._ + concisalis, _Wlk._ + AEdiodes, _Guen._ + flavibasalis, _Guen.._ + effertalis, _Wlk._ + Samea, _Guen._ + gratiosalis, _Wlk._ + Asopia, _Guen._ + vulgalis, _Guen._ + falsidicalis, _Wlk._ + abruptalis, _Wlk._ + latimarginalis, _Wlk._ + praeteritalis, _Wlk._ + Eryxalis, _Wlk._ + roridalis, _Wlk_. + Agathodes, _Guen._ + ostentalis, _Geyer_. + Leucinades, _Guen_. + orbonalis, _Guen_. + Hymenia, _Huebn_. + recurvalis, _Fabr_. + Agrotera, _Schr_. + suffusalis, _Wlk_. + decessalis, _Wlk_. + Isopteryx, _Guen_. + *melaleucalis, _Wlk_. + *impulsalis, _Wlk_. + *spilomelalis, _Wlk_. + acclaralis, _Wlk_. + abnegatalis, _Wlk_. + +Fam. HYDROCAMPIDAE, _Guen_. + Oligostigma, _Guen_. + obitalis, _Wlk_. + votalis, _Wlk_. + Cataclysta, _Herr. Sch._ + dilucidalis, _Guer_. + bisectalis, _Wlk_. + blandialis, _Wlk_. + elutalis, _Wlk_. + +Fam. SPILOMELIDAE, _Guen_. + Lepyrodes, _Guen_. + geometralis, _Guen_. + lepidalis, _Wlk_. + peritalis, _Wlk_. + Phalangiodes, _Guen_. + Neptisalis, _Cram_. + Spilomela, _Guen_. + meritalis, _Wlk_. + abdicalis, _Wlk_. + decussalis, _Wlk_. + aurolinealis, _Wlk_. + Nistra, _Wlk_. + coelatalis, _Wlk_. + Pagyda, _Wlk_. + salvalis, _Wlk_. + Massepha, _Wlk_. + absolutalis, _Wlk_. + +Fam. MARGARODIDAE, _Guen_. + Glyphodes, _Guen_. + diurnalis, _Guen_. + decretalis, _Guen_. + coesalis, _Wlk_. + univocalis, _Wlk_. + Phakellura, _L. Guild_. + gazorialis, _Guen_. + Margarodes, _Guen_. + psittacalis, _Huebn_. + pomonalis, _Guen_. + hilaralis, _Wlk_. + Pygospila, _Guen_. + Tyresalis, _Cram_. + Neurina, _Guen,_ + Procopialis, _Cram_. + ignibasalis, _Wlk_. + Ilurgia, _Wlk_. + defamalis, _Wlk_. + Maruca, _Wlk_. + ruptalis, _Wlk_. + caritalis, _Wlk_. + +Fam. BOTYDAE, _Guen_. + Botys, _Latr_. + marginalis, _Cram_. + sellalis, _Guen._ + multilinealis, _Guen_. + admensalis, _Wlk_. + abjungalis, _Wlk_. + rutilalis, _Wlk_. + admixtalis, _Wlk_. + celatalis, _Wlk_. + deductalis, _Wlk_. + celsalis, _Wlk_. + vulsalis, _Wlk_. + ultimalis, _Wlk_. + tropicalis, _Wlk_. + abstrusalis, _Wlk_. + ruralis, _Wlk_. + adhoesalis, _Wlk_. + illisalis, _Wlk_. + stultalis, _Wlk_. + adductalis, _Wlk_. + histricalis, _Wlk_. + illectalis, _Wlk_. + suspicalis, _Wlk_. + Janassalis, _Wlk_. + Nephealis, _Wlk_. + Cynaralis, _Wlk_. + Dialis, _Wlk_. + Thaisalis, _Wlk_. + Dryopealis, _Wlk_. + Myrinalis, _Wlk_. + phycidalis, _Wlk_. + annulalis, _Wlk_. + brevilinealis, _Wlk._ + plagiatalis, _Wlk._ + Ebulea, _Guen._ + aberratalis, _Wlk_. + Camillalis, _Wlk_. + Pionea, _Guen._ + actualis, _Wlk_. + Optiletalis, _Wlk_. + Jubesalis, _Wlk_. + brevialis, _Wlk_. + suffusalis, _Wlk_. + Scopula, _Schr_. + revocatalis, _Wlk_. + turgidalis, _Wlk_. + volutatalis, _Wlk_. + Godara, _Wlk_. + pervasalis, _Wlk_. + Herculia, _Wlk_. + bractialis, _Wlk._ + Mecyna, _Guen_. + deprivulis, _Wlk_. + +Fam. SCOPARIDAE, _Guen_ + + Scoparia, _Haw_. + murificalis, _Wlk_. + congestalis, _Wlk_. + Alconalis, _Wlk_. + Davana, _Wlk_. + Phalantalia, _Wlk_. + Darsania, _Wlk_. + Niobesalis, _Wlk_. + Dosara, _Wlk_. + coelatella, _Wlk_. + lapsalis, _Wlk_. + immeritalis, _Wlk_. + +Fam. CHOREUTIDAE, _Staint._ + Niaccaba, _Wlk_. + sumptialis, _Wlk_. + Simaethis, _Leach_. + Clatella, _Wlk_. + Damonella, _Wlk_. + Bathusella, _Wlk_. + +Fam. PHYCIDAE, _Staint_. + Myelois, _Huebn_. + actiosella, _Wlk_. + bractiatella, _Wlk_. + cautella, _Wlk_. + adaptella, _Wlk_. + illusella, _Wlk_. + basifuscella, _Wlk_. + Ligeralis, _Wlk_. + Marsyasalis, _Wlk_. + Dascusa, _Wlk_. + Valensalis, _Wlk_. + Daroma, _Wlk_. + Zeuxoalis, _Wlk_. + Epulusalis, _Wlk_. + Timeusalis, _Wlk_. + Homoesoma, _Curt_. + gratella, _Wlk_. + Getusella, _Wlk_. + Nephopteryx, _Huebn_. + Etolusalis, _Wlk_. + Cyllusalis, _Wlk_. + Hylasalis, _Wlk_. + Acisalis, _Wlk_. + Harpaxalis, _Wlk_. + AEolusalis, _Wlk_. + Argiadesalis, _Wlk_. + Philiasalis, _Wlk_. + Pempelia, _Huehn_. + laudatella, _Wlk_. + Prionapteryx, _Steph_. + Lincusalis, _Wlk_. + Pindicitora, _Wlk_. + Acreonalis, _Wlk_. + Annusalis, _Wlk_. + Thysbesalis, _Wlk_. + Linceusalis, _Wlk_. + Lacipea, _Wlk_. + muscosella, _Wlk_. + Araxes, _Steph_. + admotella, _Wlk_. + decusella, _Wlk_. + celsella, _Wlk_. + admigratella, _Wlk_. + coesella, _Wlk_. + candidatella, _Wlk_. + Catagela, _Wlk_. + adjurella, _Wlk_. + acricuella, _Wlk_. + lunulella, _Wlk_. + +Fam. CRAMBIDAE, _Dup_. + Crambus, _Fabr_. + concinellus, _Wlk_. + Darbhaca, _Wlk_. + inceptella, _Wlk_. + Jartheza, _Wlk_. + honorella, _Wlk_. + Bulina, _Wlk_. + solitella, _Wlk_. + Bembina, _Wlk_. + Cyanusalis, _Wlk_. + Chilo, _Zinck_. + dodatella, _Wlk_. + gratiosella, _Wlk_. + aditella, _Wlk_. + blitella, _Wlk_. + Dariausa, _Wlk_. + Eubusalis, _Wlk_. + Arrhade, _Wlk_. + Ematheonalis, _Wlk_. + Darnensis, _Wlk_. + Strephonella, _Wlk_. + +Fam. CHLOEPHORIDAE, _Staint_. + Thagora, _Wlk_. + figurans, _Wlk_. + Earias, _Huebn_. + chromatana, _Wlk_. + +Fam. TORTRICIDAE, _Steph_. + Lozotaenia, _Steph_. + retractana, _Wlk_. + Peronea, _Curt_. + divisana, _Wlk_. + Lithogramma, _Steph_. + flexilineana, _Wlk_. + Dictyopteryx, _Steph_. + punctana, _Wlk_. + Homona, _Wlk_. + fasciculana, _Wlk_. + Hemonia, _Wlk_. + orbiferana, _Wlk_. + Achroia, _Huebn_. + tricingulana, _Wlk_. + +Fam. YPONOMEUTIDAE, _Steph_. + Atteva, _Wlk_. + niveigutta, _Wlk_. + +Fam. GELICHIDAE, _Staint_. + Depressaria, _Haw_. + obligatella, _Wlk_. + fimbriella, _Wlk_. + Decuaria, _Wlk_. + mendicella, _Wlk_. + Gelechia, _Huebn_. + nugatella, _Wlk_. + calatella, _Wlk_. + deductella, _Wlk_. + Perionella, _Wlk_. + Gizama, _Wlk_. + blandiella, _Wlk_. + Enisipia, _Wlk_. + falsella, _Wlk_. + Gapharia, _Wlk_. + recitatella, _Wlk_. + Goesa, _Wlk_. + decusella, _Wlk_. + Cimitra, _Wlk_. + seclusella, _Wlk_. + Ficulea, _Wlk_. + blandulella, _Wlk_. + Fresilia, _Wlk_. + nesciatella, _Wlk_. + Gesontha, _Wlk_. + captiosella, _Wlk_. + Aginis, _Wlk_. + hilariella, _Wlk_. + Cadra, _Wlk_. + defectella, _Wlk_. + +Fam. GLYPHYPTIDAE, _Staint_. + Glyphyteryx, _Huebn_. + scitulella, _Wlk_. + Hybele, _Wlk_. + mansuetella, _Wlk_. + +Fam. TINEIDAE, _Leach_. + Tinea, _Linn_. + tapetzella, _Linn_. + receptella, _Wlk_. + pelionella, _Linn_. + plagiferella, _Wlk_. + +Fam. LYONETIDAE, _Staint_. + Cachura, _Wlk_. + objectella, _Wlk_. + +Fam. PTEROPHORIDAE, _Zell_. + Pterophorus, _Geoffr_. + leucadactylus, _Wlk_. + oxydactylus, _Wlk_. + anisodactylus, _Wlk_. + +Order Diptera, _Linn_. + +Fam. MYCETOPHILIDAE, _Hal_. + Sciara, _Meig_. + *valida, _Wlk_. + +Fam. CECIDOMYZIDAE, _Hal_. + Cecidomyia, _Latr_. + *primaria, _Wlk_. + +Fam. SIMULIDAE, _Hal_. + Simulium, _Latr_. + *destinatum, _Wlk_. + +Fam. CHIRONOMIDAE, _Hal_ + Ceratopogon, _Meig_. + *albocinctus, _Wlk_. + +Fam. CULICIDAE, _Steph_. + Culex, _Linn_. + regius, _Thwaites_. + fuscanus, _Wied_. + circumvolans, _Wlk_. + contrahens, _Wlk_. + +Fam. TIPULIDAE, _Hal_. + Ctenophora, _Fabr_. + Taprobanes, _Wlk_. + Gymnoplistia? _Westw_. + hebes, _Wlk_. + +Fam. STRATIOMIDAE, _Latr_. + Ptilocera, _Wied_. + quadridentata, _Fabr_. + fastuosa, _Geist_. + Pachygaster, _Meig_. + rufitarsis, _Macq._ + Acanthina, _Wied_. + azurea, _Geist_ + +Fam. TABANIDAE, _Leach_. + Pangonia, _Latr_. + Taprobanes, _Wlk_. + +Fam. ASILIDAE, _Leach_. + Trupanea, _Macq_. + Ceylanica, _Macq_. + Asilus, _Linn_. + flavicornis, _Macq_. + Barium, _Wlk_. + +Fam. DOLICHOPIDAE, _Leach._ + Psilopus, _Meig._ + *procuratus, _Wlk._ + +Fam. MUSCIDAE, _Latr._ + Tachina? _Fabr._ + *tenebrosa, _Wlk._ + Musca. _Linn._ + domestica, _Linn._ + Dacus, _Fabr._ + *interclusus, _Wlk._ + *nigroseneus, _Wlk._ + *detentus, _Wlk._ + Ortalis, _Fall._ + *confundens, _Wlk._ + Sciomyza, _Fall._ + *leucotelus, _Wlk._ + Drosophila, _Fall._ + *restituens, _Wlk._ + +Fam. NYCTERIBIDAE, _Leach._ + Nycteribia, _Latr._ + ----? a species + parasitic on Scatophilus + Coromandelicus, + _Bligh._ See + _ante,_ p. 161. + +Order Hemiptera, _Linn._ + +Fam. PACHYCORIDAE, _Dall_ + Cantuo, _Amyot & Serv._ + ocellatus, _Thunb_. + Callidea, _Lap._ + superba, _Dall._ + Stockerus, _Linn._ + +Fam. EURYGASTERIDAE, _Dall_. + Trigonosoma, _Lap._ + Desfontainii, _Fabr._ + +Fam. PLATASPIDAE, _Dall._ + Coptosoma, _Lap._ + laticeps, _Dall._ + +Fam. HALYDIDAE, _Dall._ + Halys, _Fabr._ + dentate, _Fabr._ + +Fam. PENTATOMIDAE, _Suph._ + Pentatoma, _Oliv._ + Timorensensis, _Hope._ + Taprobanensls, _Dall._ + Catacanthus, _Spin._ + incarnatus, _Drury._ + Rhaphigaster, _Lap._ + congrua, _Wlk._ + +Fam. EDESSIDAE, _Dall._ + Aspongopus, _Lap._ + Janus, _Fabr._ + Tesseratoma, _Lep. & Serv._ + papillosa, _Drury._ + Cyclopelta, _Am. & Serv._ + siccifolia, _Hope._ + +Fam. PHYLLOCEPHALIDAE, _Dall._ + Phyllocephala, _Lap._ + AEgyptiaca, _Lefeb._ + +Fam. MICTIDAE, _Dall._ + Mictis, _Leach._ + castanea, _Dall._ + yalida, _Dall._ + punctum, _Hope._ + Crinocerus, _Burm._ + ponderosus, _Wlk._ + +Fam, ANISOSCELIDAE _Dall._ + Leptoscelis, _Lap._ + ventralis, _Dall._ + turpis, _Wlk._ + marginalis, _Wlk._ + Serinetha, _Spin._ + Taprobanensis, _Dall._ + abdominalis, _Fabr._ + +Fam. ALYDIDAE, _Dall._ + Alydus, _Fabr._ + linearis, _Fabr._ + +Fam. STENOCEPHALIDAE, _Dall._ + Leptocorisa, _Latr._ + Chinensis, _Dall._ + +Fam. COREIDAE, _Steph_. + Rhopalus, _Schill._ + interruptus, _Wlk._ + +Fam. LYGAEIDAE, _Westw._ + Lygaeus, _Fabr._ + lutescens, _Wlk._ + figuratus, _Wlk._ + discifer, _Wlk._ + Rhyparochromus, _Curt._ + testaciepes, _Wlk._ + +Fam. ARADIDAE, _Wlk._ + Piestosoma, _Lap._ + picipes, _Wlk._ + +Fam. TINGIDAE, _Wlk._ + Calloniana, _Wlk._ + *elegans, _Wlk._ + +Fam. CIMICIDAE, _Wlk._ + Cimex, _Linn_. + lectularius, _Linn._? + +Fam. REDUVIIDAE, _Steph._ + Pirates, _Burm._ + marginatus, _Wlk._ + Acanthaspis, _Am. & Serv._ + sanguinipes, _Wlk._ + fulvispina, _Wlk._ + +Fam. HYDROMETRIDAE, _Leach_. + Ptilomera, _Am. & Serv._ + laticauda, _Hardw._ + +Fam. NEPIDAE, _Leach._ + Belostoma, _Latr._ + Indicum, _St. Farg. & Serv._ + Nepa, _Linn._ + minor, _Wlk._ + +Fam. NOTONECTIDAE, _Steph_. + Notonecta, _Linn._ + abbreviata, _Wlk._ + simplex, _Wlk._ + Corixa, _Geoff._ + *subjacens, _Wlk._ + +Order Homoptara, _Latr._ + +Fam. CICADIDAE, _Westw._ + Dundubia, _Am. & Serv._ + stipata, _Wlk._ + Cioafa, _Wlk._ + Larus, _Wlk._ + Cicada, _Linn_. + limitaris, _Wlk._ + nuhifurea, _Wlk._ + +Fam. FULCORIDAE, _Schaum._ + Hotinus, _Am. & Serv._ + maculatus, _Oliv._ + fulvirostris, _Wlk._ + coccineus, _Wlk._ + Pyrops, _Spin._ + punctata _Oliv._ + Aphaena, _Guer_. + sanguinalis, _Westw_. + Elidiptera, _Spin_. + Emersoniana, _White_. + +Fam. CIXIIDAE, _Wlk_. + Eurybrachys, _Guer_. + tomentosa, _Fabr_. + dilatata, _Wlk_. + crudelis, _Westw_. + Cixius, _Latr_. + *nubilus, _Wlk_. + +Fam. ISSIDAE, _Wlk_. + Hemisphaerius, _Schaum_. + *Schaumi, _Stal_. + *bipustulatus, _Wlk_. + +Fam. DERBIDAE, _Schaum_. + Thracia, _Westw_. + pterophorides, _Westw_. + Derbe, _Fabr_. + *furcato-vittata, _Stal_. + +Fam. FLATTIDAE, _Schaum_. + Flatoides, _Guer_. + hyalinus, _Fabr_. + tenebrosus, _Wlk_. + Ricania, _Germ_. + Hemerobii, _Wlk_. + Poeciloptera, _Latr_. + pulverulenta, _Guer_. + stellaris, _Wlk_. + Tennentina, _White_. + +Fam. MEMBRACIDAE, _Wlk_. + Oxyrhachis, _Germ_. + *indicans, _Wlk_. + Centrotus, _Fabr_. + *reponens, _Wlk_. + *malleus, _Wlk_. + substitutus, _Wlk_. + *decipiens, _Wlk_. + *relinquens, _Wlk_. + *imitator, _Wlk_. + *repressus, _Wlk_. + *terminalis, _Wlk_. + +Fam. CERCOPIDAE, _Leach_. + Cercopis, _Fabr_. + inclusa, _Wlk_. + Ptyelus, _Lep. & Serv_. + costalis, _Wlk_. + +Fam. TETTIGONIIDAE, _Wlk_. + Tettigonia, _Latr_. + paulula, _Wlk_. + +Fam. SCARIDAE, _Wlk_. + Ledra, _Fabr_. + rugosa, _Wlk_. + conica, _Wlk_. + Gypona, _Germ_. + prasina, _Wlk_. + +Fam. IASSIDAE, _Wlk_. + Acocephalus, _Germ_. + porrectus, _Wlk_. + +Fam. PSYLLIDAE, _Latr_. + Psylla, _Goff_. + *marginalis, _Wlk_. + +Fam. COCCIDAE, _Leach_. + Lecanium, _Illig_. + Coffeae, _Wlk_. + + + + +CHAP. VII + +ARACHNIDA--MYRIOPODA--CRUSTACEA, ETC. + + +With a few striking exceptions, the true _spiders_ of Ceylon resemble in +oeconomy and appearance those we are accustomed to see at home. They +frequent the houses, the gardens, the rocks and the stems of trees, and +along the sunny paths, where the forest meets the open country, the +_Epeira_ and her congeners, the true net-weaving spiders, extend their +lacework, the grace of their designs being even less attractive than the +beauty of the creatures that elaborate them. + +Those that live in the woods select with singular sagacity the +bridle-paths and narrow passages for expanding their nets; no doubt +perceiving that the larger insects frequent these openings for facility +of movement through the jungle; and that the smaller ones are carried +towards them by the currents of air. These nets are stretched across the +path from four to eight feet above the ground, hung from projecting +shoots, and attached, if possible, to thorny shrubs; and sometimes +exhibit the most remarkable scenes of carnage and destruction. I have +taken down a ball as large as a man's head consisting of successive +layers rolled together, in the heart of which was the den of the family, +whilst the envelope was formed, sheet after sheet, by coils of the old +web filled with the wings and limbs of insects of all descriptions, from +the largest moths and butterflies to mosquitoes and minute coleoptera. +Each layer appeared to have been originally suspended across the passage +to intercept the expected prey; and, as it became surcharged with +carcases, it was loosened, tossed over by the wind or its own weight, +and wrapped round the nucleus in the centre, the spider replacing it by +a fresh sheet, to be in turn detached and added to the mass within. + +Walckenaer has described a species of large size, under the name of +_Olios Taprobanius_, which is very common and conspicuous from the fiery +hue of the under surface, the remainder being covered with gray hair so +short and fine that the body seems almost denuded. It spins a +moderate-sized web, hung vertically between two sets of strong lines, +stretched one above the other athwart the pathways. Some of the +spider-cords thus carried horizontally from tree to tree at a +considerable height from the ground are so strong as to cause a painful +check across the face when moving quickly against them; and more than +once in riding I have had my hat lifted off my head by a single +thread.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Over the country generally are scattered species of +_Gasteracantha_, remarkable for their firm shell-covered bodies, with +projecting knobs arranged in pairs. In habit these anomalous-looking +_Epeiridae_ appear to differ in no respect from the rest of the family, +waylaying their prey in similar situations and in the same manner. + +Another very singular subgenus, met with in Ceylon, is distinguished by +the abdomen being dilated behind, and armed with two long spines, +arching obliquely backwards. These abnormal kinds are not so handsomely +coloured as the smaller species of typical form.] + +Separated by marked peculiarities of structure, as well as of instinct, +from the spiders which live in the open air, and busy themselves in +providing food during the day, the _Mygale fasciata_ is not only +sluggish in its habits, but disgusting in its form and dimensions. Its +colour is a gloomy brown, interrupted by irregular blotches and faint +bands (whence its trivial name); it is sparingly sprinkled with hairs, +and its limbs, when expanded, stretch over an area of six to eight +inches in diameter. It is familiar to Europeans in Ceylon, who have +given it the name, and ascribed to it the fabulous propensities, of the +Tarentula.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Species of the true _Tarentulae_ are not uncommon in Ceylon; +they are all of very small size, and perfectly harmless.] + +By day it remains concealed in its den, whence it issues at night to +feed on larvae and worms, devouring cockroaches[1] and their pupae, and +attacking the millepeds, gryllotalpae, and other fleshy insects. The +Mygale is found abundantly in the northern and eastern parts of the +island, and occasionally in dark unfrequented apartments in the western +province; but its inclinations are solitary, and it shuns the busy +traffic of towns. + +[Footnote 1: Mr. EDGAR L. LAYARD has described the encounter between a +Mygale and a cockroach, which he witnessed in the madua of a temple at +Alittane, between Anarajapoora and Dambool. When about a yard apart, +each discerned the other and stood still, the spider with his legs +slightly bent and his body raised, the cockroach confronting him and +directing his antennae with a restless undulation towards his enemy. The +spider, by stealthy movements, approached to within a few inches and +paused, both parties eyeing each other intently: then suddenly a rush, a +scuffle, and both fell to the ground, when the blatta's wings closed, +the spider seized it under the throat with his claws, and dragging it +into a corner, the action of his jaws was distinctly audible. Next +morning Mr. Layard found the soft parts of the body had been eaten, +nothing but the head, thorax, and elytra remaining.--_Ann. & Mag. Nat. +Hist._ May, 1853.] + +_Ticks_.--Ticks are to be classed among the intolerable nuisances to the +Ceylon traveller. They live in immense numbers in the jungle[1], and +attaching themselves to the plants by the two forelegs, lie in wait to +catch at unwary animals as they pass. A shower of these diminutive +vermin will sometimes drop from a branch, if unluckily shaken, and +disperse themselves over the body, each fastening on the neck, the ears, +and eyelids, and inserting a barbed proboscis. They burrow, with their +heads pressed as far as practicable under the skin, causing a sensation +of smarting, as if particles of red hot sand had been scattered over the +flesh. If torn from their hold, the suckers remain behind and form an +ulcer. The only safe expedient is to tolerate the agony of their +penetration till a drop of coco-nut oil or the juice of a lime can be +applied, when these little furies drop off without further ill +consequences. One very large species, dappled with grey, attaches itself +to the buffaloes. + +[Footnote 1: Dr. HOOKER, in his _Himalayan Journal_, vol. 1. p. 279, in +speaking of the multitude of these creatures in the mountains of Nepal, +wonders what they find to feed on, as in these humid forests in which +they literally swarmed, there was neither pathway nor animal life. In +Ceylon they abound everywhere in the plains on the low brushwood; and in +the very driest seasons they are quite as numerous as at other times. In +the mountain zone, which is more humid, they are less prevalent. Dogs +are tormented by them; and they display something closely allied to +cunning in always fastening on an animal in those parts where they +cannot be torn off by his paws; on his eyebrows, the tips of his ears, +and the back of his neck. With a corresponding instinct I have always +observed in the gambols of the Pariah dogs, that they invariably +commence their attentions by mutually gnawing each other's ears and +necks, as if in pursuit of ticks from places from which each is unable +to expel them for himself. Horses have a similar instinct; and when they +meet, they apply their teeth to the roots of the ears of their +companions, to the neck and the crown of the head. The buffaloes and +oxen are relieved of ticks by the crows which rest on their backs as +they browse, and free them from these pests. In the low country the same +acceptable office is performed by the "cattle-keeper heron" (_Ardea +bubuleus_), which is "sure to be found in attendance on them while +grazing; and the animals seem to know their benefactors, and stand +quietly, while the birds peck their tormentors from their +flanks."--_Mag. Nat. Hist._ p. 111, 1844.] + +_Mites_.--The _Trombidium tinctorum_ of Hermann is found about Aripo, +and generally over the northern provinces,--where after a shower of rain +or heavy night's dew, they appear in countless myriads. It is about half +an inch long, like a tuft of crimson velvet, and imparts its colouring +matter readily to any fluid in which it may be immersed. It feeds on +vegetable juices, and is perfectly innocuous. Its European +representative, similarly tinted, and found in garden mould, is commonly +called the "Little red pillion." + +MYRIAPODS.--The certainty with which an accidental pressure or unguarded +touch is resented and retorted by a bite, makes the centipede, when it +has taken up its temporary abode within a sleeve or the fold of a dress, +by far the most unwelcome of all the Singhalese assailants. The great +size, too (little short of a foot in length), to which it sometimes +attains, renders it formidable; and, apart from the apprehension of +unpleasant consequences from a wound, one shudders at the bare idea of +such hideous creatures crawling over the skin, beneath the innermost +folds of one's garments. + +At the head of the _Myriapods_, and pre-eminent from a +superiorly-developed organisation, stands the genus _Cermatia_: +singular-looking objects; mounted upon slender legs, of gradually +increasing length from front to rear, the hind ones in some species +being amazingly prolonged, and all handsomely marked with brown annuli +in concentric arches. These myriapods are harmless, excepting to +woodlice, spiders, and young cockroaches, which form their ordinary +prey. They are rarely to be seen; but occasionally at daybreak, after a +more than usually abundant repast, they may be observed motionless, and +resting with their regularly extended limbs nearly flat against the +walls. On being disturbed they dart away with a surprising velocity, to +conceal themselves in chinks until the return of night. + +[Illustration: CERMATIA.] + +But the species to be really dreaded are the true _Scolopendrae_, which +are active and carnivorous, living in holes in old walls and other +gloomy dens. One species[1] attains to nearly the length of a foot, with +corresponding breadth; it is of a dark purple colour, approaching black, +with yellowish legs and antennae, and its whole aspect repulsive and +frightful. It is strong and active, and evinces an eager disposition to +fight when molested. The _Scolopendrae_ are gifted by nature with a rigid +coriaceous armour, which does not yield to common pressure, or even to a +moderate blow; so that they often escape the most well-deserved and +well-directed attempts to destroy them, seeking refuge in retreats which +effectually conceal them from sight. + +[Footnote 1: _Scolopendra crassa_, Temp.] + +There is a smaller one[1], which frequents dwelling-houses, about one +quarter the size of the preceding, of a dirty olive colour, with pale +ferruginous legs. It is this species which generally inflicts the wound, +when persons complain of being bitten by a scorpion; and it has a +mischievous propensity for insinuating itself into the folds of dress. +The bite at first does not occasion more suffering than would arise from +the penetration of two coarsely-pointed needles; but after a little time +the wound swells, becomes acutely painful, and if it be over a bone or +any other resisting part, the sensation is so intolerable as to produce +fever. The agony subsides after a few hours' duration. In some cases the +bite is unattended by any particular degree of annoyance, and in these +instances it is to be supposed that the contents of the poison gland had +become exhausted by previous efforts, since, if much tasked, the organ +requires rest to enable it to resume its accustomed functions and to +secrete a supply of venom. + +[Footnote 1: _Scolopendra pullipes_.] + +_Millipeds._--In the hot dry season, and in the northern portions of the +island more especially, the eye is attracted along the edges of the +sandy roads by fragments of the dislocated rings of a huge species of +millipede,[1] lying in short, curved tubes, the cavity admitting the tip +of the little finger. When perfect the creature is two-thirds of a foot +long, of a brilliant jet black, and with above a hundred yellow legs, +which, when moving onward, present the appearance of a series of +undulations from rear to front, bearing the animal gently forwards. This +_julus_ is harmless, and may be handled with perfect impunity. Its food +consists chiefly of fruits and the roots and stems of succulent +vegetables, its jaws not being framed for any more formidable purpose. +Another and a very pretty species,[2] quite as black, but with a bright +crimson band down the back, and the legs similarly tinted, is common in +the gardens about Colombo and throughout the western province. + +[Footnote 1: _Julus ater_, Temp.] + +[Footnote 2: _Julus carnifex_, Fab.] + +CRUSTACEA.--The seas around Ceylon abound with marine articulata; but a +knowledge of the crustacea of the island is at present a desideratum; +and with the exception of the few commoner species which frequent the +shores, or are offered in the markets, we are literally without +information, excepting the little that can be gleaned from already +published systematic works. + +In the bazaars several species of edible crabs are exposed for sale; and +amongst the delicacies at the tables of Europeans, curries made from +prawns and lobsters are the triumphs of the Ceylon cuisine. Of these +latter the fishermen sometimes exhibit specimens[1] of extraordinary +dimensions, and of a beautiful purple hue, variegated with white. Along +the level shore north and south of Colombo, and in no less profusion +elsewhere, the nimble little Calling Crabs[2] scamper over the moist +sands, carrying aloft the enormous hand (sometimes larger than the rest +of the body), which is their peculiar characteristic, and which, from +its beckoning gesture, has suggested their popular name. They hurry to +conceal themselves in the deep retreats which they hollow out in the +banks that border the sea. + +[Footnote 1: _Palinurus ornatus_, Fab.] + +[Footnote 2: _Gelasimus tatragonon_? Edw.; _G. annulipes_? Edw.; _G. +Dussumieri_? Edw.] + +[Illustration: CALLING CRAB OF CEYLON.] + +_Sand Crabs._--In the same localities, or a little farther inland, the +_ocypode_[1] burrows in the dry soil, making deep excavations, bringing +up literally armfuls of sand; which with a spring in the air, and +employing its other limbs, it jerks far from its burrows, distributing +it in radii to the distance of several feet.[2] So inconvenient are the +operations of these industrious pests that men are kept regularly +employed at Colombo in filling up the holes formed by them on the +surface of the Galle face, which is the only equestrian promenade of the +capital; but so infested by these active little creatures that accidents +often occur by horses stumbling in their troublesome excavations. + +[Footnote 1: _Ocypode ceratophthalmus_, Pall.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ann. Nat. Hist._ April, 1852. Paper by Mr. EDGAR L. +LAYARD.] + +_Painted Crabs._--On the reefs which lie to the south of the harbour at +Colombo, the beautiful little painted crabs,[1] distinguished by dark +red markings on a yellow ground, may be seen all day long running nimbly +in the spray, and ascending and descending in security the almost +perpendicular sides of the rocks which are washed by the waves. +_Paddling Crabs_,[2] with the hind pair of legs terminated by flattened +plates to assist them in swimming, are brought up in the fishermen's +nets. _Hermit Crabs_ take possession of the deserted shells of the +univalves, and crawl in pursuit of garbage along the moist beach. Prawns +and shrimps furnish delicacies for the breakfast table; and the delicate +little pea crab, _Pontonia inflata_,[3] recalls its Mediterranean +congener,[4] which attracted the attention of Aristotle, from taking up +its habitation in the shell of the living pinna. + +[Footnote 1: _Grapsus strigosus_, Herbst.] + +[Footnote 2: _Neptunus pelagicus_, Linn,; _N. sanguinolentus_, Herbst, +&c. &c.] + +[Footnote 3: MILNE EDW. _Hist. Nat. Crust._ vol. ii. p. 360.] + +[Footnote 4: _Pinnotheres veterum._] + +ANNELIDAE.--The marine _Annelides_ of the island have not as yet been +investigated; a cursory glance, however, amongst the stones on the beach +at Trincomalie and in the pools, which afford convenient basins for +examining them, would lead to the belief that the marine species are not +numerous; tubicole genera, as well as some nereids, are found, but there +seems to be little diversity; though it is not impossible that a closer +scrutiny might be repaid by the discovery of some interesting forms. + +_Leeches._--Of all the plagues which beset the traveller in the rising +grounds of Ceylon, the most detested are the land leeches.[1] They are +not frequent in the plains, which are too hot and dry for them; but +amongst the rank vegetation in the lower ranges of the hill country, +which is kept damp by frequent showers, they are found in tormenting +profusion. They are terrestrial, never visiting ponds or streams. In +size they are about an inch in length, and as fine as a common knitting +needle; but capable of distension till they equal a quill in thickness, +and attain a length of nearly two inches. Their structure is so flexible +that they can insinuate themselves through the meshes of the finest +stocking, not only seizing on the feet and ankles, but ascending to the +back and throat and fastening on the tenderest parts of the body. The +coffee planters, who live amongst these pests, are obliged, in order to +exclude them, to envelope their legs in "leech gaiters" made of closely +woven cloth. The natives smear their bodies with oil, tobacco ashes, or +lemon juice;[2] the latter serving not only to stop the flow of blood, +but to expedite the healing of the wounds. In moving, the land leeches +have the power of planting one extremity on the earth and raising the +other perpendicularly to watch for their victim. Such is their vigilance +and instinct, that on the approach of a passer-by to a spot which they +infest, they may be seen amongst the grass and fallen leaves on the edge +of a native path, poised erect, and preparing for their attack on man +and horse. On descrying their prey they advance rapidly by semicircular +strides, fixing one end firmly and arching the other forwards, till by +successive advances they can lay hold of the traveller's foot, when they +disengage themselves from the ground and ascend his dress in search of +an aperture to enter. In these encounters the individuals in the rear of +a party of travellers in the jungle invariably fare worst, as the +leeches, once warned of their approach, congregate with singular +celerity. Their size is so insignificant, and the wound they make is so +skilfully punctured, that both are generally imperceptible, and the +first intimation of their onslaught is the trickling of the blood or a +chill feeling of the leech when it begins to hang heavily on the skin +from being distended by its repast. Horses are driven wild by them, and +stamp the ground in fury to shake them from their fetlocks, to which +they hang in bloody tassels. The bare legs of the palankin bearers and +coolies are a favourite resort; and, their hands being too much engaged +to be spared to pull them off, the leeches hang like bunches of grapes +round their ankles; and I have seen the blood literally flowing over the +edge of a European's shoe from their innumerable bites. In healthy +constitutions the wounds, if not irritated, generally heal, occasioning +no other inconvenience than a slight inflammation and itching; but in +those with a bad state of body, the punctures, if rubbed, are liable to +degenerate into ulcers, which may lead to the loss of limb or of life. +Both Marshall and Davy mention, that during the marches of troops in the +mountains, when the Kandyans were in rebellion, in 1818, the soldiers, +and especially the Madras sepoys, with the pioneers and coolies, +suffered so severely from this cause that numbers of them perished.[3] + +[Footnote 1: + +[Illustration: EYES AND TEETH OF THE LAND LEECHES OF CEYLON] + +_Haemadipsa Ceylanica_, Bosc. Blainv. These pests are not, however; +confined to Ceylon; they infest the lower ranges of the Himalaya. +--HOOKER, vol. i. p. 107; vol. ii. p. 54. THUNBEBG, who records +(_Travels_, vol. iv. p. 232) having seen them in Ceylon, likewise met +with them in the forests and slopes of Batavia. MARSDEN (_Hist_. p. 311) +complains of them dropping on travellers in Sumatra. KNORR, found them +at Japan; and it is affirmed that they abound in islands farther to the +eastward. M. GAY encountered them, in Chili.--MOQUIN-TANDON, +(_Hirudinees_, p. 211, 346.) It is very doubtful, however, whether all +these are to be referred to one species. M. DE BLAINVILLE, under _H. +Ceylanica_, in the _Diet, de Scien. Nat._ vol. xlvii. p. 271, quotes M. +BOSC as authority for the kind which that naturalist describes being +"rouges et tachetees;" which is scarcely applicable to the Singhalese +species. It is more than probable therefore, considering the period at +which M. BOSC wrote, that he obtained his information from travellers to +the further east, and has connected with the habitat universally +ascribed to them from old KNOX'S work (Part I. chap, vi.) a meagre +description, more properly belonging to the land leech of Batavia or +Japan, In all likelihood, therefore, there may be a _H. Boscii,_ +distinct from the _H. Ceylanica._ That which is found in Ceylon is +round, a little flattened on the inferior surface, largest at the +extremity, thence graclimlly tapering forward, and with the anal sucker +composed of four rings, and wider in proportion than in other species. +It is of a clear brown colour, with a yellow stripe the entire length of +each side, and a greenish dorsal one. The body is formed of 100 rings; +the eyes, of which there are five pairs, are placed in an arch on the +dorsal surface; the first four pairs occupying contiguous rings (thus +differing from the water-leeches, which have an unoccupied ring betwixt +the third and fourth); the fifth pair are located on the seventh ring, +two vacant rings intervening. To Dr. Thwaites, Director of the Botanic +Garden at Peradenia, who at my request examined their structure +minutely, I am indebted for the following most interesting particulars +respecting them. "I have been giving a little time to the examination of +the land leech. I find it to have five pairs of ocelli, the first four +seated on corresponding segments, and the posterior pair on the seventh +segment or ring, the fifth and sixth rings being eyeless (_fig_. A). The +mouth is very retractile, and the aperture is shaped as in ordinary +leeches. The serratures of the teeth, or rather the teeth themselves, +are very beautiful. Each of the three 'teeth,' or cutting instruments, +is principally muscular, the muscular body being very clearly seen. The +rounded edge in which the teeth are set appears to be cartilaginous in +structure; the teeth are very numerous, (_fig_. B); but some near the +base have a curious appendage, apparently (I have not yet made this out +quite satisfactorily) set upon one side. I have not yet been able to +detect the anal or sexual pores. The anal sucker seems to be formed of +four rings, and on each side above is a sort of crenated flesh-like +appendage. The tint of the common species is yellowish-brown or +snuff-coloured, streaked with black, with a yellow-greenish dorsal, and +another lateral line along its whole length. There is a larger species +to be found in this garden with a broad green dorsal fascia; but I have +not been able to procure one although I have offered a small reward to +any coolie who will bring me one." In a subsequent communication Mr. +Thwaites remarks "that the dorsal longitudinal fascia is of the same +width as the lateral ones, and differs only in being perhaps slightly +more green; the colour of the three fasciae varies from brownish-yellow +to bright green." He likewise states "that the rings which compose the +body are just 100, and the teeth 70 to 80 in each set, in a single row, +except to one end, where they are in a double row."] + +[Footnote 2: The Minorite friar, ODORIC of Portenau, writing in A.D. +1320, says that the gem-finders who sought the jewels around Adam's +Peak, "take lemons which they peel, anointing themselves with the juice +thereof, so that the leeches may not be able to hurt them."--HAKLUYT, +_Voy._ vol. ii. p. 58.] + +[Footnote 3: DAVY'S _Ceylon_, p. 104; MARSHALL'S _Ceylon_, p. 15.] + +[Illustration: LAND LEECHES.] + +One circumstance regarding these land leeches is remarkable and +unexplained; they are helpless without moisture, and in the hills where +they abound at all other times, they entirely disappear during long +droughts;--yet re-appear instantaneously on the very first fall of rain; +and in spots previously parched, where not one was visible an hour +before; a single shower is sufficient to reproduce them in thousands, +lurking beneath the decaying leaves, or striding with rapid movements +across the gravel. Whence do they re-appear? Do they, too, take a +"summer sleep," like the reptiles, molluscs, and tank fishes, or may +they be, like the _Rotifera_, dried up and preserved for an indefinite +period, resuming their vital activity on the mere recurrence of +moisture? + +Besides the medicinal leech, a species of which[1] is found in Ceylon, +nearly double the size of the European one, and with a prodigious +faculty of engorging blood, there is another pest in the low country, +which is a source of considerable annoyance, and often of loss, to the +husbandman. This is the cattle leech[2], which infests the stagnant +pools, chiefly in the alluvial lands around the base of the mountain +zone, to which the cattle resort by day, and the wild animals by night, +to quench their thirst and to bathe. Lurking amongst the rank vegetation +which fringes these deep pools, and hid by the broad leaves, or +concealed among the stems and roots covered by the water, there are +quantities of these pests in wait to attack the animals that approach +them. Their natural food consists of the juices of lumbrici and other +invertebrata; but they generally avail themselves of the opportunity +afforded by the dipping of the muzzles of the animals into the water to +fasten on their nostrils, and by degrees to make their way to the deeper +recesses of the nasal passages, and the mucous membranes of the throat +and gullet. As many as a dozen have been found attached to the +epiglottis and pharynx of a bullock, producing such irritation and +submucous effusion that death has eventually ensued; and so tenacious +are the leeches that even after death they retain their hold for some +hours.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Hirudo sanguisorba._ The paddifield leech of Ceylon, used +for surgical purposes, has the dorsal surface of blackish olive, with +several longitudinal striae, more or less defined; the crenated margin +yellow. The ventral surface is fulvous, bordered laterally with olive; +the extreme margin yellow. The eyes are ranged as in the common +medicinal leech of Europe; the four anterior ones rather larger than the +others. The teeth are 140 in each series, appearing as a single row; in +size diminishing gradually from one end, very close set, and about half +the width of a tooth apart. When of full size, these leeches are about +two inches long, but reaching to six inches when extended. Mr. Thwaites, +to whom I am indebted for these particulars, adds that he saw in a tank +at Colonna Corle leeches which appeared to him flatter and of a darker +colour than those described above, but that he had not an opportunity of +examining them particularly. + +[Illustration: DORSAL.] + +[Illustration: VENTRAL.] + +Mr. Thwaites states that there is a smaller tank leech of an olive-green +colour, with some indistinct longitudinal striae on the upper surface; +the crenated margin of a pale yellowish-green; ocelli as in the +paddi-field leech. Length, one inch at rest, three inches when extended. + +Mr. E. LAYARD informs us, _Mag. Nat. Hist._ p. 225, 1853, that a +bubbling spring at the village of Tonniotoo, three miles S.W. of +Moeletivoe, supplies most of the leeches used in the island. Those in +use at Colombo are obtained in the immediate vicinity.] + +[Footnote 2: _Haemopsis paludum._ In size the cattle leech of Ceylon is +somewhat larger than the medicinal leech of Europe; in colour it is of a +uniform brown without bands, unless a rufous margin may be so +considered. It has dark striae. The body is somewhat rounded, flat when +swimming, and composed of rather more than ninety rings. The greatest +dimension is a little in advance of the anal sucker; the body thence +tapers to the other extremity, which ends in an upper lip projecting +considerably beyond the mouth. The eyes, ten in number, are disposed as +in the common leech. The mouth is oval, the biting apparatus with +difficulty seen, and the teeth not very numerous. The bite is so little +acute that the moment of attachment and of division of the membrane is +scarcely perceived by the sufferer from its attack.] + +[Footnote 3: Even men are not safe, when stooping to drink at a pool, +from the assault of the cattle leeches. They cannot penetrate the human +skin, but the delicate membrane of the mucous passages is easily +ruptured by their serrated jaws. Instances have come to my knowledge of +Europeans into whose nostrils they have gained admission and caused +serious disturbance.] + + +ARTICULATA. + + + +_APTERA_. + +Thysanura. + +Podura _albicollis_. + _atricollis_. + _viduata_. + _pilosa_. +Achoreutes _coccinea_. +Lepisma nigrofasciata, _Temp. nigra_. + +Arachnida. + +Buthus afer, _Linn_. + Ceylonicus, _Koch_. +Scorpio _linearis_. +Chelifer librorum. + _oblongus_. +Obisium _crassifemur_. +Phrynus lunatus, _Pall_. +Thelyphonus caudatus, _Linn_. +Phalangium _bisignatum_. +Mygale fasciata, _Walck_. +Olios taprobanius, _Walck_. +Nephila...? +Trombidium tinctorum, _Herm_. +Oribata...? +Ixodes...? + +Myriapoda. + +Cermatia _dispar_. +Lithobius _umbratilis_. +Scolopendra _crassa_. + spinosa, _Newp_. + _pallipes_. + _Grayii? Newp._ + tuberculidens, _Newp_. + Ceylonensis, _Newp_. + flava, _Newp_. + _olivacea_. + _abdominalis_. +Cryptops _sordidus_. + _assimilis_. +Geophilus _tegularius_. + _speciosus_. +Julus _ater_. + carnifex, _Fabr_. + _pallipes_. + _flaviceps_. + _pallidus_. +Craspedosoma _juloides_. + _praeusta_. +Polydesmus _granulatus_. +Cambala _catenulata_. +Zephronia _conspicua_. + + +_CRUSTACEA_. + +Decapoda brachyura. + +_Polybius_. +Neptunus pelagicus, _Linn_. + sanguinolentus, _Herbst_. +Thalamita...? +Thelphusa _Indica, Latr. +Cardisoma...?_ +Ocypoda ceratophthalmus, _Pall_. + _macrocera, Edw_. +Gelasimus _tetragonon, Edw_. + _annulipes, Edw_. +Macrophthalmus _carinimanus, Latr_. +Grapsus _messor, Forsk_. + strigosus, _Herbst_. +Plagusia depressa, _Fabr_. +Calappa philargus, _Linn_. + _tuberculata, Fabr_. +Matuta victor, _Fabr_. +Leucosia _fugax, Fabr +Dorippe._ + +Decapoda anomura. + +_Dromia...?_ +Hippa Asiatica, _Edw_. +Paguras affinis, _Edw_. + _punctulatus, Oliv. +Porcellana...?_ +Decapoda Macrura. +Scyllarus _orientalis, Fab._. +Palinurus ornatus, _Fab._. + _affinis_, _N_._S_. +_Crangon...?_ +_Alpheus...?_ +Pontonia inflata, _Edw_. +Palaemon carcinus, _Fabr_. +Stenopus...? +Peneus...? + +Stomatopoda. +_Squilla...?_ +Gonodactylus chiragra, _Fabr_. + +_CIRRHIPEDIA_. + + _Lepas_. + _Balanus_. + + +_ANNELIDA_. + +Tubicolae. +Dorsibranchiata. +Abranchia. + Hirudo _sanguisorba_. + _Thwaitesii_. + Haemopsis _paludum_. + Haemadipsa Ceylana. _Blainv_. + Lumbricus...? + + +PART III. + + * * * * * + +THE SINGHALESE CHRONICLES. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +SOURCES OF SINGHALESE HISTORY.--THE MAHAWANSO AND OTHER NATIVE ANNALS. + + +It was long affirmed by Europeans that the Singhalese annals, like those +of the Hindus, were devoid of interest or value as historical material; +that, as religious disquisitions, they were the ravings of fanaticism, +and that myths and romances had been reduced to the semblance of +national chronicles. Such was the opinion of the Portuguese writers DE +BARROS and DE COUTO; and VALENTYN, who, about the year 1725, published +his great work on the Dutch possessions in India, states his conviction +that no reliance can be placed on such of the Singhalese books as +profess to record the ancient condition of the country. These he held to +be even of less authority than the traditions of the same events which +had descended from father to son. On the information of learned +Singhalese, drawn apparently from the _Rajavali_, he inserted an account +of the native sovereigns, from the earliest times to the arrival of the +Portuguese; but, wearied by the monotonous inanity of the story, he +omitted every reign between the fifth and fifteenth centuries of the +Christian era.[1] + +[Footnote 1: VALENTYN, _Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien, &c., Landbeschryving +van t' Eyland Ceylon_, ch iv. p. 60.] + +A writer, who, under the signature of PHILALETHES, published, in 1816, +_A History of Ceylon from the earliest period_, adopted the dictum of +Valentyn, and contented himself with still further condensing the +"account," which the latter had given "of the ancient Emperors and +Kings" of the island. Dr. DAVY compiled that portion of his excellent +narrative which has reference to the early history of Kandy, chiefly +from the recitals of the most intelligent natives, borrowed, as in the +case of the informants of Valentyn, from the perusal of the popular +legends; and he and every other author unacquainted with the native +language, who wrote on Ceylon previous to 1833, assumed without inquiry +the nonexistence of historic data.[1] + +[Footnote 1: DAVY's _Ceylon_, ch. x. p. 293. See also PERCIVAL'S +_Ceylon_, p. 4.] + +It was not till about the year 1826 that the discovery was made and +communicated to Europe, that whilst the history of India was only to be +conjectured from myths and elaborated from the dates on copper grants, +or fading inscriptions on rocks and columns[1], Ceylon was in possession +of continuous written chronicles, rich in authentic facts, and not only +presenting a connected history of the island itself, but also yielding +valuable materials for elucidating that of India. At the moment when +Prinsep was deciphering the mysterious Buddhist inscriptions, which are +scattered over Hindustan and Western India, and when Csoma de Koeroes was +unrolling the Buddhist records of Thibet, and Hodgson those of Nepaul, a +fellow labourer of kindred genius was successfully exploring the Pali +manuscripts of Ceylon, and developing results not less remarkable nor +less conducive to the illustration of the early history of Southern +Asia. Mr. Turnour, a civil officer of the Ceylon service[2], was then +administering the government of the district of Saffragam, and being +resident at Ratnapoora near the foot of Adam's Peak, he was enabled to +pursue his studies under the guidance of Galle, a learned priest, +through whose instrumentality he obtained from the Wihara, at +Mulgiri-galla, near Tangalle (a temple founded about 130 years before +the Christian era), some rare and important manuscripts, the perusal of +which gave an impulse and direction to the investigations which occupied +the rest of his life. + +[Footnote 1: REINAUD, _Memoire sur l' Inde_, p. 3.] + +[Footnote 2: GEORGE TURNOUR was the eldest son of the Hon. George +Turnour, son of the first Earl of Winterton; his mother being Emilie, +niece to the Cardinal Due de Beausset. He was born in Ceylon in 1799 and +having been educated in England under the guardianship of the Right Hon. +Sir Thomas Maitland, then governor of the island, he entered the Civil +Service in 1818, in which he rose to the highest rank. He was +distinguished equally by his abilities and his modest display of them. +Interpreting in its largest sense the duty enjoined on him, as a public +officer, of acquiring a knowledge of the native languages, he extended +his studies, from the vernacular and written Singhalese to Pali, the +great root and original of both, known only to the Buddhist priesthood, +and imperfectly and even rarely amongst them. No dictionaries then +existed to assist in defining the meaning of Pali terms which no teacher +could be found capable of rendering into English, so that Mr. Turnour +was entirely dependent on his knowledge of Singhalese as a medium for +translating them. To an ordinary mind such obstructions would have +proved insurmountable, aggravated as they were by discouragements +arising from the assumed barrenness of the field, and the absence of all +sympathy with his pursuits, on the part of those around him, who +reserved their applause and encouragement till success had rendered him +indifferent to either. To this apathy of the government officers, Major +Forbes, who was then the resident at Matelle, formed an honourable +exception; and his narrative of _Eleven Years in Ceylon_ shows with what +ardour and success he shared the tastes and cultivated the studies to +which he had been directed by the genius and example of Turnour. So +zealous and unobtrusive were the pursuits of the latter, that even his +immediate connexions and relatives were unaware of the value and extent +of his acquirements till apprised of their importance and profundity by +the acclamation with which his discoveries and translations from the +Pali were received by the savans of Europe. Major Forbes, in a private +letter, which I have been permitted to see, speaking of the difficulty +of doing justice to the literary character of Turnour, and the ability, +energy, and perseverance which he exhibited in his historical +investigations, says, "his _Epitome of the History of Ceylon_ was from +the first _correct;_ I saw it seven years before it was published, and +it scarcely required an alteration afterwards." Whilst engaged in his +translation of the _Mahawanso_, TURNOUR, amongst other able papers on +_Buddist History_ and _Indian Chronology_ in the _Journal of the Bengal +Asiatic Society_, v. 521, vi. 299, 790, 1049, contributed a series of +essays _on the Pali-Buddhistical Annals_, which were published in 1836, +1837, 1838.--_Journ. Asiatic Soc. Bengal_, vi. 501, 714, vii. 686, 789, +919. At various times he published in the same journal an account of the +_Tooth Relic of Ceylon, Ib._ vi. 856, and notes on the inscriptions on +the columns of Delhi, Allahabad, and Betiah, &c. &c.; and frequent +notices of Ceylon coins and inscriptions. He had likewise planned +another undertaking of signal importance, the translation into English +of a Pali version of the Buddhist scriptures, an ancient copy of which +he had discovered, unencumbered by the ignorant commentaries of later +writers, and the fables with which they have defaced the plain and +simple doctrines of the early faith. He announced his intention in the +_Introduction to the Mahawanso_ to expedite the publication, as "the +least tardy means of effecting a comparison of the Pali with the +Sanskrit version" (p. cx.). His correspondence with Prinsep, which I +have been permitted by his family to inspect, abounds with the evidence +of inchoate inquiries in which their congenial spirits had a common +interest, but which were abruptly ended by the premature decease of +both. Turnour, with shattered health, returned to Europe in 1842, and +died at Naples on the 10th of April in the following year, The first +volume of his translation of the _Mahawanso_, which contains +thirty-eight chapters out of the hundred which form the original work, +was published at Colombo in 1837; and apprehensive that scepticism might +assail the authenticity of a discovery so important, he accompanied his +English version with a reprint of the original Pali in Roman characters +with diacritical points. + +He did not live to conclude the task he had so nobly begun; he died +while engaged on the second volume of his translation, and only a few +chapters, executed with his characteristic accuracy, remain in +manuscript in the possession of his surviving relatives. It diminishes, +though in a slight degree, our regret for the interruption of his +literary labours to know that the section of the _Mahawanso_ which he +left unfinished is inferior both in authority and value to the earlier +portion of the work, and that being composed at a period when literature +was at its lowest ebb in Ceylon, it differs little if at all from other +chronicles written during the decline of the native dynasty.] + +It is necessary to premise, that the most renowned of the Singhalese +books is the _Mahawanso_, a metrical chronicle, containing a dynastic +history of the island for twenty-three centuries from B.C. 543 to A.D. +1758. But being written in Pali verse its existence in modern times was +only known to the priests, and owing to the obscurity of its diction it +had ceased to be studied by even the learned amongst them. + +To relieve the obscurity of their writings, and supply the omissions, +occasioned by the fetters of rhythm and the necessity of permutations +and elisions, required to accommodate their phraseology to the +obligations of verse; the Pali authors of antiquity were accustomed to +accompany their metrical compositions with a _tika_ or running +commentary, which contained a literal version of the mystical text, and +supplied illustrations of its more abstruse passages. Such a _tika_ on +the _Mahawanso_ was generally known to have been written; but so utter +was the neglect into which both it and the original text had been +permitted to fall, that Turnour till 1826 had never met with an +individual who had critically read the one, or more than casually heard +of the existence of the other.[1] At length, amongst the books which, +were procured for him by the high, priest of Saffragam, was one which +proved to be this neglected commentary on the mystic and otherwise +unintelligible _Mahawanso_; and by the assistance of this precious +document he undertook, with confidence, a translation into English of +the long lost chronicle, and thus vindicated the claim of Ceylon to the +possession of an authentic and unrivalled record of its national +history. + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR's _Mahawanso_, introduction, vol. i. p. ii.] + +The title "Mahawanso," which means literally the "_Genealogy of the +Great_," properly belongs only to the first section of the work, +extending from B.C. 543 to A.D. 301,[1] and containing the history of +the early kings, from Wijayo to Maha Sen, with whom the Singhalese +consider the "Great Dynasty" to end. The author of this portion was +Mahanamo, uncle of the king Dhatu Sena, in whose reign it was compiled, +between the years A.D. 459 and 477, from annals in the vernacular +language then existing at Anarajapoora.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Although the _Mahawanso_ must be regarded as containing the +earliest _historical_ notices of Ceylon, the island, under its Sanskrit +name of Lanka, occupies a prominent place in the mythical poems of the +Hindus, and its conquest by Rama is the theme of the _Ramayana_, one of +the oldest epics in existence. In the _Raja-Tarangini_ also, an +historical chronicle which may be regarded as the _Mahawanso_ of +Kashmir, very early accounts of Ceylon are contained, and the historian +records that the King Megavahana, who, according to the chronology of +Troyer, reigned A.D. 24, made an expedition to Ceylon for the purpose of +extending Buddhism, and visited Adam's Peak, where he had an interview +with the native sovereign.--_Raja-Tarangini_, Book iii. sl. 71-79. _Ib._ +vol. ii. p. 364.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. i. The Arabian travellers in Ceylon +mention the official historiographers employed by order of the kings. +See Vol. I Pt. III. ch. viii. p. 387, note.] + +The sovereigns who succeeded Maha Sen are distinguished as the +"Sulu-wanse," the "lower race," and the story of their line occupies the +continuation of this extraordinary chronicle, the second portion of +which was written by order of the illustrious king Prakrama Bahu, about +the year A.D. 1266, and the narrative was carried on, under subsequent +sovereigns, down to the year A.D. 1758, the latest chapters having been +compiled by command of the King of Kandy, Kirti-Sri, partly from +Singhalese works brought back to the island from Siam (whither they had +been carried at former periods by priests dispatched upon missions), and +partly from native histories, which had escaped the general destruction +of such records in the reign of Raja Singha I., an apostate from +Buddhism, who, about the year A.D. 1590, during the period when the +Portuguese were in occupation of the low country, exterminated the +priests of Buddha, and transferred the care of the shrine on Adam's Peak +to Hindu Fakirs. + +But the _Mahawanso_, although the most authentic, and probably the most +ancient, is by no means the only existing Singhalese chronicle. Between +the 14th and 18th centuries several historians recorded passing events; +and as these corroborate and supplement the narrative of the greater +work, they present an uninterrupted Historical Record of the highest +authenticity, comprising the events of nearly twenty-four centuries.[1] + +[Footnote 1: In 1833 Upham published, under the title of _The Sacred and +Historical Books of Ceylon_, translations of what professed to be +authentic copies of the _Mahawanso_, the _Rajaratnacari_, and +_Rajavali_; prepared for the use of Sir Alexander Johnston when +Chief-Justice of the island. But Turnour, in the introduction to his +masterly translation of the _Mahawanso_; has shown that Sir Alexander +had been imposed upon, and that the alleged transcripts supplied to him +are imperfect as regards the original text and unfaithful as +translations. Of the _Mahawanso_ in particular, Mr. Turnour says, in a +private letter which I have seen, that the early part of Upham's volume +"is not a translation but a compendium of several works, and the +subsequent portions a mutilated abridgment." The _Rajavali_, which is +the most valuable of these volumes, was translated for Sir Alexander +Johnston by Mr. Dionysius Lambertus Pereira, who was then +Interpreter-Moodliar to the Cutchery at Matura. These English versions, +though discredited as independent authorities, are not without value in +so far as they afford corroborative support to the genuine text of the +_Mahawanso_, and on this account I have occasionally cited them.] + +From the data furnished by these, and from corroborative sources,[1] +Turnour, in addition to many elaborate contributions drawn from the +recesses of Pali learning in elucidation of the chronology of India, was +enabled to prepare an _Epitome of the History of Ceylon,_ in which he +has exhibited the succession and genealogy of one hundred and sixty-five +kings, who filled the throne during 2341 years, extending from the +invasion of the island from Bengal, by Wijayo, in the year B.C. 543 to +its conquest by the British in 1798. In this work, after infinite +labour, he has succeeded in condensing the events of each reign, +commemorating the founders of the chief cities, and noting the erection +of the great temples and Buddhist monuments, and the construction of +some of those gigantic reservoirs and works for irrigation, which, +though in ruins, arrest the traveller in astonishment at their +stupendous dimensions. He thus effectually demonstrated the +misconceptions of those who previously believed the literature of Ceylon +to be destitute of historic materials.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Besides the _Mahawanso, Rajaratnacari_, and _Rajavali_, the +other native chronicles relied on by Turnour in compiling his epitome +were the _Pujavali_, composed in the thirteenth century, the +_Neekaasangraha_, written A.D. 1347, and the _Account of the Embassy to +Siam_ in the reign of Raja Singha II., A.D. 1739-47, by WILBAAGEDERE +MUDIANSE.] + +[Footnote 2: By the help of TURNOUR'S translation of the _Mahawanso_ and +the versions of the _Rajaratnacari_ and _Rajavali,_ published by Upham, +two authors have since expanded the _Epitome_ of the former into +something like a connected narrative, and those who wish to pursue the +investigation of the early story of the island, will find facilities in +the _History of Ceylon,_ published by KNIGHTON in 1845, and in the first +volume of _Ceylon and its Dependencies,_ by PRIDHAM, London, 1849. To +facilitate reference I have appended a _Chronological List of Singhalese +Sovereigns,_ compiled from the historical epitome of Turnour. See Note +B. at the end of this chapter.] + +Besides evidence of a less definite character, there is one remarkable +coincidence which affords grounds for confidence in the faithfulness of +the purely historic portion of the Singhalese chronicles; due allowance +being made for that exaggeration of style which is apparently +inseparable from oriental recital. The circumstance alluded to is the +mention in the _Mahawanso_ of the Chandragupta[1], so often alluded to +by the Sanskrit writers, who, as Sir William Jones was the first to +discover, is identical with Sandracottus or Sandracoptus, the King of +the Prasii, to whose court, on the banks of the Ganges, Megasthenes was +accredited as an ambassador from Seleucus Nicator, about 323 years +before Christ. Along with a multitude of facts relating to Ceylon, the +_Mahawanso_ contains a chronologically connected history of Buddhism in +India from B.C. 590 to B.C. 307, a period signalized in classical story +by the Indian expedition of Alexander the Great, and by the Embassy of +Megasthenes to Palibothra,--events which in their results form the great +link connecting the histories of the West and East, but which have been +omitted or perverted in the scanty and perplexed annals of the Hindus, +because they tended to the exaltation of Buddhism, a religion loathed by +the Brahmans. + +[Footnote 1: The era and identity of Sandracottus and Chandragupta have +been accurately traced in MAX MUELLER'S _History of Sanskrit Literature_, +p. 298, &c.] + +The Prasii, or people of Megadha, occupy a prominent place in the +history of Ceylon, inasmuch as Gotama Buddha, the great founder of the +faith of its people, was a prince of that country, and Mahindo, who +finally established the Buddhist religion amongst them, was the +great-grandson of Chandagutto, a prince whose name thus recorded in the +_Mahawanso_[1] (notwithstanding a chronological discrepancy of about +sixty years), may with little difficulty be identified with the +"Chandragupta" of the Hindu Purana, and the "Sandracottus" of +Megasthenes. + +[Footnote 1: Mahawanso, ch. v. p. 21. See also WILSON'S _Notes to the +Vishnu Purana_, p. 468.] + +This is one out of the many coincidences which demonstrate the +authenticity of the ancient annals of Ceylon; and from sources so +venerable, and materials so abundant, I propose to select a few of the +leading events, sufficient to illustrate the origin, and explain the +influence of institutions and customs which exist at the present day in +Ceylon, and which, from time immemorial, have characterised the +inhabitants of the island. + + + + +NOTE (A.) + +ANCIENT MAP OF CEYLON. + +So far as I am aware, no map has ever been produced, exhibiting the +comparative geography of Ceylon, and placing its modern names in +juxtaposition with their Sanskrit and Pali. + +[Illustration: + +LANGKA OR TAMBRAPARNI. + +_(CEYLON)_ + +_according to_ + +The Sanscrit Pali & Singhalese Authorities. + + * * * * * + +NB The modern Names are given in Italics. + +By + +Sir J. Emerson Tennet] + + + + +NOTE (B.) + +NATIVE SOVEREIGNS OF CEYLON. + +N.B. The names of subordinate or cotemporary Princes are printed in + _Italics_. + +Names and Relationship of each +succeeding Sovereign. Capital. Accession + + B.C +1. Wejaya, founder of the Wejayan dynasty Tamananeuera 543 +2. Upatissa 1st, minister--regent Upatissaneuera 505 +3. Panduwasa, paternal nephew of Wejaya ditto 504 + _Rama_ _Ramagona_ + _Rohuna_ _Rohuna_ + _Diggaina_ _Diggamadulla_ + _Urawelli_ _Mahawelligama_ + _Anuradha_ _Anuradhapoora_ + _Wijitta_ _Wijittapoora_ + [these six are brothers-in-law] +4. Abhaya, son of Paduwasa, dethroned Upatissaneuera 474 + Interregnum 454 +5. Pandukabhaya, maternal + grandson of Panduwasa Anuradhapoora 437 +6. Mutasiwa, paternal grandson ditto 367 +7. Devenipiatissa, second son ditto 307 + _Mahanaga, brother_ _Magama_ + _Yatalatissa, son_ _Kellania_ + _Gotabhaya, son_ _Magama_ + _Kellani-tissa, not specified_ _Kellania_ + _Kawan-tissa, son of Gotabhaya_ _Magama_ +8. Uttiya, fourth son of Mutasiwa Anuradhapoora 267 +9. Mahasiwa, fifth do. ditto 257 +10. Suratissa, sixth do. put to death ditto 247 +11. Sena and Guttika, foreign + usurpers--put to death ditto 237 +12. Asela, ninth son of Mutasiwa--deposed ditto 215 +13. Elala, foreign usurper--killed in battle ditto 205 +14. Dutugaimunu, son of _Kawantissa_ ditto 161 +15. Saidaitissa, brother ditto 137 +16. Tuhl or Thullathanaka, + younger son--deposed ditto 119 +17. Laiminitissa 1st or + Lajjitissa, elder brother ditto 119 +18. Kalunna or Khallatanaga, + brother--put to death ditto 109 +19. Walagambahu 1st or + Wattagamini, brother--deposed ditto 104 +20. [Five foreign usurpers--successively + deposed and put to death] + Pulahattha ditto 103 + Bayiha ditto 100 + Panayamara ditto 98 + Peliyamara ditto 91 + Dathiya ditto 90 +21. Walagambahu 1st, reconquered + the kingdom ditto 88 +22. Mahadailitissa or Mahachula, son ditto 76 +23. Chora Naga, son--put to death ditto 62 +24. Kuda Tissa, son--poisoned by his wife ditto 50 +25. Anula, widow ditto 47 +26. Makalantissa or Kallakanni Tissa, second + son of Kudatissa ditto 41 +27. Batiyatissa 1st or Batikabhaya, son ditto 19 + + +Names and Relationship of Capital. Accession. +each succeeding Sovereign. + A.D. +28. Maha Dailiya Mana or Dathika, brother Anuradhapoora 9 +29. Addagaimunu or Amanda Gamini, son--put + to death ditto 21 +30. Kinibirridaila or Kanijani Tissa, brother ditto 30 +31. Kuda Abha or Chulabhaya, son ditto 33 +32. Singhawalli or Siwalli, sister--put to + death ditto 34 + Interregnum 35 +33. Elluna or Ha Naga, maternal nephew of + Addagaimunu ditto 38 +34. Sanda Muhuna or Chanda Mukha Siwa, son ditto 44 +35. Yasa Silo or Yatalakatissa, brother--put + to death ditto 52 +36. Subha, usurper--put to death ditto 60 +37. Wahapp or Wasahba, descendant of + Laiminitissa ditto 66 +38. Waknais or Wanka Nasica, son ditto 110 +39. Gajabahu 1st or Gamini, son ditto 113 +40. Mahalumana or Mallaka Naga, maternal + cousin ditto 125 +41. Batiya Tissa 2nd or Bhatika Tissa, son ditto 131 +42. Chula Tissa or Kanittbatissa, brother ditto 155 +43. Kuhuna or Chudda Naga, son--murdered ditto 173 +44. Kudanama or Kuda Naga, nephew--deposed ditto 183 +45. Kuda Sirina or Siri Naga 1st, + brother-in-law ditto 184 +46. Waiwahairatissa or Wairatissa, son--murdered ditto 209 +47. Abha Sen or Abha Tissa, brother ditto 231 +48. Siri Naga 2nd, son ditto 239 +49. Weja Indu or Wejaya 2nd, son--put to death ditto 241 +50. Sangatissa 1st, descendant of + Laiminitissa--poisoned ditto 242 +51. Dahama Sirisanga Bo or Sirisanga Bodhi + 1st, do do.--deposed ditto 245 +52. Golu Abha, Gothabhaya or Megha warna + Abhay, do. do. ditto 248 +53. Makalan Detu Tissa 1st, son ditto 261 +54. Maha Sen, brother ditto 275 +55. Kitsiri Maiwan 1st or Kirtisri Megha + warna, son ditto 302 +56. Detu Tissa 2nd, brother ditto 330 +57. Bujas or Budha Dasa, son ditto 339 +58. Upatissa 2nd, son ditto 368 +59. Maha Nama, brother ditto 410 +60. Senghot or Sotthi Sena, son--poisoned ditto 432 +61. Laimini Tissa 2nd or Chatagahaka, + descendant of Laiminitissa ditto 432 +62. Mitta Sena or Karalsora, not + specified--put to death ditto 433 +63. Pandu 24.9. Foreign usurpers ditto 434 + Parinda Kuda 24.9. Foreign usurpers ditto 439 + Khudda Parinda 24.9. Foreign usurpers ditto 455 + Datthiya 24.9. Foreign usurpers ditto 455 + Pitthiya 24.9. Foreign usurpers ditto 458 +64. Dasenkelleya or Dhatu Sena, descendant of + the original royal family--put to death ditto 459 +65. Sigiri Kasumbu or Kasyapa 1st, + son--committed suicide Sigiri Galla Neuera 477 + +Names and Relationship of each succeeding +Sovereign. Capital. Accession. + A.D. + +66. Mugallana 1st, brother Anuradhapoora 495 +67. Kumara Das or Kumara Dhatu Sena, + son-immolated himself ditto 513 +68. Kirti Sena, son-murdered ditto 522 +69. Maidi Siwu or Siwaka, maternal uncle-murdered ditto 531 +70. Laimini Upatissa 3rd, brother-in-law ditto 531 +71. Ambaherra Salamaiwan or Silakala, son-in-law ditto 534 +72. Dapulu 1st or Datthapa Bhodhi, second + son--committed suicide ditto 547 +73. Dalamagalan or Mugallana 2nd, elder brother ditto 547 +74. Kuda Kitsiri Maiwan 1st or Kirtisri + Meg-hawarna, son-put to death ditto 567 +75. Senewi or Maha Naga, descendant of the + Okaka branch ditto 586 +76. Aggrabodhi 1st or Akbo, maternal nephew ditto 589 +77. Aggrabodhi 2nd or Sula Akbo, son-in-law ditto 623 +78. Sanghatissa, brother-decapitated ditto 633 +79. Buna Mugalan or Laimini Bunaya, + usurper-put to death ditto 633 +80. Abhasiggahaka or Asiggahaka, maternal + grandson ditto 639 +81. Siri Sangabo 2nd, son-deposed ditto 648 +82. Kaluna Detutissa or Laimina Katuriya, + descendant of Laiminitissa-committed Dewuneura + suicide or Dondera 648 + Siri Sangabo 2nd, restored, and again + deposed Anuradhapoora 649 +83. Dalupiatissa 1st or Dhatthopatissa, Laimini + branch-killed in battle ditto 665 +84. Paisulu Kasumbu or Kasyapa 2nd, brother + of Sirisangabo ditto 677 +85. Dapulu 2nd, Okaka branch-deposed ditto 686 +86. Dalupiatissa 2nd or Hattha-Datthopatissa, + son of Dalupiatissa 1st ditto 693 +87. Paisulu Siri Sanga Bo 3rd or Aggrabodhi, + brother ditto 702 +88. Walpitti Wasidata or Dantanama, Okaka branch ditto 718 +89. Hununaru Riandalu or Hatthadatha, original + royal family-decapitated ditto 720 +90. Mahalaipanu or Manawamma, do. do. ditto 720 +91. Kasiyappa 3rd o Kasumbu, son ditto 726 +92. Aggrabodhi 3rd or Akbo, nephew Pollonnarrua 729 +93. Aggrabodhi 4th or Kuda Akbo, son ditto 769 +94. Mahindu 1st or Salamaiwan, original royal + family ditto 775 +95. Dappula 2nd, son ditto 795 +96. Mahindu 2nd or Dharmika-Silamaiga, son ditto 800 +97. Aggrabodhi 5th or Akbo, brother ditto 804 +98. Dappula 3rd or Kuda Dappula, son ditto 815 +99. Aggrabodhi 6th, cousin ditto 831 +100. Mitwella Sen or Silamaiga, son ditto 838 +101. Kasiyappa 4th or Maganyin Sena or Mihindu, + grandson ditto 858 +102. Udaya 1st, brother ditto 891 + +Names and Relationship of Capital. Accession. +each succeeding Sovereign. + A.D. +103. Udaya 2nd, son Pollonnarrua 926 +104. Kasiyappa 5th, nephew and son-in-law ditto 937 +105. Kasiyappa 6th, son-in-law ditto 954 +106. Dappula 4th, son ditto 964 +107, Dappula 5th, not specified ditto 964 +108. Udaya 3rd, brother ditto 974 +109. Sena 2nd, not specified ditto 977 +110. Udaya 4th, do. do. ditto 986 +111. Sena 3rd, do. do. ditto 994 +112. Mihindu 3rd, do. do ditto 997 +113. Sena 4th, son--minor ditto 1013 +114. Mihindu 4th, brother--carried captive to Anuradhapoora 1023 + India during the Sollean conquest + Interregnum Sollean viceroyalty Pollonnarrua 1059 + _Maha Lai or Maha_ } { + _Lala Kirti_ } { _Rohuna_ + _Wikrama Pandi_ } _Subordinate_ { _Kalutotta_ + _Jagat Pandi or Jagati_ } _native kings_ { + _Pala_ } _during the_ { _Rohuna_ + _Prakrama Pandi or_ } _Sollean_ { + _Prakhrama Bahu_ } _vice-royalty._ { _ditto_ + _Lokaiswara_ } { _Kacharagama_ +115. Wejayabahu 1st or Sirisangabo 4th, + grandson of Mihindu 4th Pollonnarrua 1071 +116. Jayabahu 1st, brother ditto 1126 +117. Wikramabahu 1st } ditto } + _ _Manabarana_ } A disputed _Rohuna_ } +118. Gajabahu 2nd } succession Pollonnarrua } 1127 + _Siriwallaba or_} } + _Kitsiri Maiwan_} _Rohuna_ } +119. Prakrama Bahu 1st, son of Manabarana Pollonuarrua 1153 +120. Wejayabahu 2nd, nephew--murdered ditto 1186 +121. Mihindu 5th or Kitsen Kisdas, + usurper--put to death ditto 1187 +122. Kirti Nissanga, a prince of Kalinga ditto 1187 + Wirabahu, son--put to death ditto 1196 +123. Wikramabahu 2nd, brother of Kirti + Nissanga--put to death ditto 1196 +124. Chondakanga, nephew--deposed ditto 1196 +125. Lalawati, widow of Prakramabahu--deposed ditto 1197 +126. Sahasamallawa, Okaka branch--deposed ditto 1200 +127. Kalyanawati, sister of Kirti Nissanga ditto 1202 +128. Dharmasoka, not specified--a minor ditto 1208 +129. Nayaanga or Nikanga, minister--put to death ditto 1209 + Lilawati, restored, and again deposed ditto 1209 +130. Lokaiswera 1st, usurper--deposed ditto 1210 + Lilawati, again restored, + and deposed a third time ditto 1211 +131. Pandi Prakrama Bahu 2nd, usurper--deposed ditto 1211 +132. Magha, foreign usurper ditto 1214 +133. Wejayabahu 3rd, + descendant of Sirisangabo 1st Dambadenia 1235 +134. Kalikala Sahitya Sargwajnya or Pandita + Prakrama Bahu 3rd, son ditto 1266 +135. Bosat Wejaya Bahu 4th, son Pollonnarrua 1301 + +Names and Relationship + of each succeeding Sovereign. Capital. Accession. + A.D. + _Bhuwaneka Bahu_ _Yapahu or + Subbapabatto_ +136. Bhuwaneka Bahu 1st, brother ditto 1303 +137. Prakrama Bahu 3rd, son of Bosat + Wejayabahu Pollonnarrua 1314 +138. Bhuwaneka Bahu 2nd, son of Bhuwaneka Kurunaigalla or 1319 + Bahu Hastisailapoora +139. Pandita Prakrama Bahu 4th, not specified ditto +140. Wanny Bhuwaneka Bahu 3rd, do. ditto +141. Wejaya Bahu 5th, do. ditto +142. Bhuwaneka Bahu 4th, do. Gampola or + Gangasiripoora 1347 +143. Prakrama Bahu 5th, do. ditto 1361 +144. Wikram Bahu 3rd, cousin Partly at Kandy or + Sengadagalla Neuera 1371 +145. Bhuwaneka Bahu 5th, not specified Gampola or + Gangasiripoora 1378 +146. Wejaya Bahu 5th, or Wira Bahu, do ditto 1398 +147. Sri Prakrama Bahu 6th, do. Kotta or + Jayawardanapoora 1410 +148. Jayabahu 2nd, maternal grandson--put + to death ditto 1462 +149. Bhuwaneka Bahu 6th, not specified ditto 1464 +150. Pandita Prakrama Bahu 7th, adopted son ditto 1471 +151. Wira Prakrama Bahu 8th, brother of + Bhuwaneka Bahu 6th ditto 1485 +152. Dharma Prakrama Bahu 9th, son ditto 1505 +153. Wejaya Bahu 7th, brother--murdered ditto 1527 + _Jayawira Bandara_ _Gampola_ +154. Bhuwaneka Bahu 7th, son Kotta 1534 + _Mayadunnai_ _Setawacca_ + _Raygam Bandara_ _Raygam_ + _Jayawira Bandara_ _Kandy_ +155. Don Juan Dharmapala Kotta 1542 + _A Malabar_ _Yapahu_ + _Portuguese_ _Colombo_ + _Widiye Raja_ _Pailainda Neuera_ + _Raja Singha_ _Aiwissawelle_ + _Idirimane Suriya_ _Seven Korles_ + _Wikrama Bahu descendant of_ + Sirisangabo 1st _Kandy_ +156. Raja Singha 1st, son of _Mayadunnai_ Setawacca 1581 + _Jaya Suriya_ _Setawacca_ + _Widiye Raja's queen_ _ditto_ +157. Wimala Dharma, original royal family Khandy 1592 +158. Senaraana or Senarat, brother ditto 1604 +159. Raja-singha 2nd, son ditto 1637 + _Kumara-singa, brother_ _Ouvah_ + _Wejaya Pala, brother_ _Matelle_ +160. Wimala Dharma Suriya 2nd, son of + Rajasingha Khandy 1687 +161. Sriwira Prakrama Narendrasingha or + Kundasala ditto 1707 +162. Sriwejaya Raja Singha or Hanguranketta, + brother-in-law ditto 1739 +163. Kirtisri Raja Singha, brother-in-law ditto 1747 +164. Rajadhi Raja Singha, brother ditto 1781 +165. Sri Wikrema Raja Singha, son of the late + king's wife's sister, deposed by the + English in 1815, and died in captivity + in 1832 ditto 1798 + +NOTE.--The Singhalese vowels _a_, _e_, _i_, _o_, _u_ are to be +pronounced as in French or Italian. + + + + +CHAP. II. + +THE ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF CEYLON. + +Divested of the insipid details which overlay them, the annals of Ceylon +present comparatively few stirring incidents, and still fewer events of +historic importance to repay the toil of their perusal. They profess to +record no occurrence anterior to the advent of the last Buddha, the +great founder of the national faith, who was born on the borders of +Nepaul in the _seventh_ century before Christ. + +In the theoretic doctrines of Buddhism "_Buddhas_"[1] are beings who +appear after intervals of inconceivable extent; they undergo +transmigrations extending over vast spaces of time, accumulating in each +stage of existence an increased degree of merit, till, in their last +incarnation as men, they attain to a degree of purity so immaculate as +to entitle them to the final exaltation of "Buddha-hood," a state +approaching to incarnate divinity, in which they are endowed with wisdom +so supreme as to be competent to teach mankind the path to ultimate +bliss. + +[Footnote 1: A sketch of the Buddhist religion may be seen in Sir J. +EMERSON TENNENT'S _History of Christianity in Ceylon_, ch. v. London, +1850. But the most profound and learned dissertations on Buddhism as it +exists in Ceylon, will be found in the works of the Rev. R. SPENCE +HARDY, _Eastern Monachism_, Lond. 1850, and _A Manual of Buddhism_, +Lond. 1853.] + +Their precepts, preserved orally or committed to writing, are cherished +as _bana_ or the "_word_;" their doctrines are incorporated in the +system of _dharma_ or "_truth_;" and, at their death, instead of +entering on a new form of being, either corporeal or spiritual, they are +absorbed into _Nirwana_, that state of blissful unconsciousness akin to +annihilation which is regarded by Buddhists as the consummation of +eternal felicity. + +Gotama, who is represented as the last of the series of Buddhas[1], +promulgated a religious system in India which has exercised a wider +influence over the Eastern world than the doctrines of any other +uninspired teacher in any age or country.[2] He was born B.C. 624 at +Kapila-Vastu (a city which has no place in the geography of the Hindus, +but which appears to have been on the borders of Nepaul); he attained +his superior Buddha-hood B.C. 588, under a bo-tree[3] in the forest of +Urawela, the site of the present Buddha Gaya in Bahar; and, at the age +of eighty, he died at Kusinara, a doubtful locality, which it has been +sought to identify with the widely separated positions of Delhi, Assam, +and Cochin China.[4] + +[Footnote 1: There were twenty-four Buddhas previous to the advent of +Gotama, who is the fourth in the present Kalpa or chronological period. +His system of doctrine is to endure for 5000 years, when it will be +superseded by the appearance and preaching of his +successor.--_Rajaratnacari_, ch. i. p. 42.] + +[Footnote 2: HARDY'S _Eastern Monachism_, ch. i. p. 1. There is evidence +of the widely-spread worship of Buddha in the remotely separated +individuals with whom it has been sought at various times to identify +him. "Thus it has been attempted to show that Buddha was the same as +Thoth of the Egyptians, and Turm of the Etruscans, that he was Mercury, +Zoroaster, Pythagoras, the Woden of the Scandinavians, the Manes of the +Manichaeans, the prophet Daniel, and even the divine author of +Christianity." (PROFESSOR WILSON, _Journ. Asiat. Soc._, vol. xvi. p. +233.) Another curious illustration of the prevalence of his doctrines +may be discovered in the endless variations of his name in the numerous +countries over which his influence has extended: Buddha, Budda, Bud, +Bot, Baoth, Buto, Budsdo, Bdho, Pout, Pote, Fo, Fod, Fohi, Fuh, Pet, +Pta, Poot, Phthi, Phut, Pht, &c.--POCOCKE'S _India in Greece_, appendix, +397. HARDY'S _Buddhism_, ch. vii. p. 355. HARDY in his _Eastern +Monachism_ says, "There is no country in either Europe or Asia, _except +those that are Buddhist_, in which the same religion is now professed +that was there existent at the time of the Redeemer's death," ch. xxii. +p. 327.] + +[Footnote 3: The Pippul, _Ficus religiosa_.] + +[Footnote 4: Professor H.H. WILSON has identified Kusinara or Kusinagara +with _Kusia_ in Gorakhpur, _Journ. Roy. Asiat. Soc._, vol xvi. p. 246.] + +In the course of his ministrations Gotarna is said to have thrice landed +in Ceylon. Prior to his first coming amongst them, the inhabitants of +the island appear to have been living in the simplest and most primitive +manner, supported on the almost spontaneous products of the soil. Gotama +in person undertook their conversion, and alighted on the first occasion +at Bintenne, where there exists to the present day the remains of a +monument erected two thousand years ago[1] to commemorate his arrival. +His second visit was to Nagadipo in the north of the island, at a place +whose position yet remains to be determined; and the "sacred foot-print" +on Adam's Peak is still worshipped by his devotees as the miraculous +evidence of his third and last farewell. + +[Footnote 1: By Dutugaimunu, B.C. 164. For an account of the present +condition of this Dagoba at Bintenne, see Vol. II. Pt. IX. ch. ii.] + +To the question as to what particular race the inhabitants of Ceylon at +that time belonged, and whence or at what period the island was +originally peopled, the Buddhist chronicles furnish no reply. And no +memorials of the aborigines themselves, no monuments or inscriptions, +now remain to afford ground for speculation. Conjectures have been +hazarded, based on no sufficient data, that the Malayan type, which +extends from Polynesia to Madagascar, and from Chin-India to Taheite, +may still be traced in the configuration, and in some of the immemorial +customs, of the people of Ceylon.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Amongst the incidents ingeniously pressed into the support +of this conjecture is the use by the natives of Ceylon of those _double +canoes_ and _boats with outriggers_, which are never used on the Arabian +side of India, but which are peculiar to the Malayan race in almost +every country to which they have migrated; Madagascar and the Comoro +islands, Sooloo, Luzon, the Society Islands, and Tonga. PRITCHARD'S +_Races of Man_, ch. iv. p. 17. For a sketch of this peculiar canoe, see +Vol. II. Pt. VII. ch. i. + +There is a dim tradition that the first settlers in Ceylon arrived from +the coasts of China. It is stated in the introduction to RIBEYRO'S +_History of Ceylon_, but rejected by VALENTYN, ch, iv. p. 61. + +The legend prefixed to RIBEYRO is as follows. "Si nous en croyons les +historiens Portugais, les Chinois out ete les premiers qui ont habite +cette isle, et cela arriva de cette maniere. Ces peuples etoient les +maitres du commerce de tout l'orient; quelques unes de leurs vaisseaux +furent portez sur les basses qui sont pres du lieu, que depuis on +appelle Chilao par corruption au lieu de Cinilao. Les equipages se +sauverent a terre, et trouvant le pais bon et fertile ils s'y +etablirent: bientot apres ils s'allierent avec les Malabares, et les +Malabares y envoyoient ceux qu'ils exiloient et qu'ils nominoient +_Galas_. Ces exiles s'etant confondus avec les Chinois, de deux noms +n'en out fait qu'un, et se sont appelles _Chin-galas_ et ensuite +Chingalais."--RIBEYRO, _Hist. de Ceylan_, pref. du trad. + +It is only necessary to observe in reference to this hypothesis that it +is at variance with the structure of the Singhalese alphabet, in which +_n_ and _g_ form but one letter. DE BARROS and DE COUTO likewise adhere +to the theory of a mixed race, originating in the settlement of Chinese +in the south of Ceylon, but they refer the event to a period subsequent +to the seizure of the Singhalese king and his deportation to China in +the fifteenth century. DE BARROS, Dec. iii. ch. i.; DE COUTO, Dec. v. +ch. 5.] + +But the greater probability is, that a branch of the same stock which +originally colonised the Dekkan extended its migrations to Ceylon. All +the records and traditions of the peninsula point to a time when its +nations were not Hindu; and in numerous localities[1], in the forests +and mountains of the peninsula, there are still to be found the remnants +of tribes who undoubtedly represent the aboriginal race. + +[Footnote 1: LASSEN, _Indische Alterthumskunde_, vol. i. p. 199, 362.] + +The early inhabitants of India before their comparative civilisation +under the influence of the Aryan invaders, like the aborigines of Ceylon +before the arrival of their Bengal conquerors, are described as +mountaineers and foresters who were "rakshas" or demon worshippers; a +religion, the traces of which are to be found to the present day amongst +the hill tribes in the Concan and Canara, as well as in Guzerat and +Cutch. In addition to other evidences of the community of origin of +these continental tribes and the first inhabitants of Ceylon, there is a +manifest identity, not alone in their popular superstitions at a very +early period, but in the structure of the national dialects, which are +still prevalent both in Ceylon and Southern India. Singhalese, as it is +spoken at the present day, and, still more strikingly, as it exists as a +written language in the literature of the island, presents unequivocal +proofs of an affinity with the group of languages still in use in the +Dekkan; Tamil, Telingu, and Malayalim. But with these its identification +is dependent on analogy rather than on structure, and all existing +evidence goes to show that the period at which a vernacular dialect +could have been common to the two countries must have been extremely +remote.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The _Mahawanso_ (ch. xiv.) attests that at the period of +Wijayo's conquest of Ceylon, B.C. 543, the language of the natives was +different from that spoken by himself and his companions, which, as they +came from Bengal, was in all probability Pali. Several centuries +afterwards, A.D. 339, the dialect of the two races was still different; +and some of the sacred writings were obliged to be translated from Pali +into the Sihala language.--_Mahawanso_, ch. xxxvii. xxxviii. p. 247. At +a still later period, A.D. 410; a learned priest from Magadha translated +the Attah-Katha from Singhalese into Pali.--_Ib_. p. 253. See also DE +ALWIS, _Sidath-Sangara_, p. 19.] + +Though not based directly on either Sanskrit or Pali, Singhalese at +various times has been greatly enriched from both sources, and +especially from the former; and it is corroborative of the inference +that the admixture was comparatively recent; and chiefly due to +association with domiciliated strangers, that the further we go back in +point of time the proportion of amalgamation diminishes, and the dialect +is found to be purer and less alloyed. Singhalese seems to bear towards +Sanskrit and Pali a relation similar to that which the English of the +present day bears to the combination of Latin, Anglo-Saxon, and Norman +French, which serves to form the basis of the language. As in our own +tongue the words applicable to objects connected with rural life are +Anglo-Saxon, whilst those indicative of domestic refinement belong to +the French, and those pertaining to religion and science are borrowed +from Latin[1]; so, in the language of Ceylon, the terms applicable to +the national religion are taken from Pali, those of science and art from +Sanskrit, whilst to pure Singhalese belong whatever expressions were +required to denote the ordinary wants of mankind before society had +attained organisation.[2] + +[Footnote 1: See TRENCH on the _Study of Words_.] + +[Footnote 2: See DE ALWIS, _Sidath-Sangara_, p. xlviii.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 543.] + +Whatever momentary success may have attended the preaching of Buddha, no +traces of his pious labours long survived him in Ceylon. The mass of its +inhabitants were still aliens to his religion, when, on the day of his +decease, B.C. 543, Wijayo[1], the discarded son of one of the petty +sovereigns in the valley of the Ganges[2] effected a landing with a +handful of followers in the vicinity of the modern Putlam.[3] Here he +married the daughter of one of the native chiefs, and having speedily +made himself master of the island by her influence, he established his +capital at Tamana Neuera[4], and founded a dynasty, which, for nearly +eight centuries, retained supreme authority in Ceylon. + +[Footnote 1: Sometimes spelled _Wejaya_. TURNOUR has demonstrated that +the alleged concurrence of the death of Buddha and the landing of Wijayo +is a device of the sacred annalists, in order to give a pious interest +to the latter event, which took place about sixty years later.--Introd +_Mahawanso_, p. liii.] + +[Footnote 2: To facilitate reference to the ancient divisions of India, +a small map is subjoined, chiefly taken from Lassen's _Indische +Alterthumskunde_. + +[Illustration: MAP OF ANCIENT INDIA.]] + +[Footnote 3: BURNOUF conjectures that the point from which Wijayo set +sail for Ceylon was the Godavery, where the name of Bandar-maha-lanka +(the Port of the Great Lanka), still commemorates the event.--_Journ. +Asiat._ vol. xviii. p. 134. DE COUTO, recording the Singhalese tradition +as collected by the Portuguese, he landed at Preature (Pereatorre), +between Trincomalie and Jaffna-patam, and that the first city founded by +him was Mantotte.--_Decade_ v. l. 1. c. 5.] + +[Footnote 4: See a note at the end of this chapter, on the landing of +Wijayo in Ceylon, as described in the _Mahawanso_.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 543.] + +The people whom he mastered with so much facility are described in the +sacred books as _Yakkhos_ or "demons,"[1] and _Nagas_[2], or "snakes;" +designations which the Buddhist historians are supposed to have employed +in order to mark their contempt for the uncivilised aborigines[3], in +the same manner that the aborigines in the Dekkan were denominated +goblins and demons by the Hindus[4], from the fact that, like the +Yakkhos of Ceylon, they too were demon worshippers. The Nagas, another +section of the same superstition, worshipped the cobra de capello as an +emblem of the destroying power. These appear to have chiefly inhabited +the northern and western coasts of Ceylon, and the Yakkhos the +interior[5]; and, notwithstanding their alleged barbarism, both had +organised some form of government, however rude.[6] The Yakkhos had a +capital which they called Lankapura, and the Nagas a king, the +possession of whose "throne of gems"[7] was disputed by the rival +sovereign of a neighbouring kingdom. So numerous were the followers of +this gloomy idolatry of that time in Ceylon, that they gave the name of +Nagadipo[8], _the_ _Island of Serpents_, to the portion of the country +which they held, in the same manner that Rhodes and Cyprus severally +acquired the ancient designation of _Ophiusa_, from the fact of their +being the residence of the Ophites, who introduced serpent-worship into +Greece.[9] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. vii.; FA HIAN, _Fo[)e]-kou[)e]-ki_, ch. +xxxvii.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajavali_, p. 169.] + +[Footnote 3: REINAUD, Introd. to _Abouldfeda_, vol. i. sec. iii. p. +ccxvi. See also CLOUGH'S _Singhalese Dictionary_, vol. ii. p. 2.] + +[Footnote 4: MOUNTSTUART ELPHINSTONE'S, _History of India_, b. iv. ch. +xi. p. 216.] + +[Footnote 5: The first descent of Gotama Buddha in Ceylon was amongst +the Yakkhos at Bintenne; in his second visit he converted the "_Naga_ +King of Kalany," near Colombo, _Mahawanso_, ch. i. p. 5.] + +[Footnote 6: FABER, _Origin of Idolatry_, b. ii ch. vii. p. 440.] + +[Footnote 7: _Mahawanso_, ch. i.] + +[Footnote 8: TURNOUR was unable to determine the position on the modern +map of the ancient territory of Nagadipo.--Introd. p. xxxiv. CASIE +CHITTY, in a paper in the _Journal of the Ceylon Asiatic Society_, 1848, +p. 71, endeavours to identify it with Jaffna, The _Rajaratnacari_ places +it at the present Kalany, on the river of that name near Colombo (vol. +ii. p. 22). The _Mahawanso_ in many passages alludes to the existence of +Naga kingdoms on the continent of India, showing that at that time +serpent-worship had not been entirely extinguished by Brahmanism in the +Dekkan, and affording an additional ground for conjecture that the first +inhabitants of Ceylon were a colony from the opposite coast of Calinga.] + +[Footnote 9: BRYANT'S _Analysis of Mythology_, chapter on Ophiolatria, +vol. i p. 480, "Euboea means _Oub-aia_, and signifies the serpent +island." (_Ib_.) + +But STRABO affords us a still more striking illustration of the +_Mahawanso_, in calling the serpent worshippers of Ceylon "Serpents," +since he states that in Phrygia and on the Hellespont the people who +were styled [Greek: ophiogeneis], or the Serpent races, actually +retained a physical affinity with the snakes with whom they were +popularly identified, [Greek: "entautha mytheuousi tous Ophiogeneis +syngenneian tina echein pros tous oseis."]--STRABO, lib. xiii. c. 588. + +PLINY alludes to the same fable (lib. vii.). And OVID, from the incident +of Cadmus' having sown the dragon's teeth (that is, implanted +Ophiolatria in Greece), calls the Athenians _Serpentigenae_.] + +But whatever were the peculiarities of religion which distinguished the +aborigines from their conquerors, the attention of Wijayo was not +diverted from his projects of colonisation by any anxiety to make +converts to his own religious belief. The earliest cares of himself and +his followers were directed to implant civilisation, and two centuries +were permitted to elapse before the first effort was made to supersede +the popular worship by the inculcation of a more intellectual faith. + + * * * * * + + +NOTE. + +DESCRIPTION IN THE MAHAWANSO OF THE LANDING OF WIJAYO. + + +The landing of Wijayo in Ceylon is related in the 7th chapter of the +_Mahawanso_, and Mr. TURNOUR has noticed the strong similarity between +this story and Homer's account of the landing of Ulysses in the island +of Circe. The resemblance is so striking that it is difficult to +conceive that the Singhalese historian of the 5th century was entirely +ignorant of the works of the Father of Poetry. Wijayo and his followers, +having made good their landing, are met by a "devo" (a divine spirit), +who blesses them and ties a sacred thread as a charm on the arm of each. +One of the band presently discovers the princess in the person of a +devotee, seated near a tank, and she being a magician (Yakkhini) +imprisons him and eventually the rest of his companions in a cave. The +_Mahawanso_ then proceeds: "all these persons not returning, Wijayo, +becoming alarmed, equipping himself with the five weapons of war, +proceeded after them, and examined the delightful pond: he could +perceive no footsteps but those leading down into it, and there he saw +the princess. It occurred to him his retinue must surely have been +seized by her, and he exclaimed, 'Pray, why dost not thou produce my +attendants?' 'Prince,' she replied, 'from attendants what pleasure canst +thou derive? drink and bathe ere thou departest.' Seizing her by the +hair with his left hand, whilst with his right he raised his sword, he +exclaimed, 'Slave, deliver my followers or die.' The Yakkhini terrified, +implored for her life; 'Spare me, prince, and on thee will I bestow +sovereignty, my love, and my service.' In order that he might not again +be involved in difficulty he forced her to swear[1], and when he again +demanded the liberation of his attendants she brought them forth, and +declaring 'these men must be famishing,' she distributed to them rice +and other articles procured from the wrecked ships of mariners, who had +fallen a prey to her. A feast follows, and Wijayo and the princess +retire to pass the night in an apartment which she causes to spring up +at the foot of a tree, curtained as with a wall and fragrant with +incense." It is impossible not to be struck with a curious resemblance +between this description and that in the 10th book of the Odyssey, where +Eurylochus, after landing, returns to Ulysses to recount the fate of his +companions, who, having wandered towards the palace of Circe, had been +imprisoned after undergoing transformation into swine. Ulysses hastens +to their relief, and having been provided by Mercury with antidotes, +which enabled him to resist the poisons of the sorceress, whom he +discovers in her retreat, the story proceeds:-- + +[Greek: + + Os phat ego d aor oxu eryssamenos para merou + Kirkeepeixa hoste ktameuai meneainon. k. t. l.] + +[Footnote 1: [Greek: + + Ei me moi tlaies ge, thea, megan horkon homossai + Meti moi autps pema kakon bouleusemen allo.]--_Odys_. x. l. 343.] + + "She spake, I, drawing from beside my thigh + The faulchion keen, with death denouncing looks, + Rush'd on her,--she, with a shrill scream of fear, + Ran under my raised arm, seized fast my knees, + And in winged accents plaintive thus began:-- + 'Who, whence thy city, and thy birth declare,-- + Amazed I see thee with that potion drenched, + Yet unenchanted: never man before + Once passed it through his lips and lived the same. + * * * * Sheath again + Thy sword, and let us on my bed recline, + Mutual embrace, that we may trust henceforth + Each other without jealousy or fear.' + The goddess spake, to whom I thus replied: + 'Oh Circe, canst thou bid me meek become, + And gentle, who beneath thy roof detain'st + My fellow-voyagers. * * * + No, trust me, never will I share thy bed, + Till first, oh goddess, thou consent to swear + That dread, all-binding oath, that other harm + Against myself, thou wilt imagine none.' + I spake, she, swearing as I bade, renounced + All evil purpose, and her solemn oath + Concluded, I ascended next her bed."[1] + +[Footnote 1: COWPER's _Odyssey_, B. x, p. 392.] + +The story of Wijayo's interview with Kuweni is told in nearly the same +terms as it appeared in the _Mahawanso_ in the _Rajavali_, p. 172. + +Another classical coincidence is curious: we are strongly reminded of +Homer's description of the Syrens by the following passage, relative to +the female _Rakshasis_, or demons, by whom Ceylon was originally +inhabited, which is given in the memoirs of HIOUEN-THSANG, the Chinese +traveller in the 7th century, as extracted by him from the Buddhist +Chronicles. "Elles epiaient constamment les marchands qui abordaient +dans l'isle, et se changeant en femmes d'une grande beaute elles +venaient au-devant d'eux avec des fleurs odorantes et au son des +instruments de musique, leur adressaient des paroles bienveillantes et +les attiraient dans la ville de fer. Alors elles leur offraient un +joyeux festin et se livraient au plaisir avec eux: puis elles les +enfermaient dans un prison de fer et les mangeaient l'un apres +l'autre."[1] + +[Footnote 1: HIOUEN-THSANG, _Mem. des Peler. Boudd_. 1. xi. p. 131.] + + + + +CHAP. III + +THE CONQUEST OF CEYLON BY WIJAYO, B.C. 543, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF +BUDDHISM, B.C. 307. + + +[Sidenote: B.C. 543.] + +The sacred historians of Ceylon affect to believe in the assertion of +some mysterious connection between the landing of Wijayo, and the +conversion of Ceylon to Buddhism, one hundred and fifty years +afterwards; and imply that the first event was but a pre-ordained +precursor of the second.[1] The Singhalese narrative, however, admits +that Wijayo was but a "lawless adventurer," who being expelled from his +own country, was refused a settlement on the coast of India before he +attempted Ceylon, which had previously attracted the attention of other +adventurers. This story is in no way inconsistent with that told by the +Chinese Buddhists, who visited the island in the fifth and seventh +centuries. FA HIAN states, that even before the advent of Buddha, Ceylon +was the resort of merchants, who repaired there to exchange their +commodities for gems, which the "demons" and "serpents," who never +appeared in person, deposited on the shore, with a specified value +attached to each, and in lieu of them the strangers substituted certain +indicated articles, and took their departure.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. vii.] + +[Footnote 2: FA HIAN, _Fo[)e]-Kou[)e]-ki_, ch. xxxviii. See a notice of +this story of FA HIAN, as it applies to the still existing habits of the +Veddahs, Vol. I. Pt III. ch. vii.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 543.] + +HIOUEN-THSANG, at a later period, disposes of the fables of Wijayo's +descent from a lion[1], and of his divine mission to Ceylon, by +intimating, that, according to certain authorities, he was the son of a +merchant (meaning a sea-faring trader), who, having appeased the enmity +of the Yakkhos, succeeded by his discretion in eventually making himself +their king.[2] + +[Footnote 1: The legend of Wijayo's descent from a lion, probably +originated from his father being the son of an outlaw named "Singha."] + +[Footnote 2: "Suivant certains auteurs, Sengkia-lo (Wijayo) serait le +nom du fils d'un marchand, qui, par sa prudence, ayant echappe a la +fureur homicide des Lo-tsa" (demons) "reussit ensuite a se faire +Roi."--HIOUEN THSANG, _Voyages &c_. l. iv. p. 198.] + +Whatever may have been his first intentions, his subsequent policy was +rather that of an agriculturist than an apostle. Finding the country +rich and fertile, he invited merchants to bring their families, and take +possession of it.[1] He dispersed his followers to form settlements over +the island, and having given to his kingdom his patrimonial name of +Sihala[2], he addressed himself to render his dominions "habitable for +men."[3] He treated the subjugated race of Yakkhos with a despotic +disdain, referable less to pride of caste than to contempt for the rude +habits of the native tribes. He repudiated the Yakkho princess whom he +had married, because her unequal rank rendered her unfit to remain the +consort of a king[4]; and though she had borne him children, he drove +her out before his second marriage with the daughter of an Indian +sovereign, on the ground that the latter would be too timid to bear the +presence of a being so inferior.[5] + +[Footnote 1: HIOUEN THSANG, ch iv.] + +[Footnote 2: Whence Singhala (and Singhalese) Silan, Seylan, and +Ceylon.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. vii p. 49. _Rajaratnacari_, ch. i.] + +[Footnote 4: _Mahawanso_, ch. vii. p. 51.] + +[Footnote 5: Ibid., p. 52.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 504.] + +Leaving no issue to inherit the throne, he was succeeded by his +nephew[1], who selected a relation of Gotama Buddha for his queen; and +her brothers having dispersed themselves over the island, increased the +number of petty kingdoms, which they were permitted to form in various +districts[2], a policy which was freely encouraged by all the early +kings, and which, though it served to accelerate colonisation and to +extend the knowledge of agriculture, led in after years to dissensions, +civil war, and disaster. It was at this period that Ceylon was resolved +into the three geographical divisions, which, down to a very late +period, are habitually referred to by the native historians. All to the +north of the Mahawelli-ganga was comprised in the denomination _Pihiti_, +or the Raja-ratta, from its containing the ancient capital and the +residence of royalty; south of this was _Rohano_ or _Rahuna_, bounded on +the east and south by the sea, and by the Mahawelli-ganga and +Kalu-ganga, on the north and west; a portion of this division near +Tangalle still retains the name of Roona.[3] The third was the +_Maya-ratta_, which lay between the mountains, the two great rivers and +the sea, having the Dedera-oya to the north, and the Kalu-ganga as its +southern limit. + +[Footnote 1: B.C. 504.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. vii. p. 51, ix. p. 57; _Rajavali_, part i. +p. 177, 186; and TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 12, 14.] + +[Footnote 3: The district of Rohuna included the mountain zone of +Ceylon, and hence probably its name, _rohuno_ meaning the "act or +instrument of ascending, as steps or a ladder." Adam's Peak was in the +Maya division; but Edrisi, who wrote in the twelfth century, says, that +it was then called "El Rahoun."--_Geographie, &c_. viii, JAUBERT'S +_Transl_. vol. ii. p. 71. _Rahu_ is an ordinary name for it amongst +Mahometan writers, and in the _Raja Tarangini_, it is called "Rohanam," +b. iii. 56, 72.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 504.] + +The patriarchal village system, which from time immemorial has been one +of the characteristics of the Dekkan, and which still prevails +throughout Ceylon in a modified form, was one of the first institutions +organised by the successors of Wijayo. "They fixed the boundaries of +every village throughout Lanka;"[1] they "caused the whole island to be +divided into fields and gardens;"[2] and so uniformly were the rites of +these rural municipalities respected in after times, that one of the +Singhalese monarchs, on learning that merit attached to alms given from +the fruit of the donor's own exertions, undertook to sow a field of +rice, and "from the portion derived by him as the cultivator's share," +to bestow an offering on a "thero."[3] + +[Footnote 1: It was established by Pandukabhaya, A.D. 437.--_Mahawanso_, +ch. x. p. 67, _Rajaratnacari_, ch. i.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajaratnacari_, ch. ii., _Rajavali_, b. i. p. 185.] + +[Footnote 3: The king was Mahachula, 77 B.C.--_Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiv.] + +From the necessity of providing food for their followers, the earliest +attention of the Bengal conquerors was directed to the introduction and +extension of agriculture. A passage in the _Mahawanso_ would seem to +imply, that previous to the landing of Wijayo, rice was imported for +consumption[1], and upwards of two centuries later the same authority +specifies "one hundred and sixty loads of hill-paddi,"[2] among the +presents which were sent to the island from Bengal. + +[Footnote 1: Kuweni distributed to the companions of Wijayo; "rice and +other articles, _procured from the wrecked ships of mariners_." +(_Mahawanso_, ch. vii. p. 49.) A tank is mentioned as then existing near +the residence of Kuweni; but it was only to be used as a bath. (Ib. c. +vii. p. 48.) The _Rajaratnacari_ also mentions that, in the fabulous age +of the second Buddha, of the present Kalpa, there was a famine in +Ceylon, which dried up the cisterns and fountains of the inland. But +there is no evidence of the existence of systematic tillage anterior to +the reign of Wijayo.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xi. p. 70. _Paddi_ is rice before it has +been freed from the husk.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 504.] + +In a low and level country like the north of Ceylon, where the chief +subsistence of the people is rice, a grain which can only be +successfully cultivated under water, the first requisites of society are +reservoirs and canals. The Buddhist historians extol the father of +Wijayo for his judgment and skill "in forming villages in situations +favourable for irrigation;"[1] his own attention was fully engrossed +with the cares attendant on the consolidation of his newly acquired +power; but the earliest public work undertaken by his successor +Panduwasa, B.C. 504, was a tank, which he caused to be formed in the +vicinity of his new capital Anarajapoora, the _Anurogrammum_ of Ptolemy, +originally a village founded by one of the followers of Wijayo.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. vi. p. 46.] + +[Footnote 2: The first tank recorded in Ceylon is the Abayaweva, made by +Panduwasa, B.C. 505 (_Mahawanso_, ch. ix. p. 57). The second was the +Jayaweva, formed by Pandukabhaya, B.C. 437. (Ib. ch. x. p. 65.) The +_third_, the Gamini tank, made by the same king at the same place, +Anarajapoora.--Ib. ch. x. p. 66.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 307.] + +The continual recurrence of records of similar constructions amongst the +civil exploits of nearly every succeeding sovereign, together with the +prodigious number formed, alike attests the unimproved condition of +Ceylon, prior to the arrival of the Bengal invaders, and the indolence +or ignorance of the original inhabitants, as contrasted with the energy +and skill of their first conquerors. + +[Sidenote: B.C. 307.] + +Upwards of two hundred years were spent in initiatory measures for the +organisation of the new state. Colonists from the continent of India +were encouraged by the facilities held out to settlers, and carriage +roads were formed in the vicinity of the towns.[1] Village communities +were duly organised, gardens were planted, flowers and fruit-bearing +trees introduced,[2] and the production of food secured by the +construction of canals,[3] and public works for irrigation. Moreover, +the kings and petty princes attested the interest which they felt in the +promotion of agriculture, by giving personal attention to the formation +of tanks and to the labours of cultivation.[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xiv. xv. xvi.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xi. p. 60 (367 B.C.), ch. xxxiv. p. 211 +(B.C. 20), ch. xxxv. p. 215 (A.D. 20). _Rajaratnacari_, ch. ii. p. 29. +_Rajavali_, p. 185, 227.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiv. p. 210 (B.C. 42), ch. xxxv. p. 221, +222 (A.D. 275), ch. xxxvii. p. 238. _Rajaratnacari_, ch. ii. p. 49, and +_Rajavali_, p. 223, &c.] + +[Footnote 4: _Mahawanso_, ch. x. p. 61, xxii. p. 130, xxiv. p. 149. +_Rajavali_, p. 185, 186. The Buddhist kings of Burmah, at the present +day, in imitation of the ancient sovereigns of Ceylon, rest their +highest claims to renown on the number of works for irrigation which +they have either formed or repaired. See _Yule's Narrative of the +British mission, to Ava in 1855_, p. 106.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 307.] + +Meantime, the effects of Gotama's early visits had been obliterated, and +the sacred trees which he planted were dead; and although the bulk of +the settlers had come from countries where Buddhism was the dominant +faith, no measures appear to have been taken by the immigrants to revive +or extend it throughout Ceylon. Wijayo was, in all probability, a +Brahman, but so indifferent to his own faith, that his first alliance in +Ceylon was with a demon worshipper.[1] His immediate successors were so +eager to encourage immigration, that they treated all religions with a +perfect equality of royal favour. Yakkho temples were not only +respected, but "annual demon offerings were provided" for them; halls +were built for the worshippers of Brahma, and residences were provided +at the public cost, for "five hundred persons of various foreign +religious faiths;"[2] but no mention is made in the _Mahawanso_ of a +single edifice having been then raised for the worshippers of Buddha, +whether resident in the island, or arriving amongst the colonists from +India. + +[Footnote 1: According to the _Mahawanso_, Vishnu, in order to protect +Wijayo and his followers from the sorceries of the Yakkhos, met them on +their landing in Ceylon, and "_tied threads on their arms_," ch. vii.; +and at a later period, when the king Panduwasa, B.C. 504, was afflicted +with temporary insanity, as a punishment in his person of the crime of +perjury, committed by his predecessor Wijayo, _Iswara_ was supplicated +to interpose, and by his mediation the king was restored to his right +mind.--_Rajavali_, p. 181.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. x. p. 67; ch, xxxiii, p. 203.] + +It was not till the year B.C. 307, in the reign of Tissa, that the +preacher Mahindo ventured to visit Ceylon, under the auspices of the +king, whom he succeeded in inducing to abstain from Brahmanical rites, +and to profess faith in the doctrines of Buddha. From the prominent part +thus taken by Tissa in establishing the national faith of Ceylon, the +sacred writers honour his name with the prefix of _Dewanan-pia_, or +"beloved of the saints." + +[Sidenote: B.C. 307.] + +The _Mahawanso_ exhausts the vocabulary of ecstacy in describing the +advent of Mahindo, a prince of Magadha, and a lineal descendant of +Chandragutto. It records the visions by which he was divinely directed +to "depart on his mission for the conversion of Lanka;" it describes his +aerial flight, and his descent on Ambatthalo, the loftiest peak of +Mihintala, the mountain which, rising suddenly from the plain, overlooks +the sacred city of Anarajapoora. The story proceeds to explain, how the +king, who was hunting the elk, was miraculously allured by the fleeing +game to approach the spot where Mahindo was seated[1]; and how the +latter forthwith propounded the Divine doctrine "to the ruler of the +land; who, at the conclusion of his discourse, together with his forty +thousand followers, obtained the salvation of the faith."[2] + +[Footnote 1: The story, as related in the _Mahawanso_, bears a +resemblance to the legend of St. Hubert and the stag, in the forest of +Ardennes, and to that of St. Eustace, who, when hunting, was led by a +deer of singular beauty towards a rock, where it displayed to him the +crucifix upon its forehead; whence an appeal was addressed which +effected his conversion. "The king Dewananpiyatissa departed for an elk +hunt, taking with him a retinue; and in the course of the pursuit of the +game on foot, he came to the Missa mountain. A certain devo, assuming +the form of an elk, stationed himself there, grazing; the sovereign +descried him, and saying 'it is not fair to shoot him standing,' sounded +his bowstring, on which the elk fled to the mountain. The king gave +chase to the flying animal, and, on reaching the spot where the priests +were, the thero Mahindo came within sight of the monarch; but the +metamorphosed deer vanished."--_Mahawanso_, c. xiv.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xiv. p. 80.] + +Then follows the approach of Mahindo to the capital; the conversion of +the queen and her attendants, and the reception of Buddhism by the +nation, under the preaching of its great Apostle, who "thus became the +luminary which shed the light of religion over the land." He and his +sister Sanghamitta thenceforth devoted their lives to the organisation +of Buddhist communities throughout Ceylon, and died in the odour of +sanctity, in the reign of King Uttiya, B.C. 267. + +[Sidenote: B.C. 289.] + +But the grand achievement which consummated the establishment of the +national faith, was the arrival from Magadha of a branch of the sacred +Bo-tree. Every ancient race has had its sacred tree; the Chaldeans, the +Hebrews[1], the Greeks, the Romans and the Druids, had each their +groves, their elms and their oaks, under which to worship. Like them, +the Brahmans have their _Kalpa tree_ in Paradise, and the Banyan in the +vicinity of their temples; and the Buddhists, in conformity with +immemorial practice, selected as their sacred tree the Pippul, which is +closely allied to the Banyan, yet sufficiently distinguished from it, to +serve as the emblem of a new and peculiar worship.[2] It was whilst +reclining under the shade of this tree in Uruwela, that Gotama received +Buddhahood; hence its adoption as an object of reverence by his +followers, and in all probability its adoration preceded the use of +images and temples in Ceylon.[3] + +[Footnote 1: "They sacrifice upon the tops of mountains, and burn +incense under oaks, and poplars, and elms, because the shadow thereof is +good."--_Hosea_, iv. 13.] + +[Footnote 2: The Bo-tree (_Ficus religiosa_) is the "pippul" of India. +It differs from the Banyan (_F. indica_), by sending down no roots from +its branches. Its heart-shaped leaves, with long attenuated points, are +attached to the stem by so slender a stalk, that they appear in the +profoundest calm to be ever in motion, and thus, like the leaves of the +aspen, which, from the tradition that the cross was made of that wood, +the Syrians believe to tremble in recollection of the events of the +crucifixion, those of the Bo-tree are supposed by the Buddhists to +exhibit a tremulous veneration, associated with the sacred scene of +which they were the witnesses.] + +[Footnote 3: Previous Buddhas had each his Bo-tree or Buddha-tree. The +pippul had been before assumed by the first recorded Buddha; others had +the iron-tree, the champac, the nipa, &c.--_Mahawanso_, TURNOUR'S +Introd. p. xxxii.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 289.] + +In order that his kingdom might possess a sacred tree of the supremest +sanctity, king Tissa solicited a branch of the identical tree under +which Gotama reclined, from Asoca, who then reigned in Magadha. The +difficulty of severing a portion without the sacrilegious offence of +"lopping it with any weapon," was overcome by the miracle of the branch +detaching itself spontaneously, and descending with its roots into the +fragrant earth prepared for it in a golden vase, in which it was +transported by sea to Ceylon[1], and planted by king Tissa in the spot +at Anarajapoora, where, after the lapse of more than 2000 years, it +still continues to flourish and to receive the profound veneration of +all Buddhist nations.[2] + +[Footnote 1: The ceremonial of the mysterious severance of the sacred +branch "amid the din of music, the clamours of men, the howling of the +elements, the roar of animals, the screams of birds, the yells of +demons, and the crash of earthquakes," is minutely described in an +elaborate passage of the _Mahawanso_. And its landing in Ceylon, the +retinue of its attendants, the homage paid to it, its progress to the +capital, its arrival at the Northern-gate "at the hour when shadows are +most extended," its reception by princes "adorned with the insignia of +royalty," and its final deposition in the earth, under the auspices of +Mahindo and his sister Sanghamitta, form one of the most striking +episodes in that very singular book.--_Mahawanso_, ch. xviii. xix.] + +[Footnote 2: The planting of the Bo-tree took place in the eighteenth +year of the reign of King Devenipiatissa, B.C. 288; it is consequently +at the present time 2147 years old.] + +[Illustration: THE BO TREE AT ANARAJAPOORA] + + + + +CHAP. IV. + +THE EARLY BUDDHIST MONUMENTS. + + +[Sidenote: B.C. 289.] + +Almost simultaneously with the establishment of the Buddhist religion +was commenced the erection of those stupendous ecclesiastical +structures, the number and magnitude of whose remains form a remarkable +characteristic in the present aspect of the country. + +The architectural history of continental India dates from the third +century before Christ; not a single building or sculptured stone having +as yet been discovered there, of an age anterior to the reign of +Asoca[1], who was the first of his dynasty to abandon the religion of +Brahma for that of Buddha. In like manner the earliest existing +monuments of Ceylon belong to the same period; they owe their +construction to Devenipiatissa, and the historical annals of the island +record with pious gratitude the series of dagobas, wiharas, and temples +erected by him and his successors. + +[Footnote 1: FERGUSON, _Handbook of Architecture_, b. i. c. i. p. 5.] + +Of these the most remarkable are the Dagobas, piles of brickwork of +dimensions so extraordinary that they suggest comparison with the +pyramids of Memphis[1], the barrow of Halyattys[2], or the mounds in the +valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates. + +[Footnote 1: So vast did the dagobas appear to the Singhalese that the +author of the _Mahawanso_, in describing the construction of that called +the _Ruanwelle_ at Anarajapoora, states that each of the lower courses +contained ten kotis (a koti being equal to 100 lacs) or 10,000,000 +bricks.--_Mahawanso_, ch. xxx, p. 179.] + +[Footnote 2: "The ancient edifices of Chi-Chen in Central America bear a +striking resemblance to the topes of India. The shape of one of the +domes, its apparent size, the small tower on the summit, the trees +growing on the sides, the appearance of masonry here and there, the +shape of the ornaments, and the small doorway at the base, are so +exactly similar to what I had seen at Anarajapoora that when my eyes +first fell on the engravings of these remarkable ruins I supposed that +they were presented in illustration of the dagobas of Ceylon."--HARDY's +_Eastern Monachism_, c. xix. p. 222.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 289.] + +A dagoba (from _datu_, a relic, and _gabbhan_, a shrine[1]) is a +monument raised to preserve one of the relics of Gotama, which were +collected after the cremation of his body at Kusinara, and it is +candidly admitted in the _Mahawanso_ that the intention in erecting them +was to provide "objects to which offerings could be made."[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Deha_, "the body," and _gopa_, "what preserves;" because +they enshrine hair, teeth, nails, &c. of Buddha.--WILSON'S _Asiat. Res._ +vol. xvii. p. 605.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xvii. p. 104.] + +[Illustration: A SMALL DAGOBA AT KANDY] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 289.] + +Ceylon contains but one class of these structures, and boasts no tall +monolithic pillars like the _lats_ of Delhi and Allahabad, and no +regularly built columns similar to the _minars_ of Cabul; but the +fragments of the bones of Gotama, and locks of his hair, are enclosed in +enormous masses of hemispherical masonry, modifications of which may be +traced in every Buddhist country of Asia, in the topes of Affghanistan +and the Punjaub, in the pagodas of Pegu, and in the Boro-Buddor of Java. +Those of Ceylon consist of a bell-shaped dome of brick-work surmounted +by a terminal or _tee_ (generally in the form of a cube supporting a +pointed spire), and resting on a square platform approached by flights +of stone steps. Those, the ruins of which have been explored in modern +times, have been found to be almost solid, enclosing a hollow vessel of +metal or stone which had once contained the relic, but of which the +ornament alone and a few gems or discoloured pearls set in gold, are +usually all that is now discoverable. + +Their outline exhibits but little of ingenuity or of art, and their +construction is only remarkable for the vast amount of labour which must +necessarily have been expended upon them. But, independently of this, +the first dagoba erected at Anarajapoora, the Thuparamaya, which exists +to the present day, "as nearly as may be in the same form in which it +was originally designed, is possessed of a peculiar interest from the +fact that it is in all probability the oldest architectural monument now +extant in India."[1] It was raised by King Tissa, at the close of the +third century before Christ, over the collar-bone of Buddha, which +Mahindo had procured for the king.[2] In dimensions this monument is +inferior to those built at a later period by the successors of Tissa, +some of which are scarcely exceeded in diameter and altitude by the dome +of St. Peter's[3]; but in elegance of outline it immeasurably surpassed +all the other dagobas, and the beauty of its design is still perceptible +in its ruins after the lapse of two thousand years. + +[Footnote 1: FERGUSON'S _Handbook of Architecture_, b. i. c. iii. p. +43.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xvii. _The Rajavali_ calls it the +jaw-bone, p. 184.] + +[Footnote 3: The Abhayagiri dagoba at Anarajapoora, built B.C. 89, was +originally 180 cubits high, which, taking the Ceylon cubit at 2 feet 3 +inches, would be equal to 405 feet. The dome was hemispherical, and +described with a radius of 180 feet, giving a circumference of 1130 +feet. The summit of this stupendous work was therefore fifty feet higher +than St. Paul's, and fifty feet lower than St. Peter's.] + +The king, in addition to this, built a number of others in various parts +of Ceylon[1], and his name has been perpetuated as the founder of +temples, for the rites of the new religion, and of Wiharas or +monasteries for the residence of its priesthood. The former were of the +simplest design, for an atheistical system, which substitutes meditation +for worship, dispenses with splendour in its edifices and pomp in its +ceremonial. + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 15.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 289.] + +The images of Grotama, which in time became objects of veneration, were +but a late innovation[1], and a doubt even been expressed whether the +religion of Buddha in its primitive constitution, rejecting as it does +the doctrine of a mediatorial priesthood, contemplated the existence of +any organised ministry. + +[Footnote 1: The precise date of their introduction is unknown, but the +first mention of a statue occurs in an inscription on the rock at +Mihintala, bearing date A.D. 246, and referring to the house constructed +over a figure of Buddha.] + +Caves, or insulated apartments in imitation of their gloom and +retirement, were in all probability the first resort of devotees in +Ceylon, and hence amongst the deeds of King Tissa, the most conspicuous +and munificent were the construction of rock temples, on Mihintala, and +of apartments for the priests in all parts of his dominions.[1] + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR's _Epitome_, p. 15.] + +The directions of Gotama as to the residence of his votaries are +characterised by the severest simplicity, and the term "pansala," +literally "a dwelling of leaves,"[1] by which the house of a priest is +described to the present day, serves to illustrate the original +intention that persons dedicated to his service should cultivate +solitude and meditation by withdrawing into the forest, but within such +a convenient distance as would not estrange them from the villagers, on +whose bounty and alms they were to be dependent for subsistence. + +[Footnote 1: It is questionable whether the Sarmanai, mentioned by +Megasthenes, were Buddhists or Brahmans; but the account which he gives +of the class of them whom he styles the Hylobii, would seem to identify +them with the Sramanas of Buddhism, "passing their lives in the woods, +[Greek: zontes en tais ulais], living on fruits and seeds, and clothed +with the bark of trees."--MEGASTHENES' _Indica_, &c., Fragm. xlii.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 289.] + +In one of the rock inscriptions deciphered by Prinsep, King Asoca, in +addressing himself to his Buddhist subjects, distinguishes them as +"ascetics and _house-holders_." In the sacred books a laic is called a +"graha pali," meaning "the ruler of a house;" and in contra-distinction +Fa Hian, the Chinese Buddhist, speaks of the priests of Ceylon under the +designation of "the house-less," to mark their abandonment of social +enjoyments.[1] Anticipating the probable necessity of their eventually +resorting to houses for accommodation, Buddha directed that, if built +for an individual, the internal measurement of a cell should be twelve +spans in length by seven in breadth[2]; and, if restricted to such +dimensions, the assertions of the Singhalese chronicles become +intelligible as to the prodigious number of such dwellings said to have +been raised by the early kings.[3] + +[Footnote 1: "Les hommes hors de leur maisons."--FA HIAN, _Fo[)e] +Kou[)e] Ki_, ch. xxxix. This is the equivalent of the Singhalese term +for the same class, _agariyan-pubbajito_, used in the Pittakas.] + +[Footnote 2: HARDY'S _Eastern Monachism_, ch. xiii. p. 122.] + +[Footnote 3: The _Rajaratnacari_ says that Devenipiatissa caused +_eighty-four thousand_ temples to be built during his reign, p. 35.] + +But the multitudes who were thus attracted to a life of indolent +devotion became in a short time so excessive that recourse was had to +other devices for combining economy with accommodation, and groups of +such cells were gradually formed into wiharas and monasteries, the +inmates of which have uniformly preserved their organisation and order. +Still the edifices thus constructed have never exhibited any tendency to +depart from the primitive simplicity so strongly enjoined by their +founder; and, down to the present time, the homes of the Buddhist +priesthood are modest and humble structures generally reared of mud and +thatch, with no pretension to external beauty and no attempt at internal +decoration. + +[Sidenote: B.C. 289.] + +To supply to the ascetics the means of seclusion and exercise, the early +kings commenced the erection of ambulance-halls; and gardens were set +apart for the use of the great temple communities. The _Mahawanso_ +describes, with all the pomp of Oriental diction, the ceremony observed +by King Tissa on the occasion of setting apart a portion of ground as a +site for the first wihara at his capital; the monarch in person, +attended by standard bearers and guards with golden staves, having come +to mark out the boundary with a plough drawn by elephants.[1] A second +monastery was erected by him on the summit of Mihintala[2]; a third was +attached to the dagoba of the Thuparamaya, and others were rapidly +founded in every quarter of the island.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xv. p. 99.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xx. p. 123.] + +[Footnote 3: Five hundred were built by one king alone, the third in +succession from Devenipiatissa, B.C. 246 (_Mahawanso_, ch. xxi, p. 127). +About the same period the petty chiefs of Rohuna and Mahagam were +equally zealous in their devout labours, the one having erected +sixty-four wiharas in the east of the island, and the other sixty-eight +in the south.--_Mahawanso_, ch. xxiv. p. 145, 148.] + +It was in all probability owing to the growth of these institutions, and +the establishment of colleges in connection with them, that halls were +eventually appropriated for the reception of statues; and that +apartments so consecrated were devoted to the ceremonies and worship of +Buddha. Hence, at a very early period, the dwellings of the priests were +identified with the chaityas and sacred edifices, and the name of the +Wihara came to designate indifferently both the temple and the +monastery. + +But the hall which contains the figures of Buddha, and which constitutes +the "temple" proper, is always detached from the domestic buildings, and +is frequently placed on an eminence from which the view is commanding. +The interior is painted in the style of Egyptian chambers, and is filled +with figures and illustrations of the legends of Gotama, whose statue, +with hand uplifted in the attitude of admonition, or reclining in repose +emblematic of the blissful state of Nirwana, is placed in the dimmest +recess of the edifice. Here lamps cast a feeble light, and the air is +heavy with the perfume of flowers, which are daily renewed by fresh +offerings from the worshippers at the shrines. + +[Sidenote: B.C. 289.] + +In no other system of idolatry, ancient or modern, have the rites been +administered by such a multitude of priests as assist in the passionless +ceremonial of Buddhism. Fa Hian, in the fourth century, was assured by +the people of Ceylon that at that period the priests numbered between +fifty and sixty thousand, of whom two thousand were attached to one +wihara at Anarajapoora, and three thousand to another.[1] + +[Footnote 1: FA HIAN, _Fo[)e] Kou[)e] Ki_, ch. xxxviii. p. 336, 350. At +the present day the number in the whole island does not probably exceed +2500 (HARDY'S _Eastern Monachism_, p. 57, 309). But this is far below +the proportion of the Buddhist priesthood in other countries; in Siam +nearly every adult male becomes a priest for a certain portion of his +life; a similar practice prevails in Ava; and in Burmah so common is it +to assume the yellow robe, that the popular expedient for effecting +divorce is for the parties to make a profession of the priesthood, the +ceremonial of which is sufficient to dissolve the marriage vow, and +after an interval of a few months, they can throw off the yellow robe +and are then at liberty to marry again.] + +As the vow which devotes the priests of Buddha to religion binds them at +the same time to a life of poverty and mendicancy, the extension of the +faith entailed in great part on the crown the duty of supporting the +vast crowds who withdrew themselves from industry to embrace devotion +and indigence. They were provided with food by the royal bounty, and +hence the historical books make perpetual reference to the priests +"going to the king's house to eat,"[1] when the monarch himself set the +example to his subjects of "serving them with rice broth, cakes, and +dressed rice."[2] Rice in all its varieties is the diet described in the +_Mahawanso_ as being provided for the priesthood by the munificence of +the kings; "rice prepared with sugar and honey, rice with clarified +butter, and rice in its ordinary form."[3] In addition to the enjoyment +of a life of idleness, another powerful incentive conspired to swell the +numbers of these devotees. The followers and successors of Wijayo +preserved intact the institution of caste, which they had brought with +them from the valley of the Ganges; and, although caste was not +abolished by the teachers of Buddhism, who retained and respected it as +a social institution, it was practically annulled and absorbed in the +religious character;--all who embraced the ascetic life being +simultaneously absolved from all conventional disabilities, and received +as members of the sacred community with all its exalted prerogatives.[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, p. 198. Hiouen Thsang, the Chinese pilgrim, +describing Anarajapoora in the seventh century, says: "A cote du palais +du roi; on a construit une vaste cuisine ou l'on prepare chaque jour des +aliments pour dix-huit mille religieux. A l'heure de repas, les +religieux viennent, un pot a la main, pour recevoir leur nourriture. +Apres l'avoir obtenue ils s'en retournent chacun dans leur +chambre."--HIOUEN THSANG, _Transl._ M. JULIEN, lib. xi. tom. ii. p. +143.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xiv. p. 82.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxii.; _Rajaratnacari_, ch. i. p. 37, ch. +ii. p. 56, 60, 62.] + +[Footnote 4: Professor Wilson, _Journ. Roy. Asiat. Soc._ vol. xvi. p. +249.] + +Along with food, clothing consisting of three garments to complete the +sacerdotal robes, as enjoined by the Buddhist ritual[1], was distributed +at certain seasons; and in later times a practice obtained of providing +robes for the priests by "causing the cotton to be picked from the tree +at sunrise, cleaned, spun, woven, dyed yellow, and made into garments +and presented before sunset."[2] The condition of the priesthood was +thus reduced to a state of absolute dependency on alms, and at the +earliest period of their history the vow of poverty, by which their +order is bound, would seem to have been righteously observed. + +[Footnote 1: To avoid the vanity of dress or the temptation to acquire +property, no Buddhist priest is allowed to have more than one set of +robes, consisting of three pieces, and if an extra one be bestowed on +him it must be surrendered to the chapter of his wihara within ten days. +The dimensions must not exceed a specified length, and when obtained new +the cloth must be disfigured with mud or otherwise before he puts it on. +A magnificent robe having been given to Gotama, his attendant Ananda, in +order to destroy its intrinsic value, cut it into thirty pieces and +sewed them together in four divisions, so that the robe resembled the +patches of a rice-field divided by embankments. And in conformity with +this precedent the robes of every priest are similarly dissected and +reunited.--Hardy's _Eastern Monachism_, c. xii. p. 117; _Rajaratnacari_, +ch. ii. pp. 60, 66.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajaratnacari_, pp. 104, 109, 112. The custom which is +still observed in Ceylon, of weaving robes between sunrise and sunset is +called _Catina dhwana_ (_Rajavali_, p. 261). The work is performed +chiefly by women, and the practice is identical with that mentioned by +Herodotus, as observed by the priests of Egypt, who celebrated a +festival in honour of the return of Rhampsinitus, after playing at dice +with Ceres in Ilades, by investing one of their body with a cloak made +in a single day, [Greek: pharos autemeron exyphenantes], _Euterpe_, +cxxii. Gray, in his ode of _The Fatal Sisters_, has embodied the +Scandinavian myth in which the twelve weird sisters, the _Valkiriur_, +weave "the crimson web of war" between the rising and setting of the +sun.] + + + + +CHAP V. + +SINGHALESE CHIVALRY.--ELALA AND DUTUGAIMUNU. + + +[Sidenote: B.C. 289.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 266.] + +For nearly a century after the accession of Devenipiatissa, the religion +and the social development of Ceylon thus exhibited an equally steady +advancement. The cousins of the king, three of whom ascended the throne +in succession, seem to have vied with each other in works of piety and +utility. Wiharas were built in all parts of the island, both north and +south of the Maha-welli-ganga. Dagobas were raised in various places, +and cultivation was urged forward by the formation of tanks and canals. +But, during this period, from the fact of the Bengal immigrants being +employed in more congenial or more profitable occupations (possibly also +from the numbers who were annually devoting themselves to the service of +the temples), and from the ascertained inaptitude of the native +Singhalese to bear arms, a practice was commenced of retaining foreign +mercenaries, which, even at that early period, was productive of +animosity and bloodshed, and in process of time led to the overthrow of +the Wijayan dynasty and the gradual decay of the Sinhala sovereignty. + +[Sidenote: B.C. 266.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 237.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 205.] + +The genius of the Gangetic race, which had taken possession of Ceylon, +was essentially adapted to agricultural pursuits--in which, to the +present day, their superiority is apparent over the less energetic +tribes of the Dekkan. Busied with such employments, the early colonists +had no leisure for military service; besides, whilst Devenipiatissa and +his successors were earnestly engaged in the formation of religious +communities, and the erection of sacred edifices in the northern portion +of the island, various princes of the same family occupied themselves in +forming settlements in the south and west; and hence, whilst their +people were zealously devoted to the service and furtherance of +religion, the sovereign at Anarajapoora was compelled, through a +combination of causes, to take into his pay a body of Malabars[1] for +the protection both of the coast and the interior. Of the foreigners +thus confided in, "two youths, powerful in their cavalry and navy, named +Sena and Gottika,"[2] proved unfaithful to their trust, and after +causing the death of the king Suratissa (B.C. 237), retained the supreme +power for upwards of twenty years, till overthrown in their turn and put +to death by the adherents of the legitimate line.[3] Ten years, however, +had barely elapsed when the attempt to establish a Tamil sovereign was +renewed by Elala, "a Malabar of the illustrious Uju tribe, who invaded +the island from the Chola[4] country, killed the reigning king Asela, +and ruled the kingdom for forty years, administering justice impartially +to friends and foes." + +[Footnote 1: The term "Malabar" is used throughout the following pages +in the comprehensive sense in which it is applied in the Singhalese +chronicles to the continental invaders of Ceylon; but it must be +observed that the adventurers in these expeditions, who are styled in +the _Mahawanso, "damilos"_ or Tamils, came not only from the +south-western tract of the Dekkan, known in modern geography as +"Malabar," but also from all parts of the peninsula, as far north as +Cuttack and Orissa.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxi. p. 127.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, xxi.; _Rajaratnacari_, ch. ii.] + +[Footnote 4: Chola, or Solee, was the ancient name of Tanjore, and the +country traversed by the river Caveri.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 161.] + +Such is the encomium which the _Mahawanso_ passes on an infidel usurper, +because Elala offered his protection to the priesthood; but the orthodox +annalist closes his notice of his reign by the moral reflection that +"even he who was an heretic, and doomed by his creed to perdition, +obtained an exalted extent of supernatural power from having eschewed +impiety and injustice."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, xxi. p. 129. The other historical books, the +_Rajavali_, and _Rajaratnacari_, give a totally different character of +Elala, and represent him as the desecrator of monuments and the +overthrower of temples. The traditional estimation which has followed +his memory is the best attestation of the superior accuracy of the +_Mahawanso_.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 161.] + +But it was not the priests alone who were captivated by the generosity +of Elala. In the final struggle for the throne, in which the Malabars +were worsted by the gallantry of Dutugaimunu, a prince of the excluded +family, the deeds of bravery displayed by him were the admiration of his +enemies. The contest between the rival chiefs is the solitary tale of +Ceylon chivalry, in which Elala is the Saladin and Dutugaimunu the +Coeur-de-lion. So genuine was the admiration of Elala's bravery that his +rival erected a monument in his honour, on the spot where he fell; its +ruins remain to the present day, and the Singhalese still regard it with +respect and veneration. "On reaching the quarter of the city in which it +stands," says the _Mahawanso_[1], "it has been the custom for the +monarchs of Lanka to silence their music, whatsoever cession they may be +heading;" and so uniformly was the homage continued down to the most +recent period, that so lately as 1818, on the suppression of an +attempted rebellion, when the defeated aspirant to the throne was making +his escape by Anarajapoora, he alighted from his litter, on approaching +the quarter in which the monument was known to exist, "and although +weary and almost incapable of exertion, not knowing the precise spot, he +continued on foot till assured that he had passed far beyond the ancient +memorial."[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxi.] + +[Footnote 2: FORBES' _Eleven Years in Ceylon_, vol. i. p. 233.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 161.] + +Dutugaimunu, in the epics of Buddhism, enjoys a renown, second only to +that of King Tissa, as the champion of the faith. On the recovery of his +kingdom he addressed himself with energy to remove the effects produced +in the northern portions of the island by forty years of neglect and +inaction under the sway of Elala. During that monarch's protracted +usurpation the minor sovereignties, which had been formed in various +parts of the island prior to his seizure of the crown, were little +impeded in their social progress by the forty-four years' residence of +the Malabars at Anarajapoora. Although the petty kings of Rohuna and +Maya submitted to pay tribute to Elala, his personal rule did not extend +south of the Mahawelli-ganga[1], and whilst the strangers in the north +of the island were plundering the temples of Buddha, the feudal chiefs +in the south and west were emulating the munificence of Tissa in the +number of wiharas which they constructed. + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxii., _Rajavali_, p. 188, +_Rajaratnacari_, p. 36. The _Mahawanso_ has a story of Dutugaimunu, when +a boy, illustrative of his early impatience to rid the island of the +Malabars. His father seeing him lying on his bed, with his hands and +feet gathered up, inquired, "My boy, why not stretch thyself at length +on thy bed?" "Confined by the Damilos," he replied, "beyond the river on +the one side, and by the unyielding ocean on the other, how can I lie +with outstretched limbs?"] + +Eager to conciliate his subjects by a similar display of regard for +religion, Dutugaimunu signalised his victory and restoration by +commencing the erection of the Ruanwelle dagoba, the most stupendous as +well as the most venerated of those at Anarajapoora, as it enclosed a +more imposing assemblage of relics than were ever enshrined in any other +in Ceylon. + +The mass of the population was liable to render compulsory labour to the +crown; but wisely reflecting that it was not only derogatory to the +sacredness of the object, but impolitic to exact any avoidable +sacrifices from a people so recently suffering from internal warfare, +Dutugaimunu came to the resolution of employing hired workmen only, and +according to the _Mahawanso_ vast numbers of the Yakkhos became converts +to Buddhism during the progress of the building[1], which the king did +not live to complete. + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxviii. xxix. xxx. xxxi.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 161.] + +But the most remarkable of the edifices which he erected at the capital +was the Maha-Lowa-paya, a monastery which obtained the name of the +_Brazen Palace_ from the fact of its being roofed with plates of that +metal. It was elevated on sixteen hundred monolithic columns of granite +twelve feet high, and arranged in lines of forty, so as to cover an area +of upwards of two hundred and twenty feet square. On these rested the +building nine stories in height, which, in addition to a thousand +dormitories for priests, contained halls and other apartments for their +exercise and accommodation. + +The _Mahawanso_ relates with peculiar unction the munificence of +Dutugaimunu in remunerating those employed upon this edifice; he +deposited clothing for that purpose as well as "vessels filled with +sugar, buffalo butter and honey;" he announced that on this occasion it +was not fitting to exact unpaid labour, and, "placing high value on the +work to be performed, he paid the workmen with money."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxvii. p. 163.] + +The structure, when completed, far exceeded in splendour anything +recorded in the sacred books. All its apartments were embellished with +"beads, resplendent like gems;" the great hall was supported by golden +pillars resting on lions and other animals, and the walls were +ornamented with festoons of pearls and of flowers formed of jewels; in +the centre was an ivory throne, with an emblem on one side of a golden +sun, and on the other of the moon in silver, and above all glittered the +imperial "chatta," the white canopy of dominion. The palace, says the +_Mahawanso_, was provided with rich carpets and couches, and "even the +ladle of the rice boiler was of gold." + +[Sidenote: B.C. 161.] + +The vicissitudes and transformations of the Brazen Palace are subjects +of frequent mention in the history of the sacred city. As originally +planned by Dutugaimunu, it did not endure through the reign of his +successor Saidaitissa, at whose expense it was reconstructed, B.C. 140, +but the number of stories was lowered to seven.[1] More than two +centuries later, A.D. 182, these were again reduced to five[2], and the +entire building must have been taken down in A.D. 240, as the king who +was then reigning caused "the pillars of the Lowa Pasado to be arranged +in a different form." + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxvi.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiii.] + +The edifice erected on its site was pulled to the ground by the apostate +Maha Sen, A.D. 301[1]; but penitently reconstructed by him on his +recantation of his errors. Its last recorded restoration took place in +the reign of Prakrama-bahu, towards the close of the twelfth century, +when "the king rebuilt the Lowa-Maha-paya, and raised up the 1600 +pillars of rock." + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxvii.] + +[Illustration: RUINS OF THE BRAZEN PALACE] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 161.] + +Thus exposed to spoliation by its splendour, and obnoxious to infidel +invaders from the religious uses to which it was dedicated, it was +subjected to violence on every commotion, whether civil or external, +which disturbed the repose of the capital; and at the present day, no +traces of it remain except the indestructible monoliths on which it +stood. A "world of stone columns," to use the quaint expression of Knox, +still marks the site of the Brazen Palace of Dutugaimunu, and attests +the accuracy of the chronicles which describe its former magnificence. + +[Sidenote: B.C. 137.] + +The character of Dutugaimunu is succinctly expressed in his dying +avowal, that he had lived "a slave to the priesthood."[1] Before +partaking of food, it was his practice to present a portion for their +use; and recollecting in maturer age, that on one occasion, when a +child, he had so far forgotten this invariable rule, as _to eat a +chilly_ without sharing it with the priest, he submitted himself to a +penance in expiation of this youthful impiety.[2] His death scene, as +described in the _Mahawanso_, contains an enumeration of the deeds of +piety by which his reign had been signalised.[3] Extended on his couch +in front of the great dagoba which he had erected, he thus addressed one +of his military companions who had embraced the priesthood: "In times +past, supported by my ten warriors, I engaged in battles; now, +single-handed, I commence my last conflict, with death; and it is not +permitted to me to overcome my antagonist." "Ruler of men," replied the +thero, "without subduing the dominion of sin, the power of death is +invincible; but call to recollection thy acts of piety performed, and +from these you will derive consolation." The secretary then "read from +the register of deeds of piety," that "one hundred wiharas, less one, +had been constructed by the Maharaja, that he had built two great +dagobas and the Brazen Palace at Anarajapoora; that in famines he had +given his jewels to support the pious; that on three several occasions +he had clothed the whole priesthood throughout the island, giving three +garments to each; that five times he had conferred the sovereignty of +the land for the space of seven days on the National Church; that he had +founded hospitals for the infirm, and distributed rice to the indigent; +bestowed lamps on innumerable temples, and maintained preachers, in the +various wiharas, in all parts of his dominions. 'All these acts,' said +the dying king, 'done in my days of prosperity, afford no comfort to my +mind; but two offerings which I made when in affliction and in +adversity, disregardful of my own fate, are those which alone administer +solace to me now.[4] After this, the pre-eminently wise Maharaja +expired, stretched on his bed, in the act of gazing on the Mahatupo."[5] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxii.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxiv, xxv.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxii.] + +[Footnote 4: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxii.] + +[Footnote 5: Another name for the Ruanwelle dagoba, which he had built.] + + + + +CHAP. VI. + +THE INFLUENCE OF BUDDHISM ON CIVILISATION. + + +[Sidenote: B.C. 137.] + +After the reign of Dutugaimunu there is little in the pages of the +native historians to sustain interest in the story of the Singhalese +monarchs. The long line of sovereigns is divided into two distinct +classes; the kings of the _Maha-wanse_ or "superior dynasty" of the +uncontaminated blood of Wijayo, who occupied the throne from his death, +B.C. 505, to that of Maha Sen, A.D. 302;--and the _Sulu-wanse_ or +"inferior race," whose descent was less pure, but who, amidst invasions, +revolutions, and decline, continued, with unsteady hand, to hold the +government clown to the occupation of the island by Europeans in the +beginning of the sixteenth century. + +[Sidenote: B.C. 137.] + +To the great dynasty, and more especially to its earliest members, the +inhabitants were indebted for the first rudiments of civilisation, for +the arts of agricultural life, for an organised government, and for a +system of national worship. But neither the piety of the kings nor their +munificence sufficed to conciliate the personal attachment of their +subjects, or to strengthen their throne by national attachment such as +would have fortified its occupant against the fatalities incident to +despotism. Of fifty-one sovereigns who formed the pure Wijayan dynasty, +two were deposed by their subjects, and nineteen put to death by their +successors.[1] Excepting the rare instances in which a reign was marked +by some occurrence, such as an invasion and repulse of the Malabars, +there is hardly a sovereign of the "Solar race" whose name is associated +with a higher achievement than the erection of a dagoba or the formation +of a tank, nor one whose story is enlivened by an event more exciting +than the murder through which he mounted the throne or the conspiracy by +which he was driven from it.[2] + +[Footnote 1: There is something very striking in the facility with which +aspirants to the throne obtained the instant acquiescence of the people, +so soon as assassination had put them in possession of power. And this +is the more remarkable, where the usurpers were of the lower grade, as +in the instance of Subho, a gate porter, who murdered King Yasa Silo, +A.D. 60, and reigned for six years (_Mahaw._ ch. xxxv. p. 218). A +carpenter, and a carrier of fire-wood, were each accepted in succession +as sovereigns, A.D. 47; whilst the "_great dynasty_" was still in the +plenitude of its popularity. The mystery is perhaps referable to the +dominant necessity of securing tranquillity at any cost, in the state of +society where the means of cultivation were directly dependent on the +village organisation, and famine and desolation would have been the +instant and inevitable consequences of any commotions which interfered +with the conservancy and repair of the tanks and means of irrigation, +and the prompt application of labour to the raising and saving of +produce at the instant when the fall of the rains or the ripening of the +crops demanded its employment with the utmost vigour.] + +[Footnote 2: In theory the Singhalese monarchy was elective in the +descendants of the Solar race: in practice, primogeniture had a +preference, and the crown was either hereditary or became the prize of +those who claimed to be of royal lineage. On reviewing the succession of +kings from B.C. 307 to A.D. 1815, _thirty-nine_ eldest sons (or nearly +one fourth), succeeded to their fathers: and _twenty-nine_ kings (or +more than one fifth), were succeeded by brothers. _Fifteen_ reigned for +a period less than one year, and thirty for more than one year, and less +than four. Of the Singhalese kings who died by violence, twenty-two were +murdered by their successors; six were killed by other individuals; +thirteen fell in feuds and war, and four committed suicide; eleven were +dethroned, and their subsequent fate is unknown. Not more than +two-thirds of the Singhalese kings retained sovereign authority to their +decease, or reached the funeral pile without a violent death.--FORBES' +_Eleven Years in Ceylon_, vol. i. ch. iv. p. 80, 97; JOINVILLE, +_Religion and Manners of the People of Ceylon; Asiat. Res._ vol. vii. p. +423. See also _Mahawanso_, ch. xxiii. p. 201.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 119.] + +One source of royal contention arose on the death of Dutugaimunu; his +son, having forfeited his birthright by an alliance with a wife of lower +caste, was set aside from the succession; Saidaitissa, a brother of the +deceased king, being raised to the throne in his stead. The priests, on +the death of Saidaitissa, B.C. 119, hastened to proclaim his youngest +son Thullatthanako[1], to the prejudice of his elder brother +Laiminitissa, but the latter established his just claim by the sword, +and hence arose two rival lines, which for centuries afterwards were +prompt on every opportunity to advance adverse pretensions to the +throne, and assert them by force of arms. + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiii. p. 201.] + +In such contests the priesthood brought a preponderant influence to +whatever side they inclined [1]; and thus the royal authority, though +not strictly sacerdotal, became so closely identified with the +hierarchy, and so guided by its will, that each sovereign's attention +was chiefly devoted to forwarding such measures as most conduced to the +exaltation of Buddhism and the maintenance of its monasteries and +temples. + +[Footnote 1: It was the dying boast of Dutugaimunu that he had lived "a +slave to the priesthood." The expression was figurative in his case; but +so abject did the subserviency of the kings become, and so rapid was its +growth, that Bhatiya Tissa, who reigned A.D. 8, rendered it literal, and +"dedicated himself, his queen, and two sons, as well as his charger, and +state elephant, as _slaves to the priesthood_." The _Mahawanso_ +intimates that the priests themselves protested against this debasement, +ch. xxxiv. p. 214.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 119.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 104.] + +A signal effect of this regal policy, and of the growing diffusion of +Buddhism, is to be traced in the impulse which it communicated to the +reclamation of lands and the extension of cultivation. For more than +three hundred years no mention is made in the Singhalese annals of any +mode of maintaining the priesthood other than the royal distribution of +clothing and voluntary offerings of food. They resorted for the "royal +alms" either to the residence of the authorities or to halls specially +built for their accommodation [1], to which they were summoned by "the +shout of refection;" [2] the ordinary priests receiving rice, "those +endowed with the gift of preaching, clarified butter, sugar, and +honey."[3] Hospitals and medicines for their use, and rest houses on +their journeys, were also provided at the public charge.[4] These +expedients were available so long as the numbers of the priesthood were +limited; but such were the multitudes who were tempted to withdraw from +the world and its pursuits, in order to devote themselves to meditation +and the diffusion of Buddhism, that the difficulty became practical of +maintaining them by personal gifts, and the alternative suggested itself +of setting apart lands for their support. This innovation was first +resorted to during an interregnum. The Singhalese king Walagam Bahu, +being expelled from his capital by a Malabar usurpation B.C. 104, was +unable to continue the accustomed regal bounty to the priesthood; +dedicated certain lands while in exile in Rohuna, for the support of a +fraternity "who had sheltered him there."[5] The precedent thus +established, was speedily seized upon and extended; lands were +everywhere set apart for the repair of the sacred edifices[6], and +eventually, about the beginning of the Christian era, the priesthood +acquired such an increase of influence as sufficed to convert their +precarious eleemosynary dependency into a permanent territorial +endowment; and the practice became universal of conveying estates in +mortmain on the construction of a wihara or the dedication of a +temple.[7] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xx. p. 123; xxii. p. 132,135.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxviii. p. 167.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxii. p. 196-7.] + +[Footnote 4: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxii. p. 196 xxxvii. p. 244; +_Rajaratnacari_, p. 39, 41.] + +[Footnote 5: _Mahawanso_, ch, xxxiii. p. 203. Previous to this date a +king of Rohuna, during the usurpation of Elala, B.C. 205, had +appropriated lands near Kalany, for the repairs of the +dagoba.--_Rajaratnacari_, p. 37.] + +[Footnote 6: In the reign of Batiya Tissa, B.C. 20. _Mahawanso_,, ch. +xxxiv. p. 212; _Rajaratnacari_, p. 51.] + +[Footnote 7: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiv. p. 214.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 104.] + +The corporate character of the recipients served to neutralise the +obligations by which they were severally bound; the vow of poverty, +though compulsory on an individual priest, ceased to be binding on the +community of which he was a member; and whilst, on his own behalf, he +was constrained to abjure the possession of property, even to the extent +of one superfluous cloth, the wihara to which he was attached, in +addition to its ecclesiastical buildings, and its offerings in gems and +gold, was held competent to become the proprietor of broad and fertile +lands.[1] These were so bountifully bestowed by royal piety, by private +munificence, and by mortuary gifts, that ere many centuries had elapsed +the temples of Ceylon absorbed a large proportion of the landed property +of the kingdom, and their possessions were not only exempted from +taxation, but accompanied by a right to the compulsory labour of the +temple tenants.[2] + +[Footnote 1: HARDY'S _Eastern Monachism_, ch. viii. p. 68.] + +[Footnote 2: The _Rajaratnacari_ mentions an instance, A.D. 62, of eight +thousand rice fields bestowed in one grant; and similar munificence is +recorded in numerous instances prior, to A.D. 204.--_Rajaratnacari_, p. +57, 59, 64, 74, 113, &c. _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxv. p. 223, 224; ch. xxxvi. +p. 233.] + +As the estates so made over to religious uses lay for the most part in +waste districts, the quantity of land which was thus brought under +cultivation necessarily involved large extensions of the means of +irrigation. To supply these, reservoirs were formed on such a scale as +to justify the term "consecrated lakes," by which they are described in +the Singhalese annals.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Rajaratnacari_, ch. ii. p. 37; _Rajavali_, p. 237.] + +Where the circumstances of the ground permitted, their formation was +effected by drawing an embankment across the embouchure of a valley so +as to arrest and retain the waters by which it was traversed, and so +vast were the dimensions of some of these gigantic tanks that many yet +in existence still cover an area of from fifteen to twenty miles in +circumference. The ruins of that at Kalaweva, to the north-west of +Dambool, show that its original circuit could not have been less than +forty miles, its retaining bund being upwards of twelve miles long. The +spill-water of stone, which remains to the present time, is "perhaps one +of the most stupendous monuments of misapplied human labour in the +island."[1] + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR, _Mahawanso_, p. 12. The tank of Kalaweva was +formed by Dhatu Sena, A.D. 459.--_Mahawanso_, ch. xxxviii. p. 257.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 104.] + +The number of these stupendous works, which were formed by the early +sovereigns of Ceylon, almost exceeds credibility. Kings are named in the +native annals, each of whom made from fifteen to thirty[1], together +with canals and all the appurtenances for irrigation. Originally these +vast undertakings were completed "for the benefit of the country," and +"out of compassion for living creatures;"[2] but so early as the first +century of the Christian era, the custom became prevalent of forming +tanks with the pious intention of conferring the lands which they +enriched on the church. Wide districts, rendered fertile by the +interception of a river and the formation of suitable canals, were +appropriated to the maintenance of the local priesthood[3]; a tank and +the thousands of acres which it fertilised were sometimes assigned for +the perpetual repairs of a dagoba[4], and the revenues of whole villages +and their surrounding rice fields were devoted to the support of a +single wihara.[5] + +[Footnote 1: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 41, 45, 54, 55; King Saidaitissa B.C. +137, made "eighteen lakes" (_Rajavali_, p. 233). King Wasabha, who +ascended the throne A.D. 62, "caused sixteen large lakes to be enclosed" +(_Rajaratnacari_, p. 57). Detu Tissa, A.D. 253, excavated six +(_Rajavali_, p. 237), and King Maha Sen, A.D. 275, seventeen +(_Mahawanso_, ch, xxxviii. p. 236).] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch, xxxvii. p. 242.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiv. p. 210; xxxv. p. 221; xxxviii. p. +237, _Rajaratnacari_, ch. ii. p. 57, 59, 64, 69, 74.] + +[Footnote 4: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxv. p. 215, 218, 223; ch. xxxvii. p. +234; _Rajaratnacari_, ch. ii. p. 51. TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 21.] + +[Footnote 5: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxv. p. 218, 221; _Rajaratnacari_, ch. +ii. p. 51; _Rajaviai_, p. 241.] + +So lavish were these endowments, that one king, who signalised his reign +by such extravagances as laying a carpet seven miles in length, "in +order that pilgrims might proceed with unsoiled feet all the way from +the Kadambo river (the Malwatte oya) to the mountain Chetiyo +(Mihintala)," awarded a priest who had presented him with a draught of +water during the construction of a wihara, "land within the +circumference of half a yoyana (eight miles) for the maintenance of the +temple."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiv, p. 3.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 104.] + +It was in this manner that the beautiful tank at Mineri, one of the most +lovely of these artificial lakes, was enclosed by Maha Sen, A.D. 275; +and, together with the 80,000 amonams of ground which it waters, was +conferred on the Jeytawana Wihara which the king had just erected at +Anarajapoora.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Rajaratnacari_, ch. ii. p. 69.] + +To identify the crown still more closely with the interests of +agriculture, some of the kings superintended public works for irrigating +the lands of the temples[1]; and one more enthusiastic than the rest +toiled in the rice fields to enhance the merit of conferring their +produce on the priesthood.[2] + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 33.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiv. The Buddhist kings of Burmah are +still accustomed to boast, almost in the terms of the _Mahawanso_, of +the distinction which they have earned, by the multitudes of tanks they +have constructed or restored. See YULE'S _Narrative of the Mission to +Ava in 1855_, p. 106.] + +These broad possessions, the church, under all vicissitudes and +revolutions, has succeeded in retaining to the present day. Their +territories, it is true, have been diminished in extent by national +decay; the destruction of works for irrigation has converted into +wilderness and jungle plains once teeming with fertility; and the mild +policy of the British government, by abolishing _raja-kariya_[1], has +emancipated the peasantry, who are no longer the serfs either of the +temples or the chiefs. But in every district of the island the priests +are in the enjoyment of the most fertile lands, over which the crown +exercises no right of taxation; and such is the extent of their +possessions that, although their precise limits have not been +ascertained by the local government, they have been conjectured with +probability to be equal to one-third of the cultivated land of the +island. + +[Footnote 1: Compulsory labour.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 104.] + +One peculiarity in the Buddhist ceremonial served at all times to give a +singular impulse to the progress of horticulture. Flowers and garlands +are introduced in its religious rites to the utmost excess. The +atmosphere of the wiharas and temples is rendered oppressive with the +perfume of champac and jessamine, and the shrine of the deity, the +pedestals of his image, and the steps leading to the temple are strewn +thickly with blossoms of the nagaha and the lotus. At an earlier period +the profusion in which these beautiful emblems were employed in sacred +decorations appears almost incredible; the _Mahawanso_ relates that the +Ruanwelle dagoba, which was 270 feet in height, was on one occasion +"festooned with garlands from pedestal to pinnacle till it resembled one +uniform bouquet;" and at another time, it and the lofty dagoba at +Mihintala were buried under heaps of jessamine from the ground to the +summit.[1] Fa Hian, in describing his visit to Anarajapoora in the +fourth century, dwells with admiration and wonder on the perfumes and +flowers lavished on their worship by the Singhalese[2]; and the native +historians constantly allude as familiar incidents to the profusion in +which they were employed on ordinary occasions, and to the formation by +successive kings of innumerable gardens for the floral requirements of +the temples. The capital was surrounded on all sides[3] by flower +gardens, and these were multiplied so extensively that, according to the +_Rajaratnacari_, one was to be found within a distance of four leagues +in any part of Ceylon.[4] Amongst the regulations of the temple built at +Dambedinia, in the thirteenth century, was "every day an offering of +100,000 flowers, and each day a different flower."[5] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiv.; _Rajaratnacari_, p. 52, 53.] + +[Footnote 2: FA HIAN. _Foe Koue Ki_, ch. xxxviii. p. 335.] + +[Footnote 3: _Rajavali_, p. 227; _Mahawanso_, ch. xi. p. 67.] + +[Footnote 4: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 29, 49. Amongst the officers attached +to the great establishments of the priests in Mihintala, A.D. 246, there +are enumerated in an inscription engraven on a rock there, a secretary, +a treasurer, a physician, a surgeon, a painter, twelve cooks, twelve +thatchers, ten carpenters, six carters, and _two florists_.] + +[Footnote 5: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 103. The same book states that another +king, in the fifteenth century, "offered no less than 6,480,320 sweet +smelling flowers" at the shrine of the Tooth.--_Ib._, p. 136.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 104.] + +Another advantage conferred by Buddhism on the country was the planting +of fruit trees and esculent vegetables for the gratuitous use of +travellers in all the frequented parts of the island. The historical +evidences of this are singularly corroborative of the genuineness of the +Buddhist edicts engraved on various rocks and monuments in India, the +deciphering of which was the grand achievement of Prinsep and his +learned coadjutors. On the pillars of Delhi, Allahabad, and other +places, and on the rocks of Girnar and Dhauli, there exist a number of +Pali inscriptions purporting to be edicts of Asoca (the Dharmasoca of +the _Mahawanso_), King of Magadha, in the third century before the +Christian era, who, on his conversion to the religion of Buddha, +commissioned Mahindo, his son, to undertake its establishment in Ceylon. +In these edicts, which were promulgated in the vernacular dialect, the +king endeavoured to impress both upon his subjects and allies, as well +as those who, although aliens, were yet "united in the law" of Buddha, +the divine precepts of their great teacher; prominent amongst which are +the prohibition against taking animal life[1], and the injunction that, +"everywhere wholesome vegetables, roots, and fruit trees shall be +cultivated, and that on the roads wells shall be dug and trees planted +for the enjoyment of men and animals." In apparent conformity with these +edicts, one of the kings of Ceylon, Addagaimunu, A.D. 20, is stated in +the _Mahawanso_ to have "caused to be planted throughout the island +every description of fruit-bearing creepers, and interdicted the +destruction of animal life,"[2] and similar acts of pious benevolence, +performed by command of various other sovereigns, are adverted to on +numerous occasions. + +[Footnote 1: It is curious that one of these edicts of Asoca, who was +contemporary with Devenipiatissa, is addressed to "all the conquered +territories of the raja, even unto the ends of the earth; as in Chola, +in Pida, in Keralaputra, _and in Tambapanni_ (or Ceylon)." This license +of speech, reminding one of the grandiloquent epistles "from the +Flaminian Gate," was no doubt assumed in virtue of the recent +establishment of Buddhism, or, as it is called in the _Mahawanso_ "the +religion of the Vanquisher," and Asoca, as its propagator, thus claims +to address the converts as his "subjects."] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxv. p. 215. The king Upatissa, A.D. 368, +in the midst of a solemn ceremonial, "observing ants, and other insects +drowning in an inundation, halted, and having swept them towards the +with the feathers of a peacock's tail, and enabled them to save a +themselves, he continued the procession."--_Mahawanso_, ch. xxxvii p. +249; _Rajaratnacari_, p. 49, 52; _Rajavali_, p. 228.] + + + + +CHAP. VII + + +FATE OF THE ABORIGINES. + +[Sidenote: B.C. 104.] + +It has already been shown, that devotion and policy combined to +accelerate the progress of social improvement in Ceylon, and that before +the close of the third century of the Christian era, the island to the +north of the Kandyan mountains contained numerous cities and villages, +adorned with temples and dagobas, and seated in the midst of highly +cultivated fields. The face of the country exhibited broad expanses of +rice land, irrigated by artificial lakes, and canals of proportionate +magnitude, by which the waters from the rivers, which would otherwise +have flowed idly to the sea, were diverted inland in all directions to +fertilise the rice fields of the interior.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxv. xxxvii.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 104.] + +In the formation of these prodigious tanks, the labour chiefly employed +was that of the aboriginal inhabitants, the Yakkhos and Nagas, directed +by the science and skill of the conquerors. Their contributions of this +kind, though in the instance of the Buddhist converts they may have been +to some extent voluntary, were, in general, the result of compulsion.[1] +Like the Israelites under the Egyptians, the aborigines were compelled +to make bricks[2] for the stupendous dagobas erected by their +masters[3]; and eight hundred years after the subjugation of the island, +the _Rajavali_ describes vast reservoirs and appliances for irrigation, +as being constructed by the forced labour of the Yakkhos[4] under the +superintendence of Brahman engineers.[5] This, to some extent, accounts +for the prodigious amount of labour bestowed on these structures; labour +which the whole revenue of the kingdom would not have sufficed to +purchase, had it not been otherwise procurable. + +[Footnote 1: In some instances the soldiers of the king were employed in +forming works of irrigation.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxviii.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., ch. xxvii.] + +[Footnote 4: _Rajavali_, p. 237, 238. Exceptions to the extortion of +forced labour for public works took place under the more pious kings, +who made a merit of paying the workmen employed in the erection of +dagobas and other religious monuments.--_Mahawanso_, ch, xxxv.] + +[Footnote 5: _Maharwanso_, ch. x.] + +Under this system, the fate of the aborigines was that usually +consequent on the subjugation of an inferior race by one more highly +civilised. The process of their absorption into the dominant race was +slow, and for centuries they continued to exist distinct, as a +subjugated people. So firmly rooted amongst them was the worship both of +demons and serpents, that, notwithstanding the ascendency of Buddhism, +many centuries elapsed before it was ostensibly abandoned; from time to +time, "demon offerings" were made from the royal treasury[1]; and one of +the kings, in his enlarged liberality, ordered that for every ten +villages there should be maintained an astrologer and a "devil-dancer," +in addition to the doctor and the priest.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. x.; TURNOUR'S _Epitome_. p. 23.] + +[Footnote 2: TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 27; _Rajaratnacari_, ch. ii.; +_Rajavali_, p. 241.] + +Throughout the Singhalese chronicles, the notices of the aborigines are +but casual, and occasionally contemptuous. Sometimes they allude to +"slaves of the Yakkho tribe,"[1] and in recording the progress and +completion of the tanks and other stupendous works, the _Mahawanso_ and +the _Rajaratnacari_, in order to indicate the inferiority of the natives +to their masters, speak of their conjoint labours as that of "men and +snakes,"[2] and "men and demons."[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. x.] + +[Footnote 2: Ibid., ch. xix, p. 115.] + +[Footnote 3: The King Maha-Sen, anxious for the promotion of +agriculture, caused many tanks to be made "by men and +devils."--_Mahawanso_, ch. xxxvii.; UPHAM'S _Transl.; Rajaratnacari_, p. +69; _Rajavali_, p. 237.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 104.] + +Notwithstanding the degradation of the natives, it was indispensable to +"befriend the interests" of a race so numerous and so useful; hence, +they were frequently employed in the military expeditions of the Wijayan +sovereigns[1], and the earlier kings of that dynasty admitted the rank +of the Yakkho chiefs who shared in these enterprises. They assigned a +suburb of the capital for their residence[2], and on festive occasions +they were seated on thrones of equal eminence with that of the king.[3] +But every aspiration towards a recovery of their independence was +checked by a device less characteristic of ingenuity in the ascendant +race, than of simplicity combined with jealousy in the aborigines. The +feeling was encouraged and matured into a conviction which prevailed to +the latest period of the Singhalese sovereignty, that no individual of +pure Singhalese extraction could be elevated to the supreme power, since +no one could prostrate himself before one of his own nation.[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso,_ ch. x.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid.,_ ch. x. p. 67.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid.,_ p. 66.] + +[Footnote 4: JOINVILLE'S _Asiat. Res,_ vol. vii. p. 422.] + +For successive generations, however, the natives, although treated with +partial kindness, were regarded as a separate race. Even the children of +Wijayo, by his first wife Kuweni, united themselves with their maternal +connexions on the repudiation of their mother by the king, "and retained +the attributes of Yakkhos,"[1] and by that designation the natives +continued to be distinguished down to the reign of Dutugaimunu. + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso,_ ch. vii.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 104.] + +In spite of every attempt at conciliation, the process of amalgamation +between the two races was reluctant and slow. The earliest Bengal +immigrants sought wives among the Tamils, on the opposite coast of +India[1]; and although their descendants intermarried with the natives, +the great mass of the population long held aloof from the invaders, and +occasionally vented their impatience in rebellion.[2] Hence the progress +of civilisation amongst them was but partial and slow, and in the +narratives of the early rulers of the island there is ample evidence +that the aborigines long retained their habits of shyness and timidity. + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid.,_ p. 53.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch, lxxxv.] + +Notwithstanding the frequent resort of every nation of antiquity to its +coasts, the accounts of the first voyagers are almost wholly confined to +descriptions of the loveliness of the country, the singular brilliancy +of its jewels, the richness of its pearls, the sagacity of its +elephants, and the delicacy and abundance of its spices; but the +information which they furnish regarding its inhabitants is so uniformly +meagre, as to attest the absence of intercourse; and the writers of all +nations, Romans, Greeks, Arabians, Chinese and Indians, concur in their +allusions to the unsocial and uncivilised customs of the islanders.[1] + +[Footnote 1: See an account of these singular peculiarities, Vol. I. P. +IV. c. vii.] + +As the Bengal adventurers advanced into the interior of the island, a +large section of the natives withdrew into the forests and hunting +grounds on the eastern and southern coasts.[1] There, subsisting by the +bow[2] and the chase, they adhered, with moody tenacity, to the rude +habits of their race; and in the Veddah of the present day, there is +still to be recognised a remnant of the untamed aborigines of Ceylon.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Hiouen Thsang,_ the Chinese geographer, who visited India +in the seventh century, says that at that time the Yakkhos had retired +to the south-east corner of Ceylon;--and here their descendants, the +Veddahs, are found at the present day,--_Voyages,_ &c., liv. iv. p. +200.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso,_ ch. xxiv. p. 145, xxxiii. p. 204.] + +[Footnote 3: DE ALWIS, _Sidath Sangara,_ p. xvii. For an account of the +Veddahs and their present condition, see Vol. II. P. ix. ch. iii.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 104.] + +Even those of the original race who slowly conformed to the religion and +habits of their masters, were never entirely emancipated from the +ascendency of their ancient superstitions. Traces of the worship of +snakes and demons are to the present hour clearly perceptible amongst +them; the Buddhists still resort to the incantations of the "devil +dancers" in case of danger and emergency[1]; a Singhalese, rather than +put a Cobra de Capello to death, encloses the reptile in a wicker cage, +and sets it adrift on the nearest stream; and in the island of +Nainativoe, to the south-west of Jaffa, there was till recently a little +temple, dedicated to the goddess Naga Tambiran, in which consecrated +serpents were tenderly reared by the Pandarams, and daily fed at the +expense of the worshippers.[2] + +[Footnote 1: For an account of Demon worship as it still exists in +Ceylon, see Sir J. EMERSON TENNANT'S _History of Christianity in +Ceylon,_ ch. v. p. 236.] + +[Footnote 2: CASIE CHITTY'S _Gazetteer, &c.,_ p. 169.] + + + + +CHAP. VIII + +EXTINCTION OF THE "GREAT DYNASTY." + + +[Sidenote: B.C. 104.] + +From the death of Dutugaimunu to the exhaustion of the superior dynasty +on the death of Malta-Sen, A.D. 301, there are few demonstrations of +pious munificence to signalise the policy of the intervening sovereigns. +The king whom, next to Devenipiatissa and Dutugaimunu, the Buddhist +historians rejoice to exalt as one of the champions of the faith, was +Walagam-bahu I.[1], whose reign, though marked by vicissitudes, was +productive of lasting benefit to the national faith. Walagam-bahu +ascended the throne B.C. 104., but was almost immediately forced to +abdicate by an incursion of the Malabars; who, concerting a simultaneous +landing at several parts of the island, combined their movements so +successfully that they seized on Anarajapoora, and drove the king into +concealment in the mountains near Adam's Peak; and whilst one portion of +the invaders returned laden with plunder to the Dekkan, their companions +remained behind and held undisputed possession of the northern parts of +Ceylon for nearly fifteen years. + +[Footnote 1: Called in the _Mahawanso_, "Wata-gamini".] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 104.] + +In this and the frequent incursions which followed, the Malabar leaders +were attracted by the wealth of the country to the north of the +Mahawelli-ganga; the southern portion of the island being either too +wild and unproductive to present a temptation to conquest, or too steep +and inaccessible to afford facilities for invasion. Besides, the +highlanders who inhabit the lofty ranges that lie around Adam's Peak; (a +district known as Malaya, "the region of mountains and torrents,")[1] +then and at all times exhibited their superiority over the lowlanders in +vigour, courage, and endurance. Hence the petty kingdoms of Maya and +Rohuna afforded on every occasion a refuge to the royal family when +driven from the northern capital, and furnished a force to assist in +their return and restoration. Walagam-bahu, after many years' +concealment there, was at last enabled to resume the offensive, and +succeeded in driving out the infidels, and recovering possession of the +sacred city, an event which he commemorated in the usual manner by the +erection of dagobas, tanks, and wiharas. + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. vii.] + +[Illustration: THE ALU WIHARA NEAR MATELLE.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 89.] + +But the achievement by which most of all he entitled himself to the +gratitude of the Singhalese annalists, was the reduction to writing of +the doctrines and discourses of Buddha, which had been orally delivered +by Mahindo, and previously preserved by tradition alone. These sacred +volumes, which may be termed the Buddhist Scriptures, contain the +Pittakataya, and its commentaries the Atthakatha, and were compiled by a +company of priests in a cave to the north of Matelle, known as the +Aloo-wihara.[1] This, and other caverns in which the king had sought +concealment during his adversity, he caused to be converted into rock +temples after his restoration to power. Amongst the rest, Dambool, which +is the most remarkable of the cave temples of Ceylon from its vastness, +its elaborate ornaments, and the romantic beauty of its situation and +the scenery surrounding it. + +[Footnote 1: _Rajaratnacari_, ch. i. p. 43. Abouzeyd states that at that +time public writers were employed in recording the traditions of the +island: "Le Royaume de Serendyb a une loi et des docteurs qui +s'assemblent de temps en temps comme se reunissent chez nous les +personnes qui recreillent les traditions du prophete, et les Indiens se +rendent aupres des docteurs, et ecrivent sous leurs dictee, la vie de +leurs prophetes et les preceptes de leur loi."--REINAUD, _Relation, +&c.,_ tom. i. p. 127.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 62.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 50.] + +The history of the Buddhist religion in Ceylon is not, however, a tale +of uniform prosperity. The first of its domestic enemies was Naga, the +grandson of the pious Walagam-bahu, whom the native, historians +stigmatise by the prefix of "chora" or the "marauder." His story is thus +briefly but emphatically told in the _Mahawanso_: "During the reign of +his father Mahachula, Chora Naga wandered through the island leading the +life of a robber; returning on the demise of the king he assumed the +monarchy; and in the places which had denied him an asylum during his +marauding career, he impiously destroyed the wiharas.[1] After a reign +of twelve years he was poisoned by his queen Anula, and regenerated in +the Lokantariko hell."[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiii.; _Rajarali_, p. 224; TURNOUR'S +_Epitome_, p. 19; _Rajaratnacari_, ch. i. p. 43, 44.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiv. p. 209.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 47.] + +[Sidenote: B.C. 41.] + +His son, King Kuda Tissa, was also poisoned by his mother, in order to +clear her own way to the throne. The Singhalese annals thus exhibit the +unusual incident of a queen enrolled amongst the monarchs of the _great +dynasty_--a precedent which was followed in after times; Queen Siwalli +having reigned in the succeeding century, A.D. 37, Queen Lila-wati, in +A.D. 1197, and Queen Kalyana-wati in A.D. 1202. From the excessive +vileness of her character, the first of these Singhalese women who +attained to the honours of sovereignty is denounced in the _Mahawanso_ +as "the infamous Anula." In the enormity of her crimes and debauchery +she was the Messalina of Ceylon;--she raised to the throne a porter of +the palace with whom she cohabited, descending herself to the +subordinate rank of Queen Consort, and poisoned him to promote a +carpenter in his stead. A carrier of firewood, a Brahman, and numerous +other paramours followed in rapid succession, and shared a similar fate, +till the kingdom was at last relieved from the opprobrium by a son of +Prince Tissa, who put the murderess to death, and restored the royal +line in his own person. His successors for more than two centuries were +a race of pious _faineants_, undistinguished by any qualities, and +remembered only by their fanatical subserviency to the priesthood. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 209.] + +Buddhism, relieved from the fury of impiety, was next imperilled by the +danger of schism. Even before the funeral obsequies of Buddha, schism +had displayed itself in Maghadha, and two centuries had not elapsed from +his death till it had manifested itself on no less than seventeen +occasions, and in each instance it was with difficulty checked by +councils in which the priesthood settled the faith in relation to the +points which gave rise to dispute; but not before the actual occurrence +of secessions from the orthodox church.[1] The earliest differences were +on questions of discipline amongst the colleges and fraternities at +Anarajapoora; but in the reign of Wairatissa, A.D. 209, a formidable +controversy arose, impugning the doctrines of Buddhism, and threatening +for a time to rend in sunder the sacred unity of the church.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. v. p. 21.] + +[Footnote 2: Ibid., ch. xxxiii.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 209.] + +Buddhism, although, tolerant of heresy, has ever been vehement in its +persecution of schism. Boldly confident in its own superiority, it bears +without impatience the glaring errors of open antagonists, and seems to +exult in the contiguity of competing systems as if deriving strength by +comparison. In this respect it exhibits a similarity to the religion of +Brahma, which regards with composure shades of doctrinal difference, and +only rises into jealous energy in support of the distinctions of caste, +an infringement of which might endanger the supremacy of the +priesthood.[1] To the assaults of open opponents the Buddhist displays +the calmest indifference, convinced that in its undiminished strength, +his faith is firm and inexpugnable; his vigilance is only excited by the +alarm of internal dissent, and all his passions are aroused to stifle +the symptoms of schism.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Hence the indomitable hatred with which the Brahmans +pursued the disciples of Buddhism from the fourth century before Christ +to its final expulsion from Hindustan. "Abundant proofs," says Turnour, +"may be adduced to show the fanatical ferocity with which these two +great sects persecuted each other; and which, subsided into passive +hatred and contempt, only when the parties were no longer placed in the +position of actual collision."--Introd. _Mahawanso_, p. xxii.] + +[Footnote 2: In its earliest form Buddhism was equally averse to +persecution, and the _Mahawanso_ extols the liberality of Asoca in +giving alms indiscriminately to the members of all religions +_(Mahawanso_, ch. v. p. 23). A sect which is addicted to persecution is +not likely to speak approvingly of toleration, but the _Mahawanso_ +records with evident satisfaction the courtesy paid to the sacred things +of Buddhism by the believers in other doctrines; thus the Nagas did +homage to the relics of Buddha and mourned their removal from Mount Meru +(_Mahawanso_, ch. xxxi. p. 189); the Yakkhos assisted at the building of +dagobas to enshrine them, and the Brahmans were the first to respect the +Bo-tree on its arrival in Ceylon (_Ib._ ch. xix. p. 119). COSMAS +INDICOPLEUSTES, whose informant, Sopater, visited Ceylon in the sixth +century, records that there was then the most extended toleration, and +that even the Nestorian Christians had perfect freedom and protection +for their worship. + +Among the Buddhists of Burmah, however, "although they are tolerant of +the practice of other religions by those who profess them, secession +from the national faith, is rigidly prohibited, and a convert to any +other form of faith incurs the penalty of death."--Professor WILSON, +_Journ. Roy. Asiat. Soc._ vol. xvi. p. 261.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 209.] + +This characteristic of the "religion of the Vanquisher" is in strict +conformity, not alone with the spirit of his doctrine, but also with the +letter of the law laid down for the guidance of his disciples. Two of +the singular rock-inscriptions of India deciphered by Prinsep, inculcate +the duty of leaving the profession of different faiths unmolested; on +the ground, that "all aim at moral restraint and purity of life, +although all cannot be equally successful in attaining to it." The +sentiments embodied in one of the edicts[1] of King Asoca are very +striking: "A man must honour his own faith, without blaming that of his +neighbour, and thus will but little that is wrong occur. There are even +circumstances under which the faith of others should be honoured, and in +acting thus a man increases his own faith and weakens that of others. He +who acts differently, diminishes his own faith and injures that of +another. Whoever he may be who honours his own faith and blames that of +others out of devotion to his own, and says, 'let us make our faith +conspicuous,' that man merely injures the faith he holds. Concord alone +is to be desired." + +[Footnote 1: The twelfth tablet, which, as translated by BURNOUF and +Professor WILSON, will be found in Mrs. SPEIR'S _Life in Ancient India_, +book ii. ch. iv. p. 239.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 209.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 248.] + +The obligation, to maintain the religion of Buddha was as binding as the +command to abstain from assailing that of its rivals, and hence the +kings who had treated the snake-worshippers with kindness, who had made +a state provision for maintaining "offerings to demons," and built +dwellings at the capital to accommodate the "ministers of foreign +religions," rose in fierce indignation against the preaching of a firm +believer in Buddha, who ventured to put an independent interpretation on +points of faith. They burned the books of the Wytulians, as the new sect +were called, and frustrated their irreligious attempt.[1] The first +effort at repression was ineffectual. It was made by the King +Wairatissa, A.D. 209; but within forty years the schismatic tendency +returned, the persecution was renewed, and the apostate priests, after +being branded on the back were ignominiously transported to the opposite +coast of India.[2] + +[Footnote 1: The _Mahawanso_ throws no light on the nature of the +Wytulian (or Wettulyan) heresy (ch. xxvii. p. 227), but the +_Rajaratnacari_ insinuates that Wytulia was a Brahman who had "subverted +by craft and intrigue the religion of Buddha" (ch. ii, p. 61). As it is +stated in a further passage that the priests who were implicated were +stripped of their habits, it is evident that the innovation had been +introduced under the garb of Buddha.--_Rajaratnacari_, ch. ii. p. 65.] + +[Footnote 2: TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 25, _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxvi. p. 232. +As the _Mahawanso_ intimates in another passage that amongst the priests +who were banished to the opposite coast of India, there was one +Sangha-mitta, "who was profoundly versed in the rites of the demon faith +('bhuta')," it is probable that out of the Wytulian heresy grew the +system which prevails to the present day, by which the heterodox +_dewales_ and halls for devil dances are built in close contiguity to +the temples and wiharas of the orthodox Buddhists, and the barbarous +rites of demon worship are incorporated with the abstractions of the +national religion. On the restoration of Maha-Sen to the true faith, the +_Mahawanso_ represents him as destroying the _dewales_ at Anarajapoora +in order to replace them with wiharas (_Mahawanso_, ch. xxxvii. p. 237). +An account of the mingling of Brahmanical with Buddhist worship, as it +exists at the present day, will be found in HARDY'S _Oriental +Monachism_, ch. xix. Professor H.H. WILSON, in his _Historical Sketch of +the Kingdom of Pandya_, alludes to a heresy, which, anterior to the +sixth century, disturbed the _sangattar_ or college of Madura; the +leading feature of which was the admixture of Buddhist doctrines with +the rite of the Brahmans, and "this heresy," he says, "some traditions +assert was introduced from Ceylon."--_Asiat. Journ._ vol. iii. p. 218.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 275.] + +The new sect had, however, established an interest in high places; and +Sangha-mitta, one of the exiled priests, returning from banishment on +the death of the king, so ingratiated himself with his successor, that +he was entrusted with the education of the king's sons. One of the +latter, Maha-Sen, succeeded to the throne, A.D. 275, and, openly +professing his adoption of the Wytulian tenets, dispossessed the popular +priesthood, and overthrew the Brazen Palace. With the materials of the +great wihara, he constructed at the sacred Bo-tree a building as a +receptacle for relics, and a temple in which the statue of Buddha was to +be worshipped according to the rites of the reformed religion.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxvii. p. 235.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 275.] + +So bold an innovation roused the passions of the nation; the people +prepared for revolt, and a conflict was imminent, when the schismatic +Sangha-mitta was suddenly assassinated, and the king, convinced of his +errors, addressed himself with energy to restore the buildings he had +destroyed, and to redress the mischiefs chiefs caused by his apostacy. +He demolished the dewales of the Hindus, in order to use their sites for +Buddhist wiharas; he erected nunneries, constructed the Jaytawanarama (a +dagoba at Anarajapoora), formed the great tank of Mineri by drawing a +dam across the Kara-ganga and that of Kandelay or Dantalawa, and +consecrated the 20,000 fields which it irrigated to the Dennanaka +Wihare.[1] "He repaired numerous dilapidated temples throughout the +island, made offerings of a thousand robes to a thousand priests, formed +sixteen tanks to extend cultivation--there is no defining the extent of +his charity"--and having performed during his existence acts both of +piety and impity, the _Mahawanso_ cautiously adds, "his destiny after +death was according to his merits."[2] + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR's _Epitome_, p. 25.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiii. p. 238.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 302.] + +With King Maha-Sen end the glories of the "superior dynasty" of Ceylon. +The "sovereigns of the _Suluwanse_, who followed," says the _Rajavali_, +"were no longer of the unmixed blood, but the offspring of parents, only +one of whom was descended from the sun, and the other from the bringer +of the Bo-tree or the sacred tooth; on that account, because the God +Sakkraia had ceased to watch over Ceylon, because piety had disappeared, +and the city of Anarajapoora was in ruins, and because the fertility of +the land was diminished, the kings who succeeded Maha-Sen were no longer +reverenced as of old."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, p. 289.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 302.] + +The prosperity of Ceylon, though it may not have attained its acme, was +sound and auspicious in the beginning of the fourth century, when the +solar line became extinct. Pihiti, the northern portion of the island, +was that which most engaged the solicitude of the crown, from its +containing the ancient capital, whence it obtained its designation of +the Raja-ratta or country of the kings. Here the labour bestowed on +irrigation had made the food of the population abundant, and the sums +expended on the adornment of the city, the multitude of its sacred +structures, the splendour of its buildings, and the beauty of its lakes +and gardens, rendered it no inappropriate representative of the wealth +and fertility of the kingdom. + +Anarajapoora had from time immemorial been a venerated locality in the +eyes of the Buddhists; it had been honoured by the visit of Buddha in +person, and it was already a place of importance when Wijayo effected +his landing in the fifth century before the Christian era. It became the +capital a century after, and the King Pandukabhaya, who formed the +ornamental lake which adjoined it, and planted gardens and parks for +public festivities, built gates and four suburbs to the city; set apart +ground for a public cemetery, and erected a gilded hall of audience, and +a palace for his own residence. + +The _Mahawanso_ describes with particularity the offices of the +Naggaraguttiko, who was the chief of the city guard, and the +organisation of the low caste Chandalas, who were entrusted with the +cleansing of the capital and the removal of the dead for interment. For +these and for the royal huntsmen villages were constructed in the +environs, mingled with which were dwellings for the subjugated native +tribes, and temples for the worship of foreign devotees.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. x. p. 66.] + +Seventy years later, when Mahindo arrived in Ceylon, the details of his +reception disclose the increased magnificence of the capital, the +richness of the royal parks, and the extent of the state establishments; +and describe the chariots in which the king drove to Mihintala to +welcome his exalted guest.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Ibid., ch. xiv., xv., xx.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 302.] + +Yet these were but preliminary to the grander constructions which gave +the city its lasting renown; stupendous dagobas raised by successive +monarchs, each eager to surpass the conceptions of his predecessors; +temples in which were deposited statues of gold adorned with gems and +native pearls; the decorated terraces of the Bo-tree, and the Brazen +Palace, with its thousand chambers and its richly embellished halls. The +city was enclosed by a rampart upwards of twenty feet in height[1], +which was afterwards replaced by a wall[2]; and, so late as the fourth +century, the Chinese traveller Fa Hian describes the condition of the +place in terms which fully corroborate the accounts of the _Mahawanso_. +It was crowded, he says, with nobles, magistrates, and foreign +merchants; the houses were handsome, and the public buildings richly +adorned. The streets and highways were broad and level, and halls for +preaching and reading _bana_ were erected in all the thoroughfares. He +was assured that the island contained not less than from fifty to sixty +thousand ecclesiastics, who all ate in common; and of whom from five to +six thousand were supported by the bounty of the king. + +[Footnote 1: By WASABHA, A.D. 66. _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxv. p. 222.] + +[Footnote 2: TURNOUR, in his _Epitome of the History of Ceylon_, says +that Anarajapoora was enclosed by a rampart seven cubits high, B.C. 41, +and that A.D. 66 King Wasabha built a wall round the city sixteen gows +in circumference. As he estimates the gow at four English miles, this +would give an area equal to about 300 square miles. A space so +prodigious for the capital seems to be disproportionate to the extent of +the kingdom, and far too extended for the wants of the population. +TURNOUR does not furnish the authority on which he gives the dimensions, +nor have I been able to discover it in the _Rajavali_ nor in the +_Rajaratnacari_. The _Mahawanso_ alludes to the fact of Anarajapoora +having been fortified by Wasabha, but, instead of a wall, the work which +it describes this king to have undertaken, was the raising of the height +of the rampart from seven cubits to eighteen (_Mahawanso_, ch. xxxv. p. +222). Major Forbes, in his account of the ruins of the ancient city, +repeats the story of their former extent, in which he no doubt +considered that the high authority of Turnour in matters of antiquity +was sustained by a statement made by Lieutenant Skinner, who had +surveyed the ruins in 1822, to the effect that he had discovered near +Alia-parte the remains of masonry, which he concluded to be a portion of +the ancient city wall running north and south and forming the west face; +and, as Alia-parte is seven miles from Anarajapoora, he regarded this +discovery as confirming the account given of its original dimensions. +Lieutenant, now Major, Skinner has recently informed me that, on mature +reflection, he has reason to fear that his first inference was +precipitate. In a letter of the 8th of May, 1856, he says:--"It was in +1833 I first visited Anarajapoora, when I made my survey of its ruins. +The supposed foundation of the western face of the city wall was pointed +out near the village of Alia-parte by the people, and I hastily adopted +it. I had not at the time leisure to follow up this search and determine +how far it extended, but from subsequent visits to the place I have been +led to doubt the accuracy of this tradition, though on most other points +I found the natives tolerably accurate in their knowledge of the history +of the ancient capital. I have since sought for traces of the other +faces of the supposed wall, at the distances from the centre of the city +at which it was said to have existed, but without success." The ruins +which Major Skinner saw at Alia-parte are most probably those of one of +the numerous forts which the Singhalese kings erected at a much later +period, to keep the Malabars in check.] + +The sacred tooth of Buddha was publicly exposed on sacred days in the +capital with gorgeous ceremonies, which he recounts, and thence carried +in procession to "the mountains without fear;" the road to which was +perfumed and decked with flowers for the occasion; and the festival was +concluded by a dramatic representation of events in the life of Buddha, +illustrated by scenery and costumes, with figures of elephants and +stags, so delicately coloured as to be undistinguishable from nature.[1] + +[Footnote 1: FA HIAN, _Fo[)e] Kou[)e] Ki_, ch. xxxviii. p. 334, &c.] + + + + +CHAP. IX. + +KINGS OF THE "LOWER DYNASTY." + + +[Sidenote: A.D. 302.] + +The story of the kings of Ceylon of the _Sulu-wanse_ or "lower line," is +but a narrative of the decline of the power and prosperity which had +been matured under the Bengal conquerors and of the rise of the Malabar +marauders, whose ceaseless forays and incursions eventually reduced +authority to feebleness and the island to desolation. The vapid +biography of the royal imbeciles who filled the throne from the third to +the thirteenth century scarcely embodies an incident of sufficient +interest to diversify the monotonous repetition of temples founded and +dagobas repaired, of tanks constructed and priests endowed with lands +reclaimed and fertilised by the "forced labour" of the subjugated races. +Civil dissensions, religious schisms, royal intrigues and assassinations +contributed equally with foreign invasions to diminish the influence of +the monarchy and exhaust the strength of the kingdom. + +Of sixty-two sovereigns who reigned from the death of Maha-Sen, A.D. +301, to the accession of Prakrama Bahu, A.D. 1153, nine met a violent +death at the hands of their relatives or subjects, two ended their days +in exile, one was slain by the Malabars, and four committed suicide. Of +the lives of the larger number the Buddhist historians fail to furnish +any important incidents; they relate merely the merit which each +acquired by his liberality to the national religion or the more +substantial benefits conferred on the people by the formation of lakes +for irrigation. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 330.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 339.] + +Unembarrassed by any questions of external policy or foreign +expeditions, and limited to a narrow range of internal administration, a +few of the early kings addressed themselves to intellectual pursuits. +One immortalised himself in the estimation of the devout by his skill in +painting and sculpture, and in carving in ivory, arts which he displayed +by modelling statues of Buddha, and which he employed himself in +teaching to his subjects.[1] Another was equally renowned as a medical +author and a practitioner of surgery[2], and a third was so passionately +attached to poetry that in despair for the death of Kalidas[3], he flung +himself into the flames of the poet's funeral pile. + +[Footnote 1: Detoo Tissa, A.D. 330, _Mahawanso_, xxxvii. p. 242.] + +[Footnote 2: Budha Daasa, A.D. 339. _Mahawanso_, xxxvii, p. 243. His +work on medicine, entitled _Sara-sangraha_ or _Sarat-tha-Sambo_, is +still extant, and native practitioners profess to consult it.--TURNOUR'S +_Epitome_, p. 27.] + +[Footnote 3: Not KALIDAS, the author of _Sacontala_, to whom Sir W. +Jones awards the title of "The Shakspeare of the East," but PANDITA +KALIDAS, a Singhalese poet, none of whose verses have been preserved. +His royal patron was Kumara Das, king of Ceylon, A.D. 513. For an +account of Kalidas, see DE ALWIS'S _Sidath Sangara_, p. cliv.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 400.] + +With the exception of the embassy sent from Ceylon to Rome in the reign +of the Emperor Claudius[1], the earliest diplomatic intercourse with +foreigners of which a record exists, occurred in the fourth or fifth +centuries, when the Singhalese appear to have sent ambassadors to the +Emperor Julian[2], and for the first time to have established a friendly +connection with China. It is strange, considering the religious +sympathies which united the two people, that the native chronicles make +no mention of the latter negotiations or their results, so that we learn +of them only through Chinese historians. The _Encyclopoedia_ of +MA-TOUAN-LIN, written at the close of the thirteenth century[3], records +that Ceylon first entered into political relations with China in the +fourth century.[4] It was about the year 400 A.D., says the author, "in +the reign of the Emperor Nyan-ti, that ambassadors arrived from Ceylon +bearing a statue of Fo in jade-stone four feet two inches high, painted +in five colours, and of such singular beauty that one would have almost +doubted its being a work of human ingenuity. It was placed in the +Buddhist temple at Kien-Kang (Nankin)." In the year 428 A.D., the King +of Ceylon (Maha Nama) sent envoys to offer tribute, and this homage was +repeated between that period and A.D. 529, by three other Singhalese +kings, whose names it is difficult to identify with their Chinese +designations of Kia-oe, Kia-lo, and the Ho-li-ye. + +[Footnote 1: PLINY, lib. vi. c. 24.] + +[Footnote 2: AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS, lib. XX. c. 7.] + +[Footnote 3: KLAPROTH doubts, "si la science de l'Europe a produit +jusqu'a present un ouvrage de ce genre aussi bien execute et capable de +soutenir la comparaison avec cette encyclopedie chinoise."--_Journ. +Asiat._ tom. xxi. p. 3. See also _Asiatic Journal_, London, 1832, xxxv. +p. 110. It has been often reprinted in 100 large volumes. M. STANISLAS +JULIEN says that in another Chinese work, _Pien-i-tien_, or _The History +of Foreign Nations_, there is a compilation including every passage in +which Chinese authors have written of Ceylon, which occupies about forty +pages 4to. _Ib_. tom. xxix. p. 39. A number of these authorities will be +found extracted in the chapter in which I have described the intercourse +between China and Ceylon, Vol. I. P. v. ch. iii.] + +[Footnote 4: Between the years 317 and 420 A.D.--_Journ. Asiat._ tom. +xxviii. p. 401.] + +In A.D. 670, another ambassador arrived from Ceylon, and A.D. 742, +Chi-lo-mi-kia sent presents to the Emperor of China consisting of pearls +(_perles de feu_), golden flowers, precious stones, ivory, and pieces of +fine cotton cloth. At a later period mutual intercourse became frequent +between the two countries, and some of the Chinese travellers who +resorted to Ceylon have left valuable records as to the state of the +island. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 413.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 432.] + +It was during the reign of Maha Nama, about the year 413 A.D., that +Ceylon was visited by Fa Hian, and the statements of the _Mahawanso_ are +curiously corroborated by the observations recorded by this Chinese +traveller. He describes accurately the geniality of the climate, whose +uniform temperature rendered the seasons undistinguishable. Winter and +summer, he says, are alike unknown, but perpetual verdure realises the +idea of a perennial spring, and periods for seed time and harvest are +regulated by the taste of the husbandman. This statement has reference +to the multitude of tanks which rendered agriculture independent of the +periodical rains. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 459.] + +Fa Hian speaks of the lofty monuments which were the memorials of +Buddha, and of the gems and gold which adorned his statues at +Anarajapoora. Amongst the most surprising of these was a figure in what +he calls "blue jasper," inlaid with jewels and other precious materials, +and holding in one hand a pearl of inestimable value.[1] He describes +the Bo-tree in terms which might almost be applied to its actual +condition at the present day, and he states that they had recently +erected a building to contain "the tooth of Buddha," which was exhibited +to the pious in the middle of the third moon with processions and +ceremonies which he minutely details.[2] All this corresponds closely +with the narrative of the _Mahawanso_. The sacred tooth of Buddha, +called at that time _Datha dhatu_, and now the _Dalada_, had been +brought to Ceylon a short time before Fa Hian's arrival in the reign of +Kisti-Sri-Megha-warna, A.D. 311, in charge of a princess of Kalinga, who +concealed it in the folds of her hair. And the _Mahawanso_ with equal +precision describes the procession as conducted by the king and by the +assembled priests, in which the tooth was borne along the streets of +Anarajapoora amidst the veneration of the multitude.[3] + +[Footnote 1: It was whilst looking at this statue that FA HIAN +encountered an incident which he has related with touching +simplicity:--"Depuis que FA HIAN avait quitte la _terre de Han_, +plusieurs annees s'etaient ecoulees; les gens avec lesquels il avait des +rapports etaient tous des hommes de contrees etrangeres. Les montagnes, +les rivieres, les herbes, les arbres, tout ce qui avait frappe ses yeux +etait nouveau pour lui. De plus, ceux qui avaient fait route avec lui, +s'en etaient separes, les uns s'etant arretes, et les autres etant +morts. En reflechissant au passe, son coeur etait toujours rempli de +pensees et de tristesse. Tout a coup, a cote de cette figure de jaspe, +il vit un marchand qui faisait hommage a la statue d'un eventail de +taffetas blanc du pays de _Tsin_. Sans qu'en s'en apercut cela lui causa +une emotion telle que ses larmes coulerent et remplirent ses yeux." (FA +HIAN, _Fo[)e] Kou[)e] Ki_, ch. xxxviii. p. 333.) "Tsin" means the +province of Chensi, which was the birthplace of Fa Hian.] + +[Footnote 2: FA HIAN, _Fo[)e] Kou[)e] Ki_, ch. xxxviii. p. 334-5.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxvii. p. 241, 249. After the funeral +rites of Gotama Buddha had been performed at Kusinara, B.C. 543, his +"left canine tooth" was carried to Dantapura, the capital of Kalinga, +where it was preserved for 800 years. The King of Calinga, in the reign +of Maha-Sen, being on the point of engaging in a doubtful conflict, +directed, in the event of defeat, that the sacred relic should be +conveyed to Ceylon, whither it was accordingly taken as described. +(_Rajavali_, p. 240.) Between A.D. 1303 and 1315 the tooth was carried +back to Southern India by the leader of an army, who invaded Ceylon and +sacked _Yapahoo_, which was then the capital. The succeeding monarch, +Prakrama III., went in person to Madura to negotiate its surrender, and +brought it back to Pollanarrua. Its subsequent adventures and its final +destruction by the Portuguese, as recorded by DE COUTO and others, will +be found in a subsequent passage, see Vol. II. P. VII. ch. v. The +Singhalese maintain that the Dalada, still treasured in its strong tower +at Kandy, is the genuine relic, which was preserved from the Portuguese +spoilers by secreting it at Delgamoa in Saffragam. + +TURNOUR'S _Account of the Tooth Relic of Ceylon; Journal of the Asiatic +Society of Bengal_, 1837, vol. vi. p. 2, p. 856.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 459.] + +One of the most striking events in this period of Singhalese history was +the murder of the king, Dhatu Sena, A.D. 459, by his son, who seized the +throne under the title of Kasyapa I. The story of this outrage, which is +highly illustrative of the superstition and cruelty of the age, is told +with much feeling in the _Mahawanso_; the author of which, Mahanamo, was +the uncle of the outraged king, Dhatu Sena was a descendant of the royal +line, whose family were living in retirement during the usurpation of +the Malabars, A.D. 434 to 459. As a youth he had embraced the +priesthood, and his future eminence was foretold by an omen. "On a +certain day, when chaunting at the foot of a tree, when a shower of rain +fell, a cobra de capello encircled him with its folds and covered his +book with its hood."[1] He was educated by his uncle, Mahanamo, and in +process of time, surrounding himself with adherents, he successfully +attacked the Malabars, defeated two of their chiefs in succession, put +three others to death, recovered the native sovereignty of Ceylon, "and +the religion which had been set aside by the foreigners, he restored to +its former ascendancy." He recalled the fugitive inhabitants to +Anarajapoora; degraded the nobles who had intermarried with the +Malabars, and vigorously addressed himself to repair the sacred edifices +and to restore fertility to the lands which had been neglected during +their hostile occupation by the strangers. He applied the jewels from +his head-dress to replace the gems of which the statue of Buddha had +been despoiled. The curled hair of the divine teacher was represented by +sapphires, and the lock on his forehead by threads of gold. + +[Footnote 1: This is a frequent traditionary episode in connection with +the heroes of Hindu history.--_Asiat. Researches_, vol. xv. p. 275.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 459.] + +The family of the king consisted of two sons and a daughter, the latter +married to his nephew, who "caused her to be flogged on the thighs with +a whip although she had committed no offence;" on which the king, in his +indignation, ordered the mother of her husband to be burned. His nephew +and eldest son now conspired to dethrone him, and having made him a +prisoner, the latter "raised the chatta" (the white parasol emblematic +of royalty), and seized on the supreme power. Pressed by his son to +discover the depository of his treasures, the captive king entreated to +be taken to Kalawapi, under the pretence of pointing out the place of +their concealment, but in reality with a determination to prepare for +death, after having seen his early friend Mahanamo, and bathed in the +great tank which he himself had formerly constructed. The usurper +complied, and assigned for the journey a "carriage with broken wheels," +the charioteer of which shared his store of "parched rice" with the +fallen king. "Thus worldly prosperity," says Mahanamo, who lived to +write the sad story of the interview, "is like the glimmering of +lightning, and what reflecting man would devote himself to its pursuit!" +The Raja approached his friend and, "from the manner these two persons +discoursed, side by side, mutually quenching the fire of their +afflictions, they appeared as if endowed with royal prosperity. Having +allowed him to eat, the thero (Mahanamo) in various ways administered +consolation and abstracted his mind from all desire to prolong his +existence." The king then bathed in the tank; and pointing to his friend +and to it, "these," he exclaimed to the messengers, "are all the +treasures I possess." + +[Sidenote: A.D. 477.] + +He was conducted back to the capital; and Kasyapa, suspecting that the +king was concealing his riches for his second son, Mogallana, gave the +order for his execution. Arrayed in royal insignia, he repaired to the +prison of the raja, and continued to walk to and fro in his presence: +till the king, perceiving his intention to wound his feelings, said +mildly, "Lord of statesmen, I bear the same affection towards you as to +Mogallana." The usurper smiled and shook his head; then stripping the +king naked and casting him into chains, he built up a wall, embedding +him in it with his face towards the east, and enclosed it with clay: +"thus the monarch Dhatu-Sena, who was murdered by his son, united +himself with Sakko the ruler of Devos."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxviii. To this hideous incident Mahanamo +adds the following curious moral: "This Raja Dhatu Sena, at the time he +was improving the Kalawapi tank, observed a certain priest absorbed in +meditation, and not being able to rouse him from abstraction, had him +buried under the embankment by heaping earth over him. His own living +entombment _was the retribution_ manifested in this life for that +impious act."] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 477.] + +The parricide next directed his groom and his cook to assassinate his +brother, who, however, escaped to the coast of India.[1] Failing in the +attempt, he repaired to Sihagiri, a place difficult of access to men, +and having cleared it on all sides, he surrounded it with a rampart. He +built three habitations, accessible only by flights of steps, and +ornamented with figures of lions (siho), whence the fortress takes its +name, _Siha-giri_, "the Lion Rock." Hither he carried the treasures of +his father, and here he built a palace, "equal in beauty to the +celestial mansion." He erected temples to Buddha, and monasteries for +his priests, but conscious of the enormity of his crimes, these +endowments were conferred in the names of his minister and his children. +Failing to "derive merit" from such acts, stung with remorse, and +anxious to test public feeling, he enlarged his deeds of charity; he +formed gardens at the capital, and planted groves of mangoes throughout +the island. Desirous to enrich a wihara at Anarajapoora, he proposed to +endow it with a village, but "the ministers of religion, regardful of +the reproaches of the world, declined accepting gifts at the hands of a +parricide. Kasyapa, bent on befriending them, dedicated the village to +Buddha, after which they consented, _on the ground that it was then the +property of the divine teacher_." Impelled, says the _Mahawanso_, by the +irrepressible dread of a future existence, he strictly performed his +"aposaka"[2] vows, practised the virtue of non-procrastination, acquired +the "dathanga,"[3] and caused books to be written, and image and +alms-edifices to be formed. + +[Footnote 1: I am indebted to the family of the late Mr. Turnour for +access to a manuscript translation of a further portion of the +_Mahawanso_, from which this continuation of the narrative is +extracted.] + +[Footnote 2: A lay devotee who takes on himself the obligation of +asceticism without putting on the yellow robe.] + +[Footnote 3: The dathanga or "teles-dathanga" are the thirteen +ordinances by which the cleaving to existence is destroyed, involving +piety, abstinence, and self-mortification.--HARDY'S _Eastern Monachism_, +ch. ii. p. 9.] + +[Illustration: FORTIFIED ROCK OF SIGIRI] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 495.] + +Meanwhile, after an interval of eighteen years, Mogallana, having in his +exile collected a sufficient force, returned from India to avenge the +murder of his father; and the brothers encountered each other in a +decisive engagement at Ambatthakolo in the Seven Corles. Kasyapa, +perceiving a swamp in his front, turned the elephant which he rode into +a side path to avoid it; on which his army in alarm raised the shout +that "their liege lord was flying," and in the confusion which followed, +Mogallana, having struck off the head of his brother, returned the krese +to its scabbard, and led his followers to take possession of the +capital; where he avenged the death of his father, by the execution of +the minister who had consented to it. He established a marine force to +guard the island against the descents of the Malabars, and "having +purified both the orthodox dharma[1], and the religion of the +vanquisher, he died, after reigning eighteen years, signalised by acts +of piety."[2] This story as related by its eye-witness, Mahanamo, forms +one of the most characteristic, as well as the best authenticated +episodes of contemporary history presented by the annals of Ceylon. + +[Footnote 1: The doctrines of Buddha.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxix. Manuscript translation by TURNOUR. +TURNOUR, in his _Epitome_, says Kasyapa "committed suicide on the field +of battle," but this does not appear from the narrative of the +_Mahawanso_.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 515.] + +Such was the feebleness of the royal house, that of the eight kings who +succeeded Mogallana between A.D. 515 and A.D. 586, two died by suicide, +three by murder, and one from grief occasioned by the treason of his +son. The anarchy consequent upon such disorganisation stimulated the +rapacity of the Malabars; and the chronicles of the following centuries +are filled with the accounts of their descents on the island and the +misery inflicted by their excesses. + + + + +CHAP. X. + +THE DOMINATION OF THE MALABARS. + + +[Sidenote: A.D. 515.] + +It has been already explained that the invaders who engaged in forays +into Ceylon, though known by the general epithet of Malabars (or as they +are designated in Pali, _damilos_, "Tamils"), were also natives of +places in India remote from that now known as Malabar. They were, in +reality, the inhabitants of one of the earliest states organised in +Southern India, the kingdom of Pandya[1], whose sovereigns, from their +intelligence, and their encouragement of native literature, have been +appropriately styled "the Ptolemies of India." Their dominions, which +covered the extremity of the peninsula, comprehended the greater portion +of the Coromandel coast, extending to Canara on the western coast, and +southwards to the sea.[2] Their kingdom was subsequently contracted in +dimensions, by the successive independence of Malabar, the rise of the +state of Chera to the west, of Ramnad to the south, and of Chola in the +east, till it sank in modern times into the petty government of the +Naicks of Madura.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Pandya, as a kingdom was not unknown in classical times, +and its ruler was the [Greek: Basileus Pandion] mentioned in the +_Periplus of the Erythraean Sea_, and the king Pandion, who sent an +embassy to Augustus.--PLINY, vi. 26; PTOLEMY, vii. 1.] + +[Footnote 2: See an _Historical Sketch of the Kingdom of Pandya_, by +Prof. H. H. WILSON, _Asiat. Journ._, vol. iii.] + +[Footnote 3: See _ante_, p. 353, n.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 515.] + +The relation between this portion of the Dekkan and the early colonisers +of Ceylon was rendered intimate by many concurring incidents. Wijayo +himself was connected by maternal descent with the king of Kalinga[1], +now known as the Northern Circars; his second wife was the daughter of +the king of Pandya, and the ladies who accompanied her to Ceylon were +given in marriage to his ministers and officers.[2] Similar alliances +were afterwards frequent; and the Singhalese annalists allude on more +than one occasion to the "damilo consorts" of their sovereigns.[3] +Intimate intercourse and consanguinity, were thus established from the +remotest period. Adventurers from the opposite coast were encouraged by +the previous settlers; high employments were thrown open to them, +Malabars were subsidised both as cavalry and as seamen; and the first +abuse of their privileges was in the instance of the brothers Sena and +Goottika, who, holding naval and military commands, took advantage of +their position and seized on the throne, B.C. 237; apparently with such +acquiescence on the part of the people, that even the _Mahawanso_ +praises the righteousness of their reign, which was prolonged to +twenty-two years, when they were put to death by the rightful heir to +the throne.[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. vi. p. 43.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. vii. p. 53; the _Rajarali_ (p. 173) says +they were 700 in number.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxviii. p. 253.] + +[Footnote 4: _Mahawanso_ ch. xxi. p. 127.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 515.] + +The easy success of the first usurpers encouraged the ambition of fresh +aspirants, and barely ten years elapsed till the _first_ regular +invasion of the island took place, under the illustrious Elala, who, +with an army from Mysore (then called Chola or Soli), subdued the entire +of Ceylon, north of the Mahawelli-ganga, and compelled the chiefs of the +rest of the island, and the kings of Rohuna and Maya, to acknowledge his +supremacy and become his tributaries.[1] As in the instance of the +previous revolt, the people exhibited such faint resistance to the +usurpation, that the reign of Elala extended to forty-four years. It is +difficult to conceive that their quiescence under a stranger was +entirely ascribable to the fact, that the rule of the Malabars, although +adverse to Buddhism, was characterised by justice and impartiality. +Possibly they recognised to some extent their pretensions, as founded on +their relationship to the legitimate sovereigns of the island, and hence +they bore their sway without impatience.[2] + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 17; _Mahawanso_, ch. xxi. p. 128; +_Rajavali_, p. 188.] + +[Footnote 2: See _ante_, p. 360, n.] + +The majority of the subsequent invasions of Ceylon by the Malabars +partook less of the character of conquest than of forays, by a restless +and energetic race, into a fertile and defenceless country. Mantotte, on +the northwest coast, near Adam's Bridge, became the great place of +debarcation; and here successive bands of marauders landed time after +time without meeting any effectual resistance from the unwarlike +Singhalese. + +The _second_ great invasion took place about a century after the first, +B.C. 103, when seven Malabar leaders effected simultaneous descents at +different points of the coast[1], and combined with a disaffected +"Brahman prince" of Rohuna, to force Walagam-bahu I. to surrender his +sovereignty. The king, after an ineffectual show of resistance, fled to +the mountains of Malaya; one of the invaders carried off the queen to +the coast of India; a third despoiled the temples of Anarajapoora and +retired, whilst the others continued in possession of the capital for +nearly fifteen years, till Walagam-bahu, by the aid of the Rohuna +highlanders, succeeded in recovering the throne. + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 16. The _Mahawanso_ says they +landed at "Mahatittha."--_Mantotte_, ch. xxxiii. p. 203.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 515.] + +The _third_ great invasion on record[1] was in its character still more +predatory than those which preceded it, but it was headed by a king in +person, who carried away 12,000 Singhalese as slaves to Mysore. It +occurred in the reign of Waknais, A.D. 110, whose son Gaja-bahu, A.D. +113, avenged the outrage by invading the Solee country with an +expedition which sailed from Jaffnapatam, and brought back not only the +rescued Singhalese captives, but also a multitude of Solleans, whom the +king established on lands in the Alootcoor Corle, where the Malabar +features are thought to be discernible to the present day.[2] + +[Footnote 1: This incursion of the Malabars is not mentioned in the +_Mahawanso_, but it is described in the _Rajavali_, p. 229, and +mentioned by TURNOUR, in his _Epitome_, &c., p. 21. There is evidence of +the conscious supremacy of the Malabars over the north of Ceylon, in the +fourth century, in a very curious document, relating to that period. The +existence of a colony of Jews at Cochin, in the southwestern extremity +of the Dekkan, has long been known in Europe, and half a century ago, +particulars of their condition and numbers were published by Dr. +Claudius Buchanan. (_Christian Researches, &c._) Amongst other facts, he +made known their possession of Hebrew MSS. demonstrative of the great +antiquity of their settlement in India, and also of their title deeds of +land (_sasanams_), engraved on plates of copper, and presented to them +by the early kings of that portion of the peninsula. Some of the latter +have been carefully translated into English (see _Madras Journ._, vol. +xiii. xiv.). One of their MSS. has recently been brought to England, +under circumstances which are recounted by Mr. FORSTER, in the third +vol. of his _One Primeval Language_, p. 303. This MS. I have been +permitted to examine. It is in corrupted Rabbinical Hebrew, written +about the year 1781, and contains a partial synopsis of the modern +history of the section of the Jewish nation to whom it belongs; with +accounts of their arrival in the year A.D. 68, and of their reception by +the Malabar kings. Of one of the latter, frequently spoken of by the +honorific style of SRI PERUMAL, but identifiable with IRAVI VARMAR, who +reigned A.D. 379, the manuscript says that his "_rule extended from Goa +to Colombo_."] + +[Footnote 2: CASTE CHITTY, _Ceylon Gazetteer_, p. 7.] + +A long interval of repose followed, and no fresh expedition from India +is mentioned in the chronicles of Ceylon till A.D. 433, when the capital +was again taken by the Malabars; the Singhalese families fled beyond the +Mahawelli-ganga; and the invaders occupied the entire extent of the +Pihiti Ratta, where for twenty-seven years, five of them in succession +administered the government, till Dhatu Sena collected forces sufficient +to overpower the strangers, and, emerging from his retreat in Rohuna, +recovered possession of the north of the island.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, p. 243; TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 27.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 515.] + +Dhatu Sena, after his victory, seems to have made an attempt, though an +ineffectual one, to reverse the policy which had operated under his +predecessors as an incentive to the immigration of Malabars; settlement +and intermarriages had been all along encouraged[1], and even during the +recent usurpation, many Singhalese families of rank had formed +connections with the Damilos. The schisms among the Buddhist themselves, +tending as they did to engraft Brahmanical rites upon the doctrines of +the purer faith, seem to have promoted and matured the intimacy between +the two people; some of the Singhalese kings erected temples to the gods +of the Hindus[2], and the promoters of the Wytulian heresy found a +refuge from persecution amongst their sympathisers in the Dekkan.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Anula, the queen of Ceylon, A.D. 47, met with no opposition +in raising one of her Malabar husbands to the throne.--TURNOUR'S +_Epitome_, p. 19. Sotthi Sena, who reigned A.D. 432, had a Damilo +queen.--_Mahawanso_, ch. xxxviii. p. 253.] + +[Footnote 2: Sri Sanga Bo III. A.D. 702, "made a figure of the God +Vishnu; and was a supporter of the religion of Buddha, and a friend of +the people."--_Rajaratnacari_, p. 78.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxvii. p. 234; TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. +25.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 515.] + +The Malabars, trained to arms, now resorted in such numbers to Ceylon, +that the leaders in civil commotions were accustomed to hire them in +bands to act against the royal forces[1]; and whilst no precautions were +adopted to check the landing of marauders on the coast, the invaders +constructed forts throughout the country to protect their conquests from +recapture by the natives. Proud of these successful expeditions, the +native records of the Chola kings make mention of their victories; and +in one of their grants of land, engraved on copper, and still in +existence, Viradeva-Chola, the sovereign by whom it was made, is +described as having triumphed over "Madura, Izham, Caruvar, and the +crowned head of Pandyan;" Izham, (or Ilam) being the Tamil name of +Ceylon.[2] On their expulsion by Dhatu Sena, he took possession of the +fortresses and extirpated the Damilos; degraded the Singhalese who had +intermarried with them; confiscated their estates in favour of those who +had remained true to his cause; and organised a naval force for the +protection of the coasts[3] of the island. + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxvi. p. 238.] + +[Footnote 2: DOWSON, on the Chera Kingdom of India.--_Asiat. Journ._ +vol. viii. p. 24.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawansa_ ch. xxxviii. p. 256. and xxxix. TURNOUR'S MS., +_Trans._] + +But his vigorous policy produced no permanent effect; his son Mogallana, +after the murder of his father and the usurpation of Kasyapa, fled for +refuge to the coast of India, and subsequently recovered possession of +the throne, by the aid of a force which he collected there.[1] In the +succession of assassinations, conspiracies, and civil wars which +distracted the kingdom in the sixth and seventh centuries, during the +struggles of the rival branches of the royal house, each claimant, in +his adversity, betook himself to the Indian continent, and Malabar +mercenaries from Pandya and Soli enrolled themselves indifferently under +any leader, and deposed or restored kings at their pleasure.[2] + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 29; _Rajavali_ p. 244.] + +[Footnote 2: TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 31; _Rajavali_ p. 247.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 523.] + +The _Rajavali_, in a single passage enumerates fourteen sovereigns who +were murdered each by his successor, between A.D. 523, and A.D. 648. +During a period of such violence and anarchy, peaceful industry was +suspended, and extensive emigrations took place to Bahar and Orissa. +Buddhism, however, was still predominant, and protection was accorded to +its professors. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 640.] + +Hiouen Thsang, a Chinese traveller, wno visited India between 629 A.D. +and 645[1], encountered numbers of exiles, who informed him that they +fled from civil commotions in Ceylon, in which religion had undergone +persecution, the king had lost his life, cultivation had been +interrupted, and the island exhausted by famine. This account of the +Chinese voyager accords accurately with the events detailed in the +Singhalese annals, in which it is stated that Sanghatissa was deposed +and murdered, A.D. 623, by the Seneriwat, his minister, who, amidst the +horrors of a general famine, was put to death by the people of Rohuna, +and a civil war ensued; one result of which was the defeat of the +Malabar mercenaries and their distribution as slaves to the temples. +Hiouen Thsang relates the particulars of his interviews with the +fugitives, from whom he learned the extraordinary riches of Ceylon, the +number and wealth of its wiharas, the density of its population in +peaceful times, the fertility of its soil, and the abundance of its +produce.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Histoire de la Vie de Hiouen Thsang, et de ses Voyages +dans l'Inde depuis l'an_ 629 _jusquen_ 643. _Par_ HOEI-LI _et_ +YEN-THSANG, _&c. Traduite du Chinois par_ STANISLAUS JULIEN, Paris, +1853.] + +[Footnote 2: "Ce royaume a sept mille li de tour, et sa capitale +quarante li; la population est agglomeree, et la terre produit des +grains en abondance."--HIOUEN-THSANG, liv. iv. p. 194.] + +For nearly four hundred years, from the seventh till the eleventh +century, the exploits and escapes of the Malabars occupy a more +prominent portion of the Singbalese annals than that devoted to the +policy of the native sovereigns. They filled every office, including +that of prime minister[1], and they decided the claims of competing +candidates for the crown. At length the island became so infested by +their numbers that the feeble monarchs found it impracticable to effect +their exclusion from Anarajapoora[2]; and to escape from their +proximity, the kings in the eighth century began to move southwards, and +transferred their residence to Pollanarrua, which eventually became the +capital of the kingdom. Enormous tanks were constructed in the vicinity +of the new capital; palaces were erected, surpassing those of the old +city in architectural beauty; dagobas were raised, nearly equal in +altitude to the Thuparama and Ruanwelli, and temples and statues were +hewn out of the living rock, the magnitude and beauty of whose ruins +attest the former splendour of Pollanarrua.[3] + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 33.] + +[Footnote 2: TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, A.D. 686, p. 31.] + +[Footnote 3: The first king who built a palace at Pollanarrua was Sri +Sanga Bo II., A.D. 642. His successor, Sri Sanga Bo III., took up his +residence there temporarily, A.D. 702; it was made the capital by Kuda +Akbo, A.D. 769, and its embellishment, the building of colleges, and the +formation of tanks in its vicinity, were the occupations of numbers of +his successors.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 640.] + +Notwithstanding their numbers and their power, it is remarkable that the +Malabars were never identified with any plan for promoting the +prosperity and embellishment of Ceylon, or with any undertaking for the +permanent improvement of the island. Unlike the Gangetic race, who were +the earliest colonists, and with whom originated every project for +enriching and adorning the country, the Malabars aspired not to beautify +or enrich, but to impoverish and deface;--and nothing can more +strikingly bespeak the inferiority of the southern race than the single +fact that everything tending to exalt and to civilise, in the early +condition of Ceylon, was introduced by the northern conquerors, whilst +all that contributed to ruin and debase it is distinctly traceable to +the presence and influence of the Malabars. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 840.] + +The Singhalese, either paralysed by dread, made feeble efforts to rid +themselves of the invaders; or fascinated by their military pomp, +endeavoured to conciliate them by alliances. Thus, when the king of +Pandya over-ran the north of Ceylon, A.D. 840, plundered the capital and +despoiled its temples, the unhappy sovereign had no other resource than +to purchase the evacuation of the island by a heavy ransom.[1] Yet such +was the influence still exercised by the Malabars, that within a very +few years his successor on the throne lent his aid to the son of the +same king of Pandya in a war against his father, and conducted the +expedition in person.[2] His army was, in all probability, composed +chiefly of Damilos, with whom he overran the south of the Indian +peninsula, and avenged the outrage inflicted on his own kingdom in the +late reign by bearing back the plunder of Madura. + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 35; _Rajaratnacari_, p. 79.] + +[Footnote 2: A.D. 858; _Rajaratnacari_, p, 84.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 954.] + +This exploit served to promote a more intimate intercourse between the +two races, and after the lapse of a century, A.D. 954, the king of +Ceylon a second time interposed with an army to aid the Pandyan +sovereign in a quarrel with his neighbour of Chola, wherein the former +was worsted, and forced to seek a refuge in the territory of his insular +ally, whence he was ultimately expelled for conspiracy against his +benefactor. Having fled to India without his regalia, his Cholian rival +made the refusal of the king of Ceylon to surrender them the pretext for +a fresh Malabar invasion, A.D. 990, when the enemy was repulsed by the +mountaineers of Rohuna, who, from the earliest period down to the +present day, have evinced uniform impatience of strangers, and steady +determination to resist their encroachments. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 997.] + +But such had been the influx of foreigners, that the efforts of these +highland patriots were powerless against their numbers. Mahindo III., +A.D. 997, married a princess of Calinga[1], and in a civil war which +ensued, during the reign of his son and successor, the novel spectacle +was presented of a Malabar army supporting the cause of the royal family +against Singhalese insurgents. The island was now reduced to the extreme +of anarchy and insecurity; "the foreign population" had increased to +such an extent as to gain a complete ascendency over the native +inhabitants, and the sovereign had lost authority over both.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Now the Northern Circars.] + +[Footnote 2: TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 37.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1023.] + +In A.D. 1023, the Cholians again invaded Ceylon[1], carried the king +captive to the coast of India (where he died in exile), and established +a Malabar viceroy at Pollanarrua, who held possession of the island for +nearly thirty years, protected in his usurpation by a foreign army. +Thus, "throughout the reign of nineteen kings," says the _Rajaratnacari_ +"extending over eighty-six years, the Malabars kept up a continual war +with the Singhalese, till they filled by degrees every village in the +island."[2] + +[Footnote 1: In the reign of Mahindo IV.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 85.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1028.] + +During the absence of the rightful sovereign, and in the confusion which +ensued on his decease, various members of the royal family arrived at +the sovereignty of Rohuna, the only remnant of free territory left. Four +brothers, each assuming the title of king, contended together for +supremacy; and amidst anarchy and intrigue, each in turn took up the +reins of government, as they fell or were snatched from the hands of his +predecessor[1], till at length, on the retirement of all other +candidates, the forlorn crown was assumed by the minister Lokaiswara, +who held his court at Kattragam, and died A.D. 1071.[2] + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 39.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxi.] + + + + +CHAP XI. + +THE REIGN OF PRAKRAMA BAHU. + + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1071.] + +From the midst of this gloom and despondency, with usurpation successful +in the only province where even a semblance of patriotism survived, and +a foreign enemy universally dominant throughout the rest of Ceylon, +there suddenly arose a dynasty which delivered the island from the sway +of the Malabars, brought back its ancient wealth and tranquillity, and +for the space of a century made it pre-eminently prosperous at home and +victorious in expeditions by which its rulers rendered it respected +abroad. + +The founder of this new and vigorous race was a member of the exiled +family, who, on the death of Lokaiswara, was raised to the throne under +the title of Wijayo Bahu.[1] Dissatisfied with the narrow limits of +Rohuna, he resolved on rescuing Pihiti from the usurping strangers; and, +by the courage and loyalty of his mountaineers, he recovered the ancient +capitals from the Malabars, compelled the whole extent of the island to +acknowledge his authority, reunited the several kingdoms of Ceylon under +one national banner, and, "for the security of Lanka against foreign +invasion, placed trustworthy chiefs at the head of paid troops, and +stationed them round the coast."[2] Thus signally successful at home, +the fame of his exploits "extended over all Dambadiva[3], and +ambassadors arrived at his court from the sovereigns of India and Siam." + +[Footnote 1: A.D. 1071.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. lix.; _Rajaranacari_, p. 58; _Rajavali_, +p. 251; TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 39.] + +[Footnote 3: India Proper.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1126.] + +As he died without heirs a contest arose about the succession, which +threatened again to dissever the unity of the kingdom by arraying Rohuna +and the south against the brother of Wijayo Bahu, who had gained +possession of Pollanarrua. But in this emergency the pretensions of all +other claimants to the crown were overruled in favour of Prakrama, a +prince of accomplishments and energy so unrivalled as to secure for him +the partiality of his kindred and the admiration of the people at large. + +He was son to the youngest of four brothers who had recently contended +together for the crown, and his ambition from childhood had been to +rescue his country from foreign dominion, and consolidate the monarchy +in his own person. He completed by foreign travel an education which, +according to the _Mahawanso_, comprised every science and accomplishment +of the age in which he lived, including theology, medicine, and logic; +grammar, poetry, and music; the training of the elephant and the +management of the horse.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxiv.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1153.] + +On the death of his father he was proclaimed king by the people, and a +summons was addressed by him to his surviving uncle, calling on him to +resign in his favour and pay allegiance to his supremacy. As the feeling +of the nation was with him, the issue of a civil war left him master of +Ceylon. He celebrated his coronation as King of Pihiti at Pollanarrua, +A.D. 1153, and two years later after reducing the refractory chiefs of +Rohuna to obedience, he repeated the ceremonial by crowning himself +"sole King of Lanka."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxi.] + +There is no name in Singhalese history which holds the same rank in the +admiration of the people as that of Prakrama Bahu, since to the piety of +Devenipiatissa he united the chivalry of Dutugaimunu. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1155.] + +The tranquillity insured by the independence and consolidation of his +dominions he rendered subservient to the restoration of religion, the +enrichment of his subjects, and the embellishment of the ancient +capitals of his kingdom; and, ill-satisfied with the inglorious ease +which had contented his predecessors, he aspired to combine the renown +of foreign conquests with the triumphs of domestic policy. + +Faithful to the two grand objects of royal solicitude, religion and +agriculture, the earliest attention of Prakrama was directed to the +re-establishment of the one, and the encouragement and extension of the +other. He rebuilt the temples of Buddha, restored the monuments of +religion in more than their pristine splendour, and covered the face of +the kingdom with works for irrigation to an extent which would seem +incredible did not their existing ruins corroborate the historical +narrative of his stupendous labours. + +Such had been the ostensible decay of Buddhism during the Malabar +domination that, when the kingdom was recovered from them by Wijayo +Bahu, A.D. 1071, "there was not to be found in the whole island five +tirunansis," and an embassy was bent to Arramana[1] to request that +members of this superior rank of the priesthood might be sent to restore +the order in Ceylon.[2] + +[Footnote 1: A part of the Chin-Indian peninsula, probably between +Arracan and Siam.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 85; _Rajavali_, p. 252; _Mahawanso_, +ch, lx. + +From the identity of the national faith in the two countries; +intercourse existed between Siam and Ceylon from time immemorial. At a +very early period missions were interchanged for the inter-communication +of Pali literature, and in later times, when, owing to the oppression of +the Malabars certain orders of the priesthood had become extinct in +Ceylon, it became essential to seek a renewal of ordination at the hands +of the Siamese heirarchy (_Rajaratnacari_, p. 86). In the numerous +incursions of the Malabars from Chola and Pandya, the literary treasures +of Ceylon were deliberately destroyed, and the _Mahawanso_ and +_Rajavali_, make frequent lamentations over the loss of the sacred +books. (See also _Rajaratnacari_, pp 77, 95, 97.) At a still later +period the savage Raja Singha who reigned between A.D. 1581 and 1592, +and became a convert to Brahmanism, sought eagerly for Buddhistical +books, and "delighted in burning them in heaps as high as a coco-nut +tree." These losses it was sought to repair by an embassy to Siam, sent +by Kirti-Sri in A.D. 1753, when a copious supply was obtained of Burmese +versions of Pali sacred literature.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1155.] + +During the same troublous times, schisms and heresy had combined to +undermine the national belief, and hence one of the first cares of +Prakrama Bahu was to weed out the perverted sects, and establish a +council for the settlement of the faith on debatable points.[1] Dagobas +and statues of Buddha were multiplied without end during his reign, and +temples of every form were erected both at Pollanarrua and throughout +the breadth of the island. Halls for the reading of bana, image rooms, +residences for the priesthood, ambulance halls and rest houses for their +accommodation when on journeys, were built in every district, and rocks +were hollowed into temples; one of which, at Pollanarrua, remains to the +present day with its images of Buddha; "one in a sitting and another in +a lying posture," almost as described in the _Mahawanso_.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxvii.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxii. For a description of this temple +see the account of Pollanarrua in the present work, Vol. II. Pt. x. ch. +i.] + +In conformity with the spirit of toleration, which is one of the +characteristics of Buddhism, the king "erected a house for the Brahmans +of the capital to afford the comforts of religion even to his Malabar +enemies." And mindful of the divine injunctions engraven on the rock by +King Asoca, "he forbade the animals in the whole of Lanka, both of the +earth and the water, to be killed,"[1] and planted gardens, "resembling +the paradise of the God-King Sakkraia, with trees of all sorts bearing +fruits and odorous flowers." + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxvii. Among the religious edifices +constructed by Prakrama Bahu in many parts of his kingdom, the +_Mahawanso_, enumerates three temples at Pollanarrua, besides others at +every two or three gows distance; 101 dagobas, 476 statues of Buddha, +and 300 image rooms built, besides 6100 repaired. He built for the +reception of priests from a distance, "230 lodging apartments, 50 halls +for preaching, and 9 for walking, 144 gates, and 192 rooms for the +purpose of offering flowers. He built 12 apartments and 230 halls for +the use of strangers, and 31 rock temples, with tanks, baths, and +gardens for the priesthood."] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1155.] + +For the people the king erected almonries at the four gates of the +capital, and hospitals, with slave boys and maidens to wait upon the +sick, superintending them in person, and bringing his medical knowledge +to assist in their direction and management. + +Even now the ruins of Pollanarrua, the most picturesque in Ceylon, +attest the care which he lavished on his capital. He surrounded it with +ramparts, raised a fortress within them, and built a palace for his own +residence, containing four thousand apartments. He founded schools and +libraries; built halls for music and dancing; formed tanks for public +baths; opened streets, and surrounded the whole city with a wall which, +if we are to credit the native chronicles, enclosed an area twelve miles +broad by nearly thirty in length. + +By his liberality, Rohuna and Pihiti were equally embellished; the +buildings of Vigittapura and Sigiri were renewed; and the ancient +edifices at Anarajapoora were restored, and its temples and palaces +repaired, under the personal superintendence of his minister. It is +worthy of remark that so greatly had the constructive arts declined, +even at that period, in Ceylon, that the king had to "bring Damilo +artificers" from the opposite coast of India to repair the structures at +his capital.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxv. lxxvii.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1155.] + +The details preserved in the Singhalese chronicles as to the works for +irrigation which he formed or restored, afford an idea of the prodigious +encouragement bestowed upon agriculture in this reign, as well as of the +extent to which the rule of the Malabars had retarded the progress and +destroyed the earlier traces of civilisation. Fourteen hundred and +seventy tanks were constructed by the king in various parts of the +island, three of them of such vast dimensions that they were known as +the "Seas of Prakrama;"[1] and in addition to these, three hundred +others were formed by him for the special benefit of the priests. The +"Great Lakes" which he repaired, as specified in the _Mahawanso_, amount +to thirteen hundred and ninety-five, and the smaller ones which he +restored or enlarged to nine hundred and sixty. Besides these, he made +five hundred and thirty-four watercourses and canals, by damming up the +rivers, and repaired three thousand six hundred and twenty-one.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 88] + +[Footnote 2: The useful ambition of signalising their reign by the +construction of works of irrigation, is still exhibited by the Buddhist +sovereigns of the East; and the king of Burmah in his interview with the +British envoy in 1855, advanced his exploits of this nature as his +highest claim to distinction. The conversation is thus reported in +YULE'S _Narrative of the Mission_. London, 1858. + +"_King._ Have you seen any of the royal tanks at Oung-ben-le', which +have recently been constructed? + +"_Envoy._ I have not been yet, your Majesty, but I purpose going. + +"_King._ I have caused _ninety-nine_ tanks and ancient reservoirs to be +dug and repaired; and _sixty-six_ canals: whereby a great deal of rice +land will be available. * * * In the reign of Nauraba-dzyar 9999 tanks +and canals were constructed: I purpose renewing them."--P. 109.] + +The bare enumeration of such labours conveys an idea of the prodigious +extent to which structures of this kind had been multiplied by the early +kings; and we are enabled to form an estimate of the activity of +agriculture in the twelfth century, and the vast population whose wants +it supplied, by the thousands of reservoirs still partially used, though +in ruins; and the still greater number now dry and deserted, and +concealed by dense jungle, in districts once waving with yellow grain. +Such was the internal tranquillity which, under his rule, pervaded +Ceylon, that an inscription, engraved by one of his successors, on the +rock of Dambool, after describing the general peace and "security which +he established, as well in the wilderness as in the inhabited places," +records that, "even a woman might traverse the island with a precious +jewel and not be asked what it was."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Moore's melody, beginning "Rich and rare were the gems she +wore," was founded on a parallel figure illustrative of the security of +Ireland under the rule of King Brien; when, according to Warner, "a +maiden undertook a journey done, from one extremity of the kingdom to +another, with only a wand in her hand, at the top of which was a ring of +exceeding great value."] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1155.] + +In the midst of these congenial operations the energetic king had +command of military resources, sufficient not only to repress revolt +within his own dominions, but also to carry war into distant countries, +which had offered him insult or inflicted injury on his subjects. His +first foreign expedition was fitted out to chastise the king of Cambodia +and Arramana[1] in the Siamese peninsula, who had plundered merchants +from Ceylon, visiting those countries to trade in elephants; he had +likewise intercepted a vessel which was carrying some Singhalese +princesses, had outraged Prakrama's ambassador, and had dismissed him +mutilated and maimed. A fleet sailed on this service in the sixteenth +year of Prakrama's reign, he effected a landing in Arramana, vanquished +the king, and obtained full satisfaction.[2] He next directed his arms +against the Pandyan king, for the countenance which that prince had +uniformly given to the Malabar invaders of the island. He reduced Pandya +and Chola, rendered their sovereigns his tributaries, and having founded +a city within the territory of the latter, and coined money in his own +name, he returned in triumph to Ceylon.[3] + +[Footnote 1: See _ante_, p. 406, n.] + +[Footnote 2: TURNOUR's _Epitome_, p. 41; _Mahawanso_, lxxiv.; +_Rajaratnacari_, p. 87; _Rajavali_, p. 254.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxvi. I am not aware whether the Tamil +historians have chronicled this remarkable expedition, and the conquest +of this portion of the Dekkan by the king of Ceylon; but in the +catalogue of the Kings appended by Prof. WILSON to his _Historical +Sketch of Pandya_ (Asiat. Journ. vol. iii. p. 201) the name of "Pracrama +Baghu" occurs as the sixty-fifth in the list of sovereigns of that +state. For an account of Dipaldenia, where he probably coined his Indian +money, see _Asiat. Soc. Journ. Bengal_, v. vi. pp. 218, 301.] + +"Thus," says the _Mahawanso_, "was the whole island of Lanka improved +and beautified by this king, whose majesty is famous in the annals of +good deeds, who was faithful in the religion of Buddha, and whose fame +extended abroad as the light of the moon."[1] "Having departed this +life," adds the author of the _Rajavali_, "he was found on a silver rock +in the wilderness of the Himalaya, where are eighty-four thousand +mountains of gold, and where he will reign as a king as long as the +world endures."[2] + + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxviii] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 91.] + + + + +CHAP. XII. + +FATE OF THE SINGHALESE MONARCHY.--ARRIVAL OF THE PORTUGUESE, A.D. 1501. + + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1155.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1186.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1187.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1192.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1196.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1197.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1202.] + +The reign of Prakrama Bahu, the most glorious in the annals of Ceylon, +is the last which has any pretension to renown. His family were unequal +to sustain or extend the honours he had won, and his nephew[1], a pious +voluptuary, by whom he was succeeded, was killed in an intrigue with the +daughter of a herdsman whilst awaiting the result of an appeal to the +Buddhist sovereign of Arramana to aid him in reforming religion. His +murderer, whom he had previously nominated his successor, himself fell +by assassination. An heir to the throne was discovered amongst the +Singhalese exiles on the coast of India[2], but death soon ended his +brief reign. His brother and his nephew in turn assumed the crown; both +were despatched by the Adigar, who, having allied himself with the royal +family by marrying the widow of the great Prakrama, contrived to place +her on the throne, under the title of Queen Leela-Wattee, A.D. 1197. +Within less than three years she was deposed by an usurper, and he being +speedily put to flight, another queen, Kalyana-Wattee, was placed at the +head of the kingdom. The next ill-fated sovereign, a baby of three +months old, was speedily set aside by means of a hired force, and the +first queen, Leela-Wattee, restored to the throne. But the same band who +had effected a revolution in her favour were prompt to repeat the +exploit; she was a second time deposed, and a third time recalled by the +intervention of foreign mercenaries.[3] + +[Footnote 1: Wijayo Bahu II., killed by Mihindo, A.D. 1187.] + +[Footnote 2: Kirti Nissanga, brought from Calinga, A.D. 1192.] + +[Footnote 3: Of the very rare examples now extant of Singhalese coins, +one of the most remarkable bears the name of Leela-Wattee.--_Numismatic +Chronicle, 1853. Papers on some Coins of Ceylon, by_ W.S.W. Vaux, +_Esq_., p. 126.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1211.] + +Within thirty years from the decease of Prakrama Bahu, the kingdom was +reduced to such an extremity of weakness by contentions amongst the +royal family, and by the excesses of their partisans, that the vigilant +Malabars seized the opportunity to land with an army of 24,000 men, +reconquered the whole of the island, and Magha, their leader, became +king of Ceylon A.D. 1211.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, p. 256.] + +The adventurers who invaded Ceylon on this occasion came not from Chola +or Pandya, as before, but from Calinga, that portion of the Dekkan which +now forms the Northern Circars. Their domination was marked by more than +ordinary cruelty, and the _Mahawanso_ and _Rajaratnacari_ describe with +painful elaboration the extinction of Buddhism, the overthrow of +temples, the ruin of dagobas, the expulsion of priests, and the +occupation of their dwellings by Damilos, the outrage of castes, the +violation of property, and the torture of its possessors to extract the +disclosure of their treasures, "till the whole island resembled a +dwelling in flames or a house darkened by funeral rites."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxix.; _Rajaratnacari_, p. 93; +_Rajavali_, p. 256.] + +[Illustration] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1211.] + +On all former occasions Rohuna and the South had been comparatively free +from the actual presence of the enemy, but in this instance they +established themselves at Mahagam[1], and thence to Jaffnapatam, every +province in the island was brought under subjection to their rule. + +[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, 257.] + +The peninsula of Jaffna and the extremity of the island north of Adam's +Bridge, owing to its proximity to the Indian coast, was at all times the +district most infested by the Malabars. Jambukola, the modern +Colombogam, is the port which is rendered memorable in the _Mahawanso_ +by the departure of embassies and the arrival of relics from the +Buddhist countries, and Mantotte, to the north of Manaar, was the +landing place of the innumerable expeditions which sailed from Chola and +Pandya for the subjugation of Ceylon. + +The Tamils have a tradition that, prior to the Christian era, Jaffna was +colonised by Malabars, and that a Cholian prince assumed the government, +A.D. 101,--a date which corresponds closely with the second Malabar +invasion recorded in the _Mahawanso_. Thence they extended their +authority over the adjacent country of the Wanny, as far south as +Mantotte and Manaar, "fortified their frontiers and stationed wardens +and watchers to protect themselves from invasion."[1] The successive +bands of marauders arriving from the coast had thus on every occasion a +base for operations, and a strong force of sympathisers to cover their +landing; and from the inability of the Singhalese to offer an effectual +resistance, those portions of the island were from a very early period +practically abandoned to the Malabars, whose descendants at the present +day form the great bulk of its population. + +[Footnote 1: See a paper on the early History of Jaffna by S. CASIE +CHITTY, _Journal of the Royal Asiat. Society of Ceylon, 1847_, p. 68.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1235.] + +After an interval of twenty years, Wijayo Bahu III., A.D. 1235, +collected as many Singhalese followers as enabled him to recover a +portion of the kingdom, and establish himself in Maya, within which he +built a capital at Jambudronha or Dambedenia, fifty miles to the north +of the present Colombo. The Malabars still retained possession of Pihiti +and defended their frontier by a line of forts drawn across the island +from Pollanarrua to Ooroototta on the western coast.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxx. lxxxii.; _Rajaratnacuri_, pp. 94, +94; _Rajavali_, p.258.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1266.] + +Thirty years later Pandita Prakrama Bahu III, A.D. 1266, effected a +further dislodgment of the enemy in the north; but Ceylon, which +possessed + + "The fatal gift of beauty, that became A funeral dower of present woes + and past," + +was destined never again to be free from the evils of foreign invasion; +a new race of marauders from the Malayan peninsula were her next +assailants[1]; and these were followed at no very long interval by a +fresh expedition from the coast of India.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, pp. 256, 260. A second Malay landing is +recorded in the reign of Prakrama III., A.D. 1267.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxxii.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1303.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1319.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1347.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1410.] + +Having learned by experience the exposure and insecurity of the +successive capitals, which had been built by former sovereigns in the +low lands, this king founded the city of Kandy, then called +Siriwardanapura, amongst the mountains of Maya[1], to which he removed +the sacred _dalada_, and the other treasures of the crown. But such +precautions came too late: to use the simile of the native historian, +they were "fencing the field whilst the oxen were within engaged in +devouring the corn."[2] The power of the Malabars had become so firmly +rooted, and had so irresistibly extended itself, that, one after +another, each of the earlier capitals was abandoned to them, and the +seat of government carried further towards the south. Pollanarrua had +risen into importance in the eighth and ninth centuries, when +Anarajapoora was found to be no longer tenable against the strangers. +Dambedenia was next adopted, A.D. 1235 as a retreat from Pollanarrua; +and this being deemed insecure, was exchanged, A.D. 1303, for Yapahu in +the Seven Corles. Here the Pandyan marauders followed in the rear of the +retreating sovereign[3], surprised the new capital, and carried off the +dalada relic to the coast of India. After its recovery Yapahu was +deserted, A.D. 1319. Kornegalle or Kurunaigalla, then called +Hastisailapoora and Gampola[4], still further to the south and more +deeply intrenched amongst the Kandyan mountains, were successively +chosen for the royal residence, A.D. 1347. Thence the uneasy seat of +government was carried to Peradenia, close by Kandy, and its latest +migration, A.D. 1410, was to Jaya-wardana-pura, the modern Cotta, a few +miles east of Colombo. + +[Footnote 1: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 104; _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxxiii.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 82.] + +[Footnote 3: A.D. 1303.] + +[Footnote 4: Gampola or Gam-pala, _Ganga-siripura_, "the beautiful city +near the river," is said in the _Rajaratnacari_ to have been built by +one of the brothers-in-law of Panduwaasa, B.C. 504.] + +Such frequent removals are evidences of the alarm and despondency +excited by the forays and encroachments of the Malabars, who from their +stronghold at Jaffna exercised undisputed dominion over the northern +coasts on both sides of the island, and, secure in the possession of the +two ancient capitals, Anarajapoora and Pollanarrua, spread over the rich +and productive plains of the north. To the present hour the population +of the island retains the permanent traces of this alien occupation of +the ancient kingdom of Pihiti. The language of the north of the island, +from Chilaw on the west coast to Batticaloa on the east, is chiefly, and +in the majority of localities exclusively, Tamil; whilst to the south of +the Dederaoya and the Mahawelli-ganga, in the ancient divisions of +Rohuna and Maya, the vernacular is uniformly Singhalese. + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1410.] + +Occasionally, after long periods of inaction, collisions took place; or +the Singhalese kings equipped expeditions against the north; but the +contest was unequal; and in spite of casual successes, "the king of the +Ceylonese Malabars," as he is styled in the _Rajavali_, held his court +at Jaffnapatam, and collected tribute from both the high and the low +countries, whilst the south of the island was subdivided into a variety +of petty kingdoms, the chiefs of which, at Yapahu, at Kandy, at Gampola, +at Matura, Mahagam, Matelle, and other places[1], acknowledged the +nominal supremacy of the sovereign at Cotta, with whom, however, they +were necessarily involved in territorial quarrels, and in hostilities +provoked by the withholding of tribute. + +[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, p. 263; _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxxvii.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1410.] + +It was during this period that an event occurred, which is obscurely +alluded to in some of the Singhalese chronicles, but is recorded with +such minute details in several of the Chinese historical works, as to +afford a reliable illustration of the condition of the island and its +monarchy in the fifteenth century. Prior to that time the community of +religion between Ceylon and China, and the eagerness of the latter +country to extend its commerce, led to the establishment of an +intercourse which has been elsewhere described[1]; missions were +constantly despatched charged with an interchange of courtesies between +their sovereigns; theologians and officers of state arrived in Ceylon +empowered to collect information regarding the doctrines of Buddha; and +envoys were sent in return bearing royal donations of relics and sacred +books. The Singhalese monarchs, overawed by the magnitude of the +imperial power, were induced to avow towards China a sense of dependency +approaching to homage; and the gifts which they offered are all recorded +in the Chinese annals as so many "payments of tribute." At length, in +the year 1405 A.D,[2], during the reign of the emperor Yung-lo[3] of the +Ming dynasty, a celebrated Chinese commander, Ching-Ho, having visited +Ceylon as the bearer of incense and offerings, to be deposited at the +shrine of Buddha, was waylaid, together with his followers, by the +Singhalese king, Wijayo Bahu VI., and with difficulty effected an escape +to his ships. To revenge this treacherous affront Ching-Ho was +despatched a few years afterwards with a considerable fleet and a +formidable military force, which the king (whom the Chinese historian +calls A-lee-ko-nae-wih) prepared to resist; but by a vigorous effort Ho +and his followers succeeded in seizing the capital, and bore off the +sovereign, together with his family, as prisoners to China. He presented +them to the emperor, who, out of compassion, ordered them to be sent +back to their country on the condition that "the wisest of the family +should be chosen king." "_Seay-pa-nea-na_"[4] was accordingly elected, +and this choice being confirmed, he was sent to his native country, duly +provided with a seal of investiture, as a vassal of the empire under the +style of Sri Prakrama Bahu VI.,--and from that period till the reign of +Teen-shun, A.D. 1434-1448, Ceylon continued to pay an annual tribute to +China. + +[Footnote 1: See Part v. ch. iii.] + +[Footnote 2: The narrative in the text is extracted from the +_Ta-tsing-yi-tung_, a "Topographical Account of the Manchoo Empire," +written in the seventeenth century, to a copy of which, in the British +Museum, my attention was directed by the erudite Chinese scholar, Mr. +MEADOWS, author of "_The Chinese and their Rebellions_." The story of +this Chinese expedition to Ceylon will also be found in the +_Se-yih-ke-foo-choo_, "A Description of Western Countries," A.D. 1450; +the _Woo heo-pecu_, "A Record of the Ming Dynasty," A.D. 1522, b. lviii. +p. 3, and in the _Ming-she_, "A History of the Ming Dynasty," A.D. 1739, +cccxxvi. p. 2. For a further account of this event see Part v. of this +work; ch. iii.] + +[Footnote 3: The _Ming-she_ calls the Emperor "Ching-tsoo."] + +[Footnote 4: So called in the Chinese original.] + +From the beginning of the 13th century to the extinction of the +Singhalese dynasty in the 18th, the island cannot be said to have been +ever entirely freed from the presence of the Malabars. Even when +temporarily subdued, they remained with forced professions of loyalty; +Damilo soldiers were taken into pay by the Singhalese sovereigns; the +dewales of the Hindu worship were built in close contiguity to the +wiharas of Buddhism, and by frequent intermarriages the royal line was +almost as closely allied to the kings of Chola and Pandya as to the +blood of the Suluwanse.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, p.261, 262. In A.D. 1187 on the death or +Mahindo V., the second in succession from the great Prakrama, the crown +devolved upon Kirti Nissanga, who was summoned from Calinga on the +Coromandel Coast. On the extinction of the recognised line of Suluwanse +in A.D. 1706, a prince from Madura, who was merely a connection by +marriage, succeeded to the throne. The King Raja Singha, who detained +Knox in captivity, A.D. 1640, was married to a Malabar princess. In +fact, the four last kings of Ceylon, prior to its surrender to Great +Britain, were pure Malabars, without a trace of Singhalese blood.] + +[Sidenote: A.D. 1505.] + +It was in this state of exhaustion, that the Singhalese were brought +into contact with Europeans, during the reign of Dharma Prakrama IX, +when the Portuguese, who had recently established themselves in India, +appeared for the first time in Ceylon, A.D. 1505. The paramount +sovereign was then living at Cotta; and the _Rajavali_ records the event +in the following terms:--"And now it came to pass that in the Christian +year 1522 A.D., in the month of April, a ship from Portugal arrived at +Colombo, and information was brought to the king, that there were in the +harbour a race of very white and beautiful people, who wear boots and +hats of iron, and never stop in one place. They eat a sort of white +stone, and drink blood; and if they get a fish they give two or three +_ride_ in gold for it; and besides, they have guns with a noise louder +than thunder, and a ball shot from one of them, after traversing a +league, will break a castle of marble."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, Upham's version, p. 278.] + +Before proceeding to recount the intercourse of the islanders with these +civilised visitors, and the grave results which followed, it will be +well to cast a glance over the condition of the people during the period +which preceded, and to cull from the native historians such notices of +their domestic and social position as occur in passages intended by the +Singhalese annalists to chronicle only those events which influenced the +national worship, or the exploits of those royal personages, who earned +immortality by their protection of Buddhism. + + + + +PART IV. + + * * * * * + +SCIENCES AND SOCIAL ARTS + +OF + +THE ANCIENT SINGHALESE. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +POPULATION.--CASTE.--SLAVERY AND RAJA-KARIYA. + + +POPULATION.--In no single instance do the chronicles of Ceylon mention +the precise amount of the population of the island, at any particular +period; but there is a sufficiency of evidence, both historical and +physical, to show that it must have been prodigious and dense, +especially in the reigns of the more prosperous kings. Whatever limits +to the increase of man artificial wants may interpose in a civilised +state and in ordinary climates are unknown in a tropical region, where +clothing is an encumbrance, the smallest shelter a home, and sustenance +supplied by the bounty of the soil in almost spontaneous abundance. +Under such propitious circumstances, in the midst of a profusion of +fruit-bearing-trees, and in a country replenished by a teeming harvest +twice, at least, in each year, with the least possible application of +labour; it may readily be conceived that the number of the people will +be adjusted mainly, if not entirely, by the extent of arable land. + +The emotion of the traveller of the present time, as day after day he +traverses the northern portions of the island, and penetrates the deep +forests of the interior, is one of unceasing astonishment at the +inconceivable multitude of deserted tanks, the hollows of which are +still to be traced; and the innumerable embankments, overgrown with +timber, which indicate the sites of vast reservoirs that formerly +fertilised districts now solitary and barren. Every such tank is the +landmark of one village at least, and such are the dimensions of some of +them that in proportion to their area, it is probable that hundreds of +villages may have been supported by a single one of these great inland +lakes. + +The labour necessary to construct one of these gigantic works for +irrigation is in itself an evidence of local density of population; but +their multiplication by successive kings, and the constantly recurring +record of district after district brought under cultivation in each +successive reign[1], demonstrate the steady increase of inhabitants, and +the multitude of husbandmen whose combined and sustained toil was +indispensable to keep these prodigious structures in productive +activity. + +[Footnote 1: The practice of recording the formation of tanks for +irrigation by the sovereign is not confined to the chronicles of Ceylon. +The construction of similar works on the continent of India has been +commemorated in the same manner by the native historians. The memoirs of +the Rajas of Orissa show the number of tanks made and wells dug in every +reign.] + +The _Rajavali_ relates that in the year 1301 A.D. King Prakrama III, on +the eve of his death, reminded his sons, that having conquered the +Malabars, he had united under one rule the three kingdoms of the island, +Pihiti with 450,000 villages, Rohuna with 770,000, and Maya with +250,000.[1] A village in Ceylon, it must be observed, resembles a "town" +in the phraseology of Scotland, where the smallest collection of houses, +or even a single farmstead with its buildings is enough to justify the +appellation. In the same manner, according to the sacred ordinances +which regulate the conduct of the Buddhist priesthood, a "solitary +house, if there be people, must be regarded as a village,"[2] and all +beyond it is the forest. + +[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_ p. 262. A century later in the reign or +Prakrama-Kotta, A.D. 1410, the _Rajaratnacari_ says, there then were +256,000 villages in the province of Matura, 495,000 in that of Jaffna, +and 790,000 in Oovah.--P. 112.] + +[Footnote 2: Hardy's _Eastern Monachism_, ch. xiii. p. 133.] + +Even assuming that the figures employed by the author of the _Rajavali_ +partake of the exaggeration common to all oriental narratives, no one +who has visited the regions now silent and deserted, once the homes of +millions, can hesitate to believe that when the island was in the zenith +of its prosperity, the population of Ceylon must of necessity have been +at least ten times as great as it is at the present day. + +The same train of thought leads to a clearer conception of the means by +which this dense population was preserved, through so many centuries, in +spite of frequent revolutions and often recurring invasions; as well as +of the causes which led to its ultimate disappearance, when intestine +decay had wasted the organisation on which the fabric of society rested. + +Cultivation, as it existed in the north of Ceylon, was almost entirely +dependent on the store of water preserved in each village tank; and it +could only be carried on by the combined labour of the whole local +community, applied in the first instance to collect and secure the +requisite supply for irrigation, and afterwards to distribute it to the +rice lands, which were tilled by the united exertions of the +inhabitants, amongst whom the crop was divided in due proportions. So +indispensable were concord and union in such operations, that +injunctions for their maintenance were sometimes engraven on the rocks, +as an inperishable exhortation, to forbearance and harmony.[1] + +[Footnote 1: See the inscription on the rock of Mihintala, A. D. 262, +TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, Appendix, p. 90; and a similar one on a rock at +Pollanarrua, ibid., p, 92.] + +Hence, in the recurring convulsions which overthrew successive +dynasties, and transferred the crown to usurpers, with a facile +rapidity, otherwise almost unintelligible, it is easy to comprehend that +the mass of the people had the strongest possible motives for passive +submission, and were constrained to acquiescence by an instinctive dread +of the fatal effects of prolonged commotion. + +If interrupted in their industry, by the dread of such events, they +retired till the storm had blown over, and returned, after each +temporary dispersion, to resume possession of the lands and their +village tank. + +The desolation which now reigns over the plains which the Singhalese +formerly tilled, was precipitated by the reckless domination of the +Malabars, in the fourteenth and following centuries. The destruction of +reservoirs and tanks has been ascribed to defective construction, and to +the absence of spill-waters, and other facilities for discharging the +surplus-water, during the prevalence of excessive rains; but +independently of the fact that vast numbers of these tanks, though +utterly deserted, remain, in this respect, almost uninjured to the +present day, we have the evidence of their own native historians, that +for upwards of fifteen centuries, the reservoirs, when duly attended to, +successfully defied all the dangers to be apprehended from inundation. +Their destruction and abandonment are ascribable, not so much to any +engineering defect, as to the disruption of the village communities, by +whom they were so long maintained. The ruin of a reservoir, when +neglected and permitted to fall into decay, was speedy and inevitable; +and as the destruction of the village tank involved the flight of all +dependent upon it, the water, once permitted to escape, carried +pestilence and miasma over the plains they had previously covered with +plenty. After such a calamity any partial return of the villagers, even +where it was not prevented by the dread of malaria, would have been +impracticable; for the obvious reason, that where the whole combined +labour of the community was not more than sufficient to carry on the +work of conservancy and cultivation, the diminished force of a few would +have been utterly unavailing, either to effect the reparation of the +watercourses, or to restore the system on which the culture of rice +depends. Thus the process of decay, instead of a gradual decline as in +other countries, became sudden and utter desolation in Ceylon. + +From such traces as are perceptible in the story of the earliest +immigrants, it is obvious that in their domestic habits and civil life +they brought with them and perpetuated in Ceylon the same pursuits and +traits which characterised the Aryan races that had colonised the valley +of the Ganges. The Singhalese Chronicles abound, like the ancient Vedas, +with allusions to agriculture and herds, to the breeding of cattle and +the culture of grain. They speak of village communities and of their +social organisation, as purely patriarchal. Women were treated with +respect and deference; and as priestesses and queens they acquired a +prominent place in the national esteem. Rich furniture was used in +dwellings and costly textures for dress; but these were obtained from +other nations, whose ships resorted to the island, whilst its +inhabitants, averse to intercourse with foreigners, and ignorant of +navigation, held the pursuits of the merchant in no esteem. + +_Caste_.--Amongst the aboriginal inhabitants _caste_ appears to have +been unknown, although after the arrival of Wijayo and his followers the +system in all its minute subdivisions, and slavery, both domestic and +praedial, prevailed throughout the island. The Buddhists, as dissenters, +who revolted against the arrogant pretensions of the Brahmans, embodied +in their doctrines a protest against caste under any modification. But +even after the conversion of the Singhalese to Buddhism, and their +acceptance of the faith at the hands of Mahindo, caste as a national +institution was found too obstinately established to be overthrown by +the Buddhist priesthood; and reinforced, as its supporters were, by +subsequent intercourse with the Malabars, it has been perpetuated to the +present time, as a conventional and social, though no longer as a sacred +institution. Practically, the Singhalese ignore three of the great +classes, theoretically maintained by the Hindus; among them there are +neither Brahmans, Vaisyas, nor Kshastryas; and at the head of the class +which they retain, they place the _Goi-wanse_ or _Vellalas_, nominally +"tillers of the soil." In earlier times the institution seems to have +been recognised in its entirety, and in the glowing description given in +the _Mahawanso_ of the planting of the great Bo-tree, "the sovereign the +lord of chariots directed that it should be lifted by the four high +caste tribes and by eight persons of each of the other castes."[1] In +later times the higher ranks are seldom spoken of in the historical +books but by specific titles, but frequent allusion is made to the +Chandalas, the lowest of all, who were degraded to the office of +scavengers and carriers of corpses.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xix. p. 116.] + +[Footnote 2: Ibit., ch. x. p. 66. The Chandala in one of the Jatakas is +represented as "one born in the open air, his parents not being +possessed of a roof; and as he lies amongst the pots when his mother +goes to cut fire-wood, he is suckled by the bitch along with her +pups."--HARDY'S _Buddhism_, ch. iii. p. 80.] + +_Slavery_.--The existence of slavery is repeatedly referred to, and in +the absence of any specific allusion to its origin in Ceylon, it must be +presumed to have been borrowed from India. As the Sudras, according to +the institutes of Menu, were by the laws of caste consigned to helpless +bondage, so slavery in Ceylon was an attribute of race[1]; and those +condemned to it were doomed to toil from their birth, with no requital +other than the obligation on the part of their masters to maintain them +in health, to succour them in sickness, and apportion their burdens to +their strength.[2] And although the liberality of theoretical Buddhism +threw open, even to the lowest caste, all the privileges of the +priesthood, the slave alone was repulsed, on the ground that his +admission would deprive the owner of his services.[3] + +[Footnote 1: In later times, slavery was not confined to the low castes; +insolvents could be made slaves by their creditors--the chief frequently +buying the debt, and attaching the debtor to his followers. The children +of freemen, by female slaves, followed the status of their mothers.] + +[Footnote 2: HARDY'S _Buddhism_, ch. x. p. 482.] + +[Footnote 3: HARDY'S _Eastern Monachism_, ch. iv. p. 18.] + +Like other property, slaves could be possessed by the Buddhist +monasteries, and inscriptions, still existing upon the rocks of +Mihintala and Dambool, attest the capacity of the priests to receive +them as gifts, and to require that as slaves they should be exempted +from taxation. + +Unrelaxed in its assertion of abstract right, but mitigated in the forms +of its practical enforcement, slavery endured in Ceylon till +extinguished by the fiat of the British Government in 1845.[1] In the +northern and Tamil districts of the island, its characteristics differed +considerably from its aspect in the south and amongst the Kandyan +mountains. In the former, the slaves were employed in the labours of the +field and rewarded with a small proportion of the produce; but amongst +the pure Singhalese, slavery was domestic rather than praedial, and those +born to its duties were employed less as the servants, than as the suite +of the Kandyan chiefs. Slaves swelled the train of their retainers on +all occasions of display, and had certain domestic duties assigned to +them, amongst which was the carrying of fire-wood, and the laying out of +the corpse after death. The strongest proof of the general mildness of +their treatment in all parts of the island, is derived from the fact, +that when in 1845, Lord Stanley, now the Earl of Derby, directed the +final abolition of the system, slavery was extinguished in Ceylon +without a claim for compensation on the part of the proprietors. + +[Footnote 1: An account of slavery in Ceylon, and the proceedings for +its suppression, will be found in PRIDHAM'S _Ceylon_, vol. i. p. 223.] + +_Compulsory Labour_.--Another institution, to the influence and +operation of which the country was indebted for the construction of the +works which diffused plenty throughout every region, was the system of +Raja-kariya, by which the king had a right to employ, for public +purposes, the compulsory labour of the inhabitants. To what extent this +was capable of exaction, or under what safeguards it was enforced in +early times, does not appear from the historical books. But on all +occasions when tanks were to be formed, or canals cut for irrigation, +the _Mahawanso_ alludes--almost in words of course--to the application +of Raja-kariya for their construction[1], the people being summoned to +the task by beat of drum.[2] + +[Footnote 1: The inscription engraven on the rock at Mihintala, amongst +other regulations for enforcing the observance by the temple tenants of +the conditions on which their lands were held, declares that "if a fault +be committed by any of the cultivators; the adequate fine shall be +assessed according to usage; or in lieu thereof, the delinquent shall be +directed _to work at the lake_ in making an excavation not exceeding +sixteen cubits in circumference and one cubit deep."-- TURNOUR'S +_Epitome_, &c., Appendix, p. 87.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxv. p. 149.] + +The only mention of the system which attracts particular attention, is +the honour awarded to the most pious of the kings, who, whilst +maintaining Raja-kariya as an institution, nevertheless stigmatised it +as "oppression" when applied to non-productive objects; and on the +occasion of erecting one of the most stupendous of the monuments +dedicated to the national faith, felt that the merit of the act would be +neutralised, were it to be accomplished by "unrequited" labour.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Ibid., ch. xxvii. pp. 163, 165. King Tissa, A. D. 201, in +imitation of Dutugaimunu. caused the restorations of monuments at the +capital "_to be made with paid labour_."--Ibid., ch. xxxvi. p. 226. See +ante Vol. I. Pt. III. ch. v. p. 357.] + + + + +CHAP. II. + +AGRICULTURE.--IRRIGATION.--CATTLE AND CROPS. + + +AGRICULTURE.--Prior to the arrival of the Bengalis, and even for some +centuries after the conquest of Wijayo, before the knowledge of +agriculture had extended throughout the island, the inhabitants appear +to have subsisted to a great extent by the chase.[1] Hunting the elk and +the boar was one of the amusements of the early princes; the "Royal +Huntsmen" had a range of buildings erected for their residence at +Anarajapoora, B.C. 504[2], and the laws of the chase generously forbade +to shoot the deer except in flight.[3] Dogs were trained to assist in +the sport[4] and the oppressed aborigines, driven by their conquerors to +the forests of Rohuna and Maya, are the subjects of frequent +commendation in the pages of the _Mahawanso_, from their singular +ability in the use of the bow.[5] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. x. p. 59; ch, xiv. p. 78; ch. xxiii. p. +142. The hunting of the hare is mentioned 161 B.C. _Mahawanso_, ch. +xxiii. p. 141.] + +[Footnote 2: Ibid., ch. x. p. 66.] + +[Footnote 3: Ibid., ch. xiv. p. 78. King Devenipiatissa, when descrying +the elk which led him to the mountain where Mahindo was seated, +exclaimed, "It is not fair to shoot him standing!" he twanged his +bowstring and followed him as he fled, See ante, p. 341, n.] + +[Footnote 4: Ibid., ch. xxviii p. 166.] + +[Footnote 5: Ibid., ch. xxxiii. pp. 202, 204, &c.] + +Before the arrival of Wijayo, B.C. 543, agriculture was unknown in +Ceylon, and grain, if grown at all, was not systematically cultivated. +The Yakkhos, the aborigines, subsisted, as the Veddahs, their lineal +descendants, live at the present day, on fruits, honey, and the products +of the chase. Rice was distributed by Kuweni to the followers of Wijayo, +but it was "rice procured from the wrecked ships of mariners."[l] And +two centuries later, so scanty was the production of native grain, that +Asoca, amongst the presents which he sent to his ally Devenipiatissa, +included "one hundred and sixty loads of hill paddi from Bengal."[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. vii. p. 49.] + +[Footnote 2: Ibid., ch. xi. p. 70.] + +A Singhalese narrative of the "Planting of the Bo-tree," an English +version of which will be found amongst the translations prepared for Sir +Alexander Johnston, mentions the fact, that rice was still imported into +Ceylon from the Coromandel coast[1] in the second century before Christ. + +[Footnote 1: UPHAM, _Sacred Books of Ceylon,_ vol. iii. p. 231.] + +_Irrigation_.--It was to the Hindu kings who succeeded Wijayo, that +Ceylon was indebted for the earliest knowledge of agriculture, for the +construction of reservoirs, and the practice of irrigation for the +cultivation of rice.[1] + +[Footnote 1: A very able report on irrigation in some of the districts +of Ceylon has been recently drawn up by Mr. BAILEY, of the Ceylon Civil +Service; but the author has been led into an error in supposing that, +"it cannot be to India that we must look for the origin of tanks and +canals in Ceylon," and that the knowledge of their construction was +derived through "the Arabian and Persian merchants who traded between +Egypt and Ceylon." Mr. Bailey rests this conclusion on the assertion +that the first Indian canal of which we have any record dates no farther +back than the middle of the fourteenth century. There was nothing in +common between the shallow canals for distributing the periodical +inundation of the Nile over the level lands of Egypt (a country in which +rice was little known), and the gigantic embankments by which hills were +so connected in Ceylon as to convert the valleys between them into +inland lakes; and there was no similarity to render the excavation of +the one a model and precedent for the construction of the other. +Probably the lake Moeris is what dwells in the mind of those who ascribe +proficiency in irrigation to the ancient Egyptians; but although +Herodotus asserts it to have been an excavation, _cheiropoietoz kai +orukte_ (lib. ii. 149), geologic investigation has shown that Moeris is +a natural lake created by the local depression of that portion of the +Arsinoite nome. Neither Strabo nor Pliny, who believed it to be +artificial, ascribed its origin to anything connected with irrigation, +for which, in fact, its level would render it unsuitable. Nature had +done so much for irrigation in Egypt, that art was forestalled; and even +had it been otherwise, and had the natives of that country been adepts +in the science, or capable of teaching it, the least qualified imparters +of engineering knowledge would have been the Arab and Persian mariners, +whose lives were spent in coasting the shores of the Indian Ocean. It is +true that in Arabia itself, at a very early period, there is the +tradition of the great artificial lake of Aram, in Yemen, about the time +of Alexander the Great (SALE'S _Koran_, Introd. p.7); and evidence still +more authentic shows that the practice of artificial irrigation was one +of the earliest occupations of the human race. The Scriptures; in +enumerating the descendants of Shem, state that "unto Eber were born two +sons, and the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was +divided." (_Genesis,_ ch. x. ver. 25.) In this passage according to +CYRIL C. GRAHAM, the term _Peleg_ has a profounder meaning, and the +sentence should have been translated--"_for in his days the earth was +cut into canals" (Cambridge Essay_,1858.) + +But historical testimony exists which removes all obscurity from the +inquiry as to who were the instructors of the Singhalese. The most +ancient books of the Hindus show that the practice of canal-making was +understood in India at as early a period as in Egypt. Canals are +mentioned in the _Rayamana_, the story of which belongs to the dimmest +antiquity; and when Baratha, the half-brother of Rama, was about to +search for him in the Dekkan, his train is described as including +"labourers, with carts, bridge-builders, carpenters, and diggers of +canals." (_Ramayana_, CARY'S Trans., vol. iii. p. 228.) The _Mahawanso,_ +removes all doubt as to the person by whom the Singhalese were +instructed in forming works for irrigation, by naming the Brahman +engineer contemporary with the construction of the earliest tanks in the +fourth century before the Christian era. (_Mahawanso_, ch. x.) Somewhat +later, B.C. 262, the inscription on the rock at Mihintala ascribes to +the Malabars the system of managing the water for the rice lands, and +directs that "according to the supply of water in the lake, the same +shall be distributed to the lands of the wihara _in the manner formerly +regulated by the Tamils._" (_Notes to_ TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 90.) To +be convinced of the Tamil origin of the tank system which subsists to +the present day in Ceylon, it is only necessary to see the tanks of the +Southern Dekkan. The innumerable excavated reservoirs or _colams_ of +Ceylon will be found to correspond with the _culams_ of Mysore; and the +vast _erays_ formed by drawing a bund to intercept the water flowing +between two elevated ridges, exhibit the model which has been followed +at Pathavie, Kandelai, Menery, and all the huge constructions of Ceylon, +But whoever may have been the original instructors of the Singhalese in +the formation of tanks, there seems every reason to believe that from +their own subsequent experience, and the prodigious extent to which they +occupied themselves in the formation of works of this kind, they +attained a facility unsurpassed by the people of any other country. It +is a curious circumstance in connection with this inquiry, that in the +eighth century after Christ, the King of Kashmir despatched messengers +to Ceylon to bring back workmen, whom he employed in constructing an +artificial lake. (_Raja-Tarangini_, Book iv. sl. 505.) If it were +necessary to search beyond India for the origin of cultivation in +Ceylon, the Singhalese, instead of borrowing a system from Egypt, might +more naturally have imitated the ingenious devices of their own +co-religionists in China, where the system of irrigation as pursued in +the military colonies of that country has been a theme of admiration in +every age of their history. (See _Journal Asiatique,_ 1850, vol. lvi. +pp. 341, 346.) And as these colonies were planted not only in the centre +of the empire but on its north-west extremities towards Kaschgar and the +north-east of India, where the new settlers occupied themselves in +draining marshes and leading streams to water their arable lands, the +probabilities are that their system may have been known and copied by +the people of Hindustan.] + +The first tank in Ceylon was formed by the successor of Wijayo, B.C. +504, and their subsequent extension to an almost incredible number is +ascribable to the influence of the Buddhist religion, which, abhorring +the destruction of animal life, taught its multitudinous votaries to +subsist exclusively upon vegetable food. Hence the planting of gardens, +the diffusion of fruit-trees and leguminous vegetables[1], the sowing of +dry grain[2], the formation of reservoirs and canals, and the +reclamation of land "in situations favourable for irrigation." + +[Footnote 1: Beans, designated by the term of _Masa_ in the _Mahawanso_, +were grown in the second century before Christ, ch, xxiii. p, 140,] + +[Footnote 2: The "cultivation of a crop of hill rice" is mentioned in +the _Mahawanso_ B.C. 77, ch. xxxiv. p. 208.] + +It is impossible to over-estimate the importance of this system of water +cultivation, in a country like the north of Ceylon, subject to +periodical droughts. From physical and geological causes, the mode of +cultivation in that section of the island differs essentially from that +practised in the southern division; and whilst in the latter the +frequency of the rains and abundance of rivers afford a copious supply +of water, the rest of the country is mainly dependent upon artificial +irrigation, and on the quantity of rain collected in tanks; or of water +diverted from streams and directed into reservoirs. + +As has been elsewhere[1] explained, the mountain ranges which tower +along the south-western coast, and extend far towards the eastern, serve +in both monsoons to intercept the trade winds and condense the vapours +with which they are charged, thus ensuring to those regions a plentiful +supply of rain. Hence the harvests in those portions of the island are +regulated by the two monsoons, the _yalla_ in May and the _maha_ in +November; and seed-time is adjusted so as to take advantage of the +copious showers which fall at those periods. + +[Footnote 1: See Vol. I. Part I. ch. ii p. 67.] + +But in the northern portions of Ceylon, owing to the absence of +mountains, this natural resource cannot be relied on. The winds in both +monsoons traverse the island without parting with a sufficiency of +moisture; droughts are of frequent occurrence and of long continuance; +and vegetation in the low and scarcely undulated plains is mainly +dependent on dews and whatever damp is distributed by the steady +sea-breeze. In some places the sandy soil rests upon beds of madrepore +and coral rock, through which the scanty rain percolates too quickly to +refresh the soil; and the husbandman is entirely dependent upon wells +and village tanks for the means of irrigation. + +In a region exposed to such vicissitudes the risk would have been +imminent and incessant, had the population been obliged to rely on +supplies of dry grain alone, the growth of which must necessarily have +been precarious, owing to the possible failure or deficiency of the +rains. Hence frequent famines would have been inevitable in those +seasons of prolonged dryness and scorching heat, when "the sky becomes +as brass and the earth as iron." + +What an unspeakable blessing that against such, calamities a security +should have been found by the introduction of a grain calculated to +germinate under water; and that a perennial supply of the latter, not +only adequate for all ordinary purposes, but sufficient to guard against +extraordinary emergencies of the seasons, should have been provided by +the ingenuity of the people, aided by the bounteous care of their +sovereigns. It is no matter of surprise that the kings who devoted their +treasures and their personal energies to the formation of tanks and +canals have entitled their memory to traditional veneration, as +benefactors of their race and country. In striking contrast, it is the +pithy remark of the author of the _Rajavali_, mourning over the +extinction of the Great Dynasty and the decline of the country, that +"_because the fertility of the land was decreased_ the kings who +followed were no longer of such consequence as those who went +before."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, p. 238] + +Simultaneously with the construction of works for the advancement of +agriculture, the patriarchal village system, copied from that which +existed from the earliest ages in India[1], was established in the newly +settled districts; and each hamlet, with its governing "headman" its +artisans, its barber, its astrologer and washerman, was taught to +conduct its own affairs by its village council; to repair its tanks and +watercourses, and to collect two harvests in each year by the combined +labour of the whole village community. + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. x. p.67.] + +Between the agricultural system of the mountainous districts and that of +the lowlands, there was at all times the same difference which still +distinguishes the tank cultivation of Neuera-kalawa and the Wanny from +the hanging rice lands of the Kandyan hills. In the latter, reservoirs +are comparatively rare, as the natives rely on the certainty of the +rains, which seldom fail at their due season in those lofty regions. +Streams are conducted by means of channels ingeniously carried round the +spurs of the hills and along the face of acclivities, so as to fertilise +the fields below, which in the technical phrase of the Kandyans are +"_assoedamised_" for the purpose; that is, formed into terraces, each +protected by a shallow ledge over which the superfluous water trickles, +from the highest level into that immediately below it; thus descending +through all in succession till it escapes in the depths of the valley. + +For the tillage of the lands with which the temples were so largely +endowed in all quarters of the island, the sacred communities had +assigned to them certain villages, a portion of whose labour was the +property of the wihara[1]: slaves were also appropriated to them, and an +instance is mentioned in the fifth century[2], of the inhabitants of a +low-caste village having been bestowed on a monastery by the king +Aggrabodhi, "in order that the priests might derive their service as +slaves."[3] Sharing in a prerogative of royalty, some of the temples +had, moreover, a right to the compulsory labour of the community; and in +one of the inscriptions carved on the rock at Mihintala, the +"Raja-kariya writer" is enumerated in the list of temple officers.[4] +The temple lands were occasionally let to tenants whose rent was paid +either in "land-fees," or in kind.[5] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid_., ch. xxxvii. p. 247.] + +[Footnote 2: Rock inscriptions at Mihintala and at Dambool.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_ ch, xlii. TURNOUR, MS. translation.] + +[Footnote 4: TURNOUR'S _Epitome, Appendix,_ p. 88.] + +[Footnote 5: _Ibid_ pp. 86, 87.] + +_Farm-stock._--The only farm-stock which appears to have been kept for +tillage purposes, were buffaloes, which, then as now, were used in +treading the soft mud of the irrigated rice-fields, preparatory to +casting in the seed. Cows are alluded to in the _Mahawanso_, but never +in connection with labour; and although butter is spoken of, it is only +that of the buffalo.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxvii p. 163.] + +_Gardens_.--Probably the earliest enclosures attempted in a state of +incipient civilisation, were gardens for the exclusion of wild animals +from fruit trees and vegetables, when these were first cultivated for +the use of man; and to the present day, the frequent occurrence of the +termination "_watte_" in the names of places on the map of Ceylon, is in +itself an indication of the importance attached to them by the +villagers. The term "garden," however, conveys to an European but an +imperfect idea of the character and style of these places; which in +Ceylon are so similar to the native gardens in the south of India, as to +suggest a community of origin. Their leading features are lines of the +graceful areca palms, groves of oranges, limes, jak-trees, and bread +fruit; and irregular clumps of palmyras and coconuts. Beneath these, +there is a minor growth, sometimes of cinnamon or coffee bushes; and +always a wilderness of plaintains, guavas and papaws; a few of the +commoner flowers; plots of brinjals (egg plants) and other esculents; +and the stems of the standard trees are festooned with climbers, pepper +vines, tomatas, and betel. + +_The Coco-nut Palm_.--It is curious and suggestive as regards the +coco-nut, which now enters so largely into the domestic economy of the +Singhalese, that although it is sometimes spoken of in the _Mahawanso_ +(but by no means so often as the palmyra), no allusion is ever made to +it as an article of diet, or an element in the preparation of food, nor +is it mentioned, before the reign of Prakrama I., A.D. 1153[1], in the +list of those fruit-trees, the planting of which throughout the island +is repeatedly recorded, as amongst the munificent acts of the Singhalese +kings. + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxii.] + +As the other species of the same genus of palms are confined to the New +World[1], a doubt has been raised whether the coco-nut be indigenous in +India, or an importation. If the latter, the first plant must have been +introduced anterior to the historic age; and whatever the period at +which the tree may have been first cultivated, a time is indicated when +it was practically unknown in Ceylon by the fact, that a statue, without +date or inscription, is carved in high relief in a niche hollowed out of +a rock to the east of Galle, which tradition says is the monument to the +Kustia Raja, an Indian prince, whose claim to remembrance is, that he +_first_ taught the Singhalese the use of the coco-nut.[2] + +[Footnote 1: BROWN'S _Notes_ to TUCKEY'S _Expedition to the Congo_, p. +456.] + +[Footnote 2: The earliest mention of the coco-nut in Ceylon occurs in +the _Mahawanso_, which refers to it as known at Rohuna to the south, B. +c, 161 ( ch. xxv. p. 140). "The milk of the small red coco-nut" is +stated to have been used been used by Dutugaimunu in preparing cement +for building the Ruanwelle dagoba (_Mah_. ch. xxx. p. 169). The +south-west of the island, and especially the _margin of the sea_ is +still the locality in which the tree is found in greatest abundance in +Ceylon. Hither, if originally self-sown, it must have been floated and +flung ashore by the waves; and as the north-east coast, though washed by +a powerful current, is almost altogether destitute of these palms, it is +obvious that the coco-nut; if carried by sea from some other shore, must +have been brought during the south-west monsoon from the coast near Cape +Comorin, AELIAN notices as one of the leading peculiarities in the +appearance of the sea coast of Ceylon, that the palm trees (by which, as +the south of the island was the place of resort, he most probably means +the coco-nut palms) grew in regular quincunxes, as if planted by skilful +hands in a well ordered garden. [Greek: "HE nesos, hen kalousi +Taprobanen, echei phoinikonas men thaumastes pephuteumenous eis +stoichon, hosper oun en tois habrois ton paradeison oi touton meledonoi +phuteuousi ta dendra ta skiadephora."]--Lib. xvi. cp. 18. The +comparative silence of the _Mahawanso_ in relation to the coco-nut may +probably be referable to the fact that its author resided and wrote in +the interior of the island; over which, unlike the light seeds of other +plants, its ponderous nuts could not have been distributed accidentally, +where down to the present time it has been but partially introduced, and +nowhere in any considerable number. Its presence throughout Ceylon is +always indicative of the vicinity of man, and at a distance from the +shore it appears in those places only where it has been planted by his +care. The Singhalese believe that the coco-nut will not flourish "unless +you walk under it and talk under it:" but its proximity to human +habitations is possibly explained by the consideration that if exposed +in the forest, it would be liable, when young, to be forced down by the +elephants, who delight in its delicate leaves. See DAVY'S _Angler in the +Lake Districts, p._ 245.] + +The mango, the jambo, and several other fruits are particularised, but +the historical books make no mention either of the pine-apple or the +plantain, which appear to have been of comparatively recent +introduction. Pulse is alluded to at an early date under the generic +designation of "Masa."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxiii. p. 140.] + +_Rice and Curry._--Rice in various forms is always spoken of as the +food, alike of the sovereign, the priests, and the people; rice prepared +plainly, conjee (the water in which rice is boiled), "rice mixed with +sugar and honey, and rice dressed with clarified butter."[1] Chillies +are now and then mentioned as an additional condiment.[2] The _Rajavali_ +speaks of curry in the second century before Christ[3] and the +_Mahawanso_ in the fifth century after.[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid_., ch. xxxii. p. 196.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., ch. xxv, p. 158; ch. xxvi. p. 160.] + +[Footnote 3: _Rajavali_, pp. 196, 200, 202.] + +[Footnote 4: _Mahawanso_, TURNOUR'S MS. translation, ch. xxxix. + +KNOX says that curry is a Portuguese word, _carre_ (_Relation_, &c., +part i. ch. iv. p. 12), but this is a misapprehension. Professor H.H. +WILSON, in a private letter to me, says, "In Hindustan we are accustomed +to consider 'curry' to be derived from, _tarkari_, a general term for +esculent vegetables, but it is probably the English version of the +Kanara and Malayalam _kadi_; pronounced with a hard _r_, 'kari' or +'kuri,' which means sour milk with rice boiled, which was originally +used for such compounds as curry at the present day. The Karnata +_majkke-kari_ is a dish of rice, sour milk, spices, red pepper, &c, +&c."] + +Although the taking of life is sternly forbidden in the ethical code of +Buddha, and the most prominent of the obligations undertaken by the +priesthood is directed to its preservation even in the instances of +insects and animalculae, casuistry succeeded so far as to fix the crime +on the slayer, and to exonerate the individual who merely partook of the +flesh.[1] Even the inmates of the wiharas and monasteries discovered +devices for the saving of conscience, and curried rice was not rejected +in consequence of the animal ingredients incorporated with it. The mass +of the population were nevertheless vegetarians, and so little value did +they place on animal food, that according to the accounts furnished to +EDRISI by the Arabian seamen returning from Ceylon, "a sheep sufficient +to regale an assembly was to be bought there for half a drachm."[2] + +[Footnote 1: HARDY'S _Eastern Monachism,_ ch. iv. p. 24; ch. ix. p. 92; +ch. xvi. p. 158. HARDY'S _Buddhism_, ch. vii. p. 327.] + +[Footnote 2: EDRISI; _Geographie_, &c., tom. i. p. 73.] + +_Betel_--In connection with a diet so largely composed of vegetable +food, arose the custom, which to the present day is universal in +Ceylon,--of chewing the leaves of the betel vine, accompanied with lime +and the sliced nut of the areca palm.[1] The betel (_piper betel_), +which is now universally cultivated for this purpose, is presumed to +have been introduced from some tropical island, as it has nowhere been +found indigenous in continental India.[2] In Ceylon, its use is +mentioned as early as the fifth century before Christ, when "betel +leaves" formed the present sent by a princess to her lover.[3] In a +conflict of Dutugaimunu with the Malabars, B.C. 161, the enemy seeing on +his lips the red stain of the betel, mistook it for blood, and spread +the false cry that the king had been slain.[4] + +[Footnote 1: For an account of the medicinal influence of betel-chewing, +see Part I. c. iii. § ii. p. 112.] + +[Footnote 2: ROYLE'S _Essay on the Antiquity of Hindoo Medicine, p._ +85.] + +[Footnote 3: B. C. 504. _Mahawanso_, ch. ix. p. 57. Dutugaimunu, when +building the Ruanwelle dagoba, provided for the labourers amongst other +articles "the five condiments used in mastication." This probably refers +to the chewing of betel and its accompaniments (_Mahawanso_, ch. xxx. p. +175). A story is told of the wife of a Singhalese minister, about A. D. +56, who to warn him of a conspiracy, sent him his "betel, &c., for +mastication, omitting the chunam," hoping that coming in search of it, +he might escape his "impending fate." _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxv. p. 219.] + +[Footnote 4: _Rajavali_, p. 221.] + +Intoxicating liquors are of sufficient antiquity to be denounced in the +moral system of Buddhism. The use of toddy and drinks obtained from the +fermentation of "bread and flour" is condemned in the laity, and +strictly prohibited to the priesthood[1]; but the Arabian geographers +mention that in the twelfth century, wine, in defiance of the +prohibition, was imported from Persia, and drank by the Singhalese after +being flavoured with cardamoms.[2] + +[Footnote 1: HARDY'S _Buddhism_, e., ch. x. p. 474.] + +[Footnote 2: EDRISI, _Geographle,_ &c., Trad. JAUBERT, tom. i. p. 73.] + + + + +CHAP. III + +EARLY COMMERCE, SHIPPING, AND PRODUCTIONS. + + +TRADE.--At a very early period the mass of the people of Ceylon were +essentially agricultural, and the proportion of the population addicted +to other pursuits consisted of the small number of handicraftsmen +required in a community amongst whom civilisation and refinement were so +slightly developed, that the bulk of the inhabitants may be said to have +had few wants beyond the daily provision of food. + +Upon trade the natives appear to have looked at all times with +indifference. Other nations, both of the east and west of Ceylon, made +the island their halting-place and emporium; the Chinese brought thither +the wares destined for the countries beyond the Euphrates, and the +Arabians and Persians met them with their products in exchange; but the +Singhalese appear to have been uninterested spectators of this busy +traffic, in which they can hardly be said to have taken any share. The +inhabitants of the opposite coast of India, aware of the natural wealth +of Ceylon, participated largely in its development, and the Tamils, who +eagerly engaged in the pearl fishery, gave to the gulf of Manaar the +name of Salabham, "the sea of gain."[l] + +[Footnote 1: The Tamils gave the same name to Chilaw, which was the +nearest town to the pearl fishery (and which Ibn Batuta calls +_Salawat_); and eventually they called the whole island _Salabham_.] + +_Native Shipping._--The only mention made of native ships in the sacred +writings of the Singhalese, is in connection with missions, whether for +the promotion of Buddhism, or for the negotiation of marriages and +alliances with the princes of India.[1] The building of dhoneys is +adverted to as early as the first century, but they were only intended +by a devout king to be stationed along the shores of the island, covered +by day with white cloths, and by night illuminated with lamps, in order +that from them priests, as the royal almoners, might distribute gifts +and donations of food.[2] + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, App. p. 73.] + +[Footnote 2: By King Maha Dailiya, A.D. 8. _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiv. p. +211; _Rajavali_, p. 228; _Rajaratnacari_, p. 52.] + +The genius of the people seems to have never inclined them to a +sea-faring life, and the earliest notice which occurs of ships for the +defence of the coast, is in connection with the Malabars who were taken +into the royal service from their skill in naval affairs.[1] A national +marine was afterwards established for this purpose, A.D. 495, by the +King Mogallana.[2] In the _Suy-shoo_, a Chinese history of the Suy +dynasty, it is stated that in A.D. 607, the king of Ceylon "sent the +Brahman Kew-mo-lo with thirty vessels, to meet the approaching ships +which conveyed an embassy from China."[3] And in the twelfth century, +when Prakrama I. was about to enter on his foreign expeditions, "several +hundreds of vessels were equipped for that service within five +months."[4] + +[Footnote 1: B.C. 247. _Mahawanso_, ch. xxi. p. 127.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xl. TURNOUR'S MS. Transl.] + +[Footnote 3: _Suy-shoo_, b. lxxxi. p. 3.] + +[Footnote 4: TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, &c., App. p. 73.] + +It is remarkable that the same apathy to navigation, if not antipathy to +it, still prevails amongst the inhabitants of an island, the long +sea-borde of which affords facilities for cultivating a maritime taste, +did any such exist. But whilst the natives of Hindustan fit out +sea-going vessels, and take service as sailors for distant voyages, the +Singhalese, though most expert as fishers and boatmen, never embark in +foreign vessels, and no instance exists of a native ship, owned, built, +or manned by Singhalese. + +The boats which are in use at the present day, and which differ +materially in build at different parts of the island, appear to have +been all copied from models supplied by other countries. In the south +the curious canoes, which attract the eye of the stranger arriving at +Point de Galle by their balance-log and outrigger, were borrowed from +the islanders of the Eastern Archipelago; the more substantial canoe +called a _ballam_, which is found in the estuaries and shallow lakes +around the northern shore, is imitated from one of similar form on the +Malabar coast; and the catamaran is common to Ceylon and Coromandel. The +awkward dhoneys, built at Jaffna, and manned by Tamils, are imitated +from those at Madras; while the Singhalese dhoney, south of Colombo, is +but an enlargement of the Galle canoe with its outrigger, so clumsily +constructed that the gunwale is frequently topped by a line of +wicker-work smeared with clay, to protect the deck front the wash of the +sea.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The gunwale of the boat of Ulysses was raised by hurdles of +osiers to keep off the waves. + +[Greek: Phraxe de min rhipessi diamperes oisuinesi Kumatos eilar emen +pollen d' epecheuato hulen.] _Od._ v. 256.] + +One peculiarity in the mode of constructing the native shipping of +Ceylon existed in the remotest times, and is retained to the present +day. The practice is closely connected with one of the most imaginative +incidents in the medieval romances of the East Their boats and canoes, +like those of the Arabs and other early navigators who crept along the +shores of India, are put together without the use of iron nails[1], the +planks being secured by wooden bolts, and stitched together with cords +spun from the fibre of the coconut.[2] + +PALLADIUS, a Greek of the lower empire, to whom is ascribed an account +of the nations of India, written in the fifth century[3], adverts to +this peculiarity of construction, and connects it with the phenomenon +which forms so striking an incident in one of the tales in the _Arabian +Nights' Entertainments_. In the story of the "Three Royal Mendicants," +the "Third Calender," as he is called in the old translation, relates to +the ladies of Bagdad, in whose house he is entertained, how he and his +companions lost their course, when sailing in the Indian Ocean, and +found themselves in the vicinity of "the mountain of loadstone towards +which the current carried them with violence, and when the ships +approached it they fell asunder, and the nails and everything that was +of iron flew from them towards the loadstone." + +[Footnote 1: DELAURIER, Etudes sur la "_Relation des voyages faits par +les Arabes et les Persans dans l'Inde." Journ. Asiat._ tom. xlix. p. +137. See also MALTE BRUN, _Hist. de Geogr._ tom. i. p. 409, with the +references to the Periplus Mar. Erythr., Strabo, Procopius, &c. GIBBON, +_Decl. and Fall_, vol. v. ch. xl.] + +[Footnote 2: Boats thus sewn together existed at an early period on the +coast of Arabia as well as of Ceylon. Odoric of Friuli saw them at Ormus +in the fourteenth century (_Hakluyt_, vol. ii. p. 35); and the +construction of ships without iron was not peculiar to the Indian seas, +as Homer mentions that the boat built by Ulysses was put together with +woolen pegs, [Greek: _gomphoisin_], instead of bolts. _Odys_. v. 249.] + +[Footnote 3: The tract alluded to is usually known as tne treatise _de +Moribus Brachmanorum_, and ascribed to St. Ambrose. For an account of it +see Vol. I. Pt. v. ch. i. p. 538.] + +The learned commentator, LANE, says that several Arab writers describe +this mountain of loadstone, and amongst others he instances El Caswini, +who lived in the latter half of the thirteenth century.[1] EDRISI, the +Arab geographer, likewise alludes to it; but the invention belongs to an +earlier age, and Palladius, in describing Ceylon, says that the magnetic +rock is in the adjacent islands called Maniolae (Maldives?), and that +ships coming within the sphere of its influence are irresistibly drawn +towards it, and lose all power of progress except in its direction. +Hence it is essential, he adds, that vessels sailing for Ceylon _should +be fastened with wooden instead of iron bolts_.[2] + +[Footnote 1: LANE'S _Arabian Nights_, vol. i. ch. iii, p. 72, p. 242.] + +[Footnote 2: [Greek: "Esti de idikos ta diaperonta ploia eis ekeinen ten +megalen neson aneu siderou epiouriois xylinois +kataskeuasmena"]--PALLADIUS, in _Pseudo-Callisthenes_, lib. iii. c. vii. +But the fable of the loadstone mountain is older than either the Arabian +sailors or the Greeks of the lower empire. Aristotle speaks of a +magnetic mountain on the coast of India, and Pliny repeats the story, +adding that "si sint clavi in calciamentis, vestigia avelli in altero +non posse in altero sisti."--Lib. ii. c. 98, lib. xxxvi. c. 25. Ptolemy +recounts a similar fable in his geography. Klaproth, in his _Lettre sur +la Boussole_, says that this romantic belief was first communicated to +the West from China. "Les anciens auteurs Chinois parlent aussi de +montagnes magnetiques de la mer meridionale sur les cotes de Tonquin et +de la Cochin Chine; et disent que si les vaisseaux etrangers qui sont +garnis de plaques de fer s'en approchent ils y sont arretes et aucun +d'eux ne peut passer par ces endroits."--KLAPROTH, _Lett._ v. p. 117, +quoted by SANTAREM, _Essai sur l'Histo. de Cosmogr._, vol. i. p. 182.] + +Another peculiarity of the native craft on the west coast of Ceylon is +their construction with a prow at each extremity, a characteristic which +belongs also to the Massoula boats of Madras, as well as to others on +the south of India. It is a curious illustration of the abiding nature +of local usages when originating in necessities and utility, that +STRABO, in describing the boats in which the traffic was carried on +between Taprobane and the continent, says they were "built with prows at +each end, but without holds or keels."[1] + +[Footnote 1: [Greek: "Kateskeuasmenas de amphoterothen enkoilion metron +choris."]--Lib xv. c. i. s. 14. Pliny, who makes the same statement, +says the Singhalese adopted this model to avoid the necessity of tacking +in the narrow and shallow channels, between Ceylon and the mainland of +India (lib. vi. c. 24).] + +In connection with foreign trade the _Mahawanso_ contains repeated +allusions to ships wrecked upon the coast of Ceylon[1], and amongst the +remarkable events which signalised the season, already rendered +memorable by the birth of Dutugaimunu, B.C. 204, was the "arrival on the +same day of seven ships laden with golden utensils and other goods;"[2] +and as these were brought by order of the king to Mahagam, then the +capital of Rohuna, the incident is probably referable to the foreign +trade which was then carried on in the south of the island[3] by the +Chinese and Arabians, and in which, as I have stated, the native +Singhalese took no part. + +[Footnote 1: B.C. 543. _Mahawanso_, ch. vii. p. 49: B.C. 306. Ibid. ch. +xi. p. 68, &c.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxii. p. 135.] + +[Footnote 3: The first direct intimation of trading carried on by native +Singhalese, along the coast of Ceylon, occurs in the _Rajavali_, but not +till the year A.D. 1410,--the king, who had made Cotta his capital, +being represented as "loading a vessel with goods and sending it to +Jaffna, to carry on commerce with his son."--_Rajavali_, p. 289.] + +Still, notwithstanding their repugnance to intercourse with strangers, +the Singhalese were not destitute of traffic amongst themselves, and +their historical annals contain allusions to the mode in which it was +conducted. Their cities exhibited rows of shops and bazaars[1], and the +country was traversed by caravans much in the same manner as the drivers +of _tavalams_ carry goods at the present day between the coast and the +interior.[2] + +[Footnote 1: B.C. 204, a visitor to Anarajapoora is described as +"purchasing aromatic drugs from the bazaars, and departing by the +Northern Gate" (_Mahawanso_, ch. xxiii. p. 139); and A.D. 8, the King +Maha Dathika "ranged shops on each side of the streets of the +capital."--_Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiv. p. 213.] + +[Footnote 2: B.C. 170. _Mahawanso_ ch. xxii. p. 138.] + +Whatever merchandise was obtained in barter from foreign ships, was by +this means conveyed to the cities and the capital[1], and the reference +to carts which were accustomed to go from Anarajapoora to the division +of Malaya, lying round Adam's Peak, "to procure saffron and ginger," +implies that at that period (B.C. 165) roads and other facilities for +wheel carriages must have existed, enabling them to traverse forests and +cross the rivers.[2] + +[Footnote 1: In the reign of Elala, B.C. 204, the son of "an eminent +caravan chief" was despatched to a Brahman, who resided near the Chetiyo +mountain (Mihintala), in whose possession there were rich articles, +frankincense, sandal-wood, &c., imported from beyond the +ocean.--_Mahawanso_ ch. xxiii. p. 138.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_ ch. xxviii. p, 167.] + +_Early Exports of Ceylon._--The native historians give an account of the +exports of Ceylon, which corresponds in all particulars with the records +left by the early travellers and merchants, Greek, Roman, Arabian, +Indian, and Chinese. They consisted entirely of natural productions, +aromatic drugs, gems, pearls, and shells; and it is a strong evidence of +the more advanced state of civilisation in India at the same period +that, whilst the presents sent from the kings of Ceylon to the native +princes of Hindustan and the Dekkan were always of this precious but +primitive character, the articles received in return were less +remarkable for the intrinsic value of the material, than for the +workmanship bestowed upon them. Devenipiatissa sent by his ambassadors +to Asoca, B.C. 306, the eight varieties of pearls, viz., _haya_ (the +horse), _gaja_ (the elephant), _ratha_ (the chariot wheel), _maalaka_ +(the nelli fruit), _valaya_ (the bracelet), _anguliwelahka_ (the ring), +_kakudaphala_ (the kabook fruit), and _pakatika_, the ordinary +description. He sent sapphires, lapis lazuli[1], and rubies, a right +hand chank[2], and three bamboos for chariot poles, remarkable because +their natural marking resembled the carvings of flowers and animals. + +[Footnote 1: Lapis lazuli is not found in Ceylon, and must have been +brought by the caravans from Budakshan. It is more than once mentioned +in the _Mahawanso_, ch. xi. p. 69; ch. xxx. p. 185.] + +[Footnote 2: A variety of the _Turbinella rapa_ with the whorls +reversed, to which the natives attach a superstitions value; professing +that a shell so formed is worth its weight in gold.] + +The gifts sent by the king of Magadha in return, indicate the advanced +state of the arts in Bengal, even at that early period: they were "a +chowrie (the royal fly flapper), a diadem, a sword of state, a royal +parasol, golden slippers, a crown, an anointing vase, asbestos towels, +to be cleansed by being passed through the fire, a costly howdah, and +sundry vessels of gold." Along with these was sacred water from the +Anotatto lake and from the Ganges, aromatic and medicinal drugs, hill +paddi and sandal-wood; and amongst the other items "a virgin of royal +birth and of great personal beauty."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_ ch, xi. pp. 69, 70.] + +_Early Imports_.--Down to a very late period, gems, pearls, and chank +shells continued to be the only products taken away from Ceylon, and +cinnamon is nowhere mentioned in the Sacred Books as amongst the exports +of the island.[1] In return for these exports, slaves, chariots, and +horses were frequently transmitted from India. The riding horses and +chargers, so often spoken of[2], must necessarily have been introduced +from thence, and were probably of Arab blood; but I have not succeeded +in discovering to what particular race the "Sindhawa" horses belonged, +of which four purely white were harnessed to the state carriage of +Dutugaimunu.[3] Gold cloth[4], frankincense, and sandal-wood were +brought from India[5], as was also a species of "clay" and of +"cloud-coloured stone," which appear to have been used in the +construction of dagobas.[6] Silk[7] and vermilion[8] indicate the +activity of trade with China; and woollen cloth[9] and carpets[10] with +Persia and Kashmir. + +[Footnote 1: For an account of the earliest trade in cinnamon, see +_post_ Part v. ch. ii. on the Knowledge of Ceylon possessed by the +Arabians.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxii. p. 134, &c. &c.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., ch. xxiii. p. 142; ch. xxxi. p. 186.] + +[Footnote 4: A.D.459. _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxviii. p. 258.] + +[Footnote 5: _Ibid_, ch. xxiii. p. 138.] + +[Footnote 6: _Ibid_, ch. xxix. p. 169; ch. xxx. p. 179.] + +[Footnote 7: _Ibid_., ch. xxiii. p. 139; _Rajaratnacari_, p. 49.] + +[Footnote 8: _Ibid_, ch. xxix. p. 169; _Rajaratnacari_ p. 51.] + +[Footnote 9: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxx. p. 177; _Rajavali_, p. 269. Woollen +cloth is described as "most valuable"--an epithet which indicates its +rarity, and probably foreign origin.] + +[Footnote 10: _Mahawanso_, ch. xiv. p. 82; ch. xv. p. 87; ch. xxv. p. +151; carpets of wool, _ib_. ch. xxvii. p. 164.] + +_Intercourse with Kashmir._--Possibly the woollen cloths referred to may +have been shawls, and there is evidence in the _Rajatarangini_[1], that +at a very early period the possession of a common religion led to an +intercourse between Ceylon and Kashmir, originating in the sympathies of +Buddhism, but perpetuated by the Kashmirians for the pursuit of +commerce. In the fabulous period of the narrative, a king of Kashmir is +said to have sent to Ceylon for a delicately fine cloth, embroidered +with golden footsteps.[2] In the eighth century of the Christian era, +Singhalese engineers were sent for to construct works in Kashmir[3]; and +Kashmir, according to Troyer, took part in the trade between Ceylon and +the West.[4] + +[Footnote 1: The _Rajatarangini_ resembles the _Mahawanso_, in being a +metrical chronicle of Kashmir written at various times by a series of +authors, the earliest of whom lived in the 12th century. It has been +translated into French by M. Troyer, Paris, 1840.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajatarangini_, b. i. sl. 294.] + +[Footnote 3: _Rajatarangini_, b. iv. sl. 502, &c.] + +[Footnote 4: "La communication entre Kachmir et Ceylan n'a pas eu lieu +seulement par les entreprises guerrieres que je viens de rappeler, mais +aussi par un commerce paisible; c'est du cette ile que venaient des +artistes qu'on appelait Rakchasas a cause du merveilleux de leur art; et +qui executaient des ouvrages pour l'utilite et pour l'ornement d'un pays +montagneux et sujet aux inondations. Ceci confirme ce que nous +apprennent les geographes Grecs, que Ceylan, avant et apres le +commencement de notre ere, etait un grand point de reunion pour le +commerce de l'Orient et de l'Occident."--_Rajatarangini_, vol. ii. p. +434.] + +Of the trade between Ceylon and Kashmir and its progress, the account +given by Edrisi, the most renowned of the writers on eastern geography, +who wrote in the twelfth century[1], is interesting, inasmuch as it may +be regarded as a picture of this remarkable commerce, after it had +attained its highest development. + +[Footnote 1: Abou-abd-allah Mahommed was a Moor of the family who +reigned over Malaga after the fall of the Kalifat of Cordova, in the +early part of the 11th century, and his patronymic of Edrisi or Al +Edrissy implies that he was descended from the princes of that race who +had previously held supreme power in what is at the present day the +Empire of Morocco. He took up his residence in Sicily under the +patronage of the Norman king, Roger II., A.D. 1154, and the work on +geography which he there composed was not only based on the previous +labours of Massoudi, Ibn Haukul, Albyrouni, and others, but it embodied +the reports of persons commissioned specially by the king to undertake +voyages for the purpose of bringing back correct accounts of foreign +countries. See REINAUD'S _Introduction to the Geography of Abulfeda_, p. +cxiii.] + +Edrisi did not write from personal knowledge, as he had never visited +either Ceylon or India; but compiling as he did, by command of Roger H., +of Sicily, a compendium, of geographical knowledge as it existed in his +time, the information which he has systematised may be regarded as a +condensation of such facts as the eastern seamen engaged in the Indian +trade had brought back with them from Ceylon. + +"In the mountains around Adam's Peak," says Edrisi, "they collect +precious stones of every description, and in the valleys they find those +diamonds by means of which they engrave the setting of stones on rings." + +"The same mountains produce aromatic drugs perfumes, and aloes-wood, and +there too they find the animal, the civet, which yields musk. The +islanders cultivate rice, coco-nuts, and sugar-cane; in the rivers is +found rock crystal, remarkable both for brilliancy and size, and the sea +on every side has a fishery of magnificent and priceless pearls. +Throughout India there is no prince whose wealth can compare with the +King of Serendib, his immense riches, his pearls and his jewels, being +the produce of his own dominions and seas; and thither ships of China, +and of every neighbouring country resort, bringing the wines of Irak and +Fars, which the king buys for sale to his subjects; for he drinks wine +and prohibits debauchery; whilst other princes of India encourage +debauchery and prohibit the use of wine. The exports from Serendib +consist of silk, precious stones, crystals, diamonds, and perfumes."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Edrisi, _Geographie_, Trad. JAUBERT, tom. i. p. 73.] + + + + +CHAP. IV. + +MANUFACTURES. + + +The silk alluded to in the last chapter must have been brought from +China for re-exportation to the West. Silk is frequently mentioned in +the _Mahawanso_[1] but never with any suggestion of its being a native +product of Ceylon. + +[Footnote 1: Silk is mentioned 20 B.C. _Rajaratnacari_, p. 49. +_Mahawanso_, ch. xxiii. p. 139.] + +_Coir and Cordage._--EDRISI speaks of cordage made from the fibre of the +coco-nut, to prepare which, the natives of Oman and Yemen resorted to +Ceylon[1]; so that the Singhalese would appear to have been instructed +by the Arabs in the treatment of coir, and its formation into ropes; an +occupation which, at the present day, affords extensive employment to +the inhabitants of the south and south-western coasts. Ibn Batuta +describes the use of coir, for sewing together the planking of boats, as +it was practised at Zafar in the fourteenth century[2]; and the word +itself bespeaks its Arabian origin, as ALBYROUNI, who divides the +Maldives and Laccadives into two classes, calls the one group the +_Dyvah-kouzah_, or islands that produce _cowries_; and the other the +_Dyvah-kanbar_, or islands that produce _coir_.[3] + +[Footnote 1: EDRISI, t. i. p. 74.] + +[Footnote 2: _Voyages_, &c., vol. ii. p. 207. Paris, 1854.] + +[Footnote 3: ALBYROUNI, in REYNAUD, _Fragm. Arabes, &c.,_ pp, 93, 124 +The Portuguese adopted the word from the Hindus, and CASTANEDA, in +_Hist. of the Discovery of India,_ describes the Moors of Sofalah sewing +their boats with "_cayro"_ ch. v, 14, xxx. 75.] + +_Dress_.--The dress of the people was of the simplest kind, and similar +to that which is worn at the present day. The bulk of the population +wore scanty cloths, without shape or seam, folded closely round the body +and the portion of the limbs which it is customary to cover; and the +Chinese, who visited the island in the seventh century, described the +people as clothed in the loose robe, still known as a "comboy," a word +probably derived from the Chinese _koo-pei_, which signifies cotton.[1] + +[Footnote 1: See Part v. ch. iii. on the Knowledge of Ceylon possessed +by the Chinese.] + +The wealthier classes indulged in flowing robes, and Bujas Dasa the +king, who in the fourth century devoted himself to the study of medicine +and the cure of the sick, was accustomed, when seeking objects for his +compassion, to appear as a common person, simply "disguising himself by +gathering his cloth up between his legs."[1] Robes with flowers[2], and +a turban of silk, constituted the dress of state bestowed on men whom +the king delighted to honour.[3] Cloth of gold is spoken of in the fifth +century, but the allusion is probably made to the kinbaub of India.[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso,_ ch. xxxvii. p.245.] + +[Footnote 2: By the ordinances of Buddhism it was forbidden to the +priesthood "to adorn the body with flowers," thus showing it to have +been a practice of the laity. HARDY'S _Eastern Monachism_, ch. iv. p.24; +ch. xiii p.128.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxiii. p.139.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid._, ch. xxxviii. p.258.] + +MANUAL AND MECHANICAL ARTS. _Weaving_.--The aborigines practised the art +of weaving before the arrival of Wijayo. Kuweni, when the adventurer +approached her, was "seated at the foot of a tree, spinning thread;"[1] +cotton was the ordinary material, but "linen cloth" is mentioned in the +second century before Christ.[2] White cloths are spoken of as having +been employed, in the earliest times, in every ceremony for covering +chairs on which persons of rank were expected to be seated; whole "webs +of cloth" were used to wrap the _carandua_ in which the sacred relics +were enclosed[3], and one of the kings, on the occasion of consecrating +a dagoba at Mihintala, covered with "white cloth" the road taken by the +procession between the mountain and capital, a distance of more than +seven miles.[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. vii. p.48; _Rajavali_, p.173.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch, xxv. p.152.] + +[Footnote 3: _Rajaratnacari_, p.72.] + +[Footnote 4: A.D. 8. _Rajavali,_ p. 227; _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiv. p. +213.] + +In later times a curious practice prevailed, which exists to the present +day;--on occasions when it is intended to make offerings of yellow robes +to the priesthood, the cotton was plucked from the tree at daybreak, and +"cleaned, spun, woven, dyed, and made into garments" before the setting +of the sun. This custom, called _Catina Dhawna,_ is first referred to in +the _Rajaratnacari_ in the reign of Prakrarna I.[1], A.D. 1153. + +[Footnote 1: See _ante_, Vol. II p. 35. _Rajaratnacari_, pp. 104, 109, +112, 135; _Rajavali_, p. 261; HARDY'S _Eastern Monachism_, ch. xii. pp. +114, 121.] + +The expression "made into garments" alludes to the custom enjoined on +the priests of having the value of the material destroyed, before +consenting to accept it as a gift, thus carrying out their vow of +poverty. The robe of Gotama Buddha was cut into thirty pieces, these +were again united, so that they "resembled the patches of ground in a +rice field;" and hence he enjoined on his followers the observance of +the same practice.[1] + +[Footnote 1: HARDY'S _Eastern Monachism,_ ch. xii. p. 117. See _ante_, +Vol. I. Pt. III. ch. iv. p. 351.] + +The arts of bleaching and dyeing were understood as well as that of +weaving, and the _Mahawanso_, in describing the building of the +Ruanwelle dagoba, at Anarajapoora, B.C. 161, tells of a canopy formed of +"eight thousand pieces of cloth of every hue."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxx. p. 179, See also ch. xxxviii. p. +258.] + +_Earliest Artisans._--VALENTYN, writing on the traditional information +acquired from the Singhalese themselves, records the belief of the +latter, that in the suite of the Pandyan princess, who arrived to marry +Wijayo, were artificers from Madura, who were the first to introduce the +knowledge and practice of handicrafts amongst the native population. +According to the story, these were goldsmiths, blacksmiths, +brass-founders, carpenters, and stone-cutters.[1] + +[Footnote 1: VALENTYN, _Oud en Niew Oost-Indien_, chap. iv. p. 267.] + +The legend is given with more particularity in an historical notice of +the Chalia caste, written by Adrian Rajapaxa, one of their chiefs, who +describes these immigrants as Peskare Brahmans, who were at first +employed in weaving gold tissues for the queen, but who afterwards +abandoned that art for agriculture. A fresh company were said to have +been invited in the reign of Devenipiatissa, and were the progenitors of +"Saleas, at present called Chalias," who inhabit the country between +Galle and Colombo, and who, along with their ostensible occupation as +peelers of cinnamon, still employ themselves in the labours of the +loom.[1] All handicrafts are conventionally regarded by the Singhalese +as the occupations of an inferior class; and a man of high caste would +submit to any privation rather than stoop to an occupation dependent on +manual skill. + +[Footnote 1: A History of the Chalias, by ADRIAN RAJAPAXA. _Asiatic +Res_. vol. vii. p. 440. _Ib_., vol. x. p. 82.] + +_Pottery_.--One of the most ancient arts, the making of earthenware +vessels, exists at the present day in all its pristine simplicity, and +the "potter's wheel," which is kept in motion by an attendant, whilst +the hands of the master are engaged in shaping the clay as it revolves, +is the primitive device which served a similar purpose amongst the +Egyptians and Hebrews.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Pottery is mentioned in the _Mahawanso_, B.C. 161, ch. +xxix. p. 173: the allusion is to "new earthen vases," and shows that the +people at that time, like the Hindus of today, avoided where possible +the repeated use of the same vessel.] + +A "potter" is enumerated in the list of servants and tradesmen attached +to the temple on the Rock of Mihintala, A.D. 262, along with a +sandal-maker, blacksmiths, carpenters, stone-cutters, goldsmiths, and +"makers of strainers" through which the water for the priests was +filtered, to avoid taking away the life of animalculae. The other +artisans on the establishment were chiefly those in charge of the +buildings, lime-burners, plasterers, white-washers, painters, and a +chief builder. + +_Glass_.--Glass, the knowledge of which existed in Egypt and in +India[1], was introduced into Ceylon at an early period; and in the +_Dipawanso_, a work older than the _Mahawanso_ by a century and a half, +it is stated that Saidaitissa, the brother of Dutugaimunu, when +completing the Ruanwelle dagoba, which his predecessor had commenced, +surmounted it with a "glass pinnacle." This was towards the end of the +second century before Christ. Glass is frequently mentioned at later +periods; and a "glass mirror" is spoken of[2] in the third century +before Christ, but how made, whether by an amalgam of quicksilver or by +colouring the under surface, is not recorded. + +[Footnote 1: Dr. ROYLE'S _Lectures on the Arts and Manufactures of +India_, 1852, p. 221. PLINY says the glass of India being made of +pounded crystal, none other can compare with it. (Lib. xxxvi, c. 66.)] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xv. p. 99, ch. xxx. p. 182.] + +_Leather_.--The tanning of leather from the hide of the buffalo was +understood so far back as the second century before Christ, and +"coverings both for the back and the feet of elephants" were then formed +of it.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid_., ch. xxv. p. 152, ch. xxix. p. 169.] + +_Wood-carving_.--Carving in sandal-wood and inlaying with ivory, of +which latter material "state fans and thrones" were constructed for the +Brazen Palace[1], are amongst the mechanical arts often alluded to; and +during the period of prosperity which signalised the era of the "Great +Dynasty," there can be little doubt that skilled artificers were brought +from India to adorn the cities and palaces of Ceylon. + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid_., ch. xxvii. p. 163, 164.] + +_Chemical Arts_.--A rude knowledge of chemical manipulation was required +for the extraction of camphor[1] and the preparation of numerous +articles specified amongst the productions of the island, aromatic +oils[2], perfumes[3], and vegetable dyes. + +[Footnote 1: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 133. Dr. ROYLE doubts whether camphor +was known to the Hindus at this early period, but "camphor oil" is +repeatedly mentioned in the Singhalese chronicles amongst the articles +provided for the temples.--ROYLE'S _Essay on Hindoo Medicine_, p. 140; +_Rajaculi_, p. 190.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxv. p. 157.] + +[Footnote 3: B.C. 161. _Mahawanso_, ch. xxx. p. 180.] + +_Sugar_.--Sugar was obtained not only from the Palmyra and Kittool +palms[1], but also from the cane; which, besides being a native of +India, was also indigenous in Ceylon.[2] A "sugar mill" for expressing +its juice existed in the first century before Christ in the district of +the "Seven Corles,"[3] where fifteen hundred years afterwards a Dutch +governor of the island made an attempt to restore the cultivation of +sugar. + +[Footnote 1: "Palm sugar," as distinguished from "cane sugar," is spoken +of in the _Mahawanso_ in the second century B.C. ch. xxvii. p. 163.] + +[Footnote 2: "Cane sugar" is referred to in the _Mahawanso_ B.C. 161, +ch. xxvii. p. 162, ch. xxxi. p. 192.] + +[Footnote 3: A.D. 77. _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiv. p. 208.] + +_Mineral Paints_.--Mineral preparations were made with success. Red +lead, orpiment, and vermilions are mentioned as pigments; but as it is +doubtful whether Ceylon produces quicksilver, the latter was probably +imported from. China[1] or India, where the method of preparing it has +long been known. + +[Footnote 1: See _ante_, Vol. I. Part I. ch. i. p. 29. n. Both +quicksilver and vermilion are mentioned in the _Rajaratnacari_, p. 51, +as being in use in the year 20 B.C. Vermilion is also spoken of B.C. 307 +in the _Mahawanso_, ch. xxvii. p. 162, c. The two passages in which +_vermilion_ is spoken of in the Old Testament, Jerem. xxii. 14, and +Ezek. xxiii. 14, both refer to the painting of walls and woodwork, a +purpose to which it would be scarcely suitable, were not the article +alluded to the opaque bisulphuret of mercury; and the same remark +applies to the vermilion used by the Singhalese. The bright red obtained +from the insect coccus (the _vermiculus_, whence the original term +"vermilion" is said to be derived) would be too transparent to be so +applied.] + +There is likewise sufficient evidence in these and a number of other +preparations, as well in the notices of perfumes, camphor, and essential +oils, to show that the Singhalese, like the Hindus, had a very early +acquaintance with chemical processes and with the practice of +distillation, which they retain to the present day.[1] The knowledge of +the latter they probably acquired from the Arabs or Chinese. + +[Footnote 1: "I was frequently visited by one old man, a priest, who had +travelled through Bengal, Burmah, Siam, and many other countries, and +who prided himself on being able _to make calomel_ much better than the +European doctors, as his preparation did not cause the falling out of +the teeth, soreness of the mouth, or salivation. He learnt the secret +from an ancient sage whom he met with in a forest on the continent of +India; and often when listening to him I was reminded of the mysteries +and crudities of the alchemists."--HARDY'S _Eastern Monachism_, Lond. +1850, ch. xxiii. p. 312.] + + + + +CHAP. V. + +WORKING IN METALS. + + +METALS. _Iron_.--Working in metals was early understood in Ceylon. +Abundance of iron ore can be extracted from the mountains round Adam's +Peak; the black oxide is found on the eastern shore in the state of +iron-sand; and both are smelted with comparative ease by the natives. +Iron tools were in use for the dressing of stones; and in the third +century before Christ, the enclosed city of Wijittapoora was secured by +an "iron gate." [1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxv. p. 152.] + +_Steel_.--The manufacture of arms involved the use of steel, the method +of tempering which was derived from the Hindus, by whom the _wootz_ was +prepared, of which, the genuine blades of Damascus are shown to have +been made, the beauty of their figuring being dependent on its peculiar +crystallisation. Ezekiel enumerates amongst the Indian imports of Tyre +"_bright iron_, calamus and cassia."[1] + +[Footnote 1: ROYLE _on the Antiquity of Hindoo Medicine_, p. 98. +EZEKIEL, ch. xxvii. 19.] + +_Copper_.--Copper was equally in demand, but, like silver and gold, it +is nowhere alluded to as a production of the island. In ancient, as in +modern, times, therefore, the numerous articles formed from this metal +were probably imported from India. The renowned Brazen. Palace of +Anarajapoora was so named from the quantity of copper used in its +construction. Bujas Raja, A.D. 359, covered a building at Attanagalla +with "tiles made of copper, and gilt with gold,"[1] and "two boats built +of brass," were placed near the Bo-Tree at the capital "to hold food for +the priests."[2] Before the Christian era, armour for elephants[3], and +vessels of large dimensions, cauldrons[4], and baths[5], were formed of +copper. The same material was used for the lamps, goblets[6], kettles, +and cooking utensils of the monasteries and wiharas. + +[Footnote 1: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 73.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., p. 60.] + +[Footnote 3: _Rajavali_, p. 214.] + +[Footnote 4: B.C. 204. _Rajavali_, p. 190.] + +[Footnote 5: A.D. 1267, _Rajartnacari_, p. 104.] + +[Footnote 6: _Rajaratnacari_, pp. 104, 134.] + +_Bells_.--Bells were hung in the palaces[1], and bell-metal is amongst +the gifts to the temples recorded on the rock at Pollanarrua, A.D. +1187.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxi. pp. 128, 129.] + +[Footnote 2: TURNOUR'S _Epitome, &c.,_ Appx. p. 91.] + +_Bronze_.--Bronze was cast into figures of Buddha[1], and the +_Mahawanso_, describing the reign of Dhatu-Sena, A.D. 459, makes mention +of "sixteen bronze statues of virgins having the power of +locomotion."[2] + +[Footnote 1: A.D. 275. _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxvii. p. 236; _Rajavali_, p. +l35.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxviii. p. 257.] + +_Lead_.--Lead was used during the wars of Dutugaimunu and Elala, and +poured molten over the attacking elephants during the siege of +Wijittapoora.[1] As lead is not a native product of Ceylon, it must have +been brought thither from Ava or Malwa. + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxv. p. 152.] + +_Gold and Silver._--Ceylon, like the continent of India, produces no +silver and gold, save in the scantiest quantities.[1] The historical +books, in recording the splendour of the temples and their riches, and +the wealth lavished by the kings upon the priesthood, describe in +perpetually recurring terms, the multitude of ornaments and vessels made +of silver and gold. In early times the most precious of these were +received as gifts from the princes of India, and in the second century +before Christ the _Mahawanso_ records the arrival of ships in the south +of the island, "laden with golden utensils." The import of these might +possibly have been a relic of the early trade with the Phoenicians, whom +Homer, in a passage quoted by Strabo (l. xvi. c. 2. s. 24.), describes +as making these cups, and carrying across the sea for sale in the great +emporiums visited by these ships.[2] A variety of articles of silver are +spoken of at very early periods. Dutugaimunu, when building the great +dagoba, caused the circle of its base to be described by "a pair of +compasses made of silver, and pointed with gold;"[3] parasols, vases, +caranduas and numerous other regal or religious paraphernalia, were made +from this precious material. Gold was applied in every possible form and +combination to the decoration and furnishing of the edifices of +Buddhism;--"trees of gold with roots of coral,"[4] flowers formed of +gems with stems of silver[5], fringes of bullion mixed with pearls; +umbrellas, shields, chains, and jewelled statuettes[6], are described +with enthusiasm by the annalists of the national worship. + +[Footnote 1: Amongst the miracles which signalised the construction of +the Ruanwelle dagoba at Anarajapoora was the sudden appearance in a +locality to the north-east of the capital of "sprouts" of gold above and +below the ground, and of silver in the vicinity of Adam's +Peak.--_Mahawanso_, ch. xxviii. pp. 166, 167.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxii. p. 153. [Greek]--Iliad, xxiii. 745.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxx. p. 172.] + +[Footnote 4: Red coral, equal in its delicacy of tint to the +highly-prized specimens from the Mediterranean, is found in small +fragments on the sea-shore north of Point-de-Galle.] + +[Footnote 5: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxx. p. 179.] + +[Footnote 6: _Mahawanso_, ib. p. 180.] + +The abundance of precious stones naturally led to their being +extensively mounted in jewelry, and in addition to those found in +Ceylon, diamonds[1] and lapis lazuli [2] (which must have been brought +thither from India and Persia) are classed with the sapphire and the +topaz, which are natives of the island. + +[Footnote 1: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 61.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxx. p. 182.] + +The same passion existed then, as now, for covering the person with +ornaments; gold, silver, and gems were fashioned into rings for the +ears, the nose, the fingers, and toes, into plates for the forehead, and +chains for the neck, into armlets, and bracelets, and anklets, and into +decorations of every possible form, not only for the women, but for men, +and, above all, for the children of both sexes. The poor, unable to +indulge in the luxury of precious metals, found substitutes in shells +and glass; and the extravagance of the taste was defended on the ground +that their brilliancy served to avert the malignity of "the evil eye" +from the wearer to the jewel. + +_Gilding_.--Gilding was likewise understood by the Singhalese in all its +departments, both as applied to the baser metals and to other +substances--wood-work was gilded for preaching places[1] as was also +copper for roofing, cement for decorating walls, and stone for statuary +and carving.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 60.] + +[Footnote 2: Rock inscription at Pollanarrua, A.D. 187--196.] + +_Coin_.--Although the Singhalese through their sacred writings had a +knowledge of coined money, and of its existence in India from a period +little subsequent to the death of Gotama Buddha[1]; and although their +annalists give the names of particular coins in circulation[2], at +various times, no Singhalese money has yet been discovered of a date +antecedent to the eleventh century. The Chinese in the fifteenth century +spoke with admiration of the gold pieces struck by the kings of Ceylon, +which they found in circulation on their frequent visits to the emporium +at Galle[3]; but of these only a few very rare examples have been +preserved, one of which bears the effigy and name of Lokaiswaira[4], who +usurped the throne during a period of anarchy about A.D. 1070. Numbers +of small copper coins of the eleventh and twelfth centuries have from +time to time been dug up both in the interior and on the coast of the +island[5]. A quantity of these which were found in 1848 by Lieutenant +Evatt, when in command of a pioneer corps near the village of Ambogamoa, +were submitted to Mr. Vaux of the British Museum, and prove to belong to +the reign of Wijayo Bahu, A.D. 1071, Prakrama I., A.D. 1153, the Queen +Lilawatte, A.D. 1197, King Sahasamallawa, A.D. 1200, Darmasoka, A.D. +1208, and Bhuwaneka Bahu, A.D. 1303. These coins have one and all the +same device on the obverse,--a rude standing figure of the Raja holding +the _trisula_ in his left hand, and a flower in the right. His dress is +a flowing robe, the folds of which are indicated rather than imitated by +the artist; and on the reverse the same figure is seated, the name in +Nagari characters being placed beside the face[6]. + +[Footnote 1: The _Mahawanso_ mentions the existence of coined metals in +India in the tenth year of the reign of Kalasoka, a century from the +death of Buddha, ch. iv. p. 15. According to Hardy, in the most ancient +laws of the Buddhists the distinction is recognised between coined money +and bullion,--_Eastern Monachism,_ vol. vii. p. 66.] + +[Footnote 2: The coins mentioned in the _Mahawanso, Rajaratnacari, and +Rajavali_ are as follows: B.C. 161, the _kahapanan (Mahawanso_, ch. xxx. +pp. 157, 175), which TURNOUR says was a gold coin worth ten _massakan_ +or _massa_. The latter are "the pieces of gold formerly current in +Ceylon," a heap of which, according to the _Rajaratnacari_ (p. 48), was +seen by King Bhatia Tissa when he was permitted to penetrate into the +chamber of the Ruanwelle dagoba, A.D. 137. The silver massa, according +to TURNOUR, was valued at eightpence. These are repeatedly mentioned in +the _Rajaratnacari_ (A.D. 201, p. 60, A.D. 234, p. 62, A.D. 1262, p. +102, A.D. 1301, p. 107, A.D. 1462, p. 113). The _Rajavali_ speaks of +"gold massa" as in circulation in the time of Dutugaimunu, B.C. 161 (p. +201). The word _masa_ in Singhalese means "pulse," or any description of +"beans;" and it seems not improbable that the origin of the term as +applied to money may be traced to the practice in the early Indian +coinage of stamping small _lumps_ of metal to give them authentic +currency. It can only be a coincidence that the Roman term for an ingot +of gold was "_massa_" (Pliny, L. xxxiii. c. 19). These Singhalese massa +were probably similar to the "punched coins," having rude stamps without +effigies, and rarely even with letters, which have been turned up at +Kanooj, Oujein, and other places in Western India. A copper coin is +likewise mentioned in the fourteenth century, in the _Rajavali_, where +it is termed _carooshawpa_; the value of which UPHAM, without naming his +authority, says was "about a pice and a half."--p. 136.] + +[Footnote 3: _Woo heoe peen_ "Records of the Ming Dynasty," A.D. 1522, B. +lxviii. p. 5. _Suh Wan heen tung kaou_, "Antiquarian Researches," B. +ccxxxvi. p. 11.] + +[Footnote 4: Two gold coins of Lokaiswaira are in the collection of the +British Museum, and will be found described by Mr. VAUX in the 16th vol. +of the _Numismatic Chronicle_, p. 121.] + +[Footnote 5: There is a Singhalese coin figured in DAVY'S _Ceylon_, p. +245, the legend on which is turned upside down, but when reversed it +reads "_Sri Pa-re-kra-ma Bahu_."] + +[Footnote 6: _Numismatic Chronicle_, vol. xvi. p. 124] + +[Illustration] + +The Kandyans, by whom these coins are frequently found, give the copper +pieces the name of Dambedenia _challies_, and tradition, with perfect +correctness, assigns them to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when +the kings of that period are believed to have had a mint at Dambedenia. + +A quantity of coins similar in every respect to those dug up in Ceylon +have been found at Dipaldinia or Amarawati, on the continent of India, +near the mouth of the Kistna; a circumstance which might be accounted +for by the frequent intercourse between Ceylon and the coast, but which +is possibly referable to the fact recorded in the _Mahawanso_ that +Prakrama I., after his successful expedition against the King of Pandya, +caused money to be coined in his own name before retiring to Ceylon.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxvi. pp. 298, 299, UPHAM's _Trans_. The +circumstance is exceedingly curious of coins of Prakrama, "identical" +with those found at Dambedenia, in Ceylon, having also been discovered +at Dipaldinia, on the opposite continent; and it goes far to confirm the +accuracy of the _Mahawanso_ as to the same king having coined money in +both places. Those found in the latter locality form part of the +Mackenzie Collection, and have been figured in the _Asiat. Researches_, +xvii. 597, and afterwards by Mr. PRINSEP in the _Journ. of the Asiat. +Soc. of Bengal_, vi. 301. See also a notice of Ceylon coins, in the +_Journ. As. Soc. Beng._ iv. 673, vi. 218; CASIE CHITTY, in the _Journ. +of the Ceylon Asiat. Soc.,_ 1847, p. 9, has given an account of a hoard +of copper coins found at Calpentyn in 1839; and Mr. Justice STARKE, in +the same journal, p. 149, has given a _resume_ of the information +generally possessed as to the ancient coins of the island. PRINSEP's +paper on _Ceylon Coins_ will be found in vol. i. of the recent reprint +of his _Essays on Indian Antiquities_, p. 419. Lond. 1858.] + +_Hook-money_.--No ancient silver coin has yet been found, but specimens +are frequently brought to light of the _ridis_, pieces of twisted silver +wire, which from their being sometimes bent with a considerable curve +have been called "_Fish-hook money_." These are occasionally impressed +with a legend, and for a time the belief obtained that they were a +variety of ring-money peculiar to Ceylon.[1] Of late this error has been +corrected; the letters where they occur have been shown to be not +Singhalese or Sanskrit, but Persian, and the tokens themselves have been +proved to belong to Laristan on the Persian Gulf, from the chief +emporium of which, Gambroon, they were brought to Ceylon in the course +of Indian commerce; chiefly by the Portuguese, who are stated by VAN +CARDAEN to have introduced them in great quantities into Cochin and the +ports of Malabar.[2] There they were circulated so freely that an edict +of Prakrama enumerates the _ridi_ amongst the coins in which the taxes +were assessed on land.[3] + +[Footnote 1: This error may be traced to the French commentator on +RIBEYRO's _History of Ceylon_, who describes the fish-hook money in use +in the kingdom of Kandy, whilst the Portuguese held the low country, as +so simple in its form that every man might make it for himself: "Le Roy +de Candy avoit aussi permis a ses peuples de se servir d'une _monnoye_ +que chacun peut fabriquer."--Ch. x. p. 81.] + +[Footnote 2: "Les larins sont tout-a-fait commodes et necessaires dans +les Indes, surtout pour acheter du poivre a Cochin, ou l'on en fait +grand etat."--_Voyage aux Indes Orientales._ Amsterdam, A.D. 1716, vol. +vi. p. 626.] + +[Footnote 3: Rock-inscription at Dambool, A.D. 1200. The _Rajavali_ +mentions the _ridis_ as in circulation in Ceylon at the period of the +arrival of the Portuguese, A.D. 1505.--P. 278.] + +[Illustration: HOOK MONEY.] + +In India they are called _larins_, and money in imitation of them, +struck by the princes of Bijapur and by Sivaji, the founder of the +Mahrattas, was in circulation in the Dekkan as late as the seventeenth +century.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Prof. WILSON'S _Remarks on Fish-hook Money, Numism. +Chronic._ 1854, p. 181.] + + + + +CHAP. VI. + +ENGINEERING. + + +It has already been shown[1] that the natives of Ceylon received their +earliest instruction in engineering from the Brahmans, who attached +themselves to the followers of Wijayo and his immediate successors.[2] +But whilst astonished at the vastness of conception observable in the +works executed at this early period, we are equally struck by the +extreme simplicity of the means employed by their designers for carrying +their plans into execution; and the absence of all ingenious expedients +for husbanding or effectively applying manual labour. The earth which +forms their prodigious embankments was carried in baskets[3] by the +labourers, in the same primitive fashion which prevails to the present +day. Stones were detached in the quarry by the slow and laborious +process of wedging, of which they still exhibit the traces; and those +intended for prominent positions were carefully dressed with iron tools. +For moving them no mechanical contrivances were resorted to[4], and it +can only have been by animal power, aided by ropes and rollers, that +vast blocks like the great tablet at Pollanarrua were dragged to their +required positions.[5] + +[Footnote 1: See Vol. I. Part IV. chap. ii. p. 430.] + +[Footnote 2: King Pandukabhaya, B.C. 437, "built a residence for the +Brahman Jotiyo, the chief engineer."--_Mahawanso_, ch. x. p. 66.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxiii. p. 144.] + +[Footnote 4: The only instance of mechanism applied in aid of human +labour is referred to in a passage of the _Mahawanso_, which alludes to +a decree for "raising the water of the Abhaya tank by means of +machinery," in order to pour it over a dagoba during the solemnisation +of a festival, B.C. 20.--_Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiv. p. 211; +_Rajaratnacari_, p. 51.] + +[Footnote 5: No document is better calculated to Impress the reader with +a due appreciation of the indomitable perseverance of the Singhalese in +works of engineering than the able report of Messrs. ADAMS, CHURCHILL, +and BAILEY, on the great _Canal from Ellahara to Gantalawa_, appended to +the Ceylon Calendar for 1857.] + +_Fortifications_.--Of military engineering the Singhalese had a very +slight knowledge. Walled towns and fortifications are frequently spoken +of, but the ascertained difficulty of raising, squaring, or carrying +stones, points to the inference which is justified by the expressions of +the ancient chronicles, that the walls they allude to, must have been +earthworks[1], and that the strength of their fortified places consisted +in their inaccessibility. The first recorded attempt at fortification +was made by the Malabars in the second century before Christ for the +defence of Wijitta-poora, which is described as having been secured by +walls, a fosse, and a gate.[2] Elala about the same period built +"thirty-two bulwarks" at Anarajapoora[3]; and Dutugaimunu, in commencing +to besiege him in the city, followed his example, by throwing up a +"fortification in an open plain," at a spot well provided with wood and +water.[4] + +[Footnote 1: Makalantissa, who reigned B.C. 41, "built a rampart seven +cubits high, and dug a ditch round the capital."--_Mahawanso_, ch. +xxxiv. p. 210.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajavali_, p. 212; _Mahawanso_, ch. xxv. p. 151.] + +[Footnote 3: _Rajavali_, p. 187.] + +[Footnote 4: _Rajavali_, p. 216; _Mahawanso_ ch. xxv. p. 152.] + +At a later time, the Malabars, when in possession of the northern +portion of the island, formed a chain of strong "forts" from the eastern +to the western coast, and the Singhalese, in imitation of them, occupied +similar positions. The most striking example of mediaeval fortification +which still survives, is the imperishable rock of Sigiri, north-east of +Dambool, to which the infamous Kassyapa retired with his treasures, +after the assassination of his father, King Dhatu Sena, A.D. 459; when +having cleared its vicinity, and surrounded it by a rampart, the figures +of lions with which he decorated it, obtained for it the name of +Sihagiri, the "Lion-rock." But the real defences of Sigiri were its +precipitous cliffs, and its naturally scarped walls, which it was not +necessary to strengthen by any artificial structures. + +Their rocky hills, and the almost impenetrable forests which enveloped +them, were in every age the chief security of the Singhalese; and so +late as the 12th century, the inscription engraved on the rock at +Dambool, in describing the strength of the national defences under the +King Kirti Nissanga, enumerates them as "strongholds in the midst of +forests, and those upon steep hills, and the fastnesses surrounded by +water."[1] + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR'S _Epitome and Appendix_, p. 95.] + +_Thorn-gates._--The device, retained down to the period of the capture +of Kandy by the British, when the passes into the hill country were +defended by thick plantations of formidable thorny trees, appears to +have prevailed in the earliest times. The protection of Mahelo, a town +assailed by Dutugaimunu, B.C. 162, consisting in its being "surrounded +on all sides with the thorny _dadambo_ creeper, within which was a +triple line of fortifications."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxv. p. 153. When Albuquerque attacked +Malacca in A.D. 1511, the chief who defended the place "covered the +streets with poisoned thorns, to gore the Portuguese coming in" FARIA Y +SOUZA, vol. i. p. 180. VALENTYN, in speaking of the dominions of the +King of Kandy during the Dutch occupation of the Low Country, describes +the density of the forests, "which not only serve to divide the earldoms +one from another, but, above all, tend to the fortification of the +country, on which account no one dare, on pain of death, to thin or root +out a tree, more than to permit a passage for one man at a time, it +being impossible to pass through the rest thereof."--VALENTYN, _Oud en +Nieuw Oost-Indien, &c._, ch. i. p. 22. KNOX gives a curious account of +these "thorn-gates." (Part ii. ch. vi. p. 45.)] + +_Bridges_.--As to bridges, Ceylon had none till the end of the 13th +century[1], and Turnour conjectures that even then they were only formed +of timber, like the Pons Sublidus at Rome. At a later period stone +pillars were used in pairs, on which beams or slabs were horizontally +rested, in order to form a roadway [2], in the same manner that +Herodotus describes the most ancient bridge on record, which was +constructed by Queen Nitocris, at Babylon; the planks being laid during +the day and lifted again at night, for the security of the city.[3] The +principle of the arch appears never to have been employed in bridge +building. Ferries, and the taxes on crossing by them, are alluded to +down to a very late period amongst other sources of revenue.[4] + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR'S _Epitome_ and _Notes_, p. 72. Major Forbes says, +however, there is reason to believe that the remains of stone piers +across the Kalawa-oya, on the line between Kornegalle and Anarajapoora, +are the ruins of the bridge erected by King Maha Sen, A.D. 301.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxxv. UPHAM'S translation, pp. 340,349; +_Rajaratnacari_, pp. 104, 131. The bridge on the Wanny hereafter +described (see vol. ii p. 474) was thus constructed.] + +[Footnote 3: Herodotus, i. 186.] + +[Footnote 4: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxiii. pp. 136, 138, ch. xxv. p. 150; +_Rajaratnacari_, p. 112.] + +In forming the bunds of their reservoirs and of the stone dams which +they drew across the rivers that were to supply them with water, they +were accustomed, with incredible toil, infinitely increased by the +imperfection of tools and implements, to work a raised moulding in front +of the blocks of stone, so that each course was retained in position, +not alone by its own weight, but by the difficulty of forcing it forward +by pressure from behind. + +The conduits by which the accumulated waters were distributed, required +to be constructed under the bed of the lake, so that the egress should +be certain and equal[1], as long as any water remained in the tank. To +effect this, they were cut in many instances through solid granite; and +their ruins present singular illustrations of determined perseverance, +undeterred by the most discouraging difficulties, and unrelieved by the +slightest appliance of ingenuity to diminish the toil of excavation. + +[Footnote 1: The Lake of Albano presents an example of a conduit or +"emissary" of this peculiar construction to draw off the water. It is +upwards of 6000 feet in length. A similar emissary serves a like purpose +at Lake Nemi.] + +It cannot but exalt our opinion of a people, to find that, under +disadvantages so signal, they were capable of forming such a work as the +Kalaweva tank, between Anarajapoora and Dambool, which TURNOUR justly +says, is the greatest of the ancient works in Ceylon. This enormous +reservoir was forty miles in circumference, with an embankment twelve +miles in extent, and the spill-water, ineffectual for the purpose +designed, is "one of the most stupendous monuments of misapplied human +labour."[1] + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR'S _Mahawanso_, Index, p. xi. This stupendous work +was constructed A.D. 459. _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxviii. p. 256.] + +When to such inherent deficiencies were added the alarms of frequent +invasion and all the evils of almost incessant occupation by a foreign +enemy, it is only surprising that the Singhalese preserved so long the +degree of expertness in engineering to which they had originally +attained. No people in any age or country had so great practice and +experience in the construction of works for irrigation; and so far had +the renown of their excellence in this branch reached, that in the +eighth century, the king of Kashmir, Djaya-pida, "sent to Ceylon for +engineers to form a lake."[1] But after the reign of Prakrama I., the +decline was palpable and progressive. No great works, either of ornament +or utility, no temples nor inland lakes, were constructed by his +successors; and it is remarkable, that even during his own reign, +artificers were brought from the coast of India to repair the monuments +of Anarajapoora.[2] The last great work attempted for irrigation was +probably the Giant's Tank, north-east of Aripo; but so much had +practical science declined, that after an enormous expenditure of labour +in damming up the Moeselley river, whose waters were to have been +diverted to the lake, it was discovered that the levels were unsuitable, +and the work was abandoned in despair.[3] + +[Footnote 1: A.D. 745. _Rajataringini_, b. iv. sl. 502, 505.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, UPHAM'S transl., ch. lxxv. p. 294. This +passage in the _Mahawanso_ might seem to imply that it was as an act of +retribution that Malabars, by whom the monuments had been injured, were +compelled to restore them. But in ch. lxxvii. it is stated that they +were brought from India for this purpose, because it "had been found +impracticable by other kings to renew and repair them."--P. 305.] + +[Footnote 3: For an account of the present condition of the Giant's +Tank, see Vol. II. Part x. ch. ii.] + +The talents of the civil engineer were likewise employed in providing +for the health and comfort of their towns and the _Dipawanso_, a +chronicle earlier in point of date than the _Mahawanso_, relates that +Wasabha, who reigned between A.D. 66 and 110, constructed a tunnel +("um-maggo") for the purpose of supplying Anarajapoora with water.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng._ vol. vii. p. 933.] + + + + +CHAP. VII. + +THE FINE ARTS. + + +MUSIC.--The science and practice of the fine arts were never very highly +developed amongst a people whose domestic refinement became arrested at +a very early stage; and whose efforts in that direction were almost +wholly confined to the exaltation of the national faith, and the +embellishment of its temples and monuments. + +Their knowledge of music was derived from the Hindus, by whom its study +was regarded as of equal importance with that of medicine and astronomy; +and hence amongst the early Singhalese, along with the other "eighteen +sciences,"[1] music was taught as an essential part of the education of +a prince.[2] + +[Footnote 1: This fact is curious, seeing that at the present day the +cultivation of music belongs to one of the lowest castes in Ceylon.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxiv.; UPHAM'S version, p. 256. An +ingenious paper on _Singhalese Music_, by Mr. Louis Nell, is printed in +the _Journ._ of the Ceylon branch of the _Roy. Asiat. Soc._ for 1856-8; +p. 200.] + +But unlike the soft melodies of Hindustan, whose characteristic is their +gentle and soothing effect, the music of the Singhalese appears to have +consisted of sound rather than of harmony; modulation and expression +having been at all times subordinate to volume and metrical effect. + +Reverberating instruments were their earliest inventions for musical +purposes, and those most frequently alluded to in their chronicles are +drums, resembling the tom-toms used in the temples to the present day. +The same variety of form prevailed then as now, and the _Rajavali_ +relates, in speaking of the army of Dutugaimunu, that in its march, the +"rattling of the sixty-four kinds of drums made a noise resembling +thunder breaking on the rock from behind which the sun rises."[1] The +band of Devenipiatissa, B.C. 307, was called the _talawachara_, from the +multitude of drums[2]: chank-shells contributed to swell the din, both +in warfare[3] and in religious worship[4]; choristers added their +voices[5]; and the triumph of effect consisted in "the united crash of +every description, vocal as well as instrumental"[6] Although "a full +band" is explained in the _Mahawanso_ to imply a combination of "all +descriptions of musicians," no flutes or wind instruments are +particularised, and the incidental mention of a harp only occurs in the +reign of Dutugaimunu, B.C. 161.[7] JOINVILLE says, that certain musical +principles were acknowledged in Ceylon at an early period, and that +pieces are to be seen in some of the old Pali books in regular +notation; the gamut, which was termed _septa souere_, consisting of +seven notes, and expressed not by signs, but in letters equivalent to +their pronunciation, _sa, ri, ga, me, qa, de, ni._[8] At the present +day, harmony is still superseded by sound, the singing of the Singhalese +being a nasal whine, not unlike that of the Arabs. Flutes, almost +insusceptible of modulation, chanks, which give forth a piercing scream, +and the overpowering roll of tom-toms, constitute the music of the +temples; and all day long the women of a family will sit round a species +of timbrel, called _rabani_, and produce from it the most monotonous, +but to their ear, most agreeable noises, by drumming with the fingers. + +[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, pp. 217, 219. At the present day, there are +four or five varieties of drums in use:--the tom-tom or _tam-a-tom_, +properly so-called, which consists of two cylinders placed side by side, +and is beaten with two sticks;--the _daelle_, a single cylinder struck +with a stick at one end, and with the hand at the other,--the +_oudaelle_, which is held in the left hand, and struck with the +right;--and the _berri_, which is suspended from the beater's neck, and +struck with both hands, one at each end, precisely as a similar +instrument is shown in some of the Egyptian monuments. + +[Illustration: ANCIENT EGYPTIAN AND MODERN SINGHALESE TOM-TOM BEATERS.]] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xvii, p. 104.] + +[Footnote 3: B.C. 161. _Mahawanso_, ch. xxv, p. 154.] + +[Footnote 4: B.C. 20. _Rajavali_, p. 51.] + +[Footnote 5: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxv. p. 157.] + +[Footnote 6: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxvi. 186.] + +[Footnote 7: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxx. p. 180. The following passage in +UPHAM'S translation of the _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxii. vol. i. p. 274, would +convey the idea that the AEolian harp was meant, or some arrangement of +strings calculated to elicit similar sounds:--"The king Prakrama built a +palace at the city of Pollanarrua; and the stone works were carved in +the shape of flowers and creeping plants, _with golden networks which +gave harmonious sounds as if they were moved by the air_."] + +[Footnote 8: JOINVILLE, _Asiat. Researches_, vol. vii. p. 488.] + +_Painting_.--Painting, whether historical or imaginative, is only +mentioned in connection with the decoration of temples, and no examples +survive of sufficient antiquity to exhibit the actual state of the art +at any remote period. But enough is known of the trammels imposed upon +all art, to show that from the earliest times, imagination and invention +were prohibited by the priesthood; and although execution and facility +may have varied at different eras, design and composition were +stationary and unalterable. + +Like the priesthood of Egypt, those of Ceylon regulated the mode of +delineating the effigies of their divine teacher, by a rigid formulary, +with which they combined corresponding directions for the drawing of the +human figure in connection with sacred subjects. In the relics of +Egyptian painting and sculpture, we find "that the same formal outline, +the same attitudes and postures of the body, the same conventional modes +of representing the different parts, were adhered to at the latest, as +at the earliest periods. No improvements were admitted; no attempts to +copy nature or to give an air of action to the limbs. Certain rules and +certain models had been established by law, and the faulty conceptions +of early times were copied and perpetuated by every succeeding +artist."[1] + +[Footnote 1: SIR GARDNER WILKINSON'S _Ancient Egyptians_, vol. iii. ch. +x. p. 87, 264.] + +The same observations apply, almost in the same terms, to the paintings +of the Singhalese. The historical delineations of the exploits of Gotama +Buddha and of his disciples and attendants, which at the present day +cover the walls of the temples and wiharas, follow, with rigid +minuteness, pre-existing illustrations of the sacred narratives. They +appear to have been copied, with a devout adherence to colour, costume, +and detail, from designs which from time immemorial have represented the +same subjects; and emaciated ascetics, distorted devotees, beatified +simpletons, and malefactors in torment are depicted with a painful +fidelity, akin to modern pre-Raphaelitism. + +Owing to this discouragement of invention, one series of pictures is so +servile an imitation of another, that design has never improved in +Ceylon; one scene is but the facsimile of a previous one, and each may +almost be regarded as an exponent of the state of the art at any +preceding period.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The Egyptians and Singhalese were not, however, the only +authorities who overwhelmed invention by ecclesiastical conventionalism. +The early artists of Greece were not at liberty to follow the bent of +their own genius, or to depart from established regulations in +representing the figures of the gods. In the middle ages, the influence +of the churches, both of Rome and Byzantium, was productive of a similar +result; and although the Latins early emancipated themselves, the +painters of the Greek church, to the present hour, labour under the +identical trammels which crippled art at Constantinople a thousand years +ago. M. DIDRON, who visited the churches and monasteries of Greece in +1839, makes the remark that "ni le temps ni le lieu ne font rien a l'art +Grec: au XVIIIe siecle, le peintre Moreote continue et calque le peintre +Venetien du Xe, le peintre Athonite du Ve ou VIe. Le costume des +personnages est partout et en tout temps le meme, non-seulement pour la +forme, mais pour la couleur, mais pour le dessin, mais jusque pour le +nombre et l'epaisseur des plis. On ne saurait pousser plus loin +l'exactitude traditionnelle, l'esclavage du passe." _(Manuel d' +Iconographie Chretienne Grecque et Latin_, p. ix.) The explanation of +this fact is striking. Mount Athos is the grand manufactory of pictures +for the Greek churches throughout the world; and M. DIDRON found the +artists producing, with the servility and almost the rapidity of +machinery, endless facsimiles of pictures in rigid conformity with a +recognised code of instructions drawn up under ecclesiastical authority +and entitled [Greek: Ermeneia tes Zographikes], "The Guide for +Painting," a literal translation of which he has published. This very +curious manuscript contains minute directions for the figures, costume, +and attitude of the sacred characters, and for the preparation of many +hundreds of historical subjects required for the decoration of churches. +The artist, when solicited by M. Didron to sell "cette bible de son +art," naively refused, on the simple ground that "s'il se depouillait de +ce livre, il ne pourrait plus rien faire; en perdaut son Guide, il +perdait son art, il perdait ses yeux et ses mains" (_ib_. p. xxiii.). It +was not till the fifteenth century that the painters of Italy shook +themselves free of the authority of the Latin church in matters of art. +The second council of Nice arrogates to the Roman church the authority +in such matters still retained by the Greek; "non est imaginum structura +pictorum inventio sed ecclesiae catholicae probata legislatio et +traditio." In Spain, the sacro-pictorial law, under the title of _Pictor +Christianus_, was promulgated, in 1730, by Fray Juan de Ayala, a monk of +the order of Mercy; and such subjects are discussed as the shape of the +true cross; whether one or two angels should sit on the stone by the +sepulchre? and whether the Devil should be drawn with horns and a tail? +In the National Gallery of London there is a painting of the Holy Family +by Benozzo Gozzoli, and Sir Charles L. Eastlake has permitted me to see +a contract between the painter and his employer A.D. 1461, in which +every figure is literally "made to order," its attitude bespoke, and its +place in the composition distinctly agreed for. One clause, however, +contemplates progress, and binds the painter to make the piece his +chef-d'oeuvre--"che detta dipentura exceda ogni buona dipintura infino +aqui facto per detto Benozzo."] + +Hence even the most modern embellishments in the temples have an air of +remote antiquity. The colours are tempered with gum; and but for their +inferiority in drawing the human figure, as compared with the Egyptians, +and their defiance of the laws of perspective, their inharmonious tints, +coupled with the whiteness of the ground-work, would remind one of +similar peculiarities in the paintings in the Thebaid, and the caves of +Beni Hassan. + +Fa Hian describes in the fourth century precisely the same series of +subjects and designs which are delineated in the temples of the present +day, and taken from the transformation of Buddha. With hundreds of +these, he says, painted in appropriate colours and executed in imitation +of life, the king caused both sides of the road to be decorated on the +occasion of religious processions.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Foe Koue Ki_, ch. xxxviii. p. 335.] + +Amongst the most renowned of the Singhalese masters, was the King Detu +Tissa, A.D. 330, "a skilful carver, who executed many arduous +undertakings in painting, and taught it to his subjects. He modelled a +statue of Buddha so exquisitely that he seemed to have been inspired; +and for it he made an altar, and gilt an edifice inlaid with ivory."[1] +Among the presents sent by the King of Ceylon (A.D. 459) to the Emperor +of China, the _Tsih foo yuen kwei_, a chronicle compiled by imperial +command, particularises a picture of Buddha.[2] The colours employed in +decorating their temples are mixed in _tempera_, as were those used in +the ancient paintings in Egypt; the claim of the Singhalese to the +priority of invention in the mixture of colours with oil, is adverted to +elsewhere.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxvii. p. 242.] + +[Footnote 2: B. li. p. 7.] + +[Footnote 3: See the chapter on the Fine Arts, Vol. I. p. 490.] + +_Sculpture_.--In style Singhalese sculpture was even more conventional +and less imaginative than their painting; since the subjects to which it +was confined were almost exclusively statues of Buddha[1], and its +efforts were mere repetitions of the three orthodox attitudes of the +great archetype--_sitting_, as when in deep meditation, under the sacred +Bo-tree; _standing_, as when exhorting his multitudinous disciples; and +_reclining_, in the enjoyment of the everlasting repose of "nirwana." In +each and all of these the details are identical; the length of the ears, +the proportions of the arms, fingers, and toes; the colour of the eyes, +and the curls of the hair[2] being repeated with wearisome iteration. To +such an extent were these multiplied, and with an adherence so rigid to +the same recognised models, that the _Rajavali_ ventures to ascribe to +one king the erection of "seventy-two thousand statues of Buddha," an +obvious error[3], but indicative, nevertheless, that the real amount +must have been prodigious, in order to obtain credence for the +exaggeration. Many other sovereigns are extolled in the national annals, +who rendered their reigns illustrious by the multiplicity of statues +which they placed in the temples. It was doubtless from this incessant +study of one and the same figure, that the artists of Ceylon attained to +a facility and superiority in producing statues of Buddha, that rendered +them famous throughout the countries of Asia, in which his religion +prevailed. The early historians of China speak in raptures of works of +this kind, obtained from Singhalese sculptors in the fourth and fifth +centuries; they were eagerly sought after by all the surrounding +nations; and one peculiarity in their execution consisted in so treating +the features, that "on standing at about ten paces distant they appeared +truly brilliant, but the lineaments gradually disappeared on a nearer +approach."[4] + +[Footnote 1: Mention is made of a figure of an elephant (_Rajavali_, p. +242), and of a horse (_Mahawanso_, ch. xxxix. TURNOUR'S manuscript +translation), and a carved bull as amongst the ruins of Anarajapoora.] + +[Footnote 2: M. ABEL REMUSAT has devoted a section of his _Melanges +Asiatiques_, 1825; vol. i. p. 100, to combating the conjecture of Sir W. +JONES in his third Dissertation on the Hindus, drawn from the curled or +rather the woolly hair represented in his statues, that Buddha drew his +descent from an African origin. (_Works_, vol. i. p, 12.) Another ground +for Sir. W. JONES'S conjecture was the _large ears_ which are usually +characteristic of the statues of Buddha. But it is curious that one of +the peculiar features ascribed to the Singhalese by the early Greek +writers was the possession of pendulous ears, possibly occasioned by +their heavy ear-rings.] + +[Footnote 3: _Rajavali_, p. 255. Most of these were built of terra-cotta +and cement covered with chunam, preparatory to being painted. See p. +478.] + +[Footnote 4: _Wei shoo_, a "History of the Wei Tartar Dynasty," written +A.D. 590. B. cxiv. p. 9.] + +The labours of the sculptor and painter were combined in producing these +images of Buddha, which are always coloured in imitation of life, each +tint of his complexion and hair being in religious conformity with +divine authority, and the ceremony of "painting of the eyes,"[1] is +always observed by the devout Buddhists as a solemn festival. + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxii.; UPHAM'S version, vol. i. p. 275.] + +Many of the works which were thus executed were either golden[1] or +gilt, with brilliants inserted in the eyes, and the draperies enriched +with jewels.[2] Fa Hian in the fourth century, speaks of a figure of +Buddha upwards of twenty-three feet in height, formed out of blue +jasper, and set with precious stones, that sparkled with singular +splendour, and which bore in its right hand a pearl of priceless +value.[3] This may possibly have been the statue of which the +_Mahawanso_ speaks in like terms of admiration: "the eye formed by a +jewel from the royal head-dress, each curl of the hair by a sapphire, +and the lock in the centre of the forehead by threads of gold."[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxx. pp. 180, 182; _Rajaratnacari_, pp. +47, 48; _Rajavali_, p. 237.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxviii. p. 258.] + +[Footnote 3: "Parmi toutes les choses precieuses qu'on y voit, il y a +une image de jaspe bleu haute de deux _tchang_: tout son corps est forme +des sept choses precieuses; elle est etincellante de splendeur et plus +majestueuse qu'on ne saurait l'exprimer. Dans la main droite elle tient +une perle d'un prix inestimable."--_Foe Koue Ki_, ch. xxxviii. p. 333.] + +[Footnote 4: A.D. 459. _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxviii. p. 258. Another statue +of gold, with the features and members appropriately coloured in gems, +is spoken of in the second century B.C. (_Mahawanso_, ch. xxx. p. 180.)] + +Ivory also and sandal-wood[1], as well as copper and bronze, served as +materials for statues; but granite was the substance most generally +selected, except in the rare instances where the temple and the statue +together were hewn out of the living rock, on which occasions gneiss was +most generally selected. Such are the statues at Pollanarrua, at +Mihintala, and at the Aukana Wihara, near Wijittapoora. A still more +common expedient, which is employed to the present time, was to form the +figures of Buddha with pieces of burnt clay joined together by cement; +and coated with highly polished chunam, in order to prepare the surface +for the painter. In this manner were most probably produced the +"seventy-two thousand statues" ascribed to Mihindo V. + +[Footnote 1: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 72.] + +Figures of elephants were similarly formed at an early period.[1] An +image of Buddha so composed in the 12th century, is still standing at +Pollanarrua[2], and every temple has one or more effigies, either +sedent, erect, or recumbent, carefully modelled in cemented clay, and +coloured after life. + +[Footnote 1: A.D. 432. _Rajaratnacari_, p. 74.] + +[Footnote 2: Possibly the "standing figure of Buddha" mentioned in the +_Rajavali_, p. 253.] + +_Architecture_.--In Ceylon, as in Egypt, Assyria, and India, the ruins +which survive to attest the character of ancient architecture are +exclusively sacred, with the exception of occasional traces of the +residences of theocratic royalty; but everything has perished which +could have afforded an idea of the dwellings and domestic architecture +of the people. The cause of this is to be traced in the perishable +nature of the sun-dried clay, of which the walls of the latter were +composed. Added to this, in Ceylon there were the pride of rank and the +pretensions of the priesthood, which, whilst they led to lavish +expenditure of the wealth of the kingdom upon palaces and monuments, and +the employment of stone in the erection of temples[1] and monasteries, +forbade the people to construct their dwellings of any other material +than sun-baked earth.[2] This practice continued to the latest period; +and nothing struck the British army of occupation with more surprise on +entering the city of Kandy, after its capture in 1815, than to find the +palaces and temples alone constructed of stone, whilst the streets and +private houses were formed of mud and thatch. + +[Footnote 1: _Rajaratnacari_, pp. 78, 79.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajavali_, p. 222.] + +Though stone is abundant in Ceylon, it was but sparingly used in the +ancient buildings. Squared stones[1] were occasionally employed, but +large slabs seldom occur, except in the foundations of dagobas. The vast +quantity of material required for such structures, the cost of quarrying +and carriage, and the want of mechanical aids to raise ponderous blocks +into position, naturally led to the substitution of bricks for the upper +portion of the superstructure. + +[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, p. 210; VALENTYN, _Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien_, +ch. iii. p. 45.] + +There is evidence to show that wedges were employed in detaching the +blocks in the quarry, and the amount of labour devoted to the +preparation of those in which strength, irrespective of ornament, was +essential, is shown in the remains of the sixteen hundred undressed +pillars[1] which supported the Brazen Palace at Anarajapoora, and in the +eighteen hundred stone steps, many of them exceeding ten feet in length, +which led from the base of the mountain to the very summit of Mihintala. +A single piece of granite lies at Anarajapoora hollowed into an +"elephant trough," with ornamental pilasters, which measures ten feet in +length by six wide and two deep; and amongst the ruins of Pollanarrua a +still more remarkable slab, twenty-five feet in length by six broad and +two feet thick, bears an inscription of the twelfth century, which +records that it was brought from a distance of more than thirty miles. + +[Footnote 1: The _Rajavali_ states that these rough pillars were +originally covered with copper, p. 222.] + +The majority of the columns at Anarajapoora are of dressed stone, +octangular and of extremely graceful proportions. They were used in +profusion to form circular colonnades around the principal dagobas, and +the vast numbers which still remain upright, are one of the peculiar +characteristics of the place, and justify the expression of Knox, when, +speaking of similar groups elsewhere, he calls them a "world of hewn +stone pillars."[1] + +[Footnote 1: Knox, _Relation_, vol. v. pt. iv. ch. ii. p. 165.] + +[Illustration: COLUMN AT ANARAJAPOORA.] + +Allusions in the _Mahawanso_ show that extreme care was taken in the +preparation of bricks for the dagobas.[1] Major SKINNER, whose official +duties as engineer to the government have rendered him familiar with all +parts of Ceylon, assures me that the bricks in every ruin he has seen, +including the dagobas at Anarajapoora, Bintenne, and Pollanarrua, have +been fired with so much skill that exposure through successive centuries +has but slightly affected their sharpness and consistency. + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxviii. p. 165; ch. xxix. p. 169, &c.] + +The sand for mortar was "pounded, sifted, and ground on a +grinding-stone;"[1] the "cloud-coloured stones,"[2] used to form the +immediate receptacle in which a sacred relic was enclosed, were said to +have been imported from India; and the "nawanita" clay, in which these +were imbedded, was believed to have been brought from the mythical +Anotattho lake in the Himalayas.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxx. p. 175.] + +[Footnote 2: The "cloud-coloured stone" may possibly have been marble, +but no traces of marble have been found in the ruins. Diodorus, in +describing some of the monuments of Egypt alludes to a "party-coloured" +stone, [Greek: lithon poikilon], which likewise remains without +identification.--_Diodorus_, l. i. c. lvii.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxix. p. 169; ch. xxx. p. 179.] + +_Dagobas_.--The process of building the Ruanwelle dagoba is thus +minutely described in the _Mahawanso_: "That the structure might endure +for ages, a foundation was excavated to the depth of one hundred cubits, +and the round stones were trampled by enormous elephants, whose feet +were protected by leather cases. Over this the monarch spread the sacred +clay, and on it laid the bricks, and over them a coating of astringent +cement, above this a layer of sand-stones, and on all a plate of iron. +Over this was a large pholika (crystallised stone), then a plate of +brass, eight inches thick, embedded in a cement made of the gum of the +wood-apple tree, diluted in the water of the small red coco-nut."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxix. p. 169; ch. xxx. p. 178. The +internal structure of the Sanchi tope at Bilsah in Central India +presents the arrangement here described, _the bricks being laid in mud_, +but externally it is faced with dressed stone.] + +The shape of these huge mounds of masonry was originally hemispherical, +being that best calculated to prevent the growth of grass or other weeds +on objects so sacred. Dutugaimumi, according to the _Mahawanso_, when +about to build the Ruanwelle dagoba, consulted a mason as to the most +suitable form, who, "filling a golden dish with water, and taking some +in the palm of his hand, caused a bubble in the form of a coral bead to +rise on the surface; and he replied to the king, 'In this form will I +construct it.'"[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxx. p. 175. This legend as to the origin +of the semicircular form of the dagoba is at variance with the +conjecture of Major FORBES, that these vast structures were merely an +advance on the mounds of earth similar to the barrow of Halyattes, which +in the progress of the constructive arts, came to be converted into +brickwork.--_Eleven Years in Ceylon_, v. i. p. 222.] + +Two dagobas at Anarajapoora, the Abay-a-giri and Jeyta-wana-rama, still +retain their original outline,--the Ruanwelle, from age and decay, has +partly lost it,--and the Thupa-ramaya is flattened on the top as if +suddenly brought to a close, and the Lanka-ramaya is shaped like a bell. + +_Monasteries and Wiharas._--According to the annals of Ceylon the +construction of dwellings for the devotees of Buddha preceded the +erection of temples for his worship. Originally the anchorite selected a +cave or some shelter in the forest as his place of repose or +meditation.[1] In the _Rajavali_ Devenipiatissa is said to have "caused +caverns to be cut in the solid rock at the sacred place of +Mihintala;"[2] and these are the earliest residences for the higher +orders of the priesthood in Ceylon, of which a record has been +preserved. A less costly substitute was found in the erection of +detached huts of the rudest construction, in winch may be traced the +embryo of the Buddhist monastery; and the king Walagambahu was the +first, B.C. 89, to gather these scattered residences into groups and +"build wiharas in unbroken ranges, conceiving that thus their repairs +would be more easily effected."[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_ c. xxx. p. 174.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajavali_, p. 184.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiii. p. 207.] + +Simplicity and retirement were at all times the characteristics of these +retreats, which rarely aspired to architectural display; and the only +recorded instance of extravagance in this particular was the "Brazen +Palace" at Anarajapoora, with its sixteen hundred columns; an edifice +which, though nominally a dwelling for the priesthood, appears to have +been in reality a vast suite of halls for their assemblies and +festivals, and a sanctuary for the safe custody of their jewels and +treasure.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch, xxvii. p. 103. Like the "nine-storied" +pagodas of China, the palace of "the Lowa Maya Paya" was originally +_nine stories_ in height, and Fergusson, from the analogy of Buddhist +buildings in other countries, supposes that these diminished in +succession as the building arose, till the outline of the whole assumed +the form of a pyramid. _(Handbook of Architecture_, b. i. ch. iii. p. +44.) In this he is undoubtedly correct, and a building still existing, +though in ruins, at Pollanarrua, and known as the _Sat-mal-pasado_, or +the _"seven-storied palace_," probably built by Prakrama, about the year +1170, serves to support his conjecture. See a description of it, part x. +ch. i, vol. ii.] + +Allusions are occasionally made to other edifices more or less fantastic +in their design and structure, such as "an apartment built on a single +pillar,"[1] a "house of an octangular form," built in the 12th +century[2], and another of an "oval," shape[3], erected by Prakrama I. + +[Footnote 1: B.C. 504, _Mahawanso_, ch. ix, p. 56; ch. lxxii. UPHAM'S +version, p. 274.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 105.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxii, UPHAM'S version, p. 274.] + +_Palaces_.--The royal residences as they were first constructed, must +have consisted of very few chambers, since mention is made in the +_Mahawanso_ of the earliest, which contained "many apartments," having +been built by Pandukabhaya, B.C. 437.[1] But within two centuries +afterwards, Dutugaimunu conceived the magnificent idea of the Loha +Pasada, with its quadrangle one hundred cubits square, and a thousand +dormitories with ornamental windows.[2] This palace was in its turn +surpassed by the castle of Prakrama I. at Pollanarrua, which, according +to the _Mahawanso_, "was seven stories high, consisting of five thousand +rooms, lined with hundreds of stone columns, and outer halls of an oval +shape, with large and small gates, staircases, and glittering walls."[3] + +[Footnote 1: Ibid., ch. x. p. 66.] + +[Footnote 2: Ibid., ch. xxvii, p. 163.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxii. UPHAM'S version, p. 274.] + +In what now remains of these buildings at Anarajapoora, there is no +trace to be found of an arch, truly turned and secured by its keystone; +but at Pollanarrua there are several examples of the false arch, +produced by the progressive projection of the layers of brick.[1] + +[Footnote 1: FORBES'S _Eleven Years in Ceylon_, vol. i. ch. xvii. p. +414.] + +The finest specimens of ancient brickwork are to be seen amongst the +ruins of the latter city, where the material is compact and smooth, and +the edges sharp and unworn. The mortar shows the remains of the pearl +oyster-shells from which it was burnt, and the chunam with which the +walls were coated, still clings to some of the towers, and retains its +angularity and polish.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Expressions in the _Mahawanso_, ch. xxvii. p. 104, show +that as early as the 2nd century, B.C., the Singhalese were acquainted +with this beautiful cement, which is susceptible of a polish almost +equal to marble.] + +Of the details of external and internal decoration applied to these +buildings, descriptions are given which attest a perception of taste, +however distorted by the exaggerations of oriental design. "Gilded +tiles"[1] in their bright and sunny atmosphere, must have had a striking +effect, especially when surmounting walls decorated with beaded +mouldings, and festooned with "carvings in imitation of creeping plants +and flowers."[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, p. 73.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxii. p. 274.] + +_Carving in stone._--Carving appears to have been practised at a very +early period with singular success; but in later times it became so +deteriorated, that there is little difficulty at the present day, in +pronouncing on the superiority of the specimens remaining at +Anarajapoora, over those which are to be found amongst the ruins of the +later capitals, Pollanarrua, Yapahu, or Komegalle. The author of the +_Mahawanso_ dwells with obvious satisfaction on his descriptions of the +"stones covered with flowers and creeping plants."[1] Animals are +constantly introduced in the designs executed on stone, and a mythical +creature, called technically _makara-torana_, is conspicuous, especially +on doorways and balustrades, with the head of an elephant, the teeth of +a crocodile, the feet of a lion, and the tail of a fish. + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxii. p. 274, UPHAM'S version.] + +At the entrance to the great wihara, at Anarajapoora, there is now lying +on the ground a semi-circular slab of granite, the ornaments of which +are designed in excellent taste, and executed with singular skill; +elephants, lions, horses, and oxen, forming the outer border; that +within consisting of a row of the "hanza," or sacred goose; a bird that +is equally conspicuous on the vast tablet, one of the wonders of +Pollanarrua, before alluded to.[1] + +[Footnote 1: A sketch of this stone will be seen in the engraving of the +Sat-mal-prasada, in the account of Pollanarrua. Part I. ch. i. vol. ii.] + +Taken in connection with the proverbial contempt for the supposed +stolidity of the _goose_, there is something still unexplained in the +extraordinary honours paid to it by the ancients, and the veneration in +which it is held to the present day by some of the eastern nations. The +figure that occurs so frequently on Buddhist monuments, is the Brahmanee +goose (_casarka rutila_), which is not a native of Ceylon; but from time +immemorial has been an object of veneration there and in all parts of +India. Amongst the Buddhists especially, impressed as they are with the +solemn obligation of solitary retirement for meditation, the hanza has +attracted attention by its periodical migrations, which are supposed to +be directed to the holy Lake of Manasa, in the mythical regions of the +Himalaya. The poet Kalidas, in his _Cloud Messenger_, speaks of the +hanza as "eager to set out for the Sacred Lake." Hence, according to the +_Rajavali_, the lion was pre-eminent amongst beasts, "the _hanza_ was +king over all the feathered tribes."[1] In one of the Jatakas, which +contains the legend of Buddha's apotheosis, his hair, when suspended in +the sky, is described as resembling "the beautiful Kala hanza."[2] The +goose is, at the present day, the national emblem emblazoned on the +standard of Burmah, and the brass weights of the Burmese are generally +cut in the shape of the sacred bird, just as the Egyptians formed their +weights of stone after the same model.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, p. 149. The _Mahawanso_, ch. xxx. p. 179, also +speaks of the "_hanza_," as amongst the decorations chased on the stem +of a bo-tree, modelled in gold, which was deposited by Dutugaimunu when +building the Ruanwelle dagoba at Anarajapoora in the 2nd century before +Christ.] + +[Footnote 2: HARDY'S _Buddhism_, ch. vii p. 161.] + +[Footnote 3: See SYME'S _Embassy to Ava_, p. 330; YULE'S _Narrative of +the British Mission to Ava in 1855_, p. 110. I have seen a stone in the +form of a goose, found in the ruins of Nineveh, which appears to have +been used as a weight.] + +[Illustration: From the Burmese standard.] + +Augustine, in his _Civitas Dei_, traces the respect for the goose, +displayed by the Romans, to their gratitude for the safety of the +capital; when the vigilance of this bird defeated the midnight attack by +the Goths. The adulation of the citizens, he says, degenerated +afterwards almost to Egyptian superstition, in the rites instituted in +honour of their preservers on that occasion.[1] But the very fact that +the geese which saved the citadel were already sacred to Juno, and +domesticated in her temple, demonstrates the error of Augustine, and +shows that they had acquired mythological eminence, before achieving +political renown. It must be observed, too, that the birds which +rendered that memorable service, were the ordinary white geese of +Europe[2], and not the red goose of the Nile (the [Greek: chenalopex] of +Herodotus), which, ages before, had been enrolled amongst the animals +held sacred in Egypt, and which formed the emblem of Seb, the father of +Osiris.[3] HORAPOLLO, endeavouring to account for this predilection of +the Egyptians (who employed the goose hieroglyphically to denote _a +son_), ascribes it to their appreciation of the love evinced by it for +its offspring, in exposing itself to divert the attention of the fowler +from its young.[4] This opinion was shared by the Greeks and the Romans. +Aristotle praises its sagacity; AElian dilates on the courage and cunning +of the "vulpanser," and its singular attachment to man[5]; and Ovid +ranks the goose as superior to the dog in the scale of intelligence,-- + + "Soliciti canes canibusve sagacior anser." + OVID, _Met_. xi. 399. + +[Footnote 1: "And hereupon did Rome fall almost into the superstition of +the AEgyptians that worship birds and beasts, for they _henceforth_ kept +a holy day which they call the _goose's feast_."--AUGUSTINE, _Civitas +Dei, &c._ book ii. ch. 22: Englished by F.H. Icond. 1610.] + +[Footnote 2: This appears from a line of Lucretius: + + "Romulidarum arcis servator _candidus_ anser." + _De Rer. Nat._ I. iv. 687.] + +[Footnote 3: SIR GARDNER WILKINSON'S _Manners and Customs, &c._, 2nd +Ser. pl. 31, fig. 2, vol. i. p. 312; vol. ii. p. 227. Mr. Birch of the +British Museum informs me that throughout the ritual or hermetic books +of the ancient Egyptians a mystical notion is attached to the goose as +one of the creatures into which the dead had to undergo a +transmigration. That it was actually worshipped is attested by a +sepulchral tablet of the 26th dynasty, about 700 B.C., in which it is +figured standing on a small chapel over which are the hieroglyphic +words, "_The good goose greatly beloved;_" and on the lower part of the +tablet the dedicator makes an offering of fire and water to "_Ammon and +the Goose._"--_Revue Archaeo._, vol. ii. pl. 27.] + +[Footnote 4: HORAPOLLO, _Hieroglyphica_, lib. i. 23.] + +[Footnote 5: AELIAN, _Nat. Hist._, lib. v. c. 29, 30, 50. AElian says that +the Romans in recognition of the superior vigilance of the goose on the +occasion of the assault on the Capitol, instituted a procession in the +Forum in honour of the goose, whose watchfulness was incorruptible; but +held an annual denunciation of the inferior fidelity of the dogs, which +allowed themselves to be silenced by meat flung to them by the +Gauls.--_Nat. Hist._ lib. xii. ch. xxxiii.] + +The feeling appears to have spread westward at an early period; the +ancient Britons, according to Caesar, held it impious to eat the flesh of +the goose[1], and the followers of the first crusade which issued from +England, France, and Flanders, adored a goat and _a goose_, which they +believed to be filled by the Holy Spirit.[2] + +[Footnote 1: "Anserem gustare fas non patant."--CAESAR, _Bell Gall._, +lib. v. ch xii.] + +[Footnote 2: MILL'S _Hist. of the Crusades_, vol. i. ch. ii. p. 75. +Forster has suggested that it was a species of goose (which annually +migrates from the Black Sea towards the south) that fed the Israelites +in the desert of Sinai, and that the "winged fowls" meant by the word +_salu_, which has been heretofore translated "quails," were "red geese," +resembling those of Egypt and India. He renders one of the mysterious +inscriptions which abound in the Wady Mokatteb (_the Valley of +Writings_), "the red geese ascend from the sea,--lusting the people eat +to repletion;" thus presenting a striking concurrence with the passage +in Numb. xi. 31, "there went forth a wind from the Lord and brought +quails (_salu_) from the sea."--FORSTER'S _One Primeval Language_, vol. +i. p. 90.] + +It is remarkable that the same word appears to designate the goose in +the most remote quarters of the globe. The Pali term "_hanza_" by which +it was known to the Buddhists of Ceylon, is still the "_henza_" of the +Burmese and the "_gangsa_" of the Malays, and is to be traced in the +[Greek: "chen"] of the Greeks, the "_anser_" of the Romans, the +"_ganso_" of the Portuguese, the "_ansar_" of the Spaniards, the +"_gans_" of the Germans (who, PLINY says, called the white geese +_ganza_), the "_gas_" of the Swedes, and the "_gander_" of the +English.[1] + +[Footnote 1: HARDY observes that the ibis of the Nile is called +"_Abou-Hansa_" by the Arabs, (_Buddhism_, ch. i. p. 17); but BRUCE +(_Trav_. vol. v. p. 172) says the name is _Abou Hannes_ or _Father +John_, and that the bird always appears on St. John's day: he implies, +however, that this is probably a corruption of an ancient name now +lost.] + +In the principal apartment of the royal palace at Kandy, now the +official residence of the chief civil officer in charge of the province, +the sacred bird occurs amongst the decorations, but in such shape as to +resemble the dodo rather than the Brahmanee goose. + +[Illustration: IN THE PALACE AT KANDY] + +In the generality of the examples of ancient Singhalese carvings that +have come down to us, the characteristic which most strongly recommends +them, is their careful preservation of the outline and form of the +article decorated, notwithstanding the richness and profusion of the +ornaments applied. The subjects engraved are selected with so much +judgment, that whilst elaborately covering the surface, they in no +degree mar the configuration. Even in later times this principle has +been preserved, and the chasings in silver and tortoise shell on the +scabbards of the swords of state, worn by the Kandyan kings and their +attendants, are not surpassed by any specimens of similar workmanship in +India. + +_Temples_.--The temples of Buddha were at first as unpretending as the +residences of the priesthood. No mention is made of them during the +infancy of Buddhism in Ceylon; at which period caves and natural +grottoes were the only places of devotion. In the sacred books these are +spoken of as "stone houses"[1] to distinguish them from the "houses of +earth"[2] and other materials used in the construction of the first +buildings for the worship of Buddha; such temples having been originally +confined to a single chamber of the humblest dimensions, within which it +became the custom at a later period to place a statue of the divine +teacher reclining in dim seclusion, the gloom being increased to +heighten the scenic effect of the ever-burning lamps by which the +chambers are imperfectly lighted. + +[Footnote 1: The King, Walagambahu, who in his exile had been living +amongst the rocks in the wilderness, ascended the throne after defeating +the Malabars (B.C. 104), and "caused _the of stone or caves of the +rocks_ in which he had taken refuge to be made more +commodious."--_Rajavali_, p. 224.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajavali_, p. 222.] + +The construction of both these descriptions of temples was improved in +later times, but no examples remain of the ancient chaityas or built +temples in Ceylon, and those of the rock temples still existing exhibit +a very slight advance beyond the rudest attempts at excavation. + +On examining the cave temples of continental India, they appear to +exhibit three stages of progress,--first mere unadorned cells, like +those formed by Dasartha, the grandson of Asoca, in the granite rocks of +Behar, about B.C. 200; next oblong apartments with a verandah in front, +like that of Ganesa, at Cuttack; and lastly, ample halls with colonnades +separating the nave from the aisles, and embellished externally with +facades and agricultural decorations, such as the caves of Karli, +Ajunta, and Ellora.[1] But in Ceylon the earliest rock temples were +merely hollows beneath overhanging rocks, like those still existing at +Dambool, and the Aluwihara at Matelle, in both of which advantage has +been taken of the accidental shelter of rounded boulders, and an +entrance constructed by applying a facade of masonry, devoid of all +pretensions to ornament. + +[Footnote 1: See FERGUSSON'S _Illustrations of the Rock-cut Temples of +India_, Lond. 1845, and _Handbook of Architecture_, ch. ii. p. 23.] + +The utmost effort at excavation never appears to have advanced beyond +the second stage attained in Bengal,--a small cell with a few columns to +support a verandah in front; and even of this but very few examples now +exist in Ceylon, the most favourable being the Gal-wihara at +Pollanarrua, which, according to the _Rajavali_, was executed by +Prakrama I., in the 12th century.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxvii.] + +Taking into consideration the enthusiasm exhibited by the kings of +Ceylon, and the munificence displayed by them in the exaltation and +extension of Buddhism, their failure to emulate the labours of its +patrons in India, must be accounted for by the intractable nature of the +rocks with which they had to contend, the gneiss and quartz of Ceylon +being less favourable to such works than the sandstone of Cuttack, or +the trap formations of the western ghauts. + +_Oil-painting_.--In decorative art, carving and moulding in chunam were +the principal expedients resorted to. Of this substance were also formed +the "beads resplendent like gems;" the "flower-ornaments" resembling +gold; and the "festoons of pearls," that are more than once mentioned in +describing the interiors of the palaces.[1] Externally, painting was +applied to the dagobas alone, as in the climate of Ceylon, exposure to +the rains would have been fatal to the duration of the colours, if only +mixed in tempera; but the Singhalese, at a very early period, were aware +of the higher qualities possessed by some of the vegetable oils. The +claim of Van Eyck to the invention of oil-painting in the 15th century, +has been shown to be untenable. Sir Charles L. Eastlake[2] has adduced +the evidence of AEtius of Diarbekir, to prove that the use of oil in +connection with art[3] was known before the 6th century; and +Dioscorides, who wrote in the age of Augustus, has been hitherto +regarded as the most ancient authority on the drying properties of +walnut, sesamum, and poppy. But the _Mahawanso_ affords evidence of an +earlier knowledge, and records that in the 2nd century before Christ, +"vermilion paint mixed with tila oil,"[4] was employed in the building +of the Ruanwelle dagoba. This is, therefore, the earliest testimony +extant of the use of oil as a medium for painting, and till a higher +claimant appears, the distinction of the discovery may be permitted to +rest with the Singhalese. + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxvii, p. 163.] + +[Footnote 2: EASTLAKE'S _Materials for a History of Oil Painting_, ch. +i. p. 18.] + +[Footnote 3: Aetius [Greek: Biblion iatrikon.]] + +[Footnote 4: Tila or tala is the Singhalese name for sesamum from which +the natives express the gingeli oil. SIR CHARLES L. EASTLAKE is of +opinion that "sesamum cannot be called a drying oil in the ordinary +acceptation of the term," but in this passage of the _Mahawanso_, it is +mentioned as being used as a cement. A question has been raised in +favour of the claim of the Egyptians to the use of oil in the decoration +of their mummy cases, but the probability is that they were coloured in +tempera and their permanency afterwards secured by a _varnish_.] + +_Style of Ornament_.--In decorating the temporary tee, which was placed +on the Ruanwelle dagoba, prior to its completion, the square base was +painted with a design representing vases of flowers in the four panels, +surrounded by "ornaments radiating like the five fingers."[1] This +description points to the "honeysuckle border," which, according to +Fergusson, was adopted and carried westward by the Greeks, and eastward +by the Buddhist architects.[2] It appears upon the lat column at +Allahabad, which is inscribed with one of the edicts of Asoca, issued in +the 3rd century before Christ. + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxii. p. 193; ch. xxxviii. p. 258.] + +[Footnote 2: FERGUSSON'S _Handbook of Architecture_, vol. i. ch. ii. p. +7.] + +[Illustration: FROM THE CAPITAL OF A LAT] + +The spire itself was "painted with red stick-lac," probably the same +preparation of vermilion as is used at the present day on the lacquered +ware of Burmah, Siam, and China.[1] Gaudy colours appear at all times to +have been popular; yellow, from its religious associations, +pre-eminently so[2]; and red lead was applied to the exterior of +dagobas.[3] Bujas Raja, in the 4th century, painted the walls and roof +of the Brazen Palace blue[4], and built a sacred edifice at +Anarajapoora, which from the variety and brilliancy of the colours with +which he ornamented the exterior, was known as the Monara Paw Periwena, +or Temple of the Peacock.[5] + +[Footnote 1: A species of lacquer painting is practised with great +success at the present day in the Kandyan provinces, and especially at +Matelle, the colours being mixed with a resinous exudation collected +from a shrub called by the Singhalese Wael-koep-petya (_Croton +lacciferum_). The coloured varnish thus prepared is formed into films +and threads chiefly by aid of the thumb-nail of the left hand, which is +kept long and uncut for the purpose. It is then applied by heat and +polished. It is chiefly employed in ornamenting the covers of books, +walking-sticks, the shafts of spears, and the handles of fans for the +priesthood. The Burmese artists who make the japanned ware of Ava, _use +the hand_ in laying on the lacquer--which there, too, as well as in +China, is the produce of a tree, the _Melanorhoea glabra_ of Wallich.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 184.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiv. p. 212.] + +[Footnote 4: _Rajavali_, p. 291. The _blue_ used for this purpose was +probably a preparation of indigo; the red, vermilion; the yellow, +orpiment; and green was obtained by combining the first and last.] + +[Footnote 5: _Rajavali_, p. 73.] + + + + +CHAP. VIII. + +DOMESTIC LIFE. + + +CITIES.--_Anarajapoora_.--Striking evidences of the state of +civilisation in Ceylon are furnished by the descriptions given, both by +native writers and by travellers, of its cities as they appeared prior +to the 8th century of the Christian era. The municipal organisation of +Anarajapoora, in the reign of Pandukabhaya, B.C. 437, may be gathered +from the notices in the _Mahawanso_, of the "_naggaraguttiko_," who was +conservator of the city, of the "guards stationed in the suburbs," and +of the "chandalas," who acted as scavengers and carriers of corpses. As +a cemetery was attached to the city, interment must have frequently +taken place, and the _nichi-chandalas_ are specially named as the +"cemetery men;"[1] but the practice of cremation prevailed in the 2nd +century before Christ, and the body of Elala was burned on the spot +where he fell, B.C. 161.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. x. p. 65, 66.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., ch. xxv. p. 155.] + +The capital at that time contained the temples of numerous religions, +besides public gardens, and baths; to which were afterwards added, halls +for dancing and music, ambulance halls, rest-houses for travellers[1], +alms-houses[2], and hospitals[3]; in which animals, as well as men, were +tenderly cared for. The "corn of a thousand fields" was appropriated by +one king for their use[4]; another set aside rice to feed the squirrels +which frequented his garden[5]; and a third displayed his skill as a +surgeon, in treating the diseases of elephants, horses, and snakes.[6] +The streets contained shops and bazaars[7]; and on festive occasions, +barbers and dressers were stationed at each of the gates, for the +convenience of those resorting to the city.[8] + +[Footnote 1: These rest-houses, like the Choultries of India, were +constructed by private liberality along all the leading highways and +forest roads. "Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of +wayfaring men."--_Jer_. ix. 2.] + +[Footnote 2: Rock inscription at Pollanarrua, A.D. 1187.] + +[Footnote 3: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 39; _Mahawanso_, ch. x. p. 67; HARDY'S +_Eastern Monachism_, p. 485.] + +[Footnote 4: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxviii. UPHAM'S version, vol. i. p. 246.] + +[Footnote 5: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxvii. p. 249.] + +[Footnote 6: _Ibid_., p. 244, 245.] + +[Footnote 7: _Ibid_., ch. xxiii. p. 139.] + +[Footnote 8: _Ibid_., ch. xxviii. p. 170; ch. xxxix. p. 214.] + +The _Lankawistariyaye_, or "Ceylon Illustrated," a Singhalese work of +the 7th century, gives a geographical summary of the three great +divisions of the island, Rohuna, Maya, and Pihiti, and dwells with +obvious satisfaction on the description of the capital of that period. +The details correspond so exactly with another fragment of a native +author, quoted by Colonel Forbes[1], that both seem to have been written +at one and the same period; they each describe the "temples and palaces, +whose golden pinnacles glitter in the sky, the streets spanned by arches +bearing flags, the side ways strewn with black sand, and the middle +sprinkled with white, and on either side vessels containing flowers, and +niches with statues holding lamps. There are multitudes of men armed +with swords, and bows and arrows. Elephants, horses, carts, and myriads +of people pass and repass, jugglers, dancers, and musicians of all +nations, with chank shells and other instruments ornamented with gold. +The distance from the principal gate to the south gate, is four gows; +and the same from the north to the south gate. The principal streets are +Moon Street, Great King Street, Hinguruwak, and Mahawelli Streets,--the +first containing eleven thousand houses, many of them two stories in +height. The smaller streets are innumerable. The palace has large ranges +of buildings, some of them two and three stories high, and its +subterranean apartments are of great extent." + +[Footnote 1: _Eleven Years in Ceylon,_ vol. i. p. 235. But there is so +close a resemblance in each author to the description of the ancient +capital of the kings of Ayoudhya (Oude) that both seem to have been +copied from that portion of the Ramayana. See the passage quoted in Mrs. +Spier's _Life in Ancient India,_ ch. iv. p. 99.] + +The native descriptions of Anarajapoora, in the 7th century, are +corroborated by the testimony of the foreign travellers who visited it +about the same period. Fa Hian says, "The city is the residence of many +magistrates, grandees, and foreign merchants; the mansions beautiful, +the public buildings richly adorned, the streets and highways straight +and level, and houses for preaching built at every thoroughfare."[1] The +_Leang-shu,_ a Chinese history of the Leang Dynasty, written between +A.D. 507-509, describing the cities of Ceylon at that period, says, "The +houses had upper stories, the walls were built of brick, and secured by +double gates."[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Foe-Koue-k[)i],_ ch, xxxviii. p. 334.] + +[Footnote 2: _Leang-shu,_ B, liv. p. 10.] + +_Carriages and Horses._--Carriages[1] and chariots[2] are repeatedly +mentioned as being driven through the principal cities, and carts and +waggons were accustomed to traverse the interior of the country.[3] At +the same time, the frequent allusions to the clearing of roads through +the forests, on the approach of persons of distinction, serve to show +that the passage of wheel carriages must have been effected with +difficulty[4], along tracks prepared for the occasion, by freeing them +of the jungle and brushwood. The horse is not a native of Ceylon, and +those spoken of by the ancient writers must have been imported from +India and Arabia. White horses were especially prized, and those +mentioned with peculiar praises were of the "Sindhawo" breed, a term +which may either imply the place whence they were brought, or the +swiftness of their speed.[5] In battle the soldiers rode chargers[6], +and a passage in the _Mahawanso_ shows that they managed them by means +of a rope passed through the nostril, which served as a bridle.[7] +Cosmas Indicopleustes, who considered the number of horses in Ceylon in +the 6th century to be a fact of sufficient importance to be recorded, +adds that they were imported from Persia, and the merchants bringing +them were treated with special favour and encouragement, their ships +being exempted from all dues and charges. Marco Polo found the export of +horses from Aden and Ormus to India going on with activity in the 13th +century.[8] + +[Footnote 1: B.C. 307, _Mahawanso_, ch. xiv. p. 80, 81; B.C. 204, Ib., +ch. xxi. p. 128. A carriage drawn by four horses is mentioned, B.C. 161, +_Mahawanso_, ch. xxxi. p. 186.] + +[Footnote 2: B.C. 307, _Mahawanso_, ch, xv. p. 84; ch xvi. p. 103.] + +[Footnote 3: B.C. 161, "a merchant of Anarajapoora proceeded with carts +to the Malaya division near Adam's Peak to buy ginger and saffon" +(_Mahawanso_, ch. xxviii. p. 167); and in the 3rd century after Christ a +wheel chariot was driven from the capital to the Kalaweva tank twenty +miles N.W. of Dambool.--_Mahawanso_, ch. xxxviii. p. 260. See _ante_ +Vol. II. p. 445.] + +[Footnote 4: FORBES suggests that on such journeys the carriages must +have been pushed by men, as horses could not possibly have drawn them in +the hill country (vol. ii. p. 86).] + +[Footnote 5: _Sigham_, swift; _dhawa_, to run; _Mahawanso_, ch, xxiii. +p. 142,186.] + +[Footnote 6: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxii. p. 132; ch. xxiii. 142.] + +[Footnote 7: The Prince Dutugaimunu, when securing the mare which +afterwards carried him in the war against Elala, "seized her by the +throat and boring her nostril with the point of his sword, secured her +with his rope."--_Mahawanso_, ch. x. p. 60.] + +[Footnote 8: _Marco Polo_, ch. xx, s. ii,: ch. xl.] + +_Domestic Furniture._--Of the furniture of the private dwellings of the +Singhalese, such notices as have come down to us serve to show that +their intercourse with other Buddhist nations was not without its +influence on their domestic habits. Chairs[1], raised seats[2], +footstools[3], and metal lamps[4], were articles comparatively unknown +to the Hindus, and were obviously imitated by the Singhalese from the +East, from China, Siam, or Pegu.[5] The custom which prevails to the +present day of covering a chair with a white cloth, as an act of +courtesy in honour of a visitor, was observed with the same formalities +two thousand years ago[6]. Rich beds[7] and woollen carpets[8] were in +use at the same early period, and ivory was largely employed in inlaying +the more sumptuous articles.[9] Coco-nut shells were used for cups and +ladles[10]; earthenware for jugs and drinking cups[11]; copper for +water-pots, oil-cans, and other utensils; and iron for razors, needles, +and nail-cutters.[12] The _pingo_, formed of a lath cut from the stem of +the areca, or the young coco-nut palm, and still used as a yoke in +carrying burdens, existed at an early period[13], in the same form in +which it is borne at the present day. It is identical with the _asilla_ +an instrument for the same purpose depicted on works of Grecian art[14] +and on the monuments of Egypt. + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xiv. p. 80; ch. xv. p. 84; _Rajaratnacari_ +p. 134.] + +[Footnote 2: Ibid., ch. xiii. p. 82.] + +[Footnote 3: Ibid., xxvii. p. 164.] + +[Footnote 4: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxx. p. 182; ch. xxxii. p. 192.] + +[Footnote 5: _Asiatic Researches,_ vol. vi. p. 437. Chairs are shown on +the sculptures of Persepolis; and it is probably a remnant of Grecian +civilisation in Bactria that chairs are still used by the mountaineers +of Balkh and Bokhara.] + +[Footnote 6: B.C. 307, King Devenipiatissa caused a chair to be so +prepared for Mahindo.] + +[Footnote 7: _Mahawanso_, ch. xv. p. 84; ch. xxiii. p. 129. A four-post +bed is mentioned B.C. 180. _Mahawanso._ ch. xxiv. p. 148.] + +[Footnote 8: Ibid., ch. xiv. p. 82.] + +[Footnote 9: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxvii. p. 163.] + +[Footnote 10: _Ibid_., ch. xxvii. p. 104.] + +[Footnote 11: _Ibid_., ch. xv. p. 85.] + +[Footnote 12: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 134.] + +[Footnote 13: _Ibid.,_ p. 103. This implement is identical with the +"yoke" so often mentioned in the Old and New Testament as an emblem of +bondage and labour; and figured, with the same significance; on Grecian +sculpture gems. See _ante_. Vol. I. Pt. i ch iii. p. 114] + +[Footnote 14: ARISTOTLE, _Rhet_. i 7.] + +[Illustration: EGYPTIAN YOKE.] + +[Illustration: SINGHALESE PINGO.] + +_Form of Government_--The form of government was at all times an +unmitigated despotism; the king had ministers, but only to relieve him +of personal toil, and the institution of Gam-sabes, or village +municipalities, which existed in every hamlet, however small, was merely +a miniature council of the peasants, in which they settled all disputes +about descent and proprietorship, and maintained the organisation +essential to their peculiar tillage; facilitating at the same time the +payment of dues to the crown, both in taxes and labour. + +_Revenue_.--The main sources of revenue were taxes, both on the land and +its produce; and these were avowedly so oppressive in amount, that the +merit of having reduced or suspended their assessment, was thought +worthy of being engraved on rocks by the sovereigns who could claim it. +In the inscription at the temple of Dambool, A.D. 1187, the king boasts +of having "enriched the inhabitants who had become impoverished by +inordinate taxes, and made them opulent by gifts of land, cattle, and +slaves, by relinquishing the revenues for five years, and restoring +inheritances, and by annual donations of five times the weight of the +king's person in gold, precious stones, pearls, and silver; and from an +earnest wish that succeeding kings should not again impoverish the +inhabitants of Ceylon by levying excessive imposts, he fixed the revenue +at a moderate amount, according to the fertility of the land."[1] + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR's _Epitome_ App. p. 95; _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiv. p. +211] + +There was likewise an imperial tax upon produce, originally a tenth, but +subject to frequent variation.[1] For instance, in consideration of the +ill-requited toil of felling the forest land. In order to take a crop of +dry grain, the soil being unequal to sustain continued cultivation, the +same king seeing that "those who laboured with the bill-hook In clearing +thorny jungles, earned their livelihood distressfully," ordained that +this _chena_ cultivation, as it is called, should be for ever exempted +from taxation. + +[Footnote 1: Rock inscription at Pollanarrua, A.D. 1187.] + +_Army and Navy._--The military and naval forces of Ceylon were chiefly +composed of foreigners. The genius of the native population was at all +times averse to arms; from the earliest ages, the soldiers employed by +the crown were mercenaries, and to this peculiarity may be traced the +first encouragement given to the invasion of the Malabars. These were +employed both on land and by sea In the third century before Christ[1]; +and it was not till the eleventh century of our era, that a marine was +organised for the defence of the coast.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxi. p. 127.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., ch. xxxix.; TURNOUR'S MS. Transl. p. 269.] + +The mode of raising a national force to make war against the invaders, +is described in the _Mahawanso[1];_ the king issuing commands to ten +warriors to enlist each ten men, and each of this hundred in turn to +enrol ten more, and each of the new levy, ten others, till "the whole +company embodied were eleven thousand one hundred and ten." + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid_., ch. xxiii. p. 144.] + +The troops usually consisted of four classes: the "riders on elephants, +the cavalry, then those in chariots, and the foot soldiers,"[1] and this +organisation continued till the twelfth century.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, p. 208, The use of elephants in war is +frequently adverted to in the _Mahawamso_, ch. xxv. p. 151-155, &c.] + +[Footnote 2: See the inscription on the tablet at Pollanarrua, A.D. +1187.] + +Their arms were "the five weapons of war," swords, spears, javelins, +bows, and arrows, and a rope with a noose, running in a metal ring +called _narachana._[1] The archers were the main strength of the army, +and their skill and dexterity are subjects of frequent eulogium.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch, vii 48; ch. xxv p. 155.] + +[Footnote 2: One of the chiefs in the army of Dutugaimunu, B.C. 160, is +described as combining all the excellences of the craft, being at once a +"sound archer," who shot by ear, when his object was out of sight; "a +lightning archer," whose arrow was as rapid as a thunderbolt; and a +"sand-archer," who could send the shaft through a cart filled with sand +and through hides "an hundred-fold thick."--_Mahawanso,_ ch. xxiii. p. +143. In one of the legends connected with the early life of Gotama, +before he attained the exaltation of Buddhahood, he is represented as +displaying his strength by taking "a bow which required a thousand men +to bend it, and placing it against the toe of his right foot without +standing up, he drew the string with his finger-nail."--HARDY'S _Manual +of Buddhism,_ ch. vii. p. 153. It is remarkable that at the present day +this is the attitude assumed by a Veddah, when anxious to send an arrow +with more than ordinary force. The following sketch is from a model in +ebony executed by a native carver. + +[Illustration: VEDDAH DRAWING HIS BOW] + +I am not aware that examples of this mode of drawing the bow are to be +found on any ancient monument, Egyptian, Assyrian, Grecian, or Roman; +but that it was regarded as peculiar to the inhabitants of India is +shown by the fact that ARRIAN describes it as something remarkable in +the Indians in the age of Alexander. "[Greek: Hoplisios de tes Indon ouk +houtos eis tropos, all oi men pezoi autoisi toxon te echousin, isomekes +tps phoreonti to toxon, kai touto kato epi ten gen thentes kai tps podi +tps aristerps antibantes, outos ektoxeuousi, ten neuren epi mega opiso +apagagontes."--ARRIAN, _Indica_, lib, xvi. Arrian adds that such was the +force with which their arrows travelled that no substance was strong +enough to resist them, neither shield, breast-plate, nor armour, all of +which they penetrated. In the account of Brazil, by Kidder and Fletcher, +Philad. 1850, p. 558, the Indians of the Amazon are said to draw the bow +with the foot, and a figure is given of a Caboclo archer in the +attitude; but, unlike the Veddah of Ceylon, the American uses both +feet.] + +The _Rajaratnacari_ states that the arrows of the Malabars were +sometimes "drenched with the poison of serpents," to render recovery +impossible.[1] Against such weapons the Singhalese carried shields, some +of them covered with plates of the chank shell[2]; this shell was also +sounded in lieu of a trumpet[3], and the disgrace of retreat is implied +by the expression that it ill becomes a soldier to "_allow his hair to +fly behind_."[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 101.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajavali_, p. 217.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxv. p. 154.] + +[Footnote 4: _Rajavali_, p. 213.] + +_Civil Justice_.--Civil justice was entrusted to provincial judges[1]; +but the King Kirti Nissanga, in the great tablet inscribed with his +exploits, which still exists at Pollanarrua, has recorded that under the +belief that "robbers commit their crimes through hunger for wealth, he +gave them whatever riches they required, thus relieving the country from +the alarm of their depredations."[2] Torture was originally recognised +as a stage in the administration of the law, and in the original +organisation of the capital in the fourth century before Christ, a place +for its infliction was established adjoining the place of execution and +the cemetery.[3] It was abolished in the third century by King +Wairatissa; but the frightful punishments of impaling and crushing by +elephants continued to the latest period of the Ceylon monarchy. + +[Footnote 1: Inscriptions on the Great Tablet at Pollanarrua.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. x. p.] + + + + +CHAP. IX. + +ASTRONOMY, ETC. + + +EDUCATION.--The Brahmans, as they were the first to introduce the +practice of the mechanical arts, were also the earliest instructors of +youth in the rudiments of general knowledge. Pandukabhaya, who was +afterwards king, was "educated in every accomplishment by Pandulo, a +Brahman, who taught him along with his own son."[1] The Buddhist priests +became afterwards the national instructors, and a passage in the +_Rajavali_ seems to imply that writing was regarded as one of the +distinctive accomplishments of the priesthood, not often possessed by +the laity, as it mentions that the brother of the king of Kalany, in the +second century before Christ, had been taught to write by a tirunansi, +"and made such progress that he could write as well as the tirunansi +himself."[2] The story in the _Rajavali_ of an intrigue which was +discovered by "the sound of the fall of a letter," shows that the +material then in use in the second century before Christ, was the same +as at the present day, the prepared leaf of a palm tree.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. x. p. 60.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajavali_, p. 189.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid._] + +The most popular sovereigns were likewise the most sedulous patrons of +learning. Prakrama I. founded schools at Pollanarrua[1]; and it is +mentioned with due praise in the _Rajaratnacari_, that the King Wijayo +Bahu III., who reigned at Dambeadinia, A.D. 1240, "established a school +in every village, and charged the priests who superintended them to take +nothing from the pupils, promising that he himself would reward them for +their trouble."[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxii. UPHAM'S version, vol. i. p. 274.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajaratnacari_, p. 99.] + +Amongst the propagators of a religion whose leading characteristics are +its subtlety and thin abstractions, it may naturally be inferred that +argument and casuistry held prominent place in the curriculum of +instruction. In the story of Mahindo, and the conversion of the island +to Buddhism, the following display of logical acumen is ostentatiously +paraded as evidence of the highly cultivated intellect of the neophyte +king.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xiv. p. 79.] + +For the purpose of ascertaining the capacity of the gifted monarch, +Mahindo thus interrogated him:-- + +"O king; what is this tree called? + +"The Ambo. + +"Besides this one, is there any other Ambo-tree? + +"There are many. + +"Besides this Ambo, and those other Ambo-trees, are there any other +trees on the earth? + +"Lord; there are many trees, but they are not Ambo-trees. + +"Besides the other Ambo-trees, and the trees that are not Ambo, is there +any other? + +"Gracious Lord, _this Ambo-tree._ + +"Ruler of men, thou art wise! + +"Hast thou any relations, oh, king? + +"Lord, I have many. + +"King, are there any persons not thy relations? + +"There are many who are not my relations. + +"Besides thy relations, and those who are not thy relations, is there, +or is there not, any other human being in existence? + +"Lord, _there is myself._ + +"Ruler of men, Sadhu! thou art wise." + +The course of education suitable for a prince in the thirteenth century +included what was technically termed the eighteen sciences: "1. oratory, +2. general knowledge, 3. grammar, 4. poetry, 5. languages, 6. astronomy, +7. the art of giving counsel, 8. the means of attaining _nirwana_[1], 9. +the discrimination of good and evil, 10. shooting with the bow, 11. +management of the elephant, 12. penetration of thoughts, 13. discernment +of invisible beings, 14. etymology, 15. history, 16. law, 17. rhetoric, +18. physic."[2] + +[Footnote 1: "Nirwana" is the state of suspended sensation, which +constitutes the eternal bliss of the Buddhist in a future state.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajaratnacari_ p. 100.] + +_Astronomy_.--Although the Singhalese derived from the Hindus their +acquaintance, such as it was, with the heavenly bodies and their +movements, together with their method of taking observations, and +calculating eclipses[1], yet in this list the term "astrology" would +describe better than "astronomy" the science practically cultivated in +Ceylon, which then, as now, had its professors in every village to +construct horoscopes, and cast the nativities of the peasantry. +Dutugaimunu, in the second century before Christ, after his victory over +Elala, commended himself to his new subjects by his fatherly care in +providing "a doctor, an astronomer, and a priest, for each group of +sixteen villages throughout the kingdom;"[2] and he availed himself of +the services of the astrologer to name the proper day of the moon on +which to lay the foundation of his great religious structures.[3] + +[Footnote 1: A summary of the knowledge possessed by the early Hindus of +_astronomy_ and _mathematical science_ will be found in MOUNTSTUART +ELPHINSTONE'S _History of India during the Hindu and Mahomedan Periods_, +book iii. ch. i. p. 127.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajaratnacari_ p. 40.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxix. p. 169-173.] + +King Bujas Raja, A.D. 339, increased his claim to popular acknowledgment +by adding "an astrologer, a devil-dancer, and a preacher."[1] At the +present day the astronomical treatises possessed by the Singhalese are, +generally speaking, borrowed, but with considerable variation, from the +Sanskrit.[2] + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 27.] + +[Footnote 2: HARDY'S _Buddhism_, ch. i. p. 22.] + +_Medicine_.--Another branch of royal education was medicine. The +Singhalese, from their intercourse with the Hindus, had ample +opportunities for acquiring a knowledge of this art, which was practised +in India before it was known either in Persia or Arabia; and there is +reason to believe that the distinction of having been the discoverers of +chemistry which has been so long awarded to the Arabs, might with +greater justice have been claimed for the Hindus. In point of antiquity +the works of Charak and Susruta on Surgery and Materia Medica, belong to +a period long anterior to Greber, and the earliest writers of Arabia; +and served as authorities both for them and the Mediaeval Greeks.[1] Such +was their celebrity that two Hindu physicians, Manek and Saleh, lived at +Bagdad in the eighth century, at the court of Haroun al Raschid.[2] + +[Footnote 1: See Dr. ROYLE'S _Essay on the Antiquity of Hindu Medicine_, +p. 64.] + +[Footnote 2: Professor Dietz, quoted by Dr. ROYLE.] + +One of the edicts of Asoca engraved on the second tablet at Girnar, +relates to the establishment of a system of medical administration +throughout his dominions, "as well as in the parts occupied by the +faithful race as far as Tambaparni (Ceylon), both medical aid for men, +and medical aid for animals, together with medicaments of all sorts, +suitable for animals and men."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Journal Asiat. Soc. Bengal_, vol. vii. part. i. p. 159.] + +These injunctions of the Buddhist sovereign of Magadha were religiously +observed by many of the Ceylon kings. In the "register of deeds of +piety" in which Dutugaimunu, in the second century before Christ, caused +to be enrolled the numerous proofs of his devotion to the welfare of his +subjects, it was recorded that the king had "maintained at eighteen +different places, hospitals provided with suitable diet and medicines +prepared by medical practitioners for the infirm."[1] In the second +century of the Christian era, a physician and a surgeon were borne on +the establishments of the great monasteries[2], and even some of the +sovereigns acquired renown by the study and practice of physic. On Bujas +Raja, who became king of Ceylon, A.D. 339, the _Mahawanso_ pronounces +the eulogium, that he "patronised the virtuous, discountenanced the +wicked, rendered the indigent happy, and comforted the diseased by +providing medical relief."[3] He was the author of a work on Surgery, +which is still held in repute by his countrymen; he built hospitals for +the sick and asylums for the maimed, and the benefit of his science and +skill was not confined to his subjects alone, but was equally extended +to the relief of the lower animals, elephants, horses, and other +suffering creatures. + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxii. p. 196.] + +[Footnote 2: Rock inscription at Mihintala, A.D. 262.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxvii. p. 242-245.] + +_Botany._--The fact that the basis of their _Materia Medica_ has been +chiefly derived from the vegetable kingdom, coupled with the +circumstance that their clothing and food were both drawn from the same +source, may have served to give to the Singhalese an early and intimate +knowledge of plants. It was at one time believed that they were likewise +possessed of a complete and general botanical arrangement; but MOON, +whose attention was closely directed to this subject, failed to discover +any trace of a system; and came to the conclusion that, although well +aware of the various parts of a flower, and their apparent uses, they +have never applied that knowledge to a distribution of plants by classes +or orders.[1] + +[Footnote 1: MOON'S _Catalogue of Indigenous and Exotic Plants growing +in Ceylon._ 4to. Colombo, 1824, p. 2.] + +_Geometry._--The invention of geometry has been ascribed to the +Egyptians, who were annually obliged to ascertain the extent to which +their lands had been affected by the inundations of the Nile, and to +renew the obliterated boundaries. A similar necessity led to like +proficiency amongst the people of India and Ceylon, the minute +subdivision of whose lands under their system of irrigation necessitated +frequent calculations for the definition of limits and the division of +the crops.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The "_Suriya Sidhanta,_" generally assigned to the fifth or +sixth century, contains a system of Hindu trigonometry, which not only +goes beyond anything known to the Greeks, but involves theorems that +were not discovered in Europe till the sixteenth century.--MOUNT-STUART +ELPHINSTONE'S _India,_ b. iii. ch. i. p. 129.] + +_Lightning Conductors._--In connection with physical science, a curious +passage occurs in the _Mahawanso_ which gives rise to a conjecture that +early in the third century after Christ, the Singhalese had some dim +idea of the electrical nature of lightning, and a belief, however +erroneous, of the possibility of protecting their buildings by means of +conductors. + +The notices contained in THEOPHRASTUS and PLINY show that the Greeks and +the Romans were aware of the quality of attraction exhibited by amber +and tourmaline.[1] The Etruscans, according to the early annalists of +Borne, possessed the power of invoking and compelling thunder storms.[2] +Numa Pompilius would appear to have anticipated Franklin by drawing +lightning from the clouds; and Tullus Hostilius, his successor, was +killed by an explosion, whilst attempting unskilfully the same +experiment.[3] + +[Footnote 1: The electrical substances "lyncurium" and "theamedes" have +each been conjectured to be the "tourmaline" which, is found in Ceylon.] + +[Footnote 2: "Vel cogi fulmina vel impetrari." --PLINY, _Nat. Hist._ +lib. ii. ch. lii.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_. There is an interesting paper on the subject of the +knowledge of electricity possessed by the ancients, by Dr. FALCONER in +the _Memoirs of the Manchester Philosophical Society,_ A.D. 1788, vol. +iii. p. 279.] + +CTESIAS, a contemporary of Xenophon, spent much of his life in Persia, +and says that he twice saw the king demonstrate the efficacy of an iron +sword planted in the ground in dispersing clouds, hail, and +lightning[1]; and the knowledge of conduction is implied by an +expression of LUCAN, who makes Aruns, the Etrurian flamen, concentrate +the flashes of lightning and direct them beneath the surface of the +earth:-- + + "dispersos fulminus ignes + Colligit, et terrae maesto cum murmure cendit." + _Phars_. lib. i. v. 606. + +[Footnote 1: PHOTIUS, who has preserved the fragment (_Bibl._ lxxii.), +after quoting the story of CTESIAS as to the iron it question being +found in a mysterious Indian lake, adds, regarding the sword, [Greek: +"phesi oe peri autou hoti pegnimenos en te ge nephous kai chalazes kai +presteron estin apotropaios. Kai idein auton tauta phesi Basileos dis +poiesantos."] See BAEHR'S _C'tesiae Reliquiae,_ &c., p. 248, 271.] + +There is scarcely an indication in any work that has come down to us +from the first to the fifteenth century, that the knowledge of such +phenomena survived in the western world; but the books of the Singhalese +contain allusions which demonstrate that in the _third_ and in the +_fifth_ century it was the practice in Ceylon to apply mechanical +devices with the hope of securing edifices from lightning. + +The most remarkable of these passages occurs in connection with the +following subject. It will be remembered that Dutugaimunu, by whom the +great dagoba, known as the Ruanwelle, was built at Anarajapoora, died +during the progress of the work, B.C. 137, the completion of which he +entrusted to his brother and successor Saidaitissa.[1] The latest act of +the dying king was to form "the square capital on which the spire was +afterwards to be placed[2], and on each side of this there was a +representation of the sun."[3] The _Mahawanso_ states briefly, that in +obedience to his brother's wishes, Saidaitissa "completed the +pinnacle,"[4] for which the square capital before alluded to served as a +base; but the _Dipawanso_, a chronicle older than the _Mahawanso_ by a +century and a half, gives a minute account of this stage of the work, +and says that this pinnacle, which he erected between the years 137 and +119 before Christ, was formed _of glass_.[5] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxii. p. 198. See _ante_, Vol. I. Pt. +III. ch. v. p. 358.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, ch. xxxi. p. 192.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid._, ch. xxxii. p. 193.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid._, ch. xxxiii. p. 200.] + +[Footnote 5: "Karapesi _khara-pindun_ maha thupe varuttame." For this +reference to the _Dipawano_ I am indebted to Mr. DE ALWIS of Colombo.] + +A subsequent king, Amanda, A.D. 20, fixed a chatta (in imitation of the +white umbrella which is emblematic of royalty) on the spire[1], and two +centuries later, Sanghatissa, who reigned A.D. 234 to 246, "caused this +chatta to be gilt, and set four gems in the centre of the four emblems +of the sun, each of which cost a lac."[2] And now follows the passage +which is interesting from its reference, however obscure, to the +electrical nature of lightning. The _Mahawanso_ continues: "he in like +manner placed a glass pinnacle on the spire _to serve as a protection +against lightning_."[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxv. p. 215.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid._, ch. xxxvi. p. 229.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid._, ch. xxxvi. p. 229. This belief in the power of +averting lightning by mechanical means, prevailed on the continent of +India as well as in Ceylon, and one of the early Bengalese histories of +the temple of Juggernauth, written between the years A.D. 470 and A.D. +520, says that when the building was completed, "a _neclchukro_ was +placed at the top of the temple to prevent the falling of thunderbolts." +In an account of the modern temple which replaced this ancient +structure, it is stated that "it bore a loadstone at the top, which, as +it drew vessels to land, was seized and carried off two centuries ago by +sailors."--_Asiat. Res._ vol. xv. p. 327.] + +The term "wajira-chumbatan" in the original Pali, which TURNOUR has here +rendered "a glass pinnacle," ought to be translated "a diamond hoop," +both in this passage and also in another in the same book in which it +occurs.[1] The form assumed by the upper portion of the dagoba would +therefore resemble the annexed sketch. + +[Footnote 1: In describing the events in the reign of Dhaatu-Sena, the +king at whose instance and during whose reign the _Mahawanso_ was written +by his uncle Mahanamo, between the years A.D. 459, 477, the author, who +was contemporary with the occurrence he relates, says, that "at the +three principal chetyos (dagobas) he made a golden chatta and a diamond +hoop (_wajira-chumbaton_) for each."--_Mahawanso_, ch. xxxviii. p. 259. +Similar instances of gems being attached to the chattas of dagobas are +recorded in the same work, ch. xlii. and elsewhere. + +The original passage relative to the diamond hoop placed by Sanghatissa +runs thus in Pali, "Wisun satasahassagghe chaturocha mahamanin majjhe +chatunnan suriyanan thapapesi mahipati; _thupassa muddhani tatha anaggha +wajira-chumbatan_," which Mr. DE ALWIS translates: "The king caused to +be set four gems, each of the value of a lac, in the centre of the four +emblems of the sun, _and likewise an invaluable adamantine_ (or diamond) +_ring on the top of the thupa._" Some difficulty existed in TURNOUR'S +mind as to the rendering to be given to these two last words +"_wajira-chumbatan_." Prof. H.H. WILSON, to whom I have submitted the +sentence, says, "_Wajira_ is either 'diamond,' or 'adamant,' or 'the +thunderbolt of Indra;'" and with him the most leaned Pali scholars in +Ceylon entirely concur; De Saram, the Maha-Moodliar of the Governor's +Gate, the Rev. Mr. Gogerly, Mr. De Alwis, Pepole the Hight Priest of the +Asgiria (who was TURNOUR'S instructor in Pali), Wattegamine Unnanse of +Kandy, Bulletgamone Unnanse of Galle, Batuwantudawe, of Colombo, and De +Soyza, the translator Moodliar to the Colonial Secretary's Office. Mr. +DE ALWIS says, "The epithet _anagghan_, 'invaluable' or 'priceless,' +immediately preceding and qualifying _wajira_ in the original (but +omitted by Turnour in the translation), shows that a substance far more +valuable than glass must have been meant." "_Chumbatan_," Prof. Wilson +supposed to be the Pali equivalent to the Sanskrit _chumbakam_, "the +kisser or attractor of steel;" the question he says is whether _wajira_ +is to be considered an adjective or part of a compound substantive, +whether the phrase is a _diamond-magnet pinnacle_, or _conductor_, or a +_conductor_ or _attractor of the thunderbolt_. In the latter case it +would intimate that the Singhalese had a notion of lightning conductors, +Mr. DE ALWIS, however, and Mr. GOGERLY agree that chumba_ka_ is the same +both in Sanskrit and Pali, whilst chumba_ta_ is a Pali compound, which +means a _circular prop_ or _support, a ring_ on which something rests, +or _a roll of cloth_ formed into a circle to form a stand for a vessel; +so that the term must be construed to mean _a diamond_ circlet, and the +passage, transposing the order of the words, will read literally thus: + + thapapesi tatha muddhani thupassa + he placed in like manner on the top of the thupo + + anagghan wajira-chumbatan. + a valuable diamond hoop. + +TURNOUR wrote his translation whilst residing at Kandy and with the aid +of the priests, who being ignorant of English could only assist him to +Singhalese equivalents for Pali words. Hence he was probably led into +the mistake of confounding _wajira_, which signifies "diamond," or an +instrument for cutting diamonds, with the modern word _widura_, which +bears the same import but is colloquially used by the Kandyans for +"glass." However, as glass as well as the diamond is an insulator of +electricity, the force of the passage would be in no degree altered +whichever of the two substances was really particularised. TURNOUR was +equally uncertain as to the meaning of _chumbatan_, which in one +instance he has translated a "pinnacle" and in the other he has left +without any English equivalent, simply calling "wajira-chumbatan" a +"chumbatan of glass."--_Mahawanso_, ch. xxxviii. p. 259.] + +[Illustration: + + A. Crown of the Dagoba. + B. The capital, with the sun on each of the four sides. + C. The spire. + D. The umbrella or chatta, gilt and surrounded + by "chumbatan," a diamond circlet.] + +The chief interest of the story centres in the words "_to serve as a +protection against lightning_," which do not belong to the metrical text +of the _Mahawanso_, but are taken from the explanatory notes appended to +it. I have stated elsewhere, that it was the practice of authors who +wrote in Pali verse, to attach to the text a commentary in prose, in +order to illustrate the obscurities incident to the obligations of +rhythm. In this instance, the historian, who was the kinsman and +intimate friend of the king, by whose order the glass pinnacle was +raised in the fifth century, probably felt that the stanza descriptive +of the placing of the first of those costly instruments in the reign of +Sanghatissa, required some elucidation, and therefore inserted a passage +in the "tika," by which his poem was accompanied, to explain that the +motive of its erection was "_for the purpose of averting the dangers of +lightning_."[1] + +[Footnote 1: The explanatory sentence in the "tika" is as follows: + +"Thupassa muddhani tatha naggha wajira-chumbatanti tathewa maha thupassa +muddhani satasahasaggha nikan maha manincha patitha petwa ta--ahetta +asani upaddawa widdhanse natthan adhara walayamewn katwa anaggha +wajira-chumbatancha pujeseti atho." + +Mr. DE SARAY and Mr. DE AIWIS concur in translating this passage as +follows, "In like manner having placed a large gem, of a lac in value, +on the top of the great thupa, he fixed below it, _for the purpose of +destroying the dangers of lightning_, an invaluable diamond chumbatan, +having made it like a supporting ring or circular rest." Words +equivalent to those in _italics_, Mr. TURNOUR embodies in his +translation, but placed them between brackets to denote that they wore a +quotation.] + +The two passages, taken in conjunction, leave no room for doubt that the +object in placing the diamond hoop on the dagoba, was _to turn aside the +stroke of the thunderbolt_. + +But the question still remains, whether, at that very early period, the +people of Ceylon had such a conception, however crude and erroneous, of +the nature of electricity, and the relative powers of conducting and +non-conducting bodies, as would induce them to place a mistaken reliance +upon the contrivance described, as one calculated to ensure their +personal safety; or whether, as religious devotees, they presented it as +a costly offering to propitiate the mysterious power that controls the +elements. The thing affixed was however so insignificant in value, +compared with the stupendous edifice to be protected, that the latter +supposition is scarcely tenable. The dagoba itself was an offering, on +the construction of which the wealth of a kingdom had been lavished; +besides which it enshrined the holiest of all conceivable +objects--portions of the deified body of Gotama Buddha himself; and if +these were not already secured, from the perils of lightning by their +own sanctity, their safety could scarcely be enhanced by the addition of +a diamond hoop. + +The conjecture is, therefore, forced on us, that the Singhalese, in that +remote era, had observed some physical facts, or learned their existence +from others, which suggested the idea that it might be practicable, by +some mechanical device, to ward off the danger of lightning. It is just +possible that having ascertained that glass or precious stones acted as +insulators of electricity, it may have occurred to them that one or both +might be employed as preservative agents against lightning. + +Modern science is enabled promptly to condemn this reasoning, and to +pronounce that the expedient, so far from averting, would fearfully add +to, the peril. But in the infancy of all inquiries the observation of +effects generally precedes the comprehension of causes, and whilst it is +obvious that nothing attained by the Singhalese in the third century +anticipated the great discoveries relative to the electric nature of +lightning, which were not announced till the seventeenth or eighteenth, +we cannot but feel that the contrivance described in the _Mahawanso_ was +one likely to originate amongst an ill-informed people, who had +witnessed certain phenomena the causes of which they were unable to +trace, and from which they were incapable of deducing any accurate +conclusions.[1] + +[Footnote 1: I have been told that within a comparatively recent period +it was customary in this country, from some motive not altogether +apparent, to surmount the lightning conductors of the Admiralty and some +other Government buildings with, a _glass summit_.] + + + + +CHAP. X. + +SINGHALESE LITERATURE. + + +The literature of the ancient Singhalese derived its character from the +hierarchic ascendency, which was fostered by their government, and +exerted a preponderant influence over the temperament of the people. The +Buddhist priesthood were the depositories of all learning and the +dispensers of all knowledge:--by the obligation of their order the study +of the classical Pali[1] was rendered compulsory upon them[2], and the +books which have come down to us show that they were at the same time +familiar with Sanskrit. They were employed by royal command in compiling +the national annals[3], and kings at various periods not only encouraged +their labours by endowments of lands[4], but conferred distinction on +such pursuits by devoting their own attention to the cultivation of +poetry[5], and the formation of libraries.[6] + +[Footnote 1: _Pali_, which is the language of Buddist literature in +Siam, Ava, as well as in Ceylon, is, according to Dr. MILL, "no other +than the Magadha Pracrit, the classical form in ancient Behar of that +very peculiar modification of Sanscrit speech which enters as largely +into the drama of the Hindus, as did the Doric dialect into the Attic +tragedy of Ancient Greece." In 1826 MM. BURNOUF and LASSEN published +their learned "_Essai sur le Pali_," but the most ample light was thrown +upon its structure and history by the subsequent investigations of +TURNOUR, who, in the introduction to his version of the _Mahawanso_, has +embodied a disquisition on the antiquity of Pali as compared with +Sanskrit (p. xxii. &c.).] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajaratnacari_, p, 106.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., p. 43-74] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid_., p. 113] + +[Footnote 5: _Rajavali_, p. 245; _Mahawanso_, ch. liv., lxxix.] + +[Footnote 6: _Rajavali_, p. 244.] + +The books of the Singhalese are formed to-day, as they have been for +ages past, of _olas_ or strips taken from the young leaves of the +Talipat or the Palmyra palm, cut before they have acquired the dark +shade and strong texture which belong to the full grown frond.[1] After +undergoing a process (one stage of which consists in steeping them in +hot water and sometimes in milk) to preserve their flexibility, they are +submitted to pressure to render their surface uniformly smooth. They are +then cut into stripes of two or three inches in breadth, and from one to +three feet long. These are pierced with two holes, one near each end, +through which a cord is passed, so as to secure them between two wooden +covers, lacquered and ornamented with coloured devices. The leaves thus +strung together and secured, form a book. + +[Footnote 1: The leaves of the Palmyra, similarly prepared, are used for +writings of an ordinary kind, but the most valuable books are written on +the Talipat See _ante_, Vol. I. Pt I. ch. iii. p. 110.] + +On these palm-leaves the custom is to write with an iron stile held +nearly upright, and steadied by a nick cut to receive it in the +thumb-nail of the left hand. The stile is sometimes richly ornamented, +shaped like an arrow, and inlaid with gold, one blade of the feather +serving as a knife to trim the leaf preparatory to writing. The case is +sometimes made of carved ivory bound with hoops of filigreed silver. + +[Illustration: WRITING WITH A STILE.] + +The furrow made by the pressure of the steel is rendered visible by the +application of charcoal ground with a fragrant oil[1], to the odour of +which the natives ascribe the remarkable state of preservation in which +their most sacred books are found, its aromatic properties securing the +leaves from destruction by white ants and other insects.[2] + +[Footnote 1: For this purpose a resin is used, called _dumula_ by the +natives, who dig it up from beneath the surface of lands from which the +forest has disappeared.] + +[Footnote 2: In Ceylon there are a few Buddhist books brought from +Burmah, in which the text is inscribed on plates of silver. I have seen +others on leaves of ivory, and some belonging to the Dalada Wihara, at +Kandy, are engraved on gold. The earliest grants of lands, called +_sannas_, were written on palm-leaves, but an inscription on a rock at +Dambool, which is of the date 1200 A.D., records that King Prakrama Bahu +I. made it a rule that "when permanent grants of land were to be made to +those who performed meritorious services, such behests should not be +evanescent like lines drawn on water by being inscribed on leaves to be +destroyed by rats and white ants, but engraved on plates of copper, so +as to endure to posterity."] + +The wiharas and monasteries of the Buddhist priesthood are the only +depositaries in Ceylon of the national literature, and in these are to +be found quantities of ola books on an infinity of subjects, some of +them, especially those relating to religion and ecclesiastical history, +being of the remotest antiquity. + +Works of the latter class are chiefly written in Pali. Treatises on +astronomy, mathematics, and physics are almost exclusively in Sanskrit, +whilst those on general literature, being comparatively recent, are +composed in Elu, a dialect which differs from the colloquial Singhalese +rather in style than in structure, having been liberally enriched by +incorporation from Sanskrit and Pali.[1] But of the works which have +come down to us, ancient as well as modern, so great is the +preponderance of those in Pali and Sanskrit, that the Singhalese can +scarcely be said to possess a literature in their national dialect; and +in the books they do possess, so utter is the dearth of invention or +originality, that almost all which are not either ballads or +compilations, are translations from one or other of the two learned +languages. + +[Footnote 1: TURNOUR'S Introd. to the _Mahawanso_, p. xiii. A critical +account of the Elu will be found in an able and learned essay on the +language and literature of Ceylon by Mr. J. DE ALWIS, prefixed to his +English. translation of the _Sidath Sangara_, a grammar of Singhalese, +written in the fourteenth century. Colombo, 1852. Introd. p. xxvii. +xxxvii.] + +I. PALI.--Works in Pali are written, like those of Burmah and Siam, not +in Nagari or any peculiar character, but in the vernacular alphabet. Of +these, as might naturally be expected, the vast majority are on subjects +connected with Buddhism, and next to them in point of number are +grammars and grammatical commentaries. + +The original of the great Pali grammar of Kachchayano is now lost, but +its principles survive in numerous treatises, and text-books written at +succeeding periods to replace it.[1] Such is the passion for +versification, probably as an assistant to memory, that nearly every +Singhalese work, ancient as well as modern, is composed in rhyme, and +even the repulsive abstractions of Syntax have found an Alvarez and been +enveloped in metrical disguise. + +[Footnote 1: The Rev. R. SPENCE HARDY, to whom I am indebted for much +valuable information on the subject of the literature current at the +present day in Ceylon, published a list in the _Journal of the Ceylon +Branch of the Asiatic Society_ for 1848, in which he gave the titles of +467 works in Pali, Sanskrit, and Elu, collected by himself during his +residence in Ceylon. Of these about 80 are in Sanskrit, 150 in Elu (or +Singhalese), and the remainder in Pali, either with or without +translations. Of the Pali book 26 are either grammars or treatises on +grammar. + +This catalogue of Mr. Hardy is, however, by no means to be regarded as +perfect; not only because several are omitted, but because many are but +excerpts from larger works. The titles are seldom descriptive of the +contents, but in true Oriental taste are drawn from emblems and figures, +such as "Light," "Gems," and "Flowers." The authors' names are rarely +known, and the language or style seldom affords an indication of the age +of the composition.] + +Of the sacred writings in Pali, the most renowned are the +_Pitakattayan_, literally "The Three Baskets," which embody the +doctrines, discourses, and discipline of the Buddhists, and so +voluminous is this collection that its contents extend to 592,000 +stanzas; and the Atthakatha or commentaries, which are as old as the +fifth century[1], contain 361,550 more. From their voluminousness, the +Pittakas are seldom to be seen complete, but there are few of the +superior temples in which one or more of the separate books may not be +found. + +[Footnote 1: They were translated into Pali from Singhalese by +Buddhaghoso, A.D. 420.--_Mahawanso_, c. xxxvii, p. 252.] + +The most popular portion of the Pittakas are the legendary tales, which +profess to have been related by GOTAMO BUDDHA himself, in his _Sutras_ +or discourses, and were collected under the title of +_Pansiya-panas-jataka-pota_, or the "Five hundred and fifty Births." The +series is designed to commemorate events in his own career, during the +states of existence through which he passed preparatory to his reception +of the Buddhahood. In structure and contents it bears a striking +resemblance to the Jewish Talmud, combining, with aphorisms and maxims, +philological explanations of the divine text, stories illustrative of +its doctrines, into which not only saints and heroes, but also animals +and inanimate objects, are introduced, and not a few of the fables that +pass as AEsop's are to be found in the Jatakas of Ceylon. There are +translations into Singhalese of the greater part of its contents, and so +attractive are its narratives that the natives will listen the livelong +night to recitations from its pages.[1] + +[Footnote 1: HARDY'S _Buddhism_, ch. v. p. 98.] + +The other Pali works[1] embrace subjects in connection with cosmography +and the Buddhist theories of the universe; the distinctions of caste, +topographical narratives, a few disquisitions on medicine, and books +which, like the Milindaprasna, or "_Questions of Milinda_,"[2] without +being canonical give an orthodox summary of the national religion. + +[Footnote 1: A lucid account of the principal Pali works in connection +with religion will be found in the Appendix to HARDY'S _Manual of +Buddhism_, p. 509, and in HARDY'S _Eastern Manichian_, pp. 27, 315.] + +[Footnote 2: The title of this popular work has given rise to a very +curious conjecture of Turnour's. It professes to contain the dialectic +controversies of Nagannoa, through whose instrumentality Buddhism was +introduced into Kashmir, with Milinda, who was the Raja of an adjoining +country, called Sagala, near the junction of the rivers Ravi and Chenab. +These dicussions must have taken place about the year B.C. 44. Now +Sagala is identical with Sangala, the people of which, according to +Arrian, made a bold resistance to the advance of Alexander the Great +beyond the Hydraotes; and it has been supposed by Sir Alexander Burnes +to have occupied the site of Lahore. Its sovereign, therefore, who +embraced the doctrines of Buddha, was probably an Asiatic Greek, and +TURNOUR suggests that the "Yons" or "Yonicas" who, according to the +Milinda-prasna, formed his body-guard, were either Greeks or the +descendants of Greeks from Ionia.--_Journ. Asiat. Soc. Beng._ v. 523; +HARDY'S _Manual of Buddhism_, p. 512; REINAUD, _Memoire sur l'Inde_, p. +65.] + +But the _chefs d'oeuvre_ of Pali literature are their chronicles, the +_Dipawanso, Mahawanso,_ and others; of these the most important by far +is the _Mahawanso_ and its tikas or commentaries. It stands at the head +of the historical literature of the East; unrivalled by anything extant +in Hindustan[1], the wildness of whose chronology it controls; and +unsurpassed, if it be equalled, by the native annals of China or +Kashmir. So conscious were the Singhalese kings of the value of this +national monument, that its continuation was an object of royal +solicitude to successive dynasties[2] from the third to the thirteenth +century; and even in the decay of the monarchy the compilation was +performed in A.D. 1696, by an unknown hand, and, finally, brought down +to A.D. 1758 by order of one of the last of the Kandyan kings. + +[Footnote 1: LASSEN, _Indis. Alt_., vol. ii. p. 13-15.] + +[Footnote 2: COSMAS INDICO-PLEUSTES, EDRISI, ABOU-ZEYD, and almost all +the travellers and geographers of the middle ages, have related, as a +trait of the native rulers of Ceylon, their employment of annalists to +record the history of the kingdom.--EDRISI, _Clim._ i. sec. 8, p. 3.] + +Of the chronicles thus carefully constructed, which exhibit in their +marvellously preserved leaves the study and elaboration of upwards of +twelve hundred years, PRINSEP, supreme as an authority, declared that +they served to "clear away the chief of difficulties in Indian +genealogies, which seem to have been intentionally falsified by the +Brahmans and thrown back into remote antiquity, in order to confound +their Buddhist rivals."[1] + +[Footnote 1: PRINSEP, in a private letter to Turnour, in 1836, speaking +of the singular value of the _Mahawanso_ in collating the chronology of +India, says, "had your Buddhist chronicles been accessible to Sir W. +Jones and Wilford, they would have been greedily seized to correct +anomalies at every step."] + +But they display in their mysterious rhymes few facts or revelations to +repay the ordinary reader for the labour of their perusal. Written +exclusively by the Buddhist priesthood, they present the meagre +characteristics of the soulless system which it is their purpose to +extol. No occurrence finds a record in their pages which does not tend +to exalt the genius of Buddhism or commemorate the acts of its patrons: +the reigns of the monarchs who erected temples for its worship, or +consecrated shrines for its relics, are traced with tiresome precision; +even where their accession was achieved by usurpation and murder, their +lives are extolled for piety, provided they were characterised by +liberality to the church; whilst those alone are stigmatised as impious +and consigned to long continued torments, whose reigns are +undistinguished by acts conducive to the exaltation of the national +worship.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Asoca, "who put to death one hundred brothers," to secure +the throne to himself, is described in the _Mahawanso_, ch. v. p. 21, as +a prince "of piety and supernatural wisdom." Even Malabar infidels, who +assassinated the Buddhist kings, are extolled as "righteous sovereigns" +(_Mahawanso_, ch. xxi. p. 127); but a Buddhist king who caused a priest +to be put to death who was believed to be guilty of a serious crime, is +consigned by the _Rajavali_ to a hell with a copper roof "so hot that +the waters of the sea are dried as they roil above it."--_Rajavali_, p. +192.] + +The invasions which disturbed the tranquillity of the throne, and the +schisms which rent the unity of the church, are described with painful +elaboration; but we search in vain for any instructive notices of the +people or of their pursuits, for any details of their social condition +or illustration of their intellectual progress. Whilst the commerce of +all nations was sweeping along the shores of Ceylon, and the ships of +China and Arabia were making its ports their emporiums; the national +chronicles, whose compilation was an object of solicitude to successive +dynasties, are silent regarding these adventurous expeditions; and +utterly indifferent to all that did not affect the progress of Buddhism +or minister to the interests of the priesthood.[1] + +[Footnote 1: It has been surmised that in the intercourse which +subsisted between India and the western world by way of Alexandria and +Persia, and which did not decline till the sixth or seventh century, the +influences of Nestorian Christianity may have left their impress on the +genius and literature of Buddhism; and in the legends of its historians +one is struck by the many passages that suggest a similarity to events +recorded in the Jewish Scriptures. The coincidence may also be accounted +for by the close proximity of a Jewish race in Afghanistan (the +descendants of those carried away into captivity by Shalmanasar) which +eventually extended itself along the west coast of India, and became the +progenitors of the Hebrew colony that still inhabits the south of the +Dekkan near Cochin, and are known as the "Black Jews of Malabar." The +influence of this immigration is perceptible in the sacred books, both +of the Brahmans and Buddhists; the laws of Menu present some striking +resemblances to the law of Moses, and it was probably from a knowledge +of the contents of the Hebrew rolls still possessed by this remnant of +the dispersion that the Buddhists borrowed the numerous incidents which +we find reproduced in the historical books of Ceylon. Thus the +aborigines, when subdued by their Bengal invaders, were forced, like the +Israelites, by their masters "to make bricks" for the construction of +their stupendous edifices (_Mahawanso_, ch. xxviii.). On the occasion of +building the great dagoba, the Ruanwelle, at Anarajapoora, B.C. 161, the +materials were all prepared at a distance, and brought ready to be +deposited in their places (_Mahawanso_, xxvii.); as on the occasion of +building the first temple at Jerusalem, "the stone was made ready before +it was brought, so that there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool +of iron heard whilst it was building." The parting of the Red Sea to +permit the march of the fugitive Hebrews has its counterpart in the +exploit of the King Gaja Bahu, A.D. 109, who, when marching his army to +the coast of India, in order to bring back the Singhalese from +captivity in Sollee, "smote the waters of the sea till they parted, so +that he and his army marched through without wetting the soles of their +feet."--_Rajaratnacari_, p. 59. King Maha Sen (A.D. 275), seeking a +relic, had the mantle of Buddha lowered down from heaven: and Buddha +had, previously, in designating Kasyapa as his successor, transmitted to +him his robe as Elijah let fall his mantle upon Elisha. (_Rajavali_, p. +238; HARDY'S _Oriental Monachism_, p. 119.) There is a resemblance too +between the apotheosis of Dutugaimunu and the translation of Elijah when +"in a chariot and horses of fire he went up into heaven" (2 Kings, ii. +11);--according to the _Mahawanso_, ch. xxii p. 199, when the Singhalese +king was dying, a chariot was seen descending from the sky and his +disembodied spirit "manifested itself standing in the car in which he +drove thrice round the great shrine, and then bowing down to the +attendant priesthood, he departed for tusita" (the Buddhists' heaven). +The ceremonial and dogmatic coincidences are equally +remarkable;--constant allusion is made to the practice of the kings to +"wash the feet of the priests and anoint them with oil."--_Mahawanso_; +ch. xxv.--xxx. In conformity with the denunciation that the sins of the +fathers were to be visited on the children, the Jews inquired whether a +"man's parents did commit sin that he was born blind?" (John, ix. 3) and +in like manner, in the _Rajavali_, "the perjury of Wijayo (who had +repudiated his wife after swearing fidelity to her) was visited on the +person of the King Panduwaasa," his nephew, who was afflicted with +insanity in consequence _(Rajavali_, pp. 174-178). The account in the +_Rajaratnacari_ of King Batiya Tissa (B.C. 20), who was enabled to enter +the Ruanwelle dagoba by the secret passage known only to the priests, +and to discover their wealth and treasures deposited within, has a close +resemblance to the descent of Daniel and King Astyages into the temple +of Bel, by the privy entrance under the table, whereby the priests +entered and consumed the offerings made to the idol (Bel and the Dragon, +Apocryp. ch. i.-xiii.; _Rajaratnacari_, p. 45). The inextinguishable +fire which was for ever burning on the altar of God (Leviticus, ch. vi. +13) resembles the lamps which burned for 5000 years continually in +honour of Buddha (_Mahawanso_, ch. lxxxi.; _Rajaratnacari_, p. 49); and +these again had their imitators in the lamp of Minerva, which was never +permitted to go out in the temple at Athens, and in the [Greek: luchnon +asbeston], which was for ever burning in the temple of Ammon. The +miracle of feeding the multitude by our Saviour upon a few loaves and +fishes, is repeated in the _Mahawanso_, where a divinely endowed +princess fed Pandukabhaya, B.C. 437, and five hundred of his followers +with the repast which she was taking to her father and his reapers, the +refreshment being "scarcely diminished in quantity as if one person only +had eaten therefrom."--_Mahawanso_, ch. x. p. 62. The preparation of the +high road for the procession of the sacred bo-tree after its landing +(_Mahawanso_, ch. xix. p. 116), and the order to clear a road through +the wilderness for the march of the king at the inauguration of +Buddhism, recall the words of the prophet, "Prepare ye the way of the +Lord, make straight a highway in the desert." (Isaiah, xl. 3.) And we +are reminded of the prophecy of Isaiah as to the kingdom of peace, in +which "the leopard shall lie down with the kid and the calf with the +lion, and a young child shall lead them," by the Singhalese historians, +in describing the religious repose of the kingdom of Asoca under the +influence of the religion of Buddha, where "the elk and the wild hog +were the guardians of the gardens and fields, and the tiger led forth +the cattle to graze and reconducted them in safety to their +pens."--_Mahawanso_, ch. v. p. 22. The narrative of the "judgment of +Solomon," in the matter of the contested child (1 Kings, ch. iii.), has +its parallel in a story in every respect similar in the +Pansyiapanas-jataka.--ROBERT'S _Orient. Illustr_. p. 101.] + +II. SANSKRIT.--In Sanskrit or translations from it, the Singhalese have +preserved their principal treatises on physical science, cosmography, +materia medica, and surgery. From it, too, they have borrowed the +limited knowledge of astronomy, possessed by the individuals who +combined with astrology and the casting of nativities, the practice of +palmistry and the interpretation of dreams. In Sanskrit, they have +treatises on music and painting, on versification and philology; and +their translations include a Singhalese version of those portions of the +_Ramayana_, which commemorate the conquest of Lanka. + +III. ELU AND SINGHALESE.--There is no more striking evidence of the +intellectual inferiority of the modern, as compared with the ancient +inhabitants of Ceylon, than is afforded by the popular literature of the +latter, and the contrast it presents to the works of former ages. +Descending from the gravity of religious disquisition and the dignity of +history and science, the authors of later times have been content to +limit their efforts to works of fiction and amusement, and to ballads +and doggerel descriptions of places or passing events. + +But, to the credit of the Singhalese, it must be said, that in their +compositions, however satirical or familiar they may be, their verses +are entirely free from the licentiousness which disfigures similar +productions in India; and that if deficient in imagination and grace, +they are equally exempt from grossness and indelicacy. + +The Singhalese language is so flexible that it admits of every +description of rhythm; of this the versifiers have availed themselves to +exhibit every variety of stanza and measure, and every native, male or +female, can recite numbers of their favourite ballads. Their graver +productions consist of poems in honour, not of Buddha alone, but of +deities taken from the Hindu Pantheon,--Patine, Siva, and Ganesa, +panegyrics upon almsgiving, and couplets embodying aphorisms and morals. + +A considerable number of the Sutras or Discourses of Buddha have been +translated into the vernacular from Pali, but the most popular of all +are the _jatakas_, the Singhalese versions of which are so extended, +that one copy alone fills 2000 olas or palm leaves, each twenty-nine +inches in length and containing nine lines in a page. + +The other works in Singhalese are on subjects connected with history, +such as the _Rajavali_ and _Rajaratnacai_, on grammar and lexicography, +on medicine, topography, and other analogous subjects. But in all their +productions, though invested with the trappings of verse, there alike is +an avoidance of what is practical and true, and an absence of all that +is inventive and poetic. They contain nothing that appeals to the heart +or the affections, and their efforts of imagination aspire not to please +or to elevate, but to astonish and bewilder by exaggeration and fable. +Their poverty of resources leads to endless repetitious of the same +epithets and incidents; books are multiplied at the present day chiefly +by extracts from works of established popularity, and the number of +qualified writers is becoming annually less from the altered +circumstances of the island and the decline of those institutions and +prospects which formerly stimulated the ambition of the Buddhist +priesthood, and inspired a love of study and learning. + + + + +CHAP. XI. + +BUDDHISM AND DEMON-WORSHIP.[1] + + +It is difficult to attempt any condensed, and at the same time +perspicuous, sketch of the national religion of Ceylon--a difficulty +which arises not merely from the voluminous obscurity of its sacred +history and records; but still more from confusion in the variety of +forms under which Buddhism exhibits itself in various localities, and +the divergences of opinion which prevail as to its tenets and belief. +The antiquity of its worship is so extreme, that doubts still hang over +its origin and its chronological relations to the religion of Brahma. +Whether it took its rise in Hindustan, or in countries farther to the +West, and whether Buddhism was the original doctrine of which Brahmanism +became a corruption, or Brahmanism the original and Buddhism an effort +to restore it to its pristine purity[2],--all these are questions which +have yet to be adjusted by the results of Oriental research.[3] It is, +however, established by a concurrence of historical proofs, that many +centuries before the era of Christianity the doctrines of Buddha were +enthusiastically cultivated in Baha, the _Magadha_, or country of the +Magas, whose modern name is identified with the _Wiharas_ or monasteries +of Buddhism. Thence its teachers diffused themselves extensively +throughout India and the countries to the eastward;--upwards of two +thousand years ago it became the national religion of Ceylon and the +Indian Archipelago; and its tenets have been adopted throughout the vast +regions which extend from Siberia to Siam, and from the Bay of Bengal to +the western shores of the Pacific.[4] + +[Footnote 1: The details of the following chapter have been principally +taken from SIR J. EMERSON TENNENT'S _Christianity in Ceylon_, ch. v.] + +[Footnote 2: Those early writers on the religions of India who drew +their information exclusively from Brahmanical sources, incline to +favour the pretensions of that system as the most ancient of the two. +Klaproth, a profound authority, was of this opinion; but in later times +the translations of the Pali records and other sacred volumes of +Buddhism in Western India, Ceylon, and Nepal, have inclined the +preponderance of opinion, if not in favour of the superior antiquity of +Buddhism, at least in support of its contemporaneous development. A +summary of the arguments in favour of the superior antiquity of Buddhism +will be found in the "_Notes_," &c., by Colonel SYKES, in the 12th +volume of the _Asiatic Journal_--and in the _Essai sur l'Origine des +Principaux Peuples Anciens_, par F.L.M. MAUPIED, chap. viii. The +arguments on the side of those who look on Brahmanism as the original, +are given by MOUNTSTUART ELPHINSTONE in his _History of India_, vol. i. +b. ii. c. 4. An able disquisition will be found in MAX MUELLER's _History +of Sanskrit Literature_, pp. 33, 260, &c. Mr. GOGERLY, the most +accomplished student of Buddhism in Ceylon, says its sacred books +expressly demonstrate that its doctrines had been preached by the +twenty-four Buddhas who had lived prior to Gotama, in periods incredibly +remote; but that they had entirely disappeared at the time of Gotama's +birth, so that he re-discovered the whole, and revived an extinguished +or nearly extinct school of philosophy.--_Notes on Buddhism_ by the Rev. +Mr. GOGERLY, Appendix to LEE'S Translation of Ribeyro, p. 265.] + +[Footnote 3: The celebrated temple of Somnauth was originally a Buddhist +foundation, and in the worship of Jaggernath, to whose orgies all ranks +are admitted without distinction of caste, there may still be traced an +influence of Buddhism, if not a direct Buddhistical origin. Colonel +Sykes is of opinion that the sacred tooth of Buddha was at one time +deposited and worshipped in the great Temple of Calinga, now dedicated +to Jaggernath, by the Princes of Orissa, who in the fourth century +professed the Buddhist religion. (Colonel SYKES, _Notes_, &c., _Asiatic +Journal_, vol. xii. pp. 275; 317, 420.)] + +[Footnote 4: FA HIAN declares that in the whole of India, including +Affghanistan and Bokhara, he found in the fourth century a Buddhist +people and dynasty, with traditions of its endurance for the preceding +thousand years. "As to Hindostan itself, he says, from the time of +leaving the deserts (of Jaysulmeer and Bikaneer) and the river (Jumna) +to the west, _all the kings of the different kingdoms in India are +firmly attached to the law of Buddha_, and when they do honour to the +ecclesiastics they take off their diadems."--See also MAUPIED, _Essai +sur l'Origine des Principaux Peuples Anciens_, chap. ix. p. 209.] + +Looking to its influence at the present day over at least three hundred +and fifty millions of human beings--exceeding one-third of the human +race--it is no exaggeration to say that the religion of Buddha is the +most widely diffused that now exists, or that has ever existed since the +creation of mankind.[1] + +[Footnote 1: See _ante_, p. 326. So ample are the materials offered by +Buddhism for antiquarian research, that its doctrines have been sought +to be identified at once with the Asiatic philosophy and with the myths +of the Scandinavians. Buddha has been at one time conjectured to be the +Woden of the Scythians; at another the prophet Daniel, whom +Nebuchadnezzar had created master of the astrologers, or chief priest of +the Magi, as the title is rendered in the Septuagint--[Greek: Archonta +Magoi]. An antiquarian of Wales, in devising a pedigree for the Oymri, +has imported ancestors for the ancient Britons from Ceylon; and a writer +in the _Asiatic Researches_, in 1807, as a preamble to the proof that +the binomial theorem was familiar to the Hindus, has traced Western +civilisation to an irruption of philosophers from India, identified the +Druids with the Brahmans, and declared Stonehenge to be "one of the +temples of Boodh." (_Asiat. Res_., vol. ii. p. 448.) A still more recent +investigator, M. MAUPIED, has collected, in his _Essai sur l'Origine des +Peoples Anciens_, what he considers to be the evidence that Buddhism may +be indebted for its appearance in India to the captivity of the Jews by +Salmanasar, 729 B.C.; to their dispersion by Assar-Addon at a still more +recent period; to their captivity in Babylon, 606 B.C.: their diffusion +over Media and the East, Persia, Bactria, Thibet, and China, and the +communication of their sacred book to the nations amongst whom they thus +became sojourners. He ventures even to suggest a possible identity +between the names Jehovah and Buddha: "Les voyelles du mot Buddha sont +les memes que celles du mot Jehovah, qu'on prononce aussi _Jouva_; mais +d'ailleurs le nom de Boudda a bien pu etre tire du mot _Jeoudda_ Juda, +le dieu de Joudda _Boudda_."--Chap. ix. p. 235. To account for the purer +morals of Buddhism, MAUPIED has recourse to the conjecture that they may +have been influenced by the preaching of St. Thomas at Ceylon, and +Bartholomew on the continent of India. "_Or il nous semble logique de +conclure de teus ces faits que le Bouddhisme, dans ses doctrines +essentielles, est d'origine Juire et Chretienne; consequence inattendue +pour la plus de nos lecteurs sans doute_."--MAUPIED, ch. ix. p. 257; ch. +x. p. 263.] + +From the earliest period of Indian tradition, the struggle between the +religion of Buddha and that of Brahma was carried on with a fanaticism +and perseverance which resulted in the ascendancy of the Brahmans, +perhaps about the commencement of the Christian era, and the eventual +expulsion some centuries later of the worship of their rivals from +Hindustan; but at what precise time the latter catastrophe was +consummated has not been recorded in the annals of either sect.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The final overthrow of Buddhism in Bahar and its expulsion +from Hindustan took place probably between the seventh and twelfth +centuries of the Christian era. Colonel SYKES, however, extends the +period to the thirteenth or fourteenth (_Asiatic Journal_, vol. iv. p. +334).] + +That Buddhism thus dispersed over eastern and central Asia became an +active agent in the promotion of whatever civilisation afterwards +enlightened the races by whom its doctrines were embraced, seems to rest +upon evidence which admits of no reasonable doubt. The introduction of +Buddhism into China is ascertained to have been contemporary with, the +early development of the arts amongst this remarkable people, at a +period coeval, if not anterior, to the era of Christianity.[1] Buddhism +exerted a salutary influence over the tribes of Thibet; through them it +became instrumental in humanising the Moguls; and it more or less led to +the cessation of the devastating incursions by which the hordes of the +East were precipitated over the Western Empire in the early ages of +Christianity. + +[Footnote 1: MAX MUELLER, _Hist. Sanskrit Literature_, p. 264.] + +The Singhalese, and the nations of further Asia, are indebted to +Buddhism for an alphabet and a literature[1]; and whatever of authentic +history we possess in relation to these countries we owe to the +influence of their generic religion. Nor are its effects limited to +these objects: much of what is vigorous in the character of its northern +converts may be traced to the operation of its principles, in the +development of their peculiar idiosyncrasy, which, unlike that of the +unwarlike Singhalese, rejected sloth and effeminacy to aim at conquest +and power. Looking to the self-reliance which Buddhism inculcates, the +exaltation of intellect which it proclaims, and the perfection of virtue +and wisdom to which it points as within the reach of every created +being, it may readily be imagined, that it must have wielded a spell of +unusual potency, and one well calculated to awaken boldness and energy +in those already animated by schemes of ambition. In Ceylon, on the +contrary, owing more or less to insulation and seclusion, Buddhism has +survived for upwards of 2000 years as unchanged in all its leading +characteristics as the genius of the people has remained torpid and +inanimate under its influence. In this respect the Singhalese are the +living mummies of past ages; and realise in their immovable +characteristics the Eastern fable of the city whose inhabitants were +perpetuated in marble. If change has in any degree supervened, it has +been from the corruption of the practice, not from any abandonment of +the principles, of Buddhism; and in arts, literature, and civilisation, +the records of their own history, and the ruins of their monuments, +attest their deterioration in common with that of every other nation +which has not at some time been brought under the ennobling influences +of Christianity. + +[Footnote 1: See BURNOUF et LASSEN, _Essai sur le Pali, ou Langue Sacree +de la Presqu'ile au-dela du Gange_, ch. i., &c.] + +In alluding to the doctrines of Buddhism, as it exists at the present +day, my observations are to be understood as applying to the aspect +under which it presents itself in Ceylon, irrespective of the numerous +forms in which it has been cultivated elsewhere. Even before the decease +of the last Buddha, schisms had arisen amongst his followers in India. +Eighteen heresies are deplored in the _Mahawanso_ within two centuries +from his death; and four distinct sects, each rejoicing in the name of +Buddhists, are still to be traced amongst the remnants of his +worshippers in Hindustan.[1] In its migrations to other countries since +its dispersion by the Brahmans, Buddhism has assumed and exhibited +itself in a variety of shapes. At the present day its doctrines, as +cherished among the Jainas of Guzerat and Rajpootana[2], differ widely +from its mysteries, as administered by the Lama of Thibet; and both are +equally distinct from the metaphysical abstractions propounded by the +monks of Nepal. Its observances in Japan have undergone a still more +striking alteration from their vicinity to the Syntoos; and in China +they have been similarly modified in their contact with the rationalism +of Lao-tsen and the social demonology of the Confucians.[3] But in each +and all the distinction is in degree rather than essence; and the +general concurrence is unbroken in all the grand essentials of the +system. + +[Footnote 1: _Colebrooke's Essays on the Philosophy of the Hindoos_, +sect. v. part 5, p. 401.] + +[Footnote 2: An account of the religion of the Jains or Jainas, will be +found in MOUNTSTUART ELPHINSTONE'S _History of India_, vol. i. b. ii. +ch. 4. They arose in the sixth or seventh century, were at their height +in the eleventh, and declined in the twelfth. See also MAX MUELLER, +_Hist. Sanskrit Literature_, p. 261, &c.] + +[Footnote 3: Details of Buddhism in China and Chin-India will be found +in the erudite commentaries of KLAPROTH, REMUSAT, and LANDRESSE.] + +Whilst Brahmanism, without denying the existence, practically ignores +the influence and power of a creating and controlling intelligence, +Buddhism, exulting in the idea of the infinite perfectibility of man, +and the achievement of the highest attainable happiness by the +unfaltering practice of every conceivable virtue, exalts the individuals +thus pre-eminently wise into absolute supremacy over all existing +beings, and attempts the daring experiment of an _atheistic +morality._[1] Even Buddha himself is not worshipped as a deity, or as a +still existent and active agent of benevolence and power. He is merely +reverenced as a glorified remembrance, the effulgence of whose purity +serves as a guide and incentive to the future struggles and aspirations +of mankind. The sole superiority which his doctrines admit is that of +goodness and wisdom; and Buddha having attained to this perfection by +the immaculate purity of his actions, the absolute subjugation of +passion, and the unerring accuracy of his unlimited knowledge, became +entitled to the homage of all, and was required to render it to none. + +[Footnote 1: M. REMUSAT announces, as the result of his researches, that +neither the Chinese; the Tartars, nor Monguls have any word in their +dialects expressive of our idea of a God.--_Fo[)e] Kou[)e] Ki_, p. 138; +and M. BARTHELEMY SAINT-HILLAIRE adds, that "il n'y a pas trace de +l'idee de Dieu dans le Bouddhisme entier, ni au debut ni au terme."--_Le +Bouddha_, &c., Introd. p. iv. Colonel SYKES, in the xiith vol. of the +_Asiatic Journal_, pp. 263 and 376, denies that Buddhism is _atheistic;_ +and adduces, in support of his views, allusions made by FA HIAN. But the +passages to which he refers present no direct contradiction to those +metaphysical subtleties by which the Buddhistical writers have carefully +avoided whilst they closely approach the admission of belief in a deity. +I am not prepared to deny that the faith in a supreme being may not have +characterised Buddhism in its origin, as the belief in a Great First +Cause in the person of Brahma is still acknowledged by the Hindus, +although honoured by no share of their adoration. But it admits of +little doubt that neither in the discourses of its priesthood at the +present day nor in the practice of its followers in Ceylon is the name +or the existence of an omnipotent First Cause recognised in any portion +of their worship. MAUPIED has correctly described Buddhism both in +Ceylon and China as a system of refined atheism (_Essai sur l'Origine +des Peuples Anciens_, ch. x. p. 277), and MOUNTSTUART ELPHINSTONE gives +the weight of his high authority in the statement that "The most ancient +of Baudha sects entirely denies the being of a God; and some of those +which admit the existence of God still refuse to acknowledge him as the +creator and ruler of the world.... The theistical sect seems to prevail +in Nepaul, and the _atheistical to subsist in perfection in +Ceylon._"--_History of India_, vol. i. pt. ii. ch. 4. An able writer in +the fourth volume of the _Calcutta Review_ has also controverted the +assertion of its atheistic complexion; but whatever truth may be +developed in his views, their application is confined to Buddhism in +Hindustan and Nepal, and is utterly at variance with the practice and +received dogmas in Ceylon.] + +Externally coinciding with Hinduism, so far as the avatar of Buddha may +be regarded as a pendant for the incarnation of Brahma, the worship of +the former is essentially distinguished from the religion of the latter +in one important particular. It does not regard Buddha as an actual +emanation or manifestation of the divinity, but as a guide and example +to teach an enthusiastic self-reliance by means of which mankind, of +themselves and by their own unassisted exertions, are to attain to +perfect virtue here and to supreme happiness hereafter. Both systems +inculcate the mysterious doctrine of the metempsychosis; but whilst the +result of successive embodiments is to bring the soul of the Hindu +nearer and nearer to the final beatitude of absorption into the essence +of Brahma, the end and aim of the Buddhistical transmigration is to lead +the purified spirit to _Nirwana_[1], a condition between which and utter +annihilation there exists but the dim distinction of a name. Nirwana is +the _exhaustion_ but not the _destruction_ of existence, the _close_ but +not the _extinction_ of being. + +[Footnote 1: "Nirwana" is Sanskrit, _ni_ (_r_ euphon. causa) _wana_ +desire. The Singhalese name "Nirwana" is also derived from _newanawa_, +to extinguish. See J. BARTHELEMY SAINT-HILAIRE, _Le Bouddha_, 133, 177, +&c.] + +In deliberate consistency with this principle of human elevation, the +doctrines of Buddha recognise the full eligibility of every individual +born into the world for the attainment of the highest degrees of +intellectual perfection and ultimate bliss; and herein consists its most +striking departure from the Brahmanical system in denying the +superiority of the "twice born" over the rest of mankind; in repudiating +a sacerdotal supremacy of race, and in claiming for the pure and the +wise that supremacy and exaltation which the self-glorified Brahmans +would monopolise for themselves. + +Hence the supremacy of "_caste_" is utterly disclaimed in the sacred +books which contain the tenets of Buddha; and although in process of +time his followers have departed from that portion of his precepts, +still distinction of birth is nowhere authoritatively recognised as a +qualification for the priesthood. Buddha being in fact a deification of +human intellect, the philanthropy of the system extends its +participation and advantages to the whole family of mankind, the +humblest member of which is sustained by the assurance that by virtue +and endurance he may attain an equality though not an identification +with the supreme intelligence. Wisdom thus exalted as the sole object of +pursuit and veneration, the Buddhists, with characteristic liberality, +admit that the teaching of virtue is not necessarily confined to their +own professors; especially when the ceremonial of others does not +involve the taking of life. Hence in a great degree arises the +indifference of the Singhalese as to the comparative claims of +Christianity and Buddhism, and hence the facility with which, both under +the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British Government, they have +combined the secret worship of the one with the ostensible profession of +the other. They in fact admit Christ to have been a teacher, second only +to Buddha, but inferior, inasmuch as the latter, who was perfect in +wisdom, has attained to the bliss of Nirwana.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Sir JOHN DAVIS in his account of the Chinese, states that +the Buddhists there worship the "_Queen of Heaven_," a personage +evidently borrowed from the Roman Catholics, and that the name of +"_Jesus_" appears in the list of their divinities. (Chap. xiv.) + +A curious illustration of the prevalence of this disposition to conform +to two religions was related to me in Ceylon. A Singhalese chief came a +short time since to the principal of a government seminary at Colombo, +desirous to place his son as a pupil of the institution, and agreed, +without an instant's hesitation, that the boy should conform to the +discipline of the school, which requires the reading of the Scriptures +and attendance at the hours of worship and prayer; accounting for his +ready acquiescence by an assurance that he entertained an equal respect +for the doctrines of Buddhism and Christianity. "But how can you," said +the principal, "with your superior education and intelligence, reconcile +yourself thus to halt between two opinions, and submit to the +inconsistency of professing an equal belief in two conflicting +religions?" "Do you see," replied the subtle chief, laying his hand on +the arm of the other, and directing his attention to a canoe, with a +large spar as an outrigger lashed alongside, in which a fisherman was +just pushing off upon the lake, "do you see the style of these boats, in +which our fishermen always put to sea, and that that spar is almost +equivalent to a second canoe, which keeps the first from upsetting? It +is precisely so with myself: I add on _your_ religion to steady my _own, +because I consider Christianity a very safe outrigger to Buddhism._"] + +As regards the _structure of the universe_, the theories of the +Buddhists, though in a great degree borrowed from the Brahmans, occupy a +much less prominent position in their mythology, and are less intimately +identified with their system of religion. Their attention has been +directed less to physical than to metaphysical disquisitions, and their +views of cosmogony have as little of truth as of imagination in their +details. The basis of the system is a declaration of the eternity of +matter, and its submission at remote intervals to decay and +re-formation; but this and the organisation of animal life are but the +results of spontaneity and procession, not the products of will and +design on the part of an all powerful Creator. + +Buddhism adopts something approaching to the mundane theory of the +Brahmans, in the multiplicity and superposition of worlds and the +division of the earth into concentric continents, each separated by +oceans of various fabulous liquids. Its notions of geography are at once +fanciful and crude; and again borrowing from the Shastras its +chronology, extends over boundless portions of time, but invests with +the authority of history only those occurrences which have taken place +since the birth of Gotama Buddha. + +The Buddhists believe in the existence of _lokas_, or heavens, each +differing in glory, and serving as the temporary residences of demigods +and divinities, as well as of men whose etherialisation is but inchoate, +and who have yet to visit the earth in farther births and acquire in +future transmigrations their complete attainment of Nirwana. They +believe likewise in the existence of hells which are the abodes of +demons or tormentors, and in which the wicked undergo a purgatorial +imprisonment preparatory to an extended probation upon earth. Here their +torments are in proportion to their crimes, and although not eternal, +their duration extends almost to the infinitude of eternity; those who +have been guilty of the deadly sins of parricide, sacrilege, and +defiance of the faith being doomed to the endurance of excruciating +deaths, followed by instant revival and a repetition of their tortures +without mitigation and apparently without end.[1] + +[Footnote 1: DAVY'S _Account of the Interior of Ceylon_, p. 204.] + +It is one of the extraordinary anomalies of the system, that combined +with these principles of self-reliance and perfectibility, Buddhism has +incorporated to a certain extent the doctrine of fate or "necessity," +under which it demonstrates that adverse events are the general results +of _akusala_ or moral demerit in some previous stage of existence. This +belief, which lies at the very foundation of their religion, the +Buddhists have so adapted to the rest of the structure as to avoid the +inconsistency of making this directing power inherent in any Supreme +Being, by assigning it as one of the attributes of matter and a law of +its perpetual mutations. + +Like all the leading doctrines of Buddhism, however, its theories on +this subject are propounded with the usual admixture of modification and +casuistry; only a portion of men's conduct is presumed to be exclusively +controllable by _fate_--neither moral delinquency nor virtuous actions +are declared to be altogether the products of an inevitable necessity; +and whilst both the sufferings and the enjoyments of mortals are +represented as the general consequences of merit in a previous stage of +existence, even this fundamental principle is not without its exception, +inasmuch as the vicissitudes are admitted to be partially the results of +man's actions in this life, or of the influence of others from which his +own deserts are insufficient to protect him. The main article, however, +which admits neither of modification nor evasion, is that neither in +heaven nor on earth can man escape from the _consequences_ of his acts; +that morals are in their essence productive causes, without the aid or +intervention of any higher authority; and hence forgiveness or atonement +are ideas utterly unknown in the despotic dogmas of Buddha. + +Allusion has already been made to the subtleties entertained by the +priesthood, in connexion with the doctrine of the _metempsychosis_, as +developed in their sacred books; but the exposition would be tedious to +show the distinctions between their theories, and the opinions of +transmigration entertained by the mass of the Singhalese Buddhists. The +rewards of virtue and the punishment of vice are supposed to be equally +attainable in this world; and according to the amount of either, which +characterizes the conduct of an individual in one stage of being, will +be the elevation or degradation into which he will be hereafter born. + +Thus punishment and reward become equally fixed and inevitable: but +retribution may be deferred by the intermediate exhibition of virtue, +and an offering or prostration to Buddha, or an aspiration in favour of +faith in his name, will suffice to ward off punishment for a time, and +even produce happiness in an intermediate birth; hence the most +flagitious offender, by an act of reverence in dying, may postpone +indefinitely the evil consequence of his crimes, and hence the +indifference and apparent apathy which is a remarkable characteristic of +the Singhalese who suffer death for their offences[1]. + +[Footnote 1: + + Et vos barbaricos ritus, moremque sinistrum + Sacrorum Druidae positis repetistis ab armis. + Solis nosse deos, et coeli numina vobis + Aut solis nesclre datum: nemora alta remoti + Incolitis lucis: _vobis auctoribus umbrae + Non tacitas Erebi sedes Ditisque profundi + Pallida regna petunt: regit idem spiritus arius + Orbe alio: longae (si canitis cognita) vitae + Mors media, st. Certe populi quos despicit Arcios + Felices errore suo, quos ille timorum + Maximus haud urget leti metus, etc._ + +LUCAN, l. i. 450 ct seq.] + +To mankind in general Buddha came only as an adviser and a friend; but, +as regards his own priesthood, he assumes all the authority of a +lawgiver and chief. Spurning the desires and vanities of the world, he +has taught them to aspire to no other reward for their labours than the +veneration of the human race, as teachers of knowledge and examples of +benevolence. Taking the abstract idea of perfect intelligence and +immaculate virtue for a divinity, Buddhism accords honour to all in +proportion to their approaches towards absolute wisdom, and as the +realisation of this perfection is regarded as almost hopeless in a life +devoted to secular cares, the priests of Buddha, on assuming their robe +and tonsure, forswear all earthly occupations; subsist on alms, not in +money, but in food; devote themselves to meditation and self-denial; +and, being thus proclaimed and recognised as the most successful +aspirants to Nirwana, they claim the homage of ordinary mortals, +acknowledge no superior upon earth, and withhold even the tribute of a +salutation from all except the members of their own religious order. + +To mankind in general the injunctions of Buddha prescribe _a code of +morality_ second only to that of Christianity, and superior to every +heathen system that the world has seen.[1] It forbids the taking of life +from even the humblest created animal, and prohibits intemperance and +incontinence, dishonesty and falsehood--vices which are referable to +those formidable assailants, _raga_ or concupiscence, _doso_ or +malignity, and _moha_, ignorance or folly.[2] These, again, involve all +their minor modifications--hypocrisy and anger, unkindness and pride, +ungenerous suspicion, covetousness, evil wishes to others, the betrayal +of secrets, and the propagation of slander. Whilst all such offences are +forbidden, every excellence is simultaneously enjoined--the forgiveness +of injuries, the practice of charity, a reverence for virtue, and the +cherishing of the learned; submission to discipline, veneration for +parents, the care for one's family, a sinless vocation, contentment and +gratitude, subjection to reproof, moderation in prosperity, submission +under affliction, and cheerfulness at all times. "Those," said Buddha, +"who practise all these virtues, and are not overcome by evil, will +enjoy the perfection of happiness, and attain to supreme renown."[3] + +[Footnote 1: "Je n'hesite pas a ajouter que, sauf le Christ tout seul, +il n'est point, parmi les fondateurs de religion de figure, plus pure ni +plus touchante que celle de Bouddha. Sa vie n'a point de tache."--_Le +Bouddha_, par J. BARTHELEMY SAINT-HILAIRE, Introd. p. v.] + +[Footnote 2: The Rev. Mr. GOGERLY's _Notes on Buddhism_. LEE's +_Ribeyro_, p. 267.] + +[Footnote 3: Discourse of Buddha entitled _Mangala_.] + +Buddhism, it may be perceived from this sketch, is, properly speaking, +less a form of religion than a school of philosophy; and _its worship_, +according to the institutes of its founders, consists of an appeal to +the reason, rather than an attempt on the imagination through the +instrumentality of rites and parade. "Salvation is made dependent, not +upon the practice of idle ceremonies, the repeating of prayers or of +hymns, or invocations to pretended gods, but upon moral qualifications, +which constitute individual and social happiness here, and ensure it +hereafter."[1] In later times, and in the failure of Buddhism by +unassisted arguments to ensure the observance of its precepts and the +practice of its morals, the experiment has been made to arouse the +attention and excite the enthusiasm of its followers by the adoption of +ceremonies and processions; but these are declared to be only the +innovations of priestcraft, and the Singhalese, whilst they unite in +their celebration, are impatient to explain that such practices are less +religious than secular, and that the Perrehera in particular, the chief +of their annual festivals, was introduced, not in honour of Buddha, but +as a tribute to the Kandyan kings as the patrons and defenders of the +faith.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Colonel SYKES, _Asiat. Journ._, vol. xii. p. 266.] + +[Footnote 2: FA HIAN describes the procession of Buddhists which he +witnessed in the kingdom of Khotan, and it is not a little remarkable, +that along with the image of Buddha were associated those of the +Brahmanical deities _Indra_ and _Brahma_, the _Lha_ of the Thibetans and +the _Toeyri_ of the Moguls.] + +In its formula, whatever alterations Buddhism may have undergone in +Ceylon are altogether external, and clearly referable to its anomalous +association with the worship of its ancient rivals the Brahmans. These +changes, however, are the result of proximity and association rather +than of incorporation or adoption; and even now the process of +expurgation is in progress with a view to the restoration of the +pristine purity of the faith by a formal separation from the observances +of Hinduism. The schismatic kings and the Malabar sovereigns introduced +the worship of Vishnu and Shiva into the same temples with that of +Buddha.[1] The innovation has been perpetuated; and to the present day +the statues of these conflicting divinities are to be found within the +same buildings: the Dewales of Hinduism are erected within the same +inclosure as the Wiharas of the Buddhists; and the Kappoorales of the +one religion officiate at their altars, almost beneath the same roof +with the priests and neophytes of the other. But beyond this parade of +their emblems, the worship of the Hindu deities throughout the +Singhalese districts is entirely devoid of the obscenities and cruelty +by which it is characterised on the continent of India; and it would +almost appear as if these had been discontinued by the Brahmans in +compliment to the superior purity of the worship with which their own +had become thus fortuitously associated. The exclusive prejudices of +caste were at the same remote period partially engrafted on the simpler +and more generous discipline of Buddha; and it is only recently that any +vigorous exertions have been attempted for their disseverance. + +[Footnote 1: See _ante_, Vol. I. Part III. ch. viii. p. 378.] + +On comparing this system with other prevailing religions which divide +with it the worship of the East, Buddhism at once vindicates its own +superiority, not only by the purity of its code of morals, but by its +freedom from the fanatical intolerance of the Mahometans and its +abhorrent rejection of the revolting rites of the Brahmanical faith. But +mild and benevolent as are its aspects and design, its theories have +failed to realise in practice the reign of virtue which they proclaim. +Beautiful as is the body of its doctrines, it wants the vivifying energy +and soul which are essential to ensure its ascendancy and power. Its +cold philosophy and thin abstractions, however calculated to exercise +the faculties of anchorets and ascetics, have proved insufficient of +themselves to arrest man in his career of passion and pursuit; and the +bold experiment of influencing the heart and regulating the conduct of +mankind by the external decencies and the mutual dependencies of +morality, unsustained by higher hopes and by a faith that penetrates +eternity, has proved in this instance an unredeemed and hopeless +failure. The inculcation of the social virtues as the consummation of +happiness here and hereafter, suggests an object sufficiently attractive +for the bulk of mankind; but Buddhism presents along with it no adequate +knowledge of the means which are indispensable for its attainment. In +confiding all to the mere strength of the human intellect and the +enthusiastic self-reliance and determination of the human heart, it +makes no provision for defence against those powerful temptations before +which ordinary resolution must give way; and affords no consoling +support under those overwhelming afflictions by which the spirit is +prostrated and subdued, when unaided by the influence of a purer faith +and unsustained by its confidence in a diviner power. From the +contemplation of the Buddhist all the awful and unending realities of a +future life are withdrawn--his hopes and his fears are at once mean and +circumscribed; the rewards held in prospect by his creed are +insufficient to incite him to virtue; and its punishments too remote to +deter him from vice. Thus, insufficient for time, and rejecting +eternity, the utmost triumph of his religion is to live without fear and +to die without hope. + +Both socially and in its effects upon individuals, the result of the +system in Ceylon has been apathy almost approaching to infidelity. Even +as regards the tenets of their creed, the mass of the population exhibit +the profoundest ignorance and manifest the most irreverent indifference. +In their daily intercourse and acts, morality and virtue, so far from +being apparent as the rule, are barely discernible as the exception. +Neither hopes nor apprehensions have proved a sufficient restraint on +the habitual violation of all those precepts of charity and honesty, of +purity and truth, which form the very essence of their doctrine; and in +proportion as its tenets have been slighted by the people, its +priesthood are disregarded, and its temples neglected. + +No national system of religion, no prevailing superstition that has ever +fallen under my observation presents so dull a level, and is so +pre-eminently deficient in popular influences, as Buddhism amongst the +Singhalese. It has its multitude of followers, but it is a misnomer to +describe them as its _votaries_, for the term implies a warmth and +fervour unknown to a native of Ceylon. He believes, or he thinks he +believes, because he is of the same faith with his ancestors; but he +looks on the religious doctrines of the various sects which surround him +with a stolid indifference which is the surest indication of the little +importance which he attaches to his own. The fervid earnestness of +Christianity, even in its most degenerate forms, the fanatical +enthusiasm of Islam, the proud exclusiveness of Brahma, and even the +zealous warmth of other Northern faiths, are all emotions utterly +foreign and unknown to the followers of Buddhism in Ceylon. + +Yet, strange to tell, under all the icy coldness of this barren system, +there burn below the unextinguished fires of another and a darker +superstition, whose flames overtop the icy summits of the Buddhist +philosophy, and excite a deeper and more reverential awe in the +imagination of the Singhalese. As the Hindus in process of time +superadded to their exalted conceptions of Brahma, and the benevolent +attributes of Vishnu, those dismal dreams and apprehensions which embody +themselves in the horrid worship of Shiva, and in invocations to +propitiate the destroyer; so the followers of Buddha, unsatisfied with +the vain pretensions of unattainable perfection, struck down by their +internal consciousness of sin and insufficiency, and seeing around them, +instead of the reign of universal happiness and the apotheosis of +intellect and wisdom, nothing but the ravages of crime and the +sufferings produced by ignorance, have turned with instinctive terror to +propitiate the powers of evil, by whom alone such miseries are supposed +to be inflicted, and to _worship the demons_ and tormentors to whom +their superstition is contented to attribute a circumscribed portion of +power over the earth. + +DEMON WORSHIP prevailed amongst the Singhalese before the introduction +of Buddhism by Mahindo. Some principle akin to it seems to be an +aboriginal impulse of uncivilised man in his first and rudest +conceptions of religion, engendered, perhaps, by the spectacle of +cruelty and pain, the visitations of suffering and death, and the +contemplation of the awful phenomena of nature--storms, torrents, +volcanoes, earthquakes, and destruction. The conciliation of the powers +which inflict such calamities, seems to precede, when it does not +supplant, the adoration of the benevolent influence to which belong the +creation, the preservation, and the bestowal of happiness on mankind; +and in the mind of the native of Ceylon this ancient superstition has +maintained its ascendancy, notwithstanding the introduction and +ostensible prevalence of Buddhism; for the latter, whilst it admits the +existence of evil spirits, has emphatically prohibited their invocation, +on the ground that any malignant influence they may exert over man is +merely the consequence of his vices, whilst the cultivators of virtue +may successfully bid them defiance. The demons here denounced are +distinct from a class of demigods, who, under the name of _Yakshyos_, +are supposed to inhabit the waters, and dwell on the sides of Mount +Meru, and are distinguished not only for gentleness and benevolence but +even by a veneration for Buddha, who, in one of his earlier +transmigrations, was himself born under the form of a Yakshyo, and, +attended by similar companions, traversed the world teaching +righteousness. One section of these demigods, however, the _Rakshyos_, +are fierce and malignant, and in these respects resemble the Yakkas or +demons so much dreaded by the Singhalese, and who, like the _Ghouls_ of +the Mahometans, are believed to infest the vicinity of graveyards, or, +like the dryads and hamadryads of the ancients, to frequent favourite +forests and groves, and to inhabit particular trees, whence they sally +out to seize on the passer by.[1] The Buddhist priests connive at demon +worship because their efforts are ineffectual to suppress it, and the +most orthodox Singhalese, whilst they confess its impropriety, are still +driven to resort to it in all their fears and afflictions. + +[Footnote 1: Travellers from Point de Galle to Colombo, in driving +through the long succession of gardens and plantations of coco-nuts +which the road traverses throughout its entire extent, will not fail to +observe fruit-trees of different kinds, round the stem of which _a band +of leaves has been fastened_ by the owner. This is to denote that the +tree has been devoted to a demon; and sometimes to Vishnu or the +Kattregam dewol. Occasionally these dedications are made to the temples +of Buddha, and even to the Roman Catholic altars, as to that of St. Anne +of Calpentyn. This ceremony is called _Gok-band-ema_, "the tying of the +tender leaf," and its operation is to protect the fruit from pillage +till ripe enough to be plucked and sent as an offering to the divinity +to whom it has thus been consecrated. There is reason to fear, however, +that on these occasions the devil is, to some extent, defrauded of his +due, as the custom is, after applying a few only of the finest as an +offering to the evil one, to appropriate the remainder to the use of the +owner. When coco-nut palms are so preserved, the fruit is sometimes +converted into oil and burned before the shrine of the demon. The +superstition extends throughout other parts of Ceylon; and so long as +the wreath continues to hang upon the tree, it is presumed that no thief +would venture to plunder the garden.] + +Independent of the malignant spirits or Yakkas, who are the authors of +indefinite evil, the Singhalese have a demon or _Sanne_ for each form of +disease, who is supposed to be its direct agent and inflictor, and who +is accordingly invoked for its removal; and others, who delight in the +miseries of mankind, are to be propitiated before the arrival of any +event over which their pernicious influence might otherwise prevail. +Hence, on every domestic occurrence, as well as in every domestic +calamity, the services of the _Kattadias_ or devil-priests are to be +sought, and their ceremonies performed, generally with observances so +barbarous as to be the most revolting evidence still extant of the +uncivilised habits of the Singhalese. Especially in cases of sickness +and danger, the assistance of the devil-dancer is implicitly relied on: +an altar, decorated with garlands, is erected within sight of the +patient, and on this an animal, frequently a cock, is to be sacrificed +for his recovery. The dying man is instructed to touch and dedicate to +the evil spirit the wild flowers, the rice, and the flesh, which have +been prepared as the _pidaneys_ or offerings to be made at sunset, at +midnight, and the morning; and in the intervals the dancers perform +their incantations, habited in masks and disguises to represent the +demon which they personate, as the immediate author of the patient's +suffering. In the frenzy of these orgies, the Kattadia having feigned +the access of inspiration from the spirit he invokes, is consulted by +the friends of the afflicted, and declares the nature of his disease, +and the probability of its favourable or fatal termination. At sunrise, +the ceremony closes by an exorcism chanted to disperse the demons who +have been attracted by the rite; the devil-dancers withdraw with the +offerings, and sing, as they retire, the concluding song of the +ceremony, "that the sacrifice may be acceptable and the life of the +sufferer extended." + +In addition to this Yakka worship, which is essentially indigenous in +Ceylon, the natives practise the invocation of a distinct class of +demons, their conceptions of which are evidently borrowed from the +debased ceremonies of Hinduism, though in their adoption they have +rejected the grosser incidents of its ritual, and replaced them with +others less cruel, but by no means less revolting. The Capuas, who +perform ceremonies in honour of these strange gods, are of a higher rank +than the Kattadias, who conduct the incantations to the Yakkas, and they +are more or less connected with the Dewales and temples of Hinduism. The +spirits in whose honour these ceremonies are performed, are all foreign +to Ceylon. Some, such as Kattregam and Pattine, are borrowed from the +mythology of the Brahmans; some are the genii of fire and other elements +of the universe, and others are deified heroes; but the majority are +dreaded as the inflictors of pestilence and famine, and propitiated by +rites to avert the visitations of their malignity. + +The ascendancy of these superstitions, and the anomaly of their +association with the religion of Buddha, which has taken for its deity +the perfection of wisdom and benevolence, present one of the most signal +difficulties with which Christianity has had, at all times, to contend +in the effort to extend its influences throughout Ceylon. The Portuguese +priesthood discovered that, however the Singhalese might be induced to +profess the worship of Christ, they adhered with timid tenacity to their +ancient demonology. The Dutch clergy, in their reiterated lamentations +over the failure of their efforts for conversion, have repeatedly +recorded the fact, that however readily the native population might be +brought to abjure their belief in the doctrines of Buddha, no arguments +or expedients had proved effectual to overcome their terror of the +demons, or check their propensity to resort on every emergency to the +ceremonies of the Capuas, the dismal rites of the devil-dancers.[1] The +Wesleyans, the Baptists, and other missionaries, who in later times have +made the hamlets and secluded districts of Ceylon the scene of their +unwearied labours, have found, with equal disappointment, that to the +present hour the villagers and the peasantry are as powerfully attracted +as ever by this strong superstition, bearing on their person the charms +calculated to protect them from the evil eye of the demon, consulting +the astrologers and the Capuas on every domestic emergency, solemnizing +their marriages under their auspices, and requiring their presence at +the birth of their children, who, together with their mother, are not +unfrequently dedicated to the evil spirits, whom they dread.[2] + +[Footnote 1: HOUGH, _Hist. Christ. in India,_ vol. iv. b. xii. ch. v.] + +[Footnote 2: HARVARD'S _History of the Wesleyan Mission in Ceylon_, +Introd., p. iii.] + +As regards Buddhism itself, whilst there is that in the tenets and +genius of Brahmanism which proclaims an active resistance to any other +form of religion, Christianity in the southern expanse of Ceylon has to +encounter an obstacle still more embarrassing in the habitual apathy and +listless indifference of the Buddhists. Brahmanism in its constitution +and spirit is essentially exclusive and fanatical, jealous of all +conflicting faiths, and strongly disposed to persecution. Buddhism, on +the other hand, in the strength of its self-righteousness, extends a +latitudinarian liberality to every other belief, and exhibits a +Laodicean indifference towards its own. Whilst Brahmanism is a science +confided only to an initiated priesthood; and the Vedas and the Shastras +in which its precepts are embodied are kept with jealousy from the +profane eye of the people, Buddhism, rejoicing in its universality, +aspires to be the religion of the multitude, throws open its sacred +pages without restriction, and encourages their perusal as a meritorious +act of devotion. The despotic ministers of Brahma affect to be versed +only in arcana and mystery, and to issue their dicta from oracular +authority; but the priesthood of Buddha assume no higher functions than +those of teachers of ethics, and claim no loftier title than that of +"the clergy of reason."[1] + +[Footnote 1: The sect of the _Lao Tsen_, or "Doctors of Reason," whom +LANDRESSE regards as a development of Buddhism, prevailed in Thibet and +the countries lying between China and India in the fifth and sixth +centuries; and FA HIAN always refers to them as the "_Clergy of +Reason_."--_Fo[)e] Kou[)e] Ki_, chap. xxxviii.] + +In the character of the Singhalese people there is to be traced much of +the genius of their religion. The same passiveness and love of ease +which restrain from active exertion in the labours of life, find a +counterpart in the adjustment by which virtue is limited to abstinence, +and worship to contemplation; with only so much of actual ceremonial as +may render visible to the eye what would be otherwise inaccessible to +the mind. The same love of repose which renders sleep and insensibility +the richest blessings of this life, anticipates torpor, akin to +extinction, as the supremest felicity of the next. In common with all +other nations they deem some form of religious worship indispensable, +but, contrary to the usage of most, they are singularly indifferent as +to what that particular form is to be; leaving it passively to be +determined by the conjunction of circumstances, the accident of +locality, and the influence of friends or worldly prospects of gain. +Still, in the hands of the Christian missionary, they are by no means +the plastic substance which such a description would suggest--capable of +being moulded into any form, or retaining permanently any casual +impression--but rather a yielding fluid which adapts its shape to that +of the vessel into which it may happen to be poured, without any change +in its quality or any modification of its character. + +From this unexcitable temperament of the people, combined with the +exalted morals which form the articles of their belief, result phenomena +which for upwards of three hundred years have more or less baffled the +exertions of all who have laboured for the overthrow of their national +superstition and the elevation of Christianity in its stead. The +precepts of the latter, when offered to the natives apart from the +divinity of their origin, present something in appearance so nearly akin +to their own tenets that they were slow to discern the superiority. If +Christianity requires purity and truth, temperance, honesty and +benevolence, these are already discovered to be enjoined with at least +equal impressiveness in the precepts of Buddha. The Scripture +commandment forbidding murder is supposed to be analogous to the +Buddhist prohibition to kill[1]; and where the law and the Gospel alike +enforce the love of one's neighbour as the love of one's self, Buddhism +insists upon charity as the basis of worship, and calls on its own +followers "to appease anger by gentleness, and overcome evil by +good."[2] + +[Footnote 1: The order of Buddha not to take away life is imperative and +unqualified as regards the priesthood; but to mankind in general it +forms one of his "_Sikshupada_," or _advices_, and admits of +modification under certain contingencies. A priest who should take away +the life of an animal, or even an insect, under any circumstances, would +be guilty of the offence denominated _Pachittvya_, and subject to penal +discipline; but to take away human life, to be accessory to murder, or +to encourage to suicide, amounts to the sin of _Parajika_, and is +visited with permanent expulsion from the order. As regards the laity, +the use of animal food is not forbidden, provided the individual has not +himself been an agent in depriving it of life. The doctrine of +prohibition, however, although thus regulated, like many others of the +Buddhists, by subtleties and sophistry, has proved an obstacle in the +way of the Missionaries; and, coupled with the permission in the +Scriptures "to slay and eat," it has not failed to operate prejudicially +to the spread of Christianity.] + +[Footnote 2: From the Singhalese book, the "_Dharmma Padan_," or +Footsteps of Religion, portions of which are translated in "_The +Friend_," Colombo, 1840.] + +Thus the outward concurrence of Christianity in those points on which it +agrees with their own religion, has proved more embarrassing to the +natives than their perplexity as to others in which it essentially +differs; till at last, too timid to doubt and too feeble to inquire, +they cling with helpless tenacity to their own superstition, and yet +subscribe to the new faith simply by adding it on to the old. + +Combined with this state of irresolution a serious obstacle to the +acceptance of reformed Christianity by the Singhalese Buddhists has +arisen from the differences and disagreements between the various +churches by whose ministers it has been successively offered to them. In +the persecution of the Roman Catholics by the Dutch, the subsequent +supercession of the Church of Holland by that of England, the rivalries +more or less apparent between the Episcopalians and Presbyterians, and +the peculiarities which separate the Baptists from the Wesleyan +Methodists--all of whom have their missions and representatives in +Ceylon--the Singhalese can discover little more than that they are +offered something still doubtful and unsettled, in exchange for which +they are pressed to surrender their own ancient superstition. Conscious +of their inability to decide on what has baffled the wisest of their +European teachers to reconcile, they hesitate to exchange for an +apparent uncertainty that which has been unhesitatingly believed by +generations of their ancestors, and which comes recommended to them by +all the authority of antiquity; and even when truth has been so far +successful as to shake their confidence in their national faith, the +choice of sects which has been offered to them leads to utter +bewilderment as to the peculiar form of Christianity with which they may +most confidingly replace it.[1] + +[Footnote 1: A narrative of the efforts made by the Portuguese to +introduce Christianity, and by the Dutch to establish the reformed +Religion, will be found in Sir J. EMERSON TENNENT'S _Christianity in +Ceylon_; together with an exposition of the systems adopted by the +European and American missions, and their influence on the Hindu and +Buddhist races, respectively. + +Those who seek to pursue the study of Buddhism, its tenets and +economies, as it exhibits itself in Ceylon, will find ample details in +the two profound works published by Mr. R. SPENCE HARDY: _Eastern +Monachism_, Lond. 1850, and _A Manual of Buddhism, in its Modern +Development_, Lond. 1853.] + + + + +PART V. + + * * * * * + +MEDIAEVAL HISTORY. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +CEYLON AS KNOWN TO THE GREEKS AND ROMANS. + + +Although mysterious rumours of the wealth and wonders of India had +reached the Western nations in the heroic ages, and although travellers +at a later period returning from Persia and the East had spread romantic +reports of its vastness and magnificence, it is doubtful whether Ceylon +had been heard of in Europe[1] even by name till the companions of +Alexander the Great, returning from his Indian expedition, brought back +accounts of what they had been told of its elephants and ivory, its +tortoises and marine monsters.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Nothing is more strikingly suggestive of the extended +renown of Ceylon and of the different countries which maintained an +intercourse with the island, than the number and dissimilarity of the +names by which it has been known at various periods throughout Europe +and Asia. So remarkable is this peculiarity, that LASSEN has made "the +names of Taprobane" the subject of several learned disquisitions (_De +Taprobane Insula veter. cogn. Dissert_. sec. 2, p. 5; _Indische +Alterthumskunde_, vol. i. p. 200, note viii. p. 212, &c.); and BURNOUF +has devoted two elaborate essays to their elucidation, _Journ. Asiat_. +1826, vol. viii. p. 129. _Ibid_., 1857, vol. xxxiii. p. 1. + +In the literature of the Brahmans, Lanka, from having been the scene of +the exploits of Rama, is as renowned as Ilion in the great epic of the +Greeks. "Taprobane," the name by which the island was first known to the +Macedonians, is derivable from the Pali "Tamba panni." The origin of the +epithet will be found in the _Mahawanso_, ch. vii. p. 56. and it is +further noticed in the present work, Vol. I. P. 1. ch. i. p. 17, and P. +III. ch. ii. p. 330.--It has likewise been referred to the Sanskrit +"_Tambrapani_;" which, according to LASSEN, means "the great pond," or +"the pond covered with the red lotus," and was probably associated with +the gigantic tanks for which Ceylon is so remarkable. In later times +Taprobane was exchanged for Simundu, Palai-simundu, and Salike, under +which names it is described by PTOLEMY, the author of the _Periplus_, +and by MARCIANUS of Heraclaea. _Palai-simundu_, LASSEN conjectures to be +derived from the Sanskrit _Pali-simanta_, "the head of the sacred law," +from Ceylon having become the great centre of the Buddhist faith (_De +Taprob_., p. 16; _Indische Alter_. vol. i. p. 200); and _Salike_ he +regards merely as a seaman's corruption of "Sinhala or Sihala," the name +chosen by the Singhalese themselves, and signifying "the dwelling place +of lions." BURNOUF suggests whether it may not be _Sri-Lanka_, or "Lanka +the Blessed." + +_Sinhala_, with the suffix of "diva," or "dwipa" (island), was +subsequently converted into "Silan-dwipa" and "Seren-diva," whence the +"Serendib" of the Arabian navigators and their romances; and this in +later times was contracted into Zeilan by the Portuguese, Ceylan by the +Dutch, and Ceylon by the English. VINCENT, in his _Commentary on the +Periplus of the Erythraean Sea_, vol. ii. p. 493, has enumerated a +variety of other names borne by the island; and to all these might be +further added those assigned to it in China, in Siam, in Hindustan, +Kashmir, Persia, and other countries of the East. The learned ingenuity +of BOCHART applied a Hebrew root to expound the origin of Taprobane +(_Geogr. Sac._ lib. ii. ch. xxviii.); but the later researches of +TURNOUR, BURNOUF, and LASSEN have traced it with certainty to its Pali +and Sanskrit origin.] + +[Footnote 2: GOSSELIN, in his _Recherches sur la Geographie des +Anciens_, tom. iii. p. 291, says that Onesicritus, the pilot of +Alexander's fleet, "avoit visite la Taprobane pendant un nouveau voyage +qu'il eut ordre de faire." If so, he was the first European on record +who had seen the island; but I have searched unsuccessfully for any +authority to sustain this statement of GOSSELIN.] + +So vague and uncertain was the information thus obtained, that STRABO, +writing upwards of two centuries later, manifests irresolution in +stating that Taprobane was an island[1]; and POMPONIUS MELA, who wrote +early in the first century of the Christian era, quotes as probable the +conjecture of HIPPARCHUS, that it was not in reality an island, but the +commencement of a south-eastern continent[2]; an opinion which PLINY +records as an error that had prevailed previous to his own time, but +which he had been enabled to correct by the information received from +the ambassador who had been sent from Ceylon to the Emperor Claudius.[3] + +[Footnote 1: STRABO, l. ii. c.i.s. 14, c.v.s. 14, [Greek: einai phasi +neson]; l. xv. c.i.s. 14. OVID was more confident, and sung of-- + + ". . . . Syene + Aut ubi Taprobanen Indica cingit aqua." + _Epst. ex Ponto_, l. 80] + +[Footnote 2: "Taprobanen aut grandis admodum insula aut prima pars orbis +alterius Hipparcho dicitur."--P. MELA, iii. 7. "Dubitare poterant +juniores num revera insula esset quam illi pro veterum Taprobane +habebant, si nemo eousque repertus esset qui eam circumnavigasset: sic +enim de nostra quoque Brittania dubitatum est essetne insula antequam +illam circumnavigasset Agricola."--_Dissertatio de AEtate et Amtore +Peripli Maris Erythraei_; HUDSON, _Geographiae Veter. Scrip. Grac. Min._., +vol. i. p. 97.] + +[Footnote 3: PLINY, 1. vi. c. 24.] + +In the treatise _De Mundo_, which is ascribed to ARISTOTLE[1], Taprobane +is mentioned incidentally as of less size than Britain; and this is +probably the earliest historical notice of Ceylon that has come down to +us[2] as the memoirs of Alexander's Indian officers, on whose authority +Aristotle (if he be the author of the treatise "_De Mundo_") must have +written, survive only in fragments, preserved by the later historians +and geographers. + +[Footnote 1: I have elsewhere disposed of the alleged allusions of +Sanchoniathon to an island which was obviously meant for Ceylon. (See +Note (A) end of this chapter.) The authenticity of the treatise _De +Mundo_, as a production of ARISTOTLE, is somewhat doubtful (SCHOELL, +_Literat. Grecque_, liv. iv. c. xl.); and it might add to the suspicion +of its being a modern composition, that Aristotle should do no more than +mention the name and size of a country of which Onesicritus and Nearchus +had just brought home accounts so surprising; and that he should speak +of it with confidence as an island; although the question of its +insularity remained somewhat uncertain at a much later period.] + +[Footnote 2: Fabricius, in the supplemental volume of his _Codex +Pseudepigraphi veteris Testamenti,_ Hamb., A.D. 1723, says: "Samarita, +Genesis, viii. 4, tradit Noae arcam requievisse super montem [Greek: tes] +Serendib sive Zeylan."--P. 30; and it was possibly upon this authority +that it has been stated in Kitto's _Cyclopoedia of Biblical Literature,_ +vol. i. p. 199, as "a curious circumstance that in Genesis, viii. 4, the +Samaritan Pentateuch has Sarandib, the Arabic name of Ceylon," instead +of Ararat, as the resting place of the ark. Were this true, it would +give a triumph to speculation, and serve by a single but irresistible +proof to dissipate doubt, if there were any, as to the early intercourse +between the Hebrews and that island as the country from which Solomon +drew his triennial supplies of ivory, apes, and peacocks (1 Kings, x. +22). Assuming the correctness of the opinion that the Samaritan +Pentateuch is as old as the separation of the tribes in the reign of +Rehoboam, B. C. 975-958, this would not only furnish a notice of Ceylon +far anterior to any existing authority; but would assign an antiquity +irreconcilable with historical evidence as to its comparatively modern +name of "Serendib." The interest of the discovery would still be +extraordinary, even if the Samaritan Pentateuch be referred to the later +date assigned to it by Frankel, who adduces evidence to show that its +writer had made use of the Septuagint. The author of the article in the +_Biblical Cyclopoedia_ is however in error. Every copy of the Samaritan +Pentateuch, both those printed in the Paris _Polyglot_ and in that of +Walton, as well as the five MSS. in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, +which contain the eighth chapter of Genesis, together with several +collations of the Hebrew and Samaritan text, make no mention of +Sarandib, but all exhibit the word "Ararat" in its proper place in the +eighth chapter of Genesis. "Ararat" is also found correctly in BLAYNET'S +_Pentat, Hebroeo-Samarit.,_ Oxford, 1790. + +But there is another work in which "Sarandib" does appear in the verse +alluded to. PIETRO DELLA VALLE, in that most interesting letter in which +he describes the manner in which he obtained at Damascus, in A.D. 1616, +a manuscript of the Pentateuch on parchment in the Hebrew language, but +written in Samaritan characters; relates that along with it he procured +_another_ on paper, in which not only the letters, but the language, was +Samaritan--"che non solo e seritto con lettere Samaritane, ma in lingua +anche propria de' Samaritani, che e un misto della Ebraica e della +Caldea."--_Viaggi, &c.,_ Lett. da Aleppo, 15. di Giugno A.D. 1616. + +The first of these two manuscripts is the Samaritan Pentateuch, the +second is the "_Samaritan version_" of it. The author and age of the +second are alike unknown; but it cannot, in the opinion of Frankel, date +earlier than the second century, or a still later period. (DAVISON'S +_Biblical Criticism,_ vol. i, ch. xv. p. 242.) Like all ancient targums, +it bears in some particulars the character of a paraphrase; and amongst +other departures from the literal text of the original Hebrew, the +translator, following the example of Onkelos and others, has substituted +modern geographical names for some of the more ancient, such as +_Gerizim_ for Mount Ebal (Deut. xxvii. 4), _Paneas_ for Dan, and +_Ascalon_ for Gerar; and in the 4th verse of the viiith chapter of +Genesis he has made the ark to rest "_upon the mountains of Sarandib._" +Onkelos in the same passage has _Kardu_ in place of Ararat. See WALTON'S +_Polyglot_, vol. i. p. 31; BASTOW, _Bibl. Dict._ 1847, vol. i. p. 71. + +According to the _Mahawanso_, the epithet of Sihale-dwipa, the _island +of lions_, was conferred upon Ceylon by the followers of Wijayo, B.C. +543 (_Mahawanso_, ch. vii. p. 51), and from this was formed, by the +Arabian seamen, the names Silan-dip and Seran-dib. The occurrence of the +latter word, therefore, in the "Samaritan Pentateuch," if its antiquity +be referable to the reign of Rehoboam, would be inexplicable; whereas no +anachronism is involved by its appearance in the "Samaritan _version_," +which was not written till many centuries after the Wijayan conquest. + +There is another manuscript, written on bombycine, in the Bodleian +Library, No. 345, described as an Arabic version of the Pentateuch, +written between the years 884 and 885 of the Hejira, A.D. 1479 and 1480, +and ascribed to Aba Said, son of Abul Hassan, "in eo continetur versio +Arabica Pentateuchi quae ex textu Hebraeico-Samaritano _non ex versione +ilia quae dialecto quadam peculieri Samaritanis quondam vernacula Scripta +est_."--_Cat. Orient. MSS._ vol. I. p. 2. In this manuscript, also, the +word _Sarendip_ instead of Ararat, occurs in the passage in Genesis +descriptive of the resting of the ark.] + +From their compilations, however, it appears that the information +concerning Ceylon collected by the Macedonian explorers of India, was +both meagre and erroneous. ONESICRITUS, as he is quoted by Strabo and +Pliny, propagated exaggerated statements as to the dimensions of the +island[1] and the number of herbivorous cetacea[2] found in its seas; +the elephants he described as far surpassing those of continental India +both in courage and in size.[3] + +[Footnote 1: These early errors as to the and position of Ceylon will be +found explained elsewhere. See Vol. I. P. 1. ch. i. p. 81.] + +[Footnote 2: STRABO, xv. p. 691. The animal referred to by the +informants of Onesicritus was the dugong, whose form and attitudes gave +rise to the fabled mermaid. See AElian, lib. xvi. ch. xviii., who says it +has the face of a woman and spines that resemble hair.] + +[Footnote 3: PLINY, lib. vi. ch. 24.] + +MEGASTHENES, twenty years after the death of Alexander the Great, was +accredited as an ambassador from Seleucus Nicator to the court of +Sandracottus, or Chandra-Gupta, the King of the Prasii, from whose +country Ceylon had been colonised two centuries before by the expedition +under Wijayo.[1] It was, perhaps, from the latter circumstance and the +communication subsequently maintained between the insular colony and the +mother country, that Megasthenes, who never visited any part of India +south of the Ganges, and who was, probably, the first European who ever +beheld that renowned river[1], was nevertheless enabled to collect many +particulars relative to the interior of Ceylon. He described it as being +divided by a river (the Mahawelli-ganga?) into two sections, one +infested by wild beasts and elephants, the other producing gold and +gems, and inhabited by a people whom he called Palaeogoni[2], a +hellenized form of _Pali-Putra,_ "the sons of the Pali," the first +Prasian colonists. + +[Footnote 1: See Vol. I. P. III. ch. iii. p. 336.] + +[Footnote 2: ROBEBTSON'S _Ancient India,_ sec. ii.] + +[Footnote 3: SCHWANBECK'S _Megasthenes, Fragm._ xviii.; SOLINUS +POLYHISTOR, lii. 3; PLINY, lvi. ch. 24. AELIAN, in compiling his _Natura +Animalium,_ has introduced the story told by MEGASTHENES, and quoted by +STRABO, of cetaceous animals in the seas of Ceylon with heads resembling +oxen and lions; and this justifies the conjecture that other portions of +the same work referring to the island may have been simultaneously +borrowed from the same source. SCHWANBECK, apparently on this ground, +has included among the _Fragmenta incerta_ those passages from AELIAN, +lib, xvi. ch. 17, 18, in which he says, and truly, that in Taprobane +there were no cities, but from five to seven hundred villages built of +wood, thatched with reeds, and occasionally covered with the shells of +large tortoises. The sea coast then as now was densely covered with +palm-trees (evidently coco-nut and Palmyra), and the forests contained +elephants so superior to those of India that they were shipped in large +vessels and sold to the King of Calinga (Northern Circars). The island, +he says, is so large that "those in the maritime districts never hunted +in the interior, and those in the interior had never seen the sea."] + +Such was the scanty knowledge regarding India communicated to Europe by +those who had followed the footsteps of conquest into that remote +region; and although eighteen centuries elapsed from the death of +Alexander the Great before another European power sought to establish +its dominion in the East, a new passion had been early implanted, the +cultivation of which was in the highest degree favourable to the +acquisition and diffusion of geographical knowledge. In an age before +the birth of history[1], the adventurous Phoenicians, issuing from the +Red Sea, in their ships, had reached the shores of India, and centuries +afterwards their experienced seamen piloted the fleets of Solomon in +search of the luxuries of the East.[2] + +[Footnote 1: A compendious account of the early trade between India and +the countries bordering on the Mediterranean will be found in +PARDESSUS's _Collection des Lois Maritimes anterieures au XVIII^e +siecle_, tom. i. p. 9.] + +[Footnote 2: It has been conjectured, and not without reason, that it +may possibly have been from Ceylon and certainly from Southern India +that the fleets of Solomon were returning when "once in every three +years came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold and silver, ivory, apes, +and peacocks."--_I Kings_, x. 22, _II Chron._, xx. 21. An exposition of +the reasons for believing that the site of Tarshish may be recognised in +the modern Point de Galle will be found in a subsequent chapter +descriptive of that ancient emporium. See also Note A at the end of this +chapter.] + +Egypt, under the Ptolemies, became the seat of that opulent trade which +it had been the aim of Alexander the Great to divert to it from Syria. +Berenice was built on the Red Sea, as an emporium for the ships engaged +in Indian voyages, and Alexandria excelled Tyre in the magnitude and +success of her mercantile operations. + +The conquest of Egypt by Augustus, so far from checking, served to +communicate a fresh impulse to the intercourse with India, whence all +that was costly and rare was collected in wanton profusion, to minister +to the luxury of Rome. A bold discovery of the same period imparted an +entirely new character to the navigation of the Indian Ocean. The +previous impediment to trade had been the necessity of carrying it on in +small vessels, that crept cautiously along the windings of the shore, +the crews being too ignorant and too timid to face the dangers of the +open sea. But the courage of an individual at length solved the +difficulty, and dissipated the alarm. Hippalus, a seaman in the reign of +Claudius, observing the steady prevalence of the monsoons[1], which blew +over the Indian Ocean alternately from east to west, dared to trust +himself to their influence, and departing from the coast of Arabia, he +stretched fearlessly across the unknown deep, and was carried by the +winds to Muziris, a port on the coast of Malabar, the modern Mangalore. + +[Footnote 1: Arabic "_maussam_." I believe the root belongs to a dialect +of India, and signifies "seasons." VINCENT fixes the discovery of the +monsoons by Hippalus about the year A.D. 47, although it admits of no +doubt that the periodical prevalence of the winds must have been known +long before, if not partially taken advantage of by the seamen of Arabia +and India. _Periplus, &c._, vol. ii, pp. 24--57.] + +An exploit so adventurous and so triumphant, rendered Hippalus the +Columbus of his age, and his countrymen, to perpetuate his renown, +called the winds which he had mastered by his name.[1] His discovery +gave a new direction to navigation, it altered the dimensions and build +of the ships frequenting those seas [2], and imparted so great an +impulse to trade, that within a very brief period it became a subject of +apprehension at Rome, lest the empire should be drained of its specie to +maintain the commerce with India. Silver to the value of nearly a +million and a half sterling, being annually required to pay for the +spices, gems, pearls, and silks, imported through Egypt.[3] An extensive +acquaintance was now acquired with the sea-coast of India, and the great +work of Pliny, compiled less than fifty years after the discovery of +Hippalus, serves to attest the additional knowledge regarding Ceylon +which had been collected during the interval. + +[Footnote 1: _Periplus, &c._, HUDSON, p. 32; PLINY, lib. vi, ch. 26. A +learned disquisition on the discovery of the monsoons will be found in +VINCENT's _Commerce of the Ancients_, vol. i. pp. 47, 253; vol. ii. pp. +49; 467; ROBERTSON's _India_, sec. ii.] + +[Footnote 2: PLINY, lib. vi. ch. 24.] + +[Footnote 3: PLINY, lib. vi. ch. 26. The nature of this rich trade is +fully described by the author of the _Periplus of the Erythrean Sea_, +who was himself a merchant engaged in it.] + +Pliny, writing in the first century, puts aside the fabulous tales +previously circulated concerning the island[1]; he gives due credit to +the truer accounts of Onesicritus and Megasthenes, and refers to the +later works of ERATOSTHENES and ARTEMIDORUS[2] the geographers, as to +its position, its dimensions, its cities, its natural productions, and +as to the ignorance of navigation exhibited by its inhabitants. All +this, he says, was recorded by former writers, but it had fallen to his +lot to collect information from natives of Ceylon who had visited Rome +during his own time under singular circumstances. A ship had been +despatched to the coast of Arabia to collect the Red Sea revenues, but +having been caught by the monsoon it was carried to Hippuros, the modern +Kudra-mali, in the north-west of Ceylon, near the pearl banks of Manaar. +Here the officer in command was courteously received by the king, who, +struck with admiration of the Romans and eager to form an alliance with +them, despatched an embassy to Italy, consisting of a Raja and suite of +three persons.[3] + +[Footnote 1: I have not thought it necessary to advert to the romance of +JAMBULUS, the scene of which has been conjectured, but without any +justifiable grounds, to be laid in Ceylon; and which is strangely +incorporated with the authentic work of DIODORUS SICULUS, written in the +age of Augustus. DIODORUS professes to give it as an account of the +_recent discovery_ of an island to which it refers; a fact sufficiently +demonstrative of its inapplicability to Ceylon, the existence of which +had been known to the Greeks three hundred years before. It is the story +of a merchant made captive by pirates and carried to AEthiopia, where, in +compliance with a solemn rite, he and a companion were exposed in a +boat, which, after a voyage of four months, was wafted to one of the +Fortunate Islands, in the Southern Sea, where he resided seven years, +whence having been expelled, he made his way to Palibothra, on the +Ganges, and thence returned to Greece. In the pretended account of this +island given by JAMBULUS I cannot discover a single attribute sufficient +to identify it with Ceylon. On the contrary, the traits which he +narrates of the country and its inhabitants, when they are not manifest +inventions, are obviously borrowed from the descriptions of the +continent of India, given by CTESIAS and MEGASTHENES. PRINSEP, in his +learned analysis of the Sanchi Inscription, shows that what JAMBULUS +says of the alphabet of his island agrees minutely with the character +and symbols on the ancient Buddhist lats of Central India. _Journ. +Asiat. Soc. Ben._, vol. vi. p. 476. WILFORD, in his _Essay on the Sacred +Isles of the West, Asiat. Res._ x. 150, enumerates the statements of +JAMBULUS which might possibly apply to Sumatra, but certainly not to +Ceylon, an opinion in which he had been anticipated by RAMUSIO, vol. i. +p. 176. LASSEN, in his _Indische Alterthumskunde_, vol. iii. p. 270, +assigns his reasons for believing that Bali, to the east of Java, must +be the island in which JAMBULUS laid the scene of his adventures. +DIODORUS SICULUS, lib. ii. ch. lv., &c. An attempt has also been made to +establish an identity between Ceylon and the island of Panchoea, which +Diodoras describes in the Indian Sea, between Arabia and Gedrosia (lib. +v. 41, &c.); but the efforts of an otherwise ingenious writer have been +unsuccessful. See GROVER's _Voice from Stonehenge_, P. i. p. 95.] + +[Footnote 2: PLINY, lib. xxii. ch. liii. iv. ch. xxiv. vii. ch. ii.] + +[Footnote 3: "Legatos quatuor misit principe eoram Rachia."--PLINY, lib. +vi. c. 24. This passage is generally understood to indicate four +ambassadors, of whom the principal was one named Rachias. CASIE CHITTY, +in a learned paper on the early _History of Jaffna_, offers another +conjecture that "Rachia" may mean _Arachia_, a Singhalese designation of +rank which exists to the present day; and in support of his hypothesis +he instances the coincidence that "at a later period a similar +functionary was despatched by the King Bhuwaneka-Bahu VIII. as +ambassador to the court of Lisbon."--_Journal Ceylon Asiat. Soc.,_ p. +74, 1848. The event to which he refers is recorded in the _Rajavali_: it +is stated that the king of Cotta, about the year 1540, "caused a figure +of the prince his grandson to be made of gold, and sent the same under +the care of _Sallappoo Arachy_, to be delivered to the King of Portugal. +The Arachy having arrived and delivered the presents to the King of +Portugal, obtained the promise of great assistance," &c.--_Rajavali_, p. +286. See also VALENTYN, _Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien_, ch. vi.; TURNOUR'S +_Epitome_, p. 49; RIBEYRO'S _History_, trans, by Lee, ch. v. But as the +embassy sent to the Emperor Claudius would necessarily have been deputed +by one of the kings of the Wijayan dynasty, it is more than probable +that the rank of the envoy was Indian rather than Singhalese, and that +"Rachia" means _raja_ rather than _arachy_. + +It may, however, be observed that Rackha is a name of some renown in +Singhalese annals. Rackha was the general whom Prakrama Bahu sent to +reduce the south of Ceylon when in arms in the 12th century +(_Mahawanso_, ch. lxxiii.); and it is also the name of one of the heroes +of the Paramas. WILFORD, _As. Res._, vol. ix. p. 41.] + +The Singhalese king of whom this is recorded was probably +Chanda-Mukha-Siwa, who ascended the throne A.D. 44, and was deposed and +assassinated by his brother A.D. 52. He signalised his reign by the +construction of one of those gigantic tanks which still form the wonders +of the island.[1] From his envoys Pliny learned that Ceylon then +contained five hundred towns (or more properly villages), of which the +chief was Palaesimunda, the residence of the sovereign, with a population +of two hundred thousand souls. + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxx. p. 218; TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 21; +AMMIANUS MARCELLINUS mentions another embassy which arrived from Ceylon +in the reign of the Emperor Julian, l. xx. c. 7, and which consequently +must have been despatched by the king Upa-tissa II. I have elsewhere +remarked, that it was in this century that the Singhalese appear to have +first commenced the practice of sending frequent embassies to distant +countries, and especially to China. (See chapter on the Knowledge of +Ceylon possessed by the Chinese.)] + +They spoke of a lake called Megisba, of vast magnitude, and giving rise +to two rivers, one flowing by the capital and the other northwards, +towards the continent of India, which was most likely an exaggerated +account of some of the great tanks, possibly that of Tissaweva, in the +vicinity of Anarajapoora. They described the coral which abounds in the +Gulf of Manaar; and spoke of marble, with colours like the shell of the +tortoise; of pearls and precious stones; of the luxuriance of the soil, +the profusion of all fruits except that of the vine, the natural wealth +of the inhabitants, the mildness of the government, the absence of +vexatious laws, the happiness of the people, and the duration of life, +which was prolonged to more than one hundred years. They spoke of a +commerce with China, but it was evidently overland, by way of India and +Tartary, the country of the Seres being visible, they said, beyond the +Himalaya mountains.[1] The ambassadors described the mode of trading +among their own countrymen precisely as it is practised by the Veddahs +in Ceylon at the present day[2]; the parties to the barter being +concealed from each other, the one depositing the articles to be +exchanged in a given place, and the other, if they agree to the terms, +removing them unseen, and leaving behind what they give in return. + +It is impossible to read this narrative of Pliny without being struck +with its fidelity to truth in many particulars; and even one passage, to +which exception has been taken as an imposture of the Singhalese envoys, +when they manifested surprise at the quarters in which the sun rose and +set in Italy, has been referred[3] to the peculiar system of the Hindus, +in whose maps north and south are left and right; but it may be +explained by the fact of the sun passing overhead in Ceylon, in his +transit to the northern solstice; instead of hanging about the south, as +in Italy, after acquiring some elevation above the horizon. + +[Footnote 1: "Ultra montes Emodos Seras quoque ab ipsis aspici notos +etiam commercio."--PLINY, lib. vi. c. 24.] + +[Footnote 2: See the chapter on the Veddahs, Vol. II. Part II. ch. iii.] + +[Footnote 3: See WILFORD'S _Sacred Islands of the West, Asiat. Res_., +vol. x. p. 41.] + +The rapid progress of navigation and discovery in the Indian seas, +within the interval of sixty or seventy years which elapsed between the +death of Pliny and the compilation of the great work of Ptolemy is in no +instance more strikingly exhibited than on comparing the information +concerning Taprobane, which is given by the latter in his "System of +Geography,"[1] with the meagre knowledge of the island possessed by all +his predecessors. From his position at Alexandria and his opportunites +of intercourse with mariners returning from their distant voyages, he +enjoyed unusual facilities for ascertaining facts and distances, and in +proof of his singular diligence he was enabled to lay down in his map of +Ceylon the position of eight promontories upon its coast, the mouths of +five principal rivers, four bays, and harbours; and in the interior he +had ascertained that there were thirteen provincial divisions, and +nineteen towns, besides two emporiums on the coast; five great estuaries +which he terms lakes[2], two bays, and two chains of mountains, one of +them surrounding Adam's Peak, which he designates as Maloea--the name by +which the hills that environ it are known in the _Mahawanso_. He +mentions the recent change of the name to Salike (which Lassen +conjectures to be a seaman's corruption of the real name Sihala[3]); and +he notices, in passing, the fact that the natives wore their hair then +as they do at the present day, in such length and profusion as to give +them an appearance of effeminacy, "[Greek: mallois gynaikeiois eis hapan +anadedemenos]."[4] + +[Footnote 1: PTOLEMY, _Geog_. lib. vii. c. 4, tab. xii, Asiae. In one +important particular a recent author has done justice to the genius and +perseverance of Ptolemy, by demonstrating that although mistaken in +adopting some of the fallacious statements of his predecessors, he has +availed himself of better data by which to fix the position of Ceylon; +so that the western coast in the Ptolemaic map coincides with the modern +Ceylon in the vicinity of Colombo. Mr. COOLEY, in his learned work on +_Claudius Ptolemy and the Nile_, Lond. 1854, has successfully shown that +whilst forced to accept those popular statements which he had no +authentic data to check, Ptolemy conscientiously availed himself of the +best materials at his command, and endeavoured to fix his distances by +means of the reports of the Greek seamen who frequented the coasts which +he described, constructing his maps by means of their itineraries and +the journals of trading voyages. But a fundamental error pervades all +his calculations, inasmuch as he assumed that there were but 500 stadia +(about fifty geographical miles) instead of sixty miles to a degree of a +great circle of the earth; thus curtailing the globe of one sixth of its +circumference. Once apprised of this mistake, and reckoning Ptolemy's +longitudes and latitudes from Alexandria, and reducing them to degrees +of 600 stadia, his positions may be laid down on a more correct +graduation; otherwise "his Taprobane, magnified far beyond its true +dimensions, appears to extend two degrees below the equator, and to the +seventy-first meridian east of Alexandria (nearly twenty degrees too far +east), _whereas the prescribed reduction brings it westward and +northward till it covers the modern Ceylon_, the western coasts of both +coinciding at the very part near Colombo likely to have been visited by +shipping."--Pp. 47, 53, See also SCHOELL, _Hist, de la Lit. Grecque_, l. +v. c. lxx. + +[Illustration]] + +[Footnote 2: It is observable that Ptolemy in his list distinguishes +those indentations in the coast which he described as _bays_, [Greek: +kolpos], from the estuaries, to which he gives the epithet of "lakes," +[Greek: limen]. Of the former he particularises two, the position of +which would nearly correspond with the Bay of Trincomalie and the +harbour of Colombo. Of the latter he enumerates five, and from their +position they seem to represent the peculiar estuaries formed by the +conjoint influence of the rivers and the current, and known by the Arabs +by the term of "_gobbs_." A description of them will be found at Vol. I. +Part I. ch. i. p. 43.] + +[Footnote 3: May it not have an Egyptian origin "Siela-Keh," the _land_ +of _Siela_?] + +[Footnote 4: The description of Taprobane given by Ptolemy proves that +the island had been thoroughly circumnavigated and examined by the +mariners who were his informants. Not having penetrated the interior to +any extent, their reports relative to it are confined to the names of +the principal tribes inhabiting the several divisions and provinces, and +the position of the metropolis and seat of government. But respecting +the coast, their notes were evidently minute and generally accurate, and +from them Ptolemy was enabled to enumerate in succession the bays, +rivers, and harbours, together with the headlands and cities on the +seaborde in consecutive order; beginning at the northern extremity, +proceeding southward down the western coast, and returning along the +east to Point Pedro. Although the majority of the names which he +supplies are no longer susceptible of identification on the modern map, +some of them can be traced without difficulty--thus his _Ganges_ is +still the Mahawelli-ganga; his _Maagrammum_ would appear, on a first +glance, to be Mahagam, but as he calls it the "metropolis," and places +it beside the great river, it is evidently Bintenne, whose ancient name +was "Maha-yangana" or "Ma-ha-welli-gam." His _Anurogrammum_, which he +calls [Greek: Basileion], "the royal residence," is obviously +Anarajapoora, the city founded by Anuradha five hundred years before +Ptolemy was born (_Mahawanso_, ch. vii. p. 50, x. 65, &c.). It may have +borne in his time the secondary rank of a village or a town (_gam_ or +_gramma_), and afterwards acquired the higher epithet of +Anuradha-_porra_, the "city" of Anuradha, after it had grown to the +dimensions of a capital. The province of the _Modutti_ in Ptolemy's list +has a close resemblance in name, though not in position, to Mantotte; +the people of Rayagam Corle still occupy the country assigned by him to +the _Rhogandani_--his _Naga dibii_ are identical with the Nagadiva of +the _Mahawanso_; and the islet to which he has given the name of +_Bassa_, occupies nearly the position of the Basses, which it has been +the custom to believe were so called by the Portuguese--"Baxos" or +"Baixos," _sunken rocks_. It is curious that the position in which he +has placed the elephant plains or feeding grounds, [Greek: elephanton +nomoi], to the south-east of Adam's Peak, is the portion of the island +about Matura, where, down to a very recent period, the Portuguese, the +Dutch, and the English successively held their annual battues, not only +for the supply of the government studs, but for export to India. Making +due allowance for the false dimensions of the island assumed by Ptolemy, +but taking his account of the relative positions of the headlands, +rivers, harbours, and cities, the accompanying map affords a proximate +idea of his views of Taprobane and its localities as propounded in his +Geography. + + * * * * * + +_Post-scriptum._ Since the above was written, and the map it refers to +was returned to me from the engraver, I have discovered that a similar +attempt to identify the ancient names of Ptolemy with those now attached +to the supposed localities, was made by Gosselin; and a chart so +constructed will be found (No. xiv.) appended to his _Recherches sur la +Geographie des Anciens_, t. iii. p. 303. I have been gratified to find +that in the more important points we agree; but in many of the minor +ones, the want of personal knowledge of the island involved Gosselin in +errors which the map I have prepared will, I hope, serve to +rectify.--J.E.T.] + +[Illustration: + TAPROBANE OR SALIKE, + _(CEYLON) + according to_ + Ptolemy and Pliny. + + _N.B. The modern Names are given in Italics. + By + Sir J. Emerson Tennent._] + +The extent and accuracy of Ptolemy's information is so surprising, that +it has given rise to surmises as to the sources whence it could possibly +have been derived.[1] But the conjecture that he was indebted to ancient +Phoenician or Tyrian authorities whom he has failed to acknowledge, is +sufficiently met by the consideration that these were equally accessible +to his predecessors. The abundance of his materials, especially those +relating to the sea-borde of India and Ceylon, is sufficient to show +that he was mainly indebted for his facts to the adventurous merchants +of Egypt and Arabia, and to works which, like the _Periplus of the +Erythroean Sea_ (erroneously ascribed to ARRIAN the historian, but +written by a merchant probably of the same name), were drawn up by +practical navigators to serve as sailing directions for seamen resorting +to the Indian Ocean.[2] + +[Footnote 1: HEEREN, _Hist. Researches_, vol. ii. Appendix xii.] + +[Footnote 2: LASSEN, _De Taprob. Ins._ p. 4. From the error of Ptolemy +in making the coast of Malabar extend from west to east, whilst its true +position is laid down in the _Periplus_, VINCENT concludes that he was +not acquainted with the _Periplus_, as, anterior to the invention of +printing, cotemporaries might readily be ignorant of the productions of +each other (VINCENT, vol. ii. p. 55). Vincent assigns the composition of +the _Periplus_ to the reign of Claudius or Nero, and Dodwell to that of +M. Aurelius, but Letronne more judiciously ascribes it to the period of +Severus and Caracalla, A.D. 198,210, fifty years later than Ptolemy. The +author, a Greek of Alexandria and a merchant, never visited Ceylon, +though he had been as far south as Nelkynda (the modern Neliseram), and +the account which he gives from report of the island is meagre, and in +some respects erroneous. ARRIANI _Periplus Maris Eryth.;_ HUDSON, vol. +i. p. 35; VINCENT, vol. ii. p. 493.] + +So ample was the description of Ceylon afforded by Ptolemy, that for a +very long period his successors, AGATHEMERUS, MARCIANUS of Heraclea, and +other geographers, were severally contented to use the facts originally +collected by him.[1] And it was not till the reign of Justinian, in the +sixth century, that COSMAS INDICO-PLEUSTES, by publishing the narrative +of Sopater, added very considerably to the previous knowledge of the +island. + +[Footnote 1: AGATHEMERUS, _Hudson Geog._, l. ii. c. 7,8.; MARCIANUS +HERACLEOTA, _Periplus, Hudson,_ p. 26. STEPHANUS BYZANTINUS, _in verbo_ +"Taprobane." Instead of the expression of PTOLEMY that Taprobane [Greek: +ekaleito palai Simoundon], which MARCIANUS had rendered [Greek: +Palaisimioundou], STEPHANUS transposes the words as if to guard against +error, [Greek: palai men ekaleito Simoundou], &c. The prior authority +of PTOLEMY, however, serves to prolong the mystery, as he calls the +capital Palaesimundum.] + +As Cosmos is the last Greek writer who treats of Taprobane[1], it may be +interesting, before passing to his account of the island, to advert to +what has been recorded by the Singhalese chroniclers themselves, as to +its actual condition at the period when Cosmas described it, and thus to +verify his narrative by the test of historical evidence. It has been +shown in another chapter that between the first and the sixth centuries, +Ceylon had undergone all the miseries of frequent invasions: that in the +vicissitudes of time the great dynasty of Wijayo had expired, and the +throne had fallen into the hands of an effeminate and powerless race, +utterly unable to contend with the energetic Malabars, who acquired an +established footing in the northern parts of the island. The south, too +wild and uncultivated to attract these restless plunderers, and too +rugged and inaccessible to be overrun by them, was divided into a number +of petty principalities, whose kings did homage to the paramount +sovereign north of the Mahawelli-ganga. Buddhism was the national +religion, but toleration was shown to all others,--to the worship of the +Brahmans as well as to the barbarous superstition of the aboriginal +tribes. At the same time, the productive wealth of the island had been +developed to an extraordinary extent by the care of successive kings, +and by innumerable works for irrigation and agriculture provided by +their policy. Anarajapoora, the capital, had expanded into extraordinary +dimensions, it was adorned with buildings and monuments, surpassing in +magnitude those of any city in India, and had already attracted pilgrims +and travellers from China and the uttermost countries of the East. + +[Footnote 1: There is another curious work which, notwithstanding +certain doubts as to its authorship, contains internal evidence +entitling it, in point of time, to take precedence of COSMAS. This is +the tract "_De Moribus Brachmanorum_", ascribed to St. Ambrose, and +which under the title [Greek: "Peri ton tez Indiaz kai ton Brachmanon"] +has been also attributed to Palladius, but in all probability it was +actually the composition of neither. Early in the fifth century +Palladius was Bishop of Helenopolis, in Bithynia, and died about A.D. +410. He spent a part of his life in Coptic monasteries, and it is +possible that during his sojourn in Egypt, meeting travellers and +merchants returning from India, he may have caused this narrative to be +taken down from the dictation of one of them. Cave hesitates to believe +that it was written by PALLADIUS, "haud facile credem," &c. (_Script. +Eccles. Hist. Lit._); and the learned Benedictine editors of AMBROSE +have excluded it from the works of the latter. They could scarcely have +done otherwise when the first chapter of the Latin version opens with +the declaration that it was drawn up by its author at the request of +"PALLADIUS." "Desiderium mentis tuae Palladi opus efficere nos +compellit," &c. Neither of the two versions can be accepted as a +translation of the other, but the discrepancies are not inconsistent, +and would countenance the conjecture that the book is the production of +one and the same person. Much of the material is borrowed from PTOLEMY +and PLINY but the facts which are new could only have been collected by +persons who had visited the scenes they describe. The compiler says he +had learned from a certain scholar of Thebes that the inhabitants of +Ceylon were called _Macrobii_, because, owing to the salubrity of the +climate, the average duration of life was 150 years. The petty kings of +the country acknowledged one paramount sovereign to whom they were +subject as satraps; this the Theban was told by others, as he himself +not allowed to visit the interior. A thousand other islands lie adjacent +to Ceylon, and in a group of these which he calls Maniolae (probably the +Attols of the Maldives,) is found the loadstone, which attracts iron, so +that a vessel coming within its influence, is seized and forcibly +detained, and for this reason the ships which navigate these seas are +fastened with pegs of wood instead of bolts of iron. + +Ceylon, according to this traveller, has five large and navigable +rivers, it rejoices in one perennial harvest, and the flowers and the +ripe fruit hang together on the same branch. There are palm trees; both +those that bear the great Indian nut, and the smaller aromatic one (the +areka). The natives subsist on milk, rice, and fruit. The sheep produce +no wool, but have long and silky hair, and linen being unknown, the +inhabitants clothe themselves in skins, which are far from inelegantly +worked. + +Finding some Indian merchants there who had come in a small vessel to +trade, the Theban attempted to go into the interior, and succeeded in +getting sight of a tribe whom he calls Besadae or Vesadae, his description +of whom is in singular conformity with the actual condition of the +Veddahs in Ceylon at the present day. "They are," he says, "a feeble and +diminutive race, dwelling in caves under the rocks, and early accustomed +to ascend precipices, with which their country abounds, in order to +gather pepper from the climbing plants. They are of low stature, with +large heads and shaggy uncut hair." + +The Theban proceeds to relate that being arrested by one of the chiefs, +on the charge of having entered his territory without permission, he was +forcibly detained there for six years, subsisting on a measure of food, +issued to him daily by the royal authority. This again presents a +curious coincidence with the detention and treatment of Knox and other +captives by the kings of Kandy in modern times. He was at last released +owing to the breaking out of hostilities between the chief who held him +prisoner and another prince, who accused the former before the supreme +sovereign of having unlawfully detained a Roman citizen, after which he +was set at liberty, out of respect to the Roman name and authority. + +This curious tract was first published by CAMERABIUS, but in 1665 Sir +EDWARD BISSE, Baronet, and Clarenceux King-at-Arms, reproduced the Greek +original, supposing it to be an unpublished manuscript, with a Latin +translation. It is incorporated in one of the MSS. of the +_Pseudo-Callisthenes_ recently edited by MUELLER, lib. iii. ch. vii. +viii.; DIDOT. _Script Groec. Bib_., vol. xxvi. Paris, 1846.] + +With the increasing commercial intercourse between the West and the +East, Ceylon, from its central position, half way between Arabia and +China, had during the same period risen into signal importance as a +great emporium for foreign trade. The transfer of the seat of empire +from Rome to Constantinople served to revive the over-land traffic with +India; and the Persians for the first time[1] vied with the Arabs and +the merchants of Egypt, and sought to divert the Oriental trade from the +Red Sea and Alexandria to the Euphrates and the Tigris. + +[Footnote 1: GIBBON, ch. xl.; ROBERTSON'S _India_, b.i.] + +Already, between the first and fifth centuries, the course of that trade +had undergone a considerable change. In its infancy, and so long as the +navigation was confined to coasting adventures, the fleets of the +Ptolemies sailed no further than to the ports of Arabia Felx[1], where +they were met by Arabian vessels returning from the west coast of India, +bringing thence the productions of China, shipped at the emporiums of +Malabar. After the discovery of the monsoons, and the accomplishment of +bolder voyages, the great entrepot of commerce was removed farther +south; first, from Muziris, the modern Mangalore, to Nelkynda, now +Neliseram, and afterwards to Calicut and Coulam, or Quilon. In like +manner the Chinese, who, whilst the navigation of the Arabs and Persians +was in its infancy, had extended their voyages not only to Malabar but +to the Persian Gulf, gradually contracted them as their correspondents +ventured further south. HAMZA says, that in the fifth century the +Euphrates was navigable as high as Hira, within a few miles of +Babylon[2]; and MASSOUDI, in his _Meadows of Gold_, states that at that +time the Chinese ships ascended the river and anchored in front of the +houses there.[3] At a later period, their utmost limit was Syraf, in +Farsistan[4]; they afterwards halted first at Muziris, next at +Calicut[5], then at Coulam, now Quilon[6]; and eventually, in the fourth +and fifth centuries, the Chinese vessels appear rarely to have sailed +further west than Ceylon. Thither they came with their silks and other +commodities, those destined for Europe being chiefly paid for in +silver[7], and those intended for barter in India were trans-shipped +into smaller craft, adapted to the Indian seas, by which they were +distributed at the various ports east and west of Cape Comorin.[8] + +[Footnote 1: Aden was a Roman emporium; [Greek: Rhomaikon emporion +Adanen].--PHILOSTORGIUS, p. 28.] + +[Footnote 2: HAZMA ISPAHANENSIS, p. 102; REINAUD, _Relation, &c._, vol. +i. p. 35.] + +[Footnote 3: MASSOUDI, _Meadows of Gold_, Transl. of SPRENGER, vol. i. +p. 246.] + +[Footnote 4: ABOU-ZEYD, vol. i. p, 14; REINAUD _Discours_, pp. 44, 78.] + +[Footnote 5: DULAURIER, _Journ. Asiat._, vol. xiix, p. 141; VINCENT, +vol. ii, pp. 464,507.] + +[Footnote 6: ABOU-ZEYD, p. 15; REINAUD, _Mem. sur l'Inde_, p. 201.] + +[Footnote 7: PLINY, lib. vi. ch. xxvi.; _Periplus Mar. Erythr_.] + +[Footnote 8: ROBERTSON, _Au Ind._, sec. ii. Periplus of the Erythrean +Sea describes these Ceylon crafts as rigged vessels, [Greek: +histiopepoiemenois neusi].] + +COSMAS was a merchant of Egypt in the reign of Justinian, who, from the +extent of his travels, acquired the title of "Indico-pleustes." Retiring +to the cloister, he devoted the remnant of his life to the preparation +of a work in defence of the cosmography of the Pentateuch from the +errors of the Ptolemaic astronomy.[1] He died in the year 550, before +his task was completed, and one of the last portions on which he was +employed was an account of Taprobane, taken down from the reports of +Sopater, a Greek trader whom he had met at Adule in Ethiopia, when on +his return from Ceylon. + +[Footnote 1: [Greek: Christianike Topographia], sive _Christianorum +Opinio de Mundo_. This curious book has been printed entire by +Montfaucon from a MS. in the Vatican Coll. Patr., vol. ii. p. 333. +Paris, 1706 A.D. There is only one other MS. known, which was in +Florence; and from it THEVENOT had previously extracted and published +the portion relating to India in his _Relation des Dic. Voy_., vol. i. +Paris, 1576 A.D.] + +Sopater, in the course of business as a merchant, sailed from Adule in +the same ship with a Persian bound for Ceylon, and on his arrival he and +his fellow-traveller were presented by the officers of the port to the +king, who was probably Kumara Das, the friend and patron of the poet +Kalidas.[1] The king received them with courtesy, and Cosmas recounts +how in the course of the interview Sopater succeeded in convincing the +Singhalese monarch of the greater power of Rome as compared with that of +Persia, by exhibiting the large and highly finished gold coin of the +Roman Emperor in contrast with the small and inelegant silver money of +the Shah. This story would, however, appear to be traditional, as Pliny +relates a somewhat similar anecdote of the ambassadors from Ceylon in +the reign of Claudius, and of the profound respect excited in their +minds by the sight of the Roman denarii. + +[Footnote 1: Cosmas wrote between A.D. 545 and 550; and the voyage of +Sopater to Ceylon had been made thirty years before. Kumaara Das reigned +from A.D. 515 to A.D. 524. Vincent has noted the fact that in his +interview with the Greek he addressed him by the epithet of Roomi, +"[Greek: su Romeu]," which is the term that has been applied from time +immemorial in India to the powers who have been successively in +possession of Constantinople, whether Roman, Christian, or Mahommedan. +Vol. ii. p. 511, &c.] + +As Sopater was the first traveller who described Ceylon from personal +knowledge, I shall give his account of the island in the words of +Cosmas, which have not before been presented in an English translation. +"It is," he says, "a great island of the ocean lying in the Indian Sea, +called Sielendib by the Indians, but Taprobane by the Greeks. The stone, +the hyacinth, is found in it; it lies beyond the pepper country.[1] +Around it there are a multitude of exceedingly small islets[2], all +containing fresh water and coco-nut palms[3]; these (islands) lie as +close as possible together. The great island itself, according to the +accounts of its inhabitants, is 300 _gaudia_[4], or 900 miles long, and +as many in breadth. There are two kings ruling at opposite ends of the +island[5], one of whom possesses the hyacinth[6], and the other the +district, in which are the port and emporium[7], for the emporium in +that place is the greatest in those parts." + +[Footnote 1: Malabar or Narghyl Arabia.] + +[Footnote 2: The Maldive Islands.] + +[Footnote 3: [Greek: Argellia] pro [Greek: nargellia], from _narikela_, +the Sanskrit, and _narghyl_, Arab, for the "coco-nut palm." GILDEMESTER, +_Script. Arab_. p. 36.] + +[Footnote 4: "[Greek: Gaudia."] It is very remarkable that this singular +word _gaou_, in which Cosmas gives the dimensions of the island, is in +use to the present day in Ceylon, and means the distance which a man can +walk in an hour. VINCENT, in his _Commerce and Navigation of the +Ancients_, has noticed this passage (vol. ii, p. 506), and sayt, +somewhat loosely, that the Singhalese _gaou_, which he spells "_ghadia_" +is the same as the _naligiae_ of the Tamils, and equal to three-eighths +of a French league, or nearly one mile and a quarter English. This is +incorrect; a _gaou_ in Ceylon expresses a somewhat indeterminate length, +according to the nature of the ground to be traversed, a gaou across a +mountainous country being less than one measured on level ground, and a +gaou for a loaded cooley is also permitted to be shorter than for one +unburthened, but on the whole the average may be taken _under four +miles_. This is worth remarking, because it brings the statement made to +Sopater by the Singhalese in the sixth century into consistency with the +representations of the ambassadors to the Emperor Claudius in the first, +although both prove to be erroneous. It is curious that FA HIAN, the +Chinese traveller, whose zeal for Buddhism led him to visit India and +Ceylon a century and a half before Cosmas, gives an area to the island +which approaches very nearly to correctness; although he reverses the +direction in which its length exceeds its breadth. _Fo[)e]-kou[)e]-ki_, +c. xxxvii. p. 328.] + +[Footnote 5: [Greek: "Enantioiallelon"]. This may also mean "at war with +one another."] + +[Footnote 6: This has been translated so as to mean the portion of the +island producing hyacinth stones ("la partie de l'isle ou se trouvent +les jacinthes." THEVENOT). But besides that I know of no Greek form of +expression that admits of such expansion; this construction, if +accepted, would be inconsistent with fact--for the king alluded to held +the north of the island, whereas the region producing gems is the south, +and in it were also the "emporium," and the harbour frequented by +shipping and merchants. I am disposed therefore to accept the term in +its simple sense, and to believe that it refers to one particular jewel, +for the possession of which the king of Ceylon enjoyed an enviable +renown. Cosmas, in the succeeding sentence, describes this wonderful gem +as being deposited in a temple near the capital; and Hiouen Thsang, the +Chinese pilgrim, says that in the seventh century, a ruby was elevated +on a spire surmounting a temple at Anarajapoora "dont l'eclat magnifique +illumine tout le ciel."--_Vie de Hiouen Thsang_, lib. iv. p. 199; +_Voyages des Pelerins Bouddhistes_, lib. xi. v. ii. p. 141. MARCO POLO, +in the thirteenth, century, says the "king of Ceylon is reputed to have +the grandest ruby that was ever seen, a span in length, the thickness of +a man's arm; brilliant beyond description, and without a single flaw. It +has the appearance of a glowing fire, and its worth cannot be estimated +in money. The Grand Khan Kublai sent ambassadors to this monarch to +offer for it the value of a city, but he would not part with it for all +the treasures of the world, as it was a jewel _handed down by his +ancestors on the throne_."--_Trans_. MARSDEN, 4to. 1818. It is most +probable that the stone described by Marco Polo was not a ruby, but an +amethyst, which is found in large crystals in Ceylon, and which modern +mineralogists believe to be the "hyacinth" of the ancients. (DANA'S +_Mineralogy_, vol. ii. p. 196.) CORSALI says it was a carbuncle +(Ramusio, vol. i. p. 180); and JORDAN DE SEVERAC, about the year 1323, +repeats the story of its being a ruby so large that it could not be +grasped in the closed hand. (_Recueil de Voy_., Soc. Geog. Paris. vol. +iv. p. 50.) If this resplendent object really exhibited the dimensions +assigned to it, the probability is that it was not a gem at all, but one +of those counterfeits of glass, in producing which STRABO relates that +the artists of Alexandria attained the highest possible perfection (1. +xvi. c. 2. sec. 25). Its luminosity by night is of course a fiction, +unless, indeed, like the emerald pillar in the temple of Hercules at +Tyre, which HERODOTUS describes as "shining brightly by night," it was a +hollow cylinder into which a lamp could be introduced. _Herod_, ii. 44. + +Of the ultimate history of this renowned jewel we have no authentic +narrative; but it is stated in the Chinese accounts of Ceylon that early +in the fourteenth century an officer was sent by the emperor to purchase +a "carbuncle" of unusual lustre. "This served as the ball on the +emperor's cap, and was transmitted to succeeding emperors on their +accession as a precious heirloom, and worn on the birthday and at the +grand courts held on the first day of the year. It was upwards of an +ounce in weight, and cost 100,000 strings of cash. Every time a grand +levee was held during the darkness of the night, the red lustre filled +the palace, and it was for this reason designated 'The Red +Palace-Illuminator.'"--_Tsih-ke_, or _Miscellaneous Record_, quoted in +the _Kih che-king-yuen, Mirror of Science_, b. xxxiii. p. 1, 2.] + +[Footnote 7: The port and harbour of Point de Galle.] + +"The island has also a community of Christians[1], chiefly resident +Persians, with a presbyter ordained in Persia, a deacon, and a complete +ecclesiastical ritual.[2] + +[Footnote 1: Nestorians, whose "Catholicos" resided first at Ctesiphon, +and afterwards at Mosul. VINCENT, _Periplus_, &c., vol. ii, p. 507. For +an examination of the hypotheses based on this statement of Cosmas, see +Sir J. EMERSON TENNENT'S _History of Christianity in Ceylon_, ch. i.] + +[Footnote 2: [Greek: "Leitourgiat,"] literally _liturgy_; which meant +originally the pomp and ceremonial of worship as well as the form of +prayer.] + +"The natives and their kings are of different races.[1] The temples are +numerous, and in one in particular, situated on an eminence[2], is the +great hyacinth, as large as a pine-cone, the colour of fire, and +flashing from a distance, especially when catching the beams of the +sun--a matchless sight. + +[Footnote 1: [Greek: Allophuloi].] + +[Footnote 2: Probably that at Mihintala, the sacred hill near +Anarajapoora.] + +"As its position is central, the island is the resort of ships from all +parts of India, Persia, and Ethiopia, and, in like manner, many are +despatched from it. From the inner[1] countries; I mean China, and other +emporiums, it receives silk[2], aloes, cloves, clove-wood, +_chandana_[3], and whatever else they produce. These it again transmits +to the outer ports[4],--I mean to Male[5], whence the pepper comes; to +Calliana[6], where there is brass and sesamine-wood, and materials for +dress (for it is also a place of great trade), and to Sindon[7], where +they get musk, castor, and _androstachum_[8], to Persia, the Homeritic +coasts[9], and Adule. Receiving in return the exports of those +emporiums, Taprobane exchanges them in the inner ports (to the east of +Cape Comorin) sending her own produce along with them to each. + +[Footnote 1: [Greek: "ton endoteron,"] the countries inside (that is to +the east) of Cape Comorin, as distinguished from the outer ports +([Greek: ta exotera]) mentioned below, which lie west of it.] + +[Footnote 2: [Greek: "metaxin."] Of this foreign word, applied by the +mediaeval Greeks to silk in general, as well as to raw silk, PROCOPIUS +says:--[Greek: "Ahute de estin he metaxa, ex hes eiothasi ten estheta +ergazesthai, hen palai men Hellenes mediken, tanun de seriken +onomazousi."]--PROCOP. _Persic._ I. _Metaxa_, or anciently _mataxa_, +"thread," "yarn," seems to be Latine rather than Greek. The _metaxarius_ +was a "yarn-broker;" and the word having got possession of the market, +was extended to the woven stuff. The modern Greeks call silk [Greek: +metaxa.]] + +[Footnote 3: [Greek: "tzandana,"] probably "sandalwood;" sometimes +called _agallochum._] + +[Footnote 4: [Greek: "ta exotera,"] those lying west of Cape Comorin.] + +[Footnote 5: Malabar.] + +[Footnote 6: Bombay.] + +[Footnote 7: Scinde.] + +[Footnote 8: [Greek: "androsthachon."]] + +[Footnote 9: Southern Arabia, chiefly Hadramaut.] + +"_Sielediba_, or Taprobane, lies seaward about five days' sail from the +mainland.[1] Then further on the continent is Marallo, which furnishes +_cochlea_[2]; then comes Kaber, which exports '_alabandanum_;'[3] and +next is the clove country, then China, which exports silk; beyond which +there is no other land, for the ocean encircles it on the east. +_Sielediba_ being thus placed in the middle as it were of India, and +possessing the hyacinth, receives goods from all nations, and again +distributes them, thus becoming a great emporium." + +[Footnote 1: Cosmas probably means "the more distant _ports_ on" the +mainland of India.] + +[Footnote 2: [Greek: "kochlious,"] probably chankshells, _turbinella +rapa._ See ABOUZEYD, vol. i. p. 6.] + +[Footnote 3: [Greek: "alabandanon."]] + +This description of the Indian trade by Cosmas is singularly +corroborative of the account that had previously been given by the +author of the _Periplus_; and as the Singhalese have at all times been +remarkable for their aversion to the sea, the country-craft[1], thus +mentioned by both authorities as engaged in voyages between Ceylon and +the countries east and west of Cape Cornorin, must have been manned in +part by Malabars, but chiefly by the Arabs and Persians, who, previous +to the time of Cosmas, had been induced to settle in large numbers in +Ceylon[2], attracted by the activity of its commerce, and the extensive +employment for shipping afforded by its transit trade. + +[Footnote 1: [Greek: "topika ploia."]--_Periplus._] + +[Footnote 2: REINAUD, _Mem. sur l'Inde_, p. 124. and _Introd._ +ABOULFEDA.] + +Amongst the objects, the introduction of which was eagerly encouraged in +Ceylon, Cosmas particularises horses from Persia; the traders in which +were exempted from the payment of customs. The most remarkable exports +were elephants, which from their size and sagacity were found to be +superior to those of India for purposes of war. Hence the renown +accorded to Ceylon, as pre-eminently the birthplace of the Asiatic race +of elephants. + +[Greek: + + "Metera Taprobanen Asiegeneon elephanton."] + + DIONYSIUS PERIEGETES, v. 593. + +Cosmas observes upon the smallness of their tusks compared with those of +Africa, and mentions the strange fact, that ivory was then exported from +Ethiopia to India, as well as to Persia and the countries of Europe. He +makes other allusions to Ceylon, but the passages extracted above, +present the bulk of his information concerning the island.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The above translation has been made from THEVENOT's version +of Cosmas, which may differ slightly from that of MONTFAUCON, _Collect. +Nov. Patrum._ Paris, 1706, vol. ii. p.] + + + + +NOTE (A). + +_Knowledge of Ceylon possessed by the Phoenicians._ + + +In the previous chapter, p. 526, &c., allusion has been made to the +possible resort of the Phoenicians to Ceylon in the course of their +voyages to India, but I have not thought it expedient to embody in the +text any notice of the description of the island which is given in the +Phoenician History of SANCHONIATHON, published by Wagenfeld, at Bremen, +in 1837, under the title of "_Sanchuniathonis Historiarum Phoeniciae +Libri Novem Groece Versos a Philone Byblio_, edidit Latinaque Versione +donavit F. WAGENFELD." + +Sanchoniathon is alleged to have lived before the Trojan war; and in +Asiatic chronology he is said to have been a contemporary of Semiramis. +The Phoenician original perished; but its contents were preserved in the +Greek translation of Philo, a native of Byblus, a frontier town of +Phoenicia, who wrote in the first century after Christ, and till the +alleged discovery of the MS. from which Wagenfeld professed to publish, +the only portion of Philo's version known to exist consisted of +fragments preserved by Eusebius and Porphyry. Wagenfeld's statement was, +that the MS. in his possession had been obtained from the Portuguese +monastery of St. Maria de Merinhao (the existence of which there is +reason to doubt), and the portion which he first ventured to print +appeared with a preface by Grotefend. Its genuineness was instantly +impugned; a learned and protracted controversy arose; and though +Wagenfeld eventually published the whole of the Greek MS., with a Latin +version by himself, he was never prevailed upon to exhibit the original +parchments, alleging that he had been compelled to restore them to the +convent. The assailants of Wagenfeld accuse him of wilful deception; but +the probability is that the document which he translated is one of those +inventions of the Middle Ages, in which history and geography were +strangely confounded with imagination and romance; and that it is an +attempt to restore the lost books of Philo Byblius, as Philo himself is +more than suspected to have invented the history which he professed to +have translated from Sanchoniathon. (See ERSCH _and_ GRUEBER'S +_Encyclopaedia_, 1847; MOEVER'S _Phoenician History_, vol. i. p. 117.) + +[336. In point of time, the notice of Ceylon given by the Armenian +Archbishop Moses of Chorene in his _Historia Armeniaca et Epitome +Geographiae_, is entitled to precede that of Cosmos Indico-pleustes, +inasmuch as Moses has translated into Armenian the Greek text of Pappus +of Alexandria, who wrote about the end of the fourth century. Of +Taprobane he says--it is one of the largest islands in the world, being +1100 miles in length by 1500 broad, and reckons 1370 adjacent islands +amongst its dependencies. He alludes to its mountains and rivers, the +variety of races which inhabit it, and its production of gold, silver, +gems, spices, elephants, and tigers; and dwells on the fact, previously +noticed by Agathemerus, that the men of this country dress their hair +after the fashion of women, by braiding it in tresses on the top of +their heads, "viri regionis istius capillis muliebribus sua capita +redimiunt."--MOSES CHORENENSIS, &c., edit. Whiston, 1736, p. 367. The +most remarkable circumstance is that he alludes thus early to the +footprint on Adam's Peak, which is probably the meaning of his +expression, "_ibidem Satanae lapsum narrant_," t. iv.] + +In books vii. and viii, Sanchoniathon gives an account of an island in +the Indian seas explored by Tyrian navigators, the description of which +is evidently copied from the early Greek writers who had visited +Taprobane, and the name which is assigned to it, "_the Island of +Rachius_", is borrowed from Pliny. The period of their visit is fixed by +Sanchoniathon shortly after the conquest of Cittium, in Cyprus, by the +Phoenicians; an event which occurred when Hiram reigned at Tyre, and +Solomon at Jerusalem. The narrative is given as follows (book vii. ch. +v. p. 150): "So Bartophas died the next day, having exercised imperial +authority for six years." (Ch. v.) "And on his death they chose Joramus, +the son of Bartophas, king, whom the Tyrians styled Hierbas, and who +reigned fifty-seven years. He having collected seventy-nine long ships, +sent an expedition against Cittium." ... (Ch. vi.) "At this time, +Obdalius, king of the island of Mylite, sent all his forces to assist +the Tyrians at Cittium; and when it came to the knowledge of the +barbarians who inhabited Tenga, that the island was denuded of men and +ships, they invaded it under the command of Plusiacon, the son-in-law of +Obdalius, and having slain him and many of his people, they plundered +the country, and gave the city to the flames." (Ch. vii.) "And Joramus +directed all the eparchs in the cities and islands to make out and send +to Tyre descriptions of the inhabitants, their ships, their arms, their +horses, their scythe-bearing chariots, and their property of all kinds; +and he ordered them to send to distant countries persons competent to +draw up narratives of the same kind, and to record them all in a book. +In this manner he obtained accurate geographical descriptions of all the +regions to the east and the west, both islands and inland parts. But the +AEthiopians[1] represented to the king that to the south there were great +and renowned countries, densely populated, and rich in precious things, +_gold_ and _silver_, pearls, gems, ebony, pepper, elephants, _monkeys_, +parrots, _peacocks_, and innumerable other things; and that there was a +peninsula so far to the east that the inhabitants could see the sun +rising out of the sea." (Ch. viii.) "Joramus then sent messengers to +Natambalus, the king of the Babylonians, who were to say to him, 'I have +heard that the countries of the AEthiopians are numerous, and abounding +in inhabitants; they are easy of access from Babylon, but very difficult +from Tyre. If, therefore, I should determine to explore them, and you +will let my subjects have suitable ships, you shall have in return a +hundred purple cloaks.' Natambalus was willing to do so; but the +AEthiopian merchants, who resorted to Babylon, vowed that they would take +their departure if he should assist Joramus to sail to AEthiopia." (Chap. +ix.) "Subsequently Joramus addressed himself to Irenius of Judea, and +undertook that if he would let the Tyrians have a harbour on the sea +towards AEthiopia, he would assist him in the building of a palace, in +which he was then engaged; and bind himself to supply him with materials +of cedar and fir, and squared stones. Irenius assenting, made over to +Joramus the city and harbour of Ilotha. There were a great many date +trees there, but as their timber was not suitable for constructing +vessels, Joramus despatched eight thousand camels to Ilotha, loaded with +materials for ship-building, and ordered the shipwrights to build ten +ships, and he appointed Cedarus and Jaminus and Cotilus, commanders.... +They sailed from Ilotha; but furious tempests prevented them from +passing the straits.[2] And while they were wind-bound, they remained +five months in a certain island, and having sowed wheat on the low +ground, they reaped an abundant crop. After this they sailed towards the +rising sun, and leaving the land of the Arabians they fell in with +Babylonian ships returning from AEthiopia.[3] And on the following day +they arrived at the country of the AEthiopians, which they perceived +sandy and devoid of water on the coast, but mountainous inland. They +then sailed eastward along the shore for ten days. There an immense +region extends to the south, and the AEthiopians dwell in numerous +populous and well-circumstanced cities, and navigate the sea. Their +ships are not suited for war, and have no sails. And having sailed +thirty-six days to the southward, the Tyrians arrived at the island of +Rachius ([Greek: Rhachiou neson])." + +[Footnote 1: The AEthiopians alluded to were a company of Indian jugglers +and snake-charmers, whose arrival from Babylon is mentioned lib. vii. +ch. i.] + +[Footnote 2: Of Bab-el-mandeb.] + +[Footnote 3: India.] + +(Ch. 9.) "The roadstead was in front of a level strand, bordered with +lofty trees, and coming on to blow at night, they were in the utmost +danger till sunrise: but running then to the south, they came in sight +of a safe harbour[1]; and saw many populous towns inland. On landing, +they were surrounded by the villagers, and the governor of the place +entertained them hospitably for seven days; pending the return of a +messenger whom he had despatched to the principal king, to ask his +instructions relative to the Tyrians who had anchored in the harbour. +The messenger having returned on the seventh day, the governor sent for +the Tyrians the following morning, and informed them that they must go +with him to the king, who was then residing at Rochapatta, a large and +prosperous city in the centre of the island. In front marched several +spearmen, sent by the king as a guard of honour to the strangers; who +with the clash of their spears scared away the elephants which were +numerous and dangerous because it was their rutting time. The Tyrians +marched in the centre, and Cedarus, Cotilus, and Jaminus were carried in +palanquins. The villagers as they passed along offered them presents, +and the governor brought up the rear, where he rode on an elephant, +surrounded by his body guard. In this order of march, they on the third +day came to a ford; in the passage over which, one of the travellers was +devoured by crocodiles which swarm in the rivers. Having proceeded thus +for several days, they at length descried the city of Rochapatta, +environed by lofty mountains. And when it was known that they had +arrived (for the rumour of their approach had preceded them) the +inhabitants rushed from the city in a body to see the Tyrians; some +riding on elephants, some on asses, some in palanquins, but the greater +part on foot. And the commander having conducted them into a spacious +and splendid palace, caused the gates to be closed, that the crowd might +not make their way in; and led the Tyrians to the King Rachius, who was +seated on a beautiful couch. Presents were then interchanged. + +"To the Tyrians, who brought horses and purple robes, and seats of cedar, +the King gave in return, pearls, gold, 2000 elephants' teeth, and much +unequalled cinnamon ([Greek: kinnamo pollo te kai diapheronti]); and he +entertained them as guests for thirty days." (Ch. xi.) "Some of the +Tyrians perished in the island, one indeed by sickness, but the others +smitten by the gods. One man, picking up some pellets of sheep's dung, +drew lines on the sand, and challenged another who happened to be +looking on, to play a game with them. The challenger held the sheep's +dung, but the other, who could not find any dung of camels (for there +are no camels in that island), took cow-dung, of which there was a great +quantity, and rolling up little balls of it, placed them on the lines. +But a priest who was present warned them to desist, because cow-dung is +sacred among them, but they only laughed. So the priest passed on, and +they continued their game, but shortly after, both fell down and +expired, to the consternation of the bystanders. One of those who died +was a native of Jerusalem." (Ch. xii.) "The sea encircles this great +island of Rachius on every side, except that to the north and west there +is _an isthmus which affords a passage to the opposite coast_. Baaut +constructed this place by heaping up mud, and her footprint is still to +be seen in the mountain ([Greek: es kai ichnos estin en tois orois]). + +[Footnote 1: Galle?] + +"And the great king traced his descent from her race. The island is six +days' journey in breadth, and twelve days' journey in length. It is +populous and delightful. Its natural productions are magnificent, and +the sea furnishes fish of the finest flavour, and in the greatest +abundance, to the inhabitants of the coast. Wild beasts are numerous in +the mountains, of which elephants are the largest of all. There is also +the most fragrant of cassia ([Greek: kasia de he aromatikotate]). + +"They find stones containing gold in the rivers, and pearls on the +sea-shore. Four kings govern the island, all subordinate to the +paramount sovereign, to whom they pay as tribute, cassia, ivory, gems, +and pearls; for the king has gold in the greatest abundance. The first +of these kings reigns in the south, where there are herds of elephants, +of which great numbers are captured of surprising size. In this region +the shore is inhospitable, and destitute of inhabitants, but the city, +in which the governor resides, lies inland, and is said to be large and +flourishing. The second king governs the western regions which produce +cinnamon ([Greek: ton pros esperan tetrammenon ton kinnamomophoron]); +and it was there the Tyrian ships cast anchor. The third rules the +region towards the north, which produces pearls. He has made a great +rampart on the isthmus to control the passage of the barbarians from the +opposite coast; for they used to make incursions in great numbers, and +destroyed all the houses, temples, and plantations they could reach, and +slew such men as were near, or could not flee to the mountains. The +fourth king governs the region to the east, producing the richest gems +in surprising profusion; the ruby, the sapphire, and diamond. All these, +being the brothers of the great king in Rochapatta, are appointed to +rule over these places, and he who is the eldest of the brothers has the +supreme power, and is called the chief and mighty ruler. He has a +thousand black elephants, and five light-coloured ones. The black are +abundant, but the fair-coloured are rare, and found nowhere except in +this island, and the black ones do homage to them. Having captured such +a one, they bring him to the king in Rochapatta, whose peculiar +prerogative it is to ride on a white elephant, this being unlawful for +his subjects. There are many fierce crocodiles in the rivers, and they +are killed by crowds of men who rush with shouts into the water, armed +with sharp stakes. And ten days after they arrived in Rochapatta, many +Tyrians joined Rachius in hunting crocodiles." (Ch. xii.) "When the +ships returned to Tyre, Joramus gave orders to erect a pillar at the +temple of Melicarthus, and to engrave on it an account of all that had +taken place. This pillar was thrown down in the earthquake of last year, +but it was not broken, so that the narrative can even now be seen." + + + + +BOOK VIII. + + +(Ch. i) "This is the voyage which Joramus, the king of the Tyrians +ordered Joramus, the priest of Melicarthus, to recount and to engrave on +a pillar in the temple of Melicarthus, and Sydyk, the scribe, having +four copies, was directed to send them to the Sidonians, the Byblians, +the Aradians, and the Berythians. The other copies can nowhere be found, +and the pillar lies shattered in the ruins of the temple, but the copy +of the Byblians is still left in the Temple of Baaltis, and its words +are to this effect." + +(Ch. ii.) "Hierbas, the son of Bartophas, and king of the Tyrians, thus +addressed Joramus, the priest of Madynus, at the time when figs were +first ripe: 'Taking a book and pen, describe all the cities and islands +and colonies and the countries of the barbarians, and the forces of them +all, and their ships of war and of burthen, and their scythe-armed +chariots. For when our ships of war, sailing to the island of Rachius, +reached the remotest parts eastward that we knew, the extremities of all +lands, and the nations that inhabited them, we discovered things unknown +to our ancestors. For our ancestors, sailing only to the islands and the +region extending to the west, knew nothing of the countries which we +have explored to the east: you will therefore write all these things for +the information of posterity.' When having prostrated myself before the +king, on his saying these things, and having returned to my own house I +wrote as follows:-- + + * * * * * + +(Ch. xvi) ... "To the eastward dwell the Babylonians and Medians and +AEthiopians. The city of the Babylonians is flourishing and populous; +Media produces white horses; AEthiopia is barren and arid near the sea, +and mountainous in the interior. And further to the east is the +peninsula of Rachius, whither the ships of Hierbas sailed." + + * * * * * + +On this narrative of Sanchoniathon it is only necessary to remark that +the allusion in ch. ix. to the assistance rendered by the Tyrians to +Irenius of Judea, when building his palace, in supplying him with timber +and squared stones, is almost literally copied from the passage In the +Old Testament (1 Kings, ix. 11), where Hiram is stated to have furnished +to Solomon "cedar trees and fir trees," for the building of the Temple. + +The cession by Irenius of the city and harbour of Ilotha refers to the +resort of the Tyrians to Ezion Greber, or _Eloth_, in the AElanitic Gulf +of the Red Sea, Ib. v. 26, whence they piloted the ships of Solomon, +which once in every three years returned with cargoes of gold from +Ophir. (Ib. v. 28.) + +As to the incidents and observations recorded by the Phoenician +travellers during their journey to the interior of Ceylon,--the kings by +which it was governed, the natural productions of the various regions, +the footprint on Adam's Peak, the incursions of the Malabars, the +ascendency of their religion, the absence of camels, the abundance of +elephants, and the cultivation of cinnamon,--all these are so palpably +imitated from the accounts of Cosmas Indico-pleustes, and the voyages of +Arabian mariners, that it is almost unnecessary to point to the parallel +passages from which they are taken. + + + + +CHAP. II + +INDIAN, ARABIAN, AND PERSIAN AUTHORITIES. + + +On closing the volume of Cosmas, we part with the last of the Greek +writers whose pages guide us through the mist that obscures the early +history of Ceylon. The religion of the Hindus is based on a system of +physical error, so incompatible with the extension of scientific truth, +that in their language the term "geography" is unknown.[1] But still it +is remarkable as an illustration of the uninquiring character of the +people, that the allusions of Indian authors to Ceylon, an island of +such magnitude, and so close to their own country, are pre-eminent for +absurdity and ignorance. Their "Lanka" and its inhabitants are but the +distortion of a reality into a myth. ALBYROUNI, the Arabian geographer, +writing in the eleventh century, says that the Hindus at that day +thought the island haunted; their ships sailing past it, kept at a +distance from its shores; and even within the present century, it was +the popular belief on the continent of India that the interior of Ceylon +was peopled by demons and monkeys.[2] + +[Footnote 1: The Arabians began the study so late, that they, too, had +to borrow a word from the Greeks, whence their term "_djagrafiya_."] + +[Footnote 2: MOOR'S _Hindu Pantheon_, p. 318. MOOR speaks of an educated +Indian gentleman who was attached as Munshi to the staff of Mr. North, +Governor of Ceylon, in 1804, and who, on his return to the continent, +wrote a history of the island, in which he repeats the belief current +among his countryment, that "the interior was not inhabited by human +beings of the ordinary shapes."--P. 320.] + +But the century in which Cosmos wrote witnessed the rise of a power +whose ascendant energy diffused a new character over the policy and +literature of the East. Scarcely twenty years elapsed between his death +and the birth, of Mahomet--and during the two centuries that ensued, so +electric was the influence of Islam, that its supremacy was established +with a rapidity beyond parallel, from the sierras of Spain to the +borders of China. The dominions of the Khalifs exceeded in extent the +utmost empire of the Romans; and so undisputed was the sway of the new +religion, that a follower of the Prophet could travel amidst believers +of his own faith, from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, and from the +chain of the Atlas to the mountains of Tartary. + +Syria and Egypt were amongst its earliest conquests; and the power thus +interposed between the Greeks and their former channels of trade, +effectually excluded them from the commerce of India. The Persians and +the Arabs became its undisputed masters, and Alexandria and Seleucia +declined in importance as Bassora and Bagdad rose to the rank of +Oriental emporiums.[1] + +[Footnote 1: ROBERTSON was of opinion, that such was the aversion of the +Persions to the sea, that "no commercial intercourse took place between +Persia and India."--_India_, s. i. p. 9. But this is at variance with +the testimony of COSMAS INDICO-PLEUSTES, as well as of HAMZA of Ispahan +and others.] + +Early in the sixth century, the Persians under Chosroes Nouschirvan held +a distinguished position in the East, their ships frequented the +harbours of India, and their fleet was successful in an expedition +against Ceylon to redress the wrongs done to some of their +fellow-countrymen who had settled there for purposes of trade.[1] + +[Footnote 1: HAMZA ISPAHANENSIS, _Annal_. vol. ii. c. 2. p. 43. +Petropol, 1848, 8vo. REINAUD, _Memoire sur l' Inde_, p. 124.] + +The Arabs, who had been familiar with India before it was known to the +Greeks,[1] and who had probably availed themselves of the monsoons long +before Hippalus ventured to trust to them, began in the fourth and fifth +centuries to establish themselves as merchants at Cambay and Surat, at +Mangalore, Calicut, Coulam, and other Malabar ports[2], whence they +migrated to Ceylon, the government of which was remarkable for its +toleration of all religious sects[3], and its hospitable reception of +fugitives. + +[Footnote 1: There is an obscure sentence in PLINY which would seem to +imply that the Arabs had settled in Ceylon before the first century of +our Christian era:--"Regi cultum Liberi patris, _coeteris +Arabum_."--Lib. vi. c. 22.] + +[Footnote 2: GILDEMEISTER; _Scriptores Arabi de Rebus Indicis_, p. 40.] + +[Footnote 3: EDRISI, tom. i p. 72.] + +It is a curious circumstance, related by BELADORY, who lived at the +court of the Khalif of Bagdad in the ninth century, that an outrage +committed by Indian pirates upon some Mahometan ladies, the daughters of +traders who had died in Ceylon, and whose families the King +Daloopiatissa II., A.D. 700, was sending to their homes in the valley of +the Tigris, served as the plea under which Hadjadj, the fanatical +governor of Irak, directed the first Mahometan expedition for +subjugating the valley of the Indus.[1] + +[Footnote 1: The chief of the Indus was the Buddhist Prince Daher, whose +capital was at Daybal, near the modern Karachee. The story, as it +appears in the MS. of Beladory in the library of Leyden, has been +extracted by REINAUD in his _Fragmens Arabes et Persans relatifs a +l'Inde_, No. v. p. 161, with the following translation:-- + +"Sous le gouvernement de Mohammed, le roi de l'ile du Rubis +(Djezyret-Alyacout) offrit a Hadjadj des femmes musulmanes qui avaient +recu le jour dans ses etats, et dont les peres, livres a la profession +du commerce, etaient morts. Le prince esperuit par la gagner l'amitie de +Hadjadj; mais le navire ou l'on avait embarque ces femmes fut attaque +par une peuplade de race Meyd, des environs de Daybal, qui etait montoe +sur des burques. Les Meyds enleverent le navire avec ce qu'il +renfermait. Dans cette extremite, une de ces femmes de la tribu de +Yarboua, s'ecria: 'Que n'es-tu la, oh Hadjadj!' Cette nouvelle etant +parvenue a Hadjadj, il repondit: 'Me voila.' Aussitot il envoya un +depute a Daher pour l'inviter a faire mettre ces femmes en liberte. Mais +Daher repondit: 'Ce sont des pirates qui ont enleve ces femmes, et je +n'ai aucune autorite sur les ravisseurs.' Alors Hadjadj engagea Obeyd +Allah, fils de Nabhan, a faire une expedition contre Daybal."--P. 190. + +The "Island of Rubies" was the Persian name for Ceylon, and in this +particular instance FERISHTA confirms the identical application of these +two names, vol. ii. p. 402. See _Journal Asiat_. vol. xlvi. p. 131, 163; +REINAUD, _Mem. sur l'Inde_, p. 180; _Relation des Voyages_, Disc. p. xli +ABOULFEDA, _Introd_. vol. i. p. ccclxxxv.; ELPHINSTONE'S _India_, b. v. +ch. i, p. 260.] + +From the eighth till the eleventh century the Persians and Arabs +continued to exercise the same influence over the opulent commerce of +Ceylon which was afterwards enjoyed by the Portuguese and Dutch in +succession between A.D. 1505, and the expulsion of the latter by the +British in A.D. 1796. During this early period, therefore, we must look +for the continuation of accounts regarding Ceylon to the literature of +the Arabs and the Persians, and more especially to the former, by whom +geography was first cultivated as a science in the eighth and ninth +centuries under the auspices of the Khalifs Almansour and Almamoun. On +turning to the Arabian treatises on geography, it will be found that the +Mahometan writers on these subjects were for the most part grave and +earnest men who, though liable equally with the imaginative Greeks to be +imposed on by their informants, exercised somewhat more caution, and +were more disposed to confine their writings to statements of facts +derived from safe authorities, or to matters which they had themselves +seen. + +In their hands scientific geography combined theoretic precision, which +had been introduced by their predecessors, with the extended observation +incident to the victories and enlarged dominion of the Khalifs. Accurate +knowledge was essential for the civil government of their conquests[1]; +and the pilgrimage to Mekka, indispensable once at least in the life of +every Mahometan[2], rendered the followers of the new faith acquainted +with many countries in addition to their own.[3] + +[Footnote 1: "La science geographique, comme les autres sciences en +general, notammement l'astronomie, commenca a se former chez les Arabes, +dans la derniere moitie du viii^{e} siecle, et se fixa dans la premiere +moitie du ix^{e}. On fit usage des itineraires traces par les chefs des +armees conquerantes et des tableaux dresses par les gouveneurs de +provinces; en meme temps on mit a la contribution les methodes propagees +par les Indians, les Persans, et surtout les Grees; qui avaient apporte +le plus de precision dans leurs operations."--REINAUD, _Introd. +Aboulfeda, &c.,_ p. xl.] + +[Footnote 2: REINAUD, _Introd. Aboulfeda,_ p. cxxii.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., vol. i. p. xl.] + +Hence the records of their voyages, though presenting numerous +exaggerations and assertions altogether incredible, exhibit a +superiority over the productions of the Greeks and Romans. To avoid the +fault of dulness, both the latter were accustomed to enliven their +topographical itineraries, not so much by "moving accidents," and +"hair-breadth 'scapes," as by mingling fanciful descriptions of monsters +and natural phenomena, with romantic accounts of the gems and splendours +of the East. Hence from CTESIAS to Sir JOHN MANDEVILLE, every early +traveller in India had his "hint to speak," and each strove to embellish +his story by incorporating with the facts he had witnessed, improbable +reports collected from the representations of others. Such were their +excesses in this direction, that the Greeks formed a class of +"paradoxical" literature, by collecting into separate volumes the +marvels and wonders gravely related by their voyagers and historians.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Such are the _Mirabiles Auscultationes_ of ARISTOTLE, the +_Incredibilia_ of PALEPHATES, the _Historiarum Mirabilium Collectio_ of +ANTIGONUS CARYSTIUS, the _Historiae Mirabiles_ of APOLLONIUS THE MEAGRE, +and the Collections of PHILEGON of Tralles, MICHAEL BELLUS, and many +other Greeks of the Lower Empire. For a succinct account of these +compilers, see WESTERMAN'S _Hapre [Greek: doxographoi], Scriptores Rerum +Mirabilium Graeci_ Brunswick, 1830.] + +The Arabs, on the contrary, with sounder discretion, generally kept +their "travellers' histories" distinct from their sober narratives, and +whilst the marvellous incidents related by adventurous seamen were +received as materials for the story-tellers and romancers, the staple of +their geographical works consisted of truthful descriptions of the +countries visited, their forms of government, their institutions, their +productions, and their trade. + +In illustration of this matter-of-fact character of the Arab +topographers, the most familiar example is that known by the popular +title of the _Voyages of the_ _two Mahometans[1]_, who travelled in +India and China in the beginning of the ninth century. The book +professes to give an account of the countries lying between Bassora and +Canton; and in its unpretending style, and useful notices of commerce in +those seas, it resembles the record, which the merchant ARRIAN has left +us in the _Periplus_, of the same trade as it existed seven centuries +previously, in the hands of the Greeks. The early portion of the book, +which was written A.D. 851, was taken down, from the recital of +Soleyman, a merchant who had frequently made the voyages he describes, +at the epoch when the commerce of Bagdad, under the Khalifs, was at the +height of its prosperity. The second part was added sixty years later, +by Abou-zeyd Hassan, an amateur geographer, of Bassora (contemporary +with Massoudi), from the reports of mariners returning from China, and +is, to a great extent, an amplification of the notices supplied by +Soleyman. + +[Footnote 1: It was first published by RENAUDOT in 1718, and from the +unique MS., now in the Bibliotheque imperiale of Paris, and again by +REINAUD in 1845, with a valuable discourse prefixed on the nature and +extent of the Indian trade prior to the tenth century.--_Relation des +Voyages faits par les Arabes et les Persans dans l'Inde et Chine dans le +IX'e Siecle, &c._ 2 vols. 18mo. Paris, 1845.] + +SOLEYMAN describes the sea of Herkend, as it lay between the Laccadives +and Maldives[1], on the west, and swept round eastward by Cape Comorin +and Adam's Bridge to Ceylon, thus enclosing the precious fishery for +pearls. In Serendib, his earliest attention was devoutly directed to the +sacred footstep on Adam's Peak; in his name for which, "_Al-rohoun,"_ we +trace the Buddhist name for the district, Rohuna, so often occurring in +the _Mahawanso_.[2] This is the earliest notice of the Mussulman +tradition, which associates the story of Adam with Ceylon, though it was +current amongst the Copts in the fourth and fifth centuries.[3] On all +sides of the mountain, he adds, are the mines of rubies, hyacinths, and +other gems; the interior produces aloes; and the sea the highly valued +chank shells, which served the Indians for trumpets.[4] The island was +subject to two kings; and on the death of the chief one his body was +placed on a low carriage, with the head declining till the hair swept +the ground, and, as it was drawn slowly along, a female, with a bunch of +leaves, swept dust upon the features, crying: "Men, behold your king, +whose will, but yesterday, was law! To-day, he bids farewell to the +world, and the Angel of Death has seized his spirit. Cease, any longer, +to be deluded by the shadowy pleasures of life." At the conclusion of +this ceremony, which lasted for three days, the corpse was consumed on a +pyre of sandal, camphor, and aromatic woods, and the ashes scattered to +the winds.[5] The widow of the king was sometimes burnt along with his +remains, but compliance with the custom was not held to be compulsory. + +[Footnote 1: The _"Divi"_ of Ammianus Marcellinus, who along with the +Singhalese "_Selendivi_" sent ambassadors to the Emperor Julian, l xxii. +c. 7.] + +[Footnote 2: A portion of the district near Tangalle is known to the +present day as "Rouna."--_Mahawanso_, ch. ix. p. 57; ch. xxii. p. 130, +&c.] + +[Footnote 3: See the account of Adam's Peak, Vol. II. Pt. VII. ch. ii.] + +[Footnote 4: ABOU-ZEYD, _Relation, &c._, vol. i. p. 5.] + +[Footnote 5: _lb_., p. 50. The practice of burning the remains of the +kings and of persons of exalted rank, continued as long as the native +dynasty held the throne of Kandy.--See KNOX's _Historical Relation of +Ceylon_, A.D. 1681, Part iii. c. ii.] + +Such is the account of SOLEYMAN, but, in the second part of the +manuscript, ABOU-ZEYD, on the authority of another informant, IBN WAHAB, +who had sailed to the same countries, speaks of the pearls of Ceylon, +and adds, regarding its precious stones, that they were obtained in part +from the soil, but chiefly from those points of the beach at which the +rivers flowed into the sea and to which the gems are carried down by the +torrents from the hills.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Ibid_., vol. i. p. 127.] + +ABOU-ZEYD describes the frequent conventions of the heads of the +national religion, and the attendance of scribes to write down from +their dictation the doctrines of Buddhism, the legends of its prophets, +and the precepts of its law. This statement has an obvious reference to +the important events recorded in the _Mahawanso_[1] of the reduction of +the tenets, orally delivered by Buddha, to their written form, as they +appear in the _Pittakatayan_; to the translation of the _Atthakatha_, +from Singhalese into Pali, in the reign of Mahanamo, A.D. 410-432; and +to the singular care displayed, at all times, by the kings and the +priesthood, to preserve authentic records of every event connected with +the national religion and its history. + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxxiii. p. 207; ch. xxxvii. p. 252.] + +ABOU-ZEYD adverts to the richness of the temples of the Singhalese, and +to the colossal dimensions of their statues, and dwells with +particularity on their toleration of all religious sects as attested by +the existence there, in the ninth century, of a sect of Manichaeans, and +a community of Jews.[1] + +[Footnote 1: It was to Ceylon that the terrified worshippers of Siva +betook themselves in their flight, when Mahmoud of Ghuznee smote the +idol and overthrew the temple of Somnaut, A.D. 1025. (FERISHTA, transl. +by Briggs, vol. i. p. 71; REINAUD, _Introd. to_ ABOULFEDA, vol. i. p. +cccxlix. _Memoires sur l'Inde_, p. 270.) Twenty years previously, when +the same orthodox invader routed the schismatic Carmathians at Moultan, +the fugitive chief of the Sheahs found an asylum in Ceylon. (REINAUD, +_Journ. Asiat_., vol. xlv. p. 283; vol. xlvi. p. 129.) The latter +circumstance serves to show that the Mahometans in Ceylon have not been +uniformly Sonnees, and it may probably throw light on a fact of much +local interest connected with Colombo. There formerly stood there, in +the Mahometan Cemetery, a stone with an ancient inscription in Cufic +characters, which no one could decipher, but which was said to record +the virtues of a man of singular virtue, who had arrived in the island +in the tenth century. About the year 1787 A.D., one of the Dutch +officials removed the stone to the spot where he was building, "and +placed it where it now stands, at one of the steps to his door." This is +the account given by Sir Alexander Johnston, who, in 1827, sent a copy +of the inscription to the Royal Asiatic Society of London. GILDEMEISTER +pronounces it to be written in Carmathic characters, and to commemorate +an Arab who died A.D. 848. "Karmathacis quae dicuntur literis exarata +viro cuidam Arabo Mortuo, 948 A.D. posita," _Script. Arabi de Rebus +Indicis_, p. 59. A translation of the inscription by Lee was published +in _Trans, Roy. Asiat. Soc._, vol. i. p. 545, from which it appears that +the deceased, Khalid Ibn Abou Bakaya, distinguished himself by obtaining +"security for religion, with other advantages, in the year 317 of the +Hejira." LEE was disposed to think that this might be the tomb of the +Imaum Abu Abd Allah; who first taught the Mahometans the route by which +pilgrims might proceed from India to the sacred footstep on Adam's Peak. +But besides the discrepancy of the names, the Imaum died in the year +A.D. 953, and interred at Shiraz, where Ibn Batata made a visit to his +tomb. (_Travels_, transl. DEFREMERY, &c., tom. ii. p. 79.) + +EDRISI, in his Geography writing in the twelfth century, confirms the +account of Abou-zeyd as to the toleration of all sects in Ceylon, and +illustrates it by the fact, that of the sixteen officers who formed the +council of the king, four were Buddhists, four Mussulmans, four +Christians, and four Jews.--GILDEMEISTER, _Script. Arabi_, &c., p. 53; +EDRISI, 1 clim. sec. 6.] + +Ibn Wahab, his informant, appears to have looked back with singular +pleasure to the delightful voyages which he had made through the +remarkable still-water channels, elsewhere described, which form so +peculiar a feature in the seaborde of Ceylon, and to which the Arabs +gave the obscure term of "gobbs."[1] Here months were consumed by the +mariners, amidst flowers and overhanging woods, with the enjoyments of +abundant food and exhilarating draughts of arrack flavoured with honey. +The natives of the island were devoted to pleasure, and their days were +spent in cock-fighting and games of chance, into which they entered with +so much eagerness as to wager the joints of their fingers when all else +was lost. + +[Footnote 1: "_Aghbah_," Arab. For an account of those of Ceylon, see +Vol. I. Pt I. ch. i. p. 42. The idea entertained by the Arabs of these +Gobbs, will be found in a passage from Albyrouni, given by REINAUD, +_Fragmens Arabes_, &c., 119, and _Journ. Asiat_. vol. xlv. p. 201. See +also EDRISI, _Geog_., tom. i. p. 73.] + +But the most interesting passages in the narrative of Abou-zeyd are +those which allude to the portion of Ceylon which served as the emporium +for the active and opulent trade of which the island was then, in every +sense of the word, the centre. Gibbon, on no other ground than its +"capacious harbour," pronounces Trincomalie to be the port which +received and dismissed the fleets of the East and West.[1] But the +nautical grounds are even stronger than the historical for regarding +this as improbable;--the winds and the currents, as well as its +geographical position, render Trincomalie difficult of access to vessels +coming from the Red Sea or the Persian Gulf; and it is evident from the +narrative of Soleyman and Ibn Wahab, that ships availing themselves of +the monsoons to cross the Indian Ocean, crept along the shore to Cape +Comorin; and passed close by Adam's Bridge to reach their destined +ports.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Decline and Fall_, ch. xl.] + +[Footnote 2: ABOU-ZEYD, vol. i. p. 128; REINAUD, _Discours; &c._, pp. +lx.--lxix.; _Introd._ ABOULFEDA, p. cdxii.] + +An opinion has been advanced by Bertolacci that the entrepot was +Mantotte, at the northern extremity of the Gulf of Manaar. Presuming +that the voyages both ways were made through the Manaar channel, he +infers that the ships of Arabia and India, rather than encounter the +long delay of waiting for the change of the monsoon to effect the +passage, would prefer to "flock to the Straits of Manaar, and those +which, from their size, could not pass the shallow water, would be +unloaded, and their merchandise trans-shipped into other vessels, as +they arrived from the opposite coast, or deposited in stores to await an +opportunity of conveyance."[1] Hence Mantotte, he concludes, was the +station chosen for such combined operations. + +[Footnote 1: BERTOLACCI'S _Ceylon_, pp. 18,19.] + +But Bertolacci confines his remarks to the Arabian and Indian crafts +alone: he leaves out of consideration the ships of the largest size +called in the _Periplus_ [Greek: kolandiophonta], which kept up the +communication between the west and east coast of India, in the time of +the Romans, and he equally overlooks the great junks of the Chinese, +which, by aid of the magnetic compass[1], made bold passages from Java +to Malabar, and from Malabar to Oman,--vessels which (on the authority +of an ancient Arabic MS.) Reinaud says carried from four to five hundred +men, with arms and naphtha, to defend themselves against the pirates of +India.[2] + +[Footnote 1: The knowledge of the mariner's compass probably possessed +by the Chinese prior to the twelfth century, is discussed by KLAPROTH in +his "_Lettre a M. le Baron Humboldt sur l'invention de la boussole_." +Paris, 1834.] + +[Footnote 2: See the _"Katab-al-adjajab_," probably written by MASSOUDI. +REINAUD, _Memoires sur l'Inde_, p. 200; _Relation et Discours_, pp. lx. +lxviii.; ABOULFEDA, _Introd_. cdxii. May not this early mention of the +use of "naphtha" by the Chinese for burning the ships of an enemy, throw +some light on the disquisitions adverted to by GIBBON, ch. lii., as to +the nature of "the _Greek fire_," so destructive to the fleets of their +assailants during the first and second siege of Constantinople in the +seventh and eighth centuries? GIBBON says that the principal ingredient +was naphtha, and that the Greek emperor learned the secret of its +composition from a Syrian who deserted from the service of the Khalif. +Did the Khalif acquire the knowledge from the Chinese, whose ships, it +appears, were armed with some preparation of this nature in their +voyages to Bassora?] + +On this point we have the personal testimony of the Chinese traveller Fa +Hian, who at the end of the fourth century sailed direct from Ceylon for +China, in a merchant vessel so large as to accommodate two hundred +persons, and having in tow a smaller one, as a precaution against +dangers by sea[1]:--and Ibn Batuta saw, at Calicut, in the fourteenth +century, junks from China capable of accommodating a thousand men, of +whom four hundred were soldiers, and each of these large ships was +followed by three smaller.[2] With vessels of such magnitude, it would +be neither expedient nor practicable to navigate the shallows in the +vicinity of Manaar; and besides, Mantotte, or, as it was anciently +called, _Mahatitta_ or _Maha-totta_, "the great ferry," although it +existed as a port upwards of four hundred years before the Christian +era, was at no period an emporium of commerce. Being situated so close +to the ancient capital, Anarajapoora, it derived its notoriety from +being the point of arrival and departure of the Malabars who resorted to +the island; and the only trade for which it afforded facilities was the +occasional importation of the produce of the opposite coast of India.[3] +It is not only probable, but almost certain that during the middle ages, +and especially prior to the eleventh century, when the trade with Persia +and Arabia was at its height, Mantotte afforded the facilities indicated +by Bertolacci to the smaller craft that availed themselves of the +Paumbam passage; but we have still to ascertain the particular harbour +which was the centre of the more important commerce between China and +the West. That harbour I believe to have been Point de Galle. + +[Footnote 1: _Fo[)e]-kou[)e]-ki_, ch. xl. p. 359). In a previous +passage, FA HIAN describes the large vessels in which the trade was +carried between Tamlook, on the Hoogly, and Ceylon:--"A cette epoque, +des marchands, se mettant en mer avec de grands vaisseaux, firent route +vers le sud-ouest; et au commencement de l'hiver, le vent etant +favorable, apres une navigation de quatorze nuits et d'autant de jours, +on arriva au _Royaume des Lions_."--_Ibid_. chap. xxxvi. p. 328.] + +[Footnote 2: IBN BATUTA, Lee's translation, p. 172.] + +[Footnote 3: _Mahawanso_, ch. vii. p. 51; ch. xxv. p. 155; ch. xxxv. p. +217.] + +Abou-zeyd describes the rendezvous of the ships arriving from Oman, +where they met those bound for the Persian Gulf, as lying half-way +between Arabia and China. "It was the centre," he says, "of the trade in +aloes and camphor, in sandal-wood, ivory and lead."[1] This emporium he +denominates "Kalah," and when we remember that lie is speaking of a +voyage which he had not himself made, and of countries then very +imperfectly known to the people of the West, we shall not be surprised +that he calls it an island, or rather a peninsula. + +[Footnote 1: ABOU-ZEYD, _Relation, &c._, vol. i. p. 93; REINAUD, _Disc._ +p. lxxiv.] + +According to him, it was at that period subject to the Maharaja of +Zabedj, the sovereign of a singular kingdom of which little is known, +but which appears to have been formed about the commencement of the +Christian era; and which, in the eighth and ninth centuries, extended +over the groups of islands south and west of Malacca, including Borneo, +Java, and Sumatra, which had become the resort of a vast population of +Indians, Chinese, and Malays.[1] The sovereign of this opulent empire +had brought under his dominion the territory of the King of Comar, the +southern extremity of the Dekkan[2], and at the period when Abou-zeyd +wrote, he likewise claimed the sovereignty of "Kalah." + +[Footnote 1: _Journ. Asiat._ vol. xlix. p. 206; ELPHINSTONE's _India_, +b. iii. ch. x. p. 168; REINAUD, _Memoires sur l'Inde_, p. 39; _Introd._ +ABOULFEDA, p. cccxc. Baron Walckenaer has ascertained, from the puranas +and other Hindu sources, that the Great Dynasty of the Maharaja +continued till A.D. 628, after which the islands were sub-divided into +numerous sovereignties. See MAJOR's _Introduction to the Indian Voyages +in the Fifteenth Century,_ in the _Hakluyt Soc. Publ._ p. xxvii.] + +[Footnote 2: MASSOUDI relates the conquest of the kingdom of Comar by +the Maharaja of Zabedj, nearly in the same words as it is told by +Abou-zeyd; GILDEMEISTER, _Script. Arab_., pp. 145, 146. REINAUD. +_Memoires sur l'Inde_, p. 225.] + +This incident is not mentioned in the Singhalese chronicles, but their +silence is not to be regarded as conclusive evidence against its +probability; the historians of the Hindus ignore the expedition of +Alexander the Great, and it is possible that those of Ceylon, +indifferent to all that did not directly concern the religion of Buddha, +may have felt little interest in the fortunes of Galle, situated as it +was at the remote extremity of the island, and in a region that hardly +acknowledged a nominal allegiance to the Singhalese crown. + +The assertion of Abou-zeyd as to the sovereignty of the Maharaja of +Zabedj, at Kalah, is consistent with the statement of Soleyman in the +first portion of the work, that "the island was in subjection to two +monarchs;"[1] and this again agrees with the report of Sopater to Cosmas +Indico-pleustes, who adds that the king who possessed the hyacinth was +at enmity with the king of the country in which were the harbour and the +great emporium.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Relation_, vol. i. p. 6.] + +[Footnote 2: [Greek: Duo ie basileis eisin en te neso enantioi allelon, +ho eis echon ton huakinthon, kai d eteros to meros to allo en ps esti +emporion kai he leine.] + +COSMAS INDIC.] + +But there is evidence that the subjection of this portion of Ceylon to +the chief of the great insular empire was at that period currently +believed in the East. In the a "_Garsharsp-Namah_" a Persian poem of the +tenth century, by Asedi, a manuscript of which was in the possession of +Sir William Ouseley, the story turns on a naval expedition, fitted out +by Delak, whose dominions extended from Persia to Palestine, and +despatched at the request of the Maharaja against Baku, the King of +Ceylon, and in the course of the narrative, Garsharsp and his fleet +reach their destination at Kalah, and there achieve a victory over the +"Shah of Serendib."[1] + +[Footnote 1: OUSELEY'S _Travels_, vol. i. p. 48.] + +It must be observed, that one form of the Arabic letter K is sounded +like G, so that Kalah would be pronounced _Gala_.[1] The identity, +however, is established not merely by similarity of sound, but by the +concurrent testimony of Cosmas and the Arabian geographers[2], as to the +nature and extent of the intercourse between China and Persia, +statements which are intelligible if referred to that particular point, +but inapplicable to any other. + +[Footnote 1: _Kalah_ may possibly be identical with the Singhalese word +_gala_, which means an "enclosure," and the deeply bayed harbour of +Galle would serve to justify the name. _Galla_ signifies a rock, and +this derivation would be equally sustained by the natural features of +the place, and dangerous coral reefs which obstruct the entrance to the +port.] + +[Footnote 2: DULAURIER, in the _Journal Asiatique_ for Sept. 1846, vol. +xlix. p. 209, has brought together the authorities of Aboulfeda, +Kazwini, and others to show that Kalah be situated in Ceylon, and he has +combated the conjecture of M. Alfred Maury that it may be identical with +Kedsh in the Malay Peninsula.--REINAUD, _Relation, &c. Disc._, pp. +xli.--lxxxiv., _Introd._ ABOULFEDA, p. ccxviii.] + +Coupled with these considerations, however, the identity of name is not +without its significance. It was the habit of the Singhalese to apply to +a district the name of the principal place within it; thus Lanka, which +in the epic of the Hindus was originally the capital and castle of +Ravana, was afterwards applied to the island in general; and according +to the _Mahawanso_, Tambapani, the point of the coast where Wijayo +landed, came to designate first the wooded country that surrounded it, +and eventually the whole area of Ceylon.[1] In the same manner _Galla_ +served to describe not only the harbour of that name, but the district +north and east of it to the extent of 600 square miles, and De Barros, +De Couto, and Ribeyro, the chroniclers of the Portuguese in Ceylon, +record it as a tradition of the island, that the inhabitants of that +region had acquired the name of the locality, and were formerly known as +"Gallas."[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. vii. p. 50.] + +[Footnote 2: A notice of this tribe will be found in another place. See +Vol. II. Pt. VII. ch. ii.] + +Galle therefore, in the earlier ages, appears to have occupied a +position in relation to trade of equal if not of greater importance than +that which attaches to it at the present day. It was the central +emporium of a commerce which in turn enriched every country of Western +Asia, elevated the merchants of Tyre to the rank of princes, fostered +the renown of the Ptolemies, rendered the wealth and the precious +products of Arabia a gorgeous mystery[1], freighted the Tigris with +"barbaric pearl and gold," and identified the merchants of Bagdad and +the mariners of Bassora with associations of adventure and romance. Yet, +strange to say, the native Singhalese appear to have taken no part +whatever in this exciting and enriching commerce; their name is never +mentioned in connection with the immigrant races attracted by it to +their shores, and the only allusions of travellers to the indigenous +inhabitants of the island are in connection with a custom so remarkable +and so peculiar as at once to identify the tribes to whom it is ascribed +with the remnant of the aboriginal race of Veddahs, whose descendants +still haunt the forests in the east of Ceylon. + +[Footnote 1: " ... intactis opulentior Thesauris Arabum, et divitis +Indiae." HORACE.] + +Such is the aversion of this untamed race to any intercourse with +civilised life, that when in want of the rude implements essential to +their savage economy, they repair by night to the nearest village on the +confines of their hunting-fields, and indicating by well-understood +signs and models the number and form of the articles required, whether +arrow-heads, hatchets, or cloths, they deposit an equivalent portion of +dried deer's flesh or honey near the door of the dealer, and retire +unseen to the jungles, returning by stealth within a reasonable time, to +carry away the manufactured articles, which they find placed at the same +spot in exchange. + +This singular custom has been described without variation by numerous +writers on Ceylon, both in recent and remote times. To trace it +backwards, it is narrated, nearly as I have stated it, by Robert Knox in +1681[1]; and it is confirmed by Valentyn, the Dutch historian of +Ceylon[2]; as well as by Ribeyro, the Portuguese, who wrote somewhat +earlier.[3] Albyrouni, the geographer, who in the reign of Mahomet of +Ghuznee, A.D. 1030, described this singular feature in the trade with +the island, of which he speaks under the name of Lanka, says that it was +the belief of the Arabian mariners that the parties with whom they held +their mysterious dealings were demons or savages.[4] + +[Footnote 1: KNOX, _Historical Relation, &c._, part iii. ch. i. p. 62.] + +[Footnote 2: VALENTYN, _Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien_, ch. iii. p. 49.] + +[Footnote 3: "Lorsqu'ils ont besoin de haches on de fleches, ils font un +modele avec des feuilles d'arbre, et vont la nuit porter ce modele, et +la moitie d'un cerf on d'un sanglier, a la porte d'un armurier, qui +voyant le matin cette viande pendue a sa porte, scait ce que cela veut +dire: il travaille aussi-tot et 3 jours apres il pend les fleches ou les +haches au meme endroit ou etoit la viande, et la nuit suivante le Beda +les vient prendre."--RIBEYRO, _Hist. de Ceylan_, A.D. 1686, ch. xxiv. p. +179.] + +[Footnote 4: "Les marins se reunissent pour dire que lorsque les navires +sont arrives dans ces parages, quelques uns de l'equipage montent sur +des chaloupes et descendent a terre pour y deposer, soit de l'argent, +soit des objets utiles a la personne des habitans, tels que des pagnes, +du sel, etc. Le lendemain, quand ils reviennent, ils trouvent a la place +de l'argent des pagnes et du sel, une quantite de girofle d'une valeur +egale. On ajoute que ce commerce se fait avec des genies, ou, suivant +d'autres; avec des hommes restes a l'etat sauvage."--ALBYROUNI, _transl. +by_ REINAUD, _Introd. to_ ABOULFEDA, sec. iii. p. ccc. See also REINAUD, +_Mem. sur l'Inde_, p. 343. I have before alluded (p. 538, _n_.) to the +treatise _De Moribus Brachmanorum_, ascribed to Palladius, one version +of which is embodied in the spurious Life of Alexander the Great, +written by the Pseudo-Callisthenes. In it the traveller from Thebes, who +is the author's informant, states, that when in Ceylon, he obtained +pepper from the Besadae, and succeeded in getting so near them as to be +able to describe accurately their appearance, their low stature and +feeble configuration, their large heads and shaggy uncut hair,--a +description which in every particular agrees with the aspect of the +Veddahs at the present day. His expression that he succeeded in "getting +near" them, [Greek: ertasa engus ton kaloumenon Besadon] shows their +propensity to conceal themselves even when bringing the articles which +they had collected in the woods to sell.--PSEUDO-CALLISTHENES, lib. +iii. ch. vii. Paris, 1846, p. 103.] + +Concurrent testimony, to the same effect, is found in the recital of the +Chinese Buddhist, Fa Hian, who in the third century describes, in his +travels, the same strange peculiarity of the inhabitants in those days, +whom he also designates "demons," who deposited, unseen, the precious +articles which they come down to barter with the foreign merchants +resorting to their shores.[1] + +[Footnote 1: "Les marchands des autre royaumes y faisaient le commerce: +quand le temps de ce commerce etait venu, les genies et les demons ne +paraissaient pas; mais ils mettaient en avant des choses precieuses dont +ils marquaient le juste prix,--s'il convenait aux marchands, ceuxci +l'acquittaient et prenaient le marchandise."--FA HIAN, +_Foe[)e]-kou[)e]-ki. Transl._ REMUSAT, ch. xxxviii. p. 332 + +There are a multitude of Chinese authorities to the same effect. One of +the most remarkable books in any language is a Chinese Encyclopaedia +which under the title of _Wen-hian-thoung-khao_, or "_Researches into +ancient Monuments_," contains a history of every art and science form +the commencement of the empire to the era of the author MA-TOUAN-LIN, +who wrote in the thirteenth century. M. Stanislas Julien has published +in the _Journal Asiatique_ for July 1836 a translation of that portion +of this great work which has relation to Ceylon. It is there stated of +the aborigines that when "les marchands des autres royaumes y venaient +commercer, _ils ne laissaient pas voir leurs corps_, et montraient au +moyen de pierres precieuses le prix que pouvaient valoir les +merchandises. Les marchands venaient et en prenaient une quantite +equivalente a leurs marchandises."--_Journ. Asiat._ t. xxviii. p. 402; +xxiv. p. 41. I have extracts from seven other Chinese works, written +between the seventh and the twelfth centuries, in all of which there +occurs the same account of Ceylon,--that it was formerly supposed to be +inhabited by dragons and demons, and that when "merchants from all +nations come to trade with the, they are invisible, but leave their +precious wares spread out with an indication of the value set on them, +and the Chinese take them at the prices stipulated."--_Leang-shoo_, +"History of the Leang Dynasty," A.D. 630, b. liv. p. 13. _Nan-she_, +"History of the Southern Empire," A.D. 650, p. xxxviii. p. 14. +_Jung-teen_, "Cyclopaedia of History," A.D. 740, b. cxciii. p. 8. The +_Tae-ping_, a "Digest of History," compiled by Imperial command, A.D. +983, b. dccxciii. p. 9. _Tsih-foo-yuen-kwei_, the "Great Depositary of +the National Archives," A.D. 1012, b. cccclvi. p. 21. _Sin-Jang-shoo_, +"New History of the Tang Dynasty," A.D. 1060, b. cxlvi. part ii. p. 10. +_Wan heen-tung-Kwan_, "Antiquarian Researches," A.D. 1319, b. +cccxxxviii. p. 24.] + +The chain of evidence is rendered complete by a passage in Pliny, which, +although somewhat obscure (facts relating to the Seres being confounded +with statements regarding Ceylon), nevertheless serves to show that the +custom in question was then well known to the Singhalese ambassadors +sent to the Emperor Claudius, and was also familiar to the Greek traders +resorting to the island. The envoys stated, at Rome, that the habit of +the people of their country was, on the arrival of traders, to go to +"the further side of some river where wares and commodities are laid +down by the strangers, and if the natives list to make exchange, they +have them taken away, and leave other merchandise in lieu thereof, to +content the foreign merchant."[1] + +[Footnote 1: PLINY, _Nat. Hist_., lib. vi. ch. xxiv. Transl. Philemon +Holland, p. 130. This passage has been sometimes supposed to refer to +the Serae, but a reference to the text will confirm the opinion of +MARTIANUS and SOLINUS, that Pliny applies it to the Singhalese; and that +the allusion to red hair and grey eyes, "rutilis comis" and "caeruleis +oculis" applies to some northern tribes whom the Singhalese had seen in +their overland journeys to China, "Later travellers," says COOLEY, "have +likewise had glimpses, on the frontiers of India, of these German +features; but nothing is yet known with certainty of the tribe to which +they properly belonged."--_Hist. Inland and Maritime Discovery_, vol. i. +p. 71.] + +The fact, thus established, of the aversion to commerce, immemorially +evinced by the southern Singhalese, and of their desire to escape from +intercourse with the strangers resorting to trade on their coasts, +serves to explain the singular scantiness of information regarding the +interior of the island which is apparent in the writings of the Arabians +and Persians, between the eighth and thirteenth centuries. Their +knowledge of the coast was extensive, they were familiar with the lofty +mountain which served as its landmark, they dwell with admiration on its +productions, and record with particularity the objects of commerce which +were to be found in the island; but, regarding the Singhalese themselves +and their social and intellectual condition, little, if any, real +information is to be gleaned from the Oriental geographers of the middle +ages. + +ALBATENY and MASSOUDI, the earliest of the Arabian geographers[1], were +contemporaries of Abou-zeyd, in the ninth century, and neither adds much +to the description of Ceylon, given in the narratives of "_The two +Mahometans_." The former assigns to the island the fabulous dimensions +ascribed to it by the Hindus, and only alludes to the ruby and the +sapphire[2] as being found in the rivers that flow from its majestic +mountains. MASSOUDI asserts that he visited Ceylon[3], and describes, +from actual knowledge, the funeral ceremonies of a king, and the +incremation of his remains; but as these are borrowed almost verbatim +from the account given by Soleyman[4], there is reason to believe that +he merely copied from Abou-zeyd the portions of the "_Meadows of +Gold_"[5] that have relation to Ceylon. + +[Footnote 1: Probably the earliest allusion to Ceylon by any Arabian or +Persian author, is that of Tabari, who was born in A.D. 838; but he +limits his notices to an exaggerated account of Adam's Peak, "than which +the whole world does not contain a mountain of greater +height."--OUSELLY'S _Travels_, vol i. p. 34, _n_.] + +[Footnote 2: "Le rubis rouge, et la pierre qui est couleur de ciel." +ALBATENY, quoted by Reinaud, _Introd_. ABOULFEDA p. ccclxxxv.] + +[Footnote 3: MASSOUDI in Gildemeister, _Script. Arab_. p. 154. +Gildemeister discredits the assertion of Massoudi, that he had been in +Ceylon. (_Ib._ p. 154, _n_.) He describes Kalah as an island distinct +from Serendib.] + +[Footnote 4: ABOU-ZEYD, _Relation, &c_., p. 50.] + +[Footnote 5: A translation of MASSOUDI'S _Meadows of Gold_ in English +was begun by Dr. Sprenger for the "Oriental Translation Fund," but it +has not advanced beyond the first volume, which was published in 1841.] + +In the order of time, this is the place to allude to another Arabian +mariner, whose voyages have had a world-wide renown, and who, more than +any other author, ancient or modern, has contributed to familiarise +Europe with the name and wonders of Serendib. I allude to "Sindbad of +the Sea," whose voyages were first inserted by Galland, in his French +translation of the "_Thousand-and-one Nights_." Sindbad, in his own +tale, professes to have lived in the reign of the most illustrious +Khalif of the Abbassides,-- + + "Sole star of all that place and time;-- + And saw him, in his golden prime, + The good Haroun Alraschid." + +But Haroun died, A.D. 808, and Sindbad's narrative is so manifestly +based on the recitals of Abou-zeyd and Massoudi, that although the +author may have lived shortly after, it is scarcely possible that he +could have been a contemporary of the great ruler of Bagdad.[1] + +[Footnote 1: REINAUD notices the _Ketab-ala-jayb_, or "Book of Wonders," +of MASSOUDI, as one of the works whence the materials of Sindbad's +Voyages were drawn. (_Introd_. ABOULFEDA, vol. i. p. lxxvii.) HOLE +published in 1797 A.D. his learned _Remarks on the Origin of Sindbad's +Voyages_, and in that work, as well as in LANGLE'S edition of Sindbad; +and in the notes by LANE to his version of the "_Arabian Nights' +Entertainment_," Edrisi, Kazwini, and many other writers are mentioned +whose works contain parallel statements. But though Edrisi and Kazwini +wrote in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it does not follow that +the author of Sindbad lived later than they, as both may have borrowed +their illustrations from the same early sources.] + +One inference is clear, from the story of Sindbad, that whilst the +sea-coast of Ceylon was known to the Arabians, the interior had been +little explored by them, and was so enveloped in mystery that any tale +of its wonders, however improbable, was sure to gain credence. Hence, +what Sindbad relates of the shore and its inhabitants is devoid of +exaggeration: in his first visit the natives who received him were +Malabars, one of whom had learned Arabic, and they were engaged in +irrigating their rice lands from a tank. These are incidents which are +characteristic of the north-western coast of Ceylon at the present day; +and the commerce, for which the island was remarkable in the ninth and +tenth centuries is implied by the expression of Sindbad, that on the +occasion of his next voyage, when bearing presents and a letter from the +Khalif to the King of Serendib, he embarked at Bassora in a ship, and +with him "were many merchants." + +Of the Arabian authors of the middle ages the one who dwells most +largely on Ceylon is EDRISI, born of a family who ruled over Malaga +after the fall of the Khalifs of Cordova. He was a _protege_ of the +Sicilian king, Roger the Norman, at whose desire he compiled his +Geography, A.D. 1154. But with regard to Ceylon, his pages contain only +the oft-repeated details of the height of the holy mountain, the gems +found in its ravines, the musk, the perfumes, and odoriferous woods +which abound there.[1] He particularises twelve cities, but their names +are scarcely identifiable with any now known.[2] The sovereign, who was +celebrated for the mildness of his rule, was assisted by a council of +sixteen, of whom four were of the national religion, four Christians, +four Mussulmans, and four Jews; and one of the chief cares of the +government was given to keeping up the historical records of the reigns +of their kings, the lives of their prophets, and the sacred books of +their law. + +[Footnote 1: EDRISI mentions, that at that period the sugar-cane was +cultivated in Ceylon.] + +[Footnote 2: Marnaba, (_Manaar?_) Aghna Perescouri, (_Periatorre?_) +Aide, Mahouloun, (_Putlam?_) Hamri, Telmadi, (_Talmanaar?_) Lendouma, +Sedi; Hesli, Beresli and Medouna (_Matura?_). "Aghna" or "Ana," as +Edrisi makes it the residence of the king, must be Anarajapoora.] + +Ships from China and other distant countries resorted to the island, and +hither "came the wines of Irak, and Fars, which are purchased by the +king, and sold again to his subjects; for, unlike the princes of India, +who encourage debauchery but strictly forbid wine, the King of Serendib +recommends wine and prohibits debauchery." The exports of the island he +describes as silk, precious stones of every hue, rock-crystal, diamonds, +and a profusion of perfumes.[1] + +[Footnote 1: EDRISI, _Geogr._ Transl. de Jaubert, 4to. Paris, 1836, t. +i. p. 71, &c. Edrisi, in his "Notice of Ceylon," quotes largely and +verbatim from the work of Abou-zeyd.] + +The last of this class of writers to whom it is necessary to allude is +KAZWINI, who lived at Bagdad in the thirteenth century, and, from the +diversified nature of his writings, has been called the Pliny of the +East. In his geographical account of India, he includes Ceylon, but it +is evident from the details into which he enters of the customs of the +court and the people, the burning of the widows of the kings on the same +pile with their husbands, that the information he had received had been +collected amongst the Brahmanical, not the Buddhist portion of the +people. This is confirmatory of the actual condition of the people of +Ceylon at the period as shown by the native chronicles, the king being +the Malabar Magha, who invaded the island from Caligna 1219 A.D., +overthrew the Buddhist religion, desecrated its monuments and temples, +and destroyed the edifices and literary records of the capital.[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxx. _Rajaratnacari_, p. 93; _Rajavali_, +p. 256. TURNOUR'S _Epitome, &c_., p. 44.] + +KAZWINI, as usual, dwells on the productions of the island, its spices, +and its odours, its precious woods and medical drugs, its profusion of +gems, its gold and silver work, and its pearls[1]: but one circumstance +will not fail to strike the reader as a strange omission in these +frequent enumerations of the exports of Ceylon. I have traced them from +their earliest notices by the Greeks and Romans to the period when the +commerce of the East had reached its climax in the hands of the Persians +and Arabians; the survey extends over fifteen centuries, during which +Ceylon and its productions were familiarly known to the traders of all +countries, and yet in the pages of no author, European or Asiatic, from +the earliest ages to the close of the thirteenth century, is there the +remotest allusion to _Cinnamon_ as an indigenous production, or even as +an article of commerce in Ceylon. I may add, that I have been equally +unsuccessful in finding any allusion to it in any Chinese work of +ancient date.[2] + +[Footnote 1: KAZWINI, in Gildemeister, _Script. Arab_. p. 108.] + +[Footnote 2: In the Chinese Materia Medica, "_Pun-tsao-kang-muh_," +cinnamon or cassia is described under the name of "_kwei_" but always as +a production of Southern China and of Cochin China. In the Ming History, +a production of Ceylon is mentioned under the name of "_Shoo-heang_," or +"tree-perfume;" but my informant, Mr. Wylie, of Shanghae, is unable to +identify it with cinnamon oil.] + +This unexpected result has served to cast a suspicion on the title of +Ceylon to be designated _par excellence_ the "Cinnamon Isle," and even +with the knowledge that the cinnamon laurel is indigenous there, it +admits of but little doubt that the spice which in the earlier ages was +imported into Europe through Arabia, was obtained, first from Africa, +and afterwards from India; and that it was not till after the twelfth or +thirteenth century that its existence in Ceylon became known to the +merchants resorting to the island. So little was its real history known +in Europe, even at the latter period, that Phile, who composed his +metrical treatise, [Greek: Peri Zoon Idiotetos], for the information of +the Emperor Michael XI. (Palaeologus), about the year 1310, repeats the +ancient fable of Herodotus, that cinnamon grew in an unknown Indian +country, whence it was carried by birds, from whose nests it was +abstracted by the natives of Arabia.[1] + +[Footnote 1: + + [Greek: + Ornis ho kinnamomos onomasmenos + To kinnamomon euren agnooumenon, + Huph ou kalian organoi tois philtatois + Mallon ie tois melasin Indois, autanax + Aromatiken hedonen diaplekei.] + + PHILE, xxviii. + +VINCENT, in scrutinising the writings of the classical authors, anterior +to Cosmas, who treated of Taprobane, was surprised to discover that no +mention of cinnamon as a production of Ceylon was to be met with in +Pliny, Dioscorides, or Ptolemy, and that even the author of the +mercantile _Periplus_ was silent regarding it. (Vol. ii. p. 512.) +D'Herbelot has likewise called attention to the same fact. (_Bibl. +Orient._ vol. iii. p. 308.) This omission is not to be explained by +ascribing it to mere inadvertence. The interest of the Greeks and Romans +was naturally excited to discover the country which produced a luxury so +rare as to be a suitable gift for a king; and so costly, that a crown of +cinnamon tipped with gold was a becoming offering to the gods. But the +Arabs succeeded in preserving the secret of its origin, and the +curiosity of Europe was baffled by tales of cinnamon being found in the +nest of the Phoenix, or gathered in marshes guarded by monsters and +winged serpents. Pliny appears to have been the first to suspect that +the most precious of spices came not from Arabia, but from AEthiopia +(lib. xii. c. xlii.); and COOLEY, in an argument equally remarkable for +ingenuity and research, has succeeded in demonstrating the soundness of +this conjecture, and establishing the fact that the cinnamon brought to +Europe by the Arabs, and afterwards by the Greeks, came chiefly from the +eastern angle of Africa, the tract around Cape Gardafui, which is marked +on the ancient maps as the _Regio Cinnamomifera._ (Journ. Roy. Georg. +Society, 1849, vol. xix. p. 166.) COOLEY has suggested in his learned +work on "_Ptolemy and the Nile_," that the name _Gardafui_ is a compound +of the Somali word _gard_, "a port," and the Arabic _afhaoni_, a generic +term for aromata and spices. It admits of no doubt that the cinnamon of +Ceylon was unknown to commerce in the sixth century of our era; although +there is evidence of a supply which, if not from China, was probably +carried in Chinese vessels at a much earlier period, in the Persian name +_dar chini_, which means "_Chinese wood_," and in the ordinary word +"cinn-amon," "_Chinese amomum_," a generic name for aromatic spices +generally. (NEES VON ESENBACH, _de Cinnamono Disputatio_, p. 12.) +Ptolemy, equally with Pliny, placed the "Cinnamon Region" at the +north-eastern extremity of Africa, now the country of the Somaulees; and +the author of the _Periplus_, mindful of his object, in writing a +guidebook for merchant-seamen, particularises cassia amongst the exports +of the same coast; but although he enumerates the productions of Ceylon, +gems, pearls, ivory, and tortoiseshell, he is silent as to cinnamon. +Dioscorides and Galen, in common with the travellers and geographers of +the ancients, ignore its Singhalese origin, and unite with them in +tracing it to the country of the Troglodytae. I attach no importance to +those passages in WAGENFELD'S version of _Sanchoniathon_, in which, +amongst other particulars, obviously describing Ceylon under the name of +"the island of Rachius," which he states to have been visited by the +Phoenicians; he says, that the western province produced, the finest +cinnamon ([Greek: kinnamo pollo te kai diapheronti]), that the mountains +abounded in cassia (Greek: kasia aromatikotate]), and that the minor +kings paid their tribute in both, to the paramount sovereign. +(SANCHONIATHON, ed. Wagenfeld, Bremen, 1837, lib. vii. ch. xii.). The +MS. from which Wagenfeld printed, is evidently a mediaeval forgery (see +note (A) to vol. i. ch. v. p. 547). Again, it is equally strange that +the writers of Arabia and Persia preserve a similar silence as to the +cinnamon of the island, although they dwell with due admiration on its +other productions, in all of which they carried on a lucrative trade. +Sir WILLIAM OUSELEY, after a fruitless search through the writings of +their geographers and travellers, records his surprise at this result, +and mentions especially his disappointment, that Ferdousi, who enriches +his great poem with glowing descriptions of all the objects presented by +surrounding nations to the sovereigns of Persia,--ivory, ambergris, and +aloes, vases, bracelets, and jewels,--never once adverts to the +exquisite cinnamon of Ceylon.--_Travels_, vol. i, p. 41. + +The conclusion deducible from fifteen centuries of historic testimony +is, that the earliest knowledge of cinnamon possessed by the western +nations was derived from China, and that it first reached Judea and +Phoenicia overland by way of Persia (Song of Solomon, iv. 14: Revelation +xviii, 13). At a later period when the Arabs, "the merchants of Sheba," +competed for the trade of Tyre, and earned to her "the chief of all +spices" (Ezekiel xvii. 22), their supplies were drawn from their African +possessions, and the cassia of the Troglodytic coast supplanted the +cinnamon of the far East, and to a great extent excluded it from the +market. The Greeks having at length discovered the secret of the Arabs, +resorted to the same countries as their rivals in commerce, and +surpassing them in practical navigation and the construction of ships, +the Sabaeans were for some centuries reduced to a state of mercantile +dependence and inferiority. In the meantime the Roman Empire declined; +the Persians under the Sassanides engrossed the intercourse with the +East, the trade of India now flowed through the Persian Gulf, and the +ports of the Red Sea were deserted. "Thus the downfall, and it may be +the extinction, of the African spice trade probably dates from the close +of the sixth century, and Malabar succeeded at once to this branch of +commerce."--COOLEY, _Regio Cinnamomifera_, p. 14. Cooley supposes that +the Malabars may have obtained from Ceylon the cinnamon with which they +supplied the Persians; as Ibn Batuta, in the fourteenth century, saw +cinnamon trees drifted upon the shores of the island, whither they had +been carried by torrents from the forests of the interior (_Ibn Batuta_, +ch. xx. p. 182). The fact of their being found so is in itself +sufficient evidence, that down to that time no active trade had been +carried on in the article; and the earliest travellers in the thirteenth +and fourteenth centuries, MARCO POLO, JOHN OF HESSE, FRA JORDANUS and +others, whilst they allude to cinnamon as one of the chief productions +of Malabar, speak of Ceylon, notwithstanding her wealth in jewels and +pearls, as if she were utterly destitute of any spice of this kind. +NICOLA DE CONTI, A.D. 1444, is the first European writer, in whose pages +I have found Ceylon described as yielding cinnamon, and he is followed +by Varthema, A.D. 1506, and Corsali, A.D. 1515. + +Long after the arrival of Europeans in Ceylon, cinnamon was only found +in the forests of the interior, where it was cut and brought away by the +Chalias, the caste who, from having been originally weavers, devoted +themselves to this new employment. The Chalias are themselves an +immigrant tribe, and, according to their own tradition, they came to the +island only a very short time before the appearance of the Portuguese. +(See a _History of the Chalias_, by ADRIAN RAJAPAKSE, _a Chief of the +Caste, Asiat. Reser._ vol. iii. p. 440.) So difficult of access were the +forests, that the Portuguese could only obtain a full supply from them +once in three years; and the Dutch, to remedy this uncertainty, made +regular plantations in the vicinity of their forts about the year 1770 +A.D., "_so that the cultivation of cinnamon in Ceylon is not yet a +century old_"--COOLEY, p. 15. It is a question for scientific research +rather than for historical scrutiny, whether the cinnamon laurel of +Ceylon, as it exists at the present day, is indigenous to the island, or +whether it is identical with the cinnamon of Abyssinia, and may have +been carried thence by the Arabs; or whether it was brought to the +island from the adjacent continent of India; or imported by the Chinese +from islands still further to the east. One fact is notorious at the +present day, that nearly the whole of the cinnamon grown in Ceylon is +produced in a small and well-defined area occupying the S.W. quarter of +the island, which has been at all times the resort of foreign shipping. +The natives, from observing its appearance for the first time in other +and unexpected places, believe it to be sown by the birds who carry +thither the undigested seeds; and the Dutch, for this reason, prohibited +the shooting of crows,--a precaution that would scarcely be necessary +for the protection of the plant, had they believed it to be not only +indigenous, but peculiar to the island. We ourselves were led, till very +recently, to imagine that Ceylon enjoyed a "natural monopoly" of +cinnamon. + +Mr. THWAITES, of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kandy, is of opinion from +his own observation, that cinnamon is indigenous to Ceylon, as it is +found, but of inferior quality, in the central mountain range, as high +as 3000 feet above the level of the sea--and again in the sandy soil +near Batticaloa on the east coast, he saw it in such quantity as to +suggest the idea that it must be the remains of former cultivation. This +statement of Mr. Thwaites is quite in consistency with the narrative of +VALENTYN (ch. vii.), that the Dutch, on their first arrival in Ceylon, +A.D. 1601-2, took on board cinnamon at Batticaloa,--and that the +surrounding district continued to produce it in great abundance in A.D. +1726. (Ib. ch. xv. p. 223, 224.) Still it must be observed that its +appearance in these situations is not altogether inconsistent with the +popular belief that the seeds may have been carried there by birds. + +Finding that the Singhalese works accessible to me, the _Mahawanso_, the +_Rajavali_, the _Rajaratnacari_, &c., although frequently +particularising the aromatic shrubs and flowers planted by the pious +care of the native sovereigns, made no mention of cinnamon, I am +indebted to the good offices of the Maha-Moodliar de Sarem, of Mr. De +Alwis, the translator of the _Sidath-Sangara_, and of Mr. Spence Hardy, +the learned historian of Buddhism, for a thorough, examination of such +native books as were likely to throw light on the question. Mr. Hardy +writes to me that he has not met with the word cinnamon (_kurundu_) in +any early Singhalese books; but there is mention of a substance called +"_paspalawata_" of which cinnamon forms one of the ingredients. Mr. de +Alwis has been equally unsuccessful, although in the _Saraswate +Nigardu_, an ancient Sanskrit Catalogue of Plants, the true cinnamon is +spoken of as _Sinhalam_, a word which signifies "belonging to Ceylon" to +distinguish it from cassia, which is found in Hindustan. The +Maha-Moodliar, as the result of an investigation made by him in +communication with some of the most erudite of the Buddhist priesthood +familiar with Pali and Singhalese literature, informs me that whilst +cinnamon is alluded to in several Sanskrit works on Medicine, such as +that of Susrata, and thence copied into Pali translations, its name has +been found only in Singhalese works of comparatively modern date, +although it occurs in the treatise on Medicine and Surgery popularly +attributed to King Bujas Raja, A.D. 339. Lankagodde, a learned priest of +Galle, says that the word _lawanga_ in an ancient Pali vocabulary means +cinnamon, but I rather think this is a mistake, for _lawanga_ or +_lavanga_ is the Pali name for "cloves," that for cinnamon being +_lamago_. + +The question therefore remains in considerable obscurity. It is +difficult to understand how an article so precious could exist in the +highest perfection in Ceylon, at the period when the island was the very +focus and centre of Eastern commerce, and yet not become an object of +interest and an item of export. And although it is sparingly used in the +Singhalese cuisine, still looking at its many religious uses for +decoration and incense, the silence of the ecclesiastical writers as to +its existence is not easily accounted for. + +The explanation may possibly be, that cinnamon, like coffee, was +originally a native of the east angle of Africa; and that the same +Arabian adventurers who carried coffee to Yemen, where it flourishes to +the present day, may have been equally instrumental in introducing +cinnamon into India and Ceylon. In India its cultivation, probably from +natural causes, proved unsuccessful; but in Ceylon the plant enjoyed +that rare combination of soil, temperature, and climate, which +ultimately gave to its qualities the highest possible development.] + +The first authentic notice which we have of Singhalese cinnamon occurs +in the voyages of Ibn Batuta the Moor, who, impelled by religious +enthusiasm, set out from his native city Tangiers, in the year 1324, and +devoted twenty-eight years to a pilgrimage, the record of which has +entitled him to rank amongst the most remarkable travellers of any age +or country. + +On his way to India, he visited, in Shiraz, the tomb of the Imaum Abu +Abd Allah, "who made known the way from India to the mountain of +Serendib." As this saint died in the year of the _Hejira_ 331, his story +serves to fix the origin of the Mahometan pilgrimages to Adam's Peak, in +the early part of the tenth century. When steering for the coast of +India, from the Maldives, Ibn Batuta was carried by the south-west +monsoon towards the northern portion of Ceylon, which was then (A.D. +1347) in the hands of the Malabars, the Singhalese sovereign having +removed his capital southward to Gampola. The Hindu chief of Jaffna was +at this time in possession of a fleet in "which he occasionally +transported his troops against the Mahometans on other parts of the +coast;" where the Singhalese chroniclers relate that the Tamils at this +time had erected forts at Colombo, Negombo, and Chilaw. + +Ibn Batuta was permitted to land at Battala (Putlam) and found the shore +covered with "cinnamon wood," which "the merchants of Malabar transport +without any other price than a few articles of clothing which are given +as presents to the king. This may be attributed to the circumstance that +it is brought down by the mountain torrents, and left in great heaps +upon the shore." + +This passage is interesting, though not devoid of obscurity, for +cinnamon is not known to grow farther north than Chilaw, nor is there +any river in the district of Putlam which could bear the designation of +a "mountain torrent." Along the coast further south the cinnamon +district commences, and the current of the sea may have possibly carried +with it the uprooted laurels described in the narrative. The whole +passage, however, demonstrates that at that time, at least, Ceylon had +no organised trade in the spice. + +The Tamil chieftain exhibited to Ibn Batuta his wealth in "pearls," and +under his protection he made the pilgrimage to the summit of Adam's Peak +accompanied by four jyogees who visited the foot-mark every year, "four +Brahmans, and ten of the king's companions, with fifteen attendants +carrying provisions." The first day he crossed a river, (the estuary of +Calpentyn?) on a boat made of reeds, and entered the city of Manar +Mandali; probably the site of the present Minneri Mundal. This was the +"extremity of the territory of the infidel king," whence Ibn Batuta +proceeded to the port of Salawat (Chilaw), and thence (turning inland) +he reached the city of the Singhalese sovereign at Gampola, then called +Ganga-sri-pura, which he contracts into Kankar or Ganga.[1] + +[Footnote 1: As he afterwards writes, Galle "Kale."] + +He describes accurately the situation of the ancient capital, in a +valley between two hills, upon a bend of the river called, "the estuary +of rubies." The emperor he names "Kina," a term I am unable to explain, +as the prince who then reigned was probably Bhuwaneka-bahu IV., the +first Singhalese monarch who held his court at Gampola. + +The king on feast days rode on a white elephant, his head adorned with +very large rubies, which are found in his country, imbedded in "a white +stone abounding in fissures, from which they cut it out and give it to +the polishers." Ibn Batuta enumerates three varieties, "the red, the +yellow, and the cornelian;" but the last must mean the sapphire, the +second the topaz; and the first refers, I apprehend, to the amethyst; +for in the following passage, in describing the decorations of the head +of the white elephant, he speaks of "seven rubies, each of which was +larger than a hen's egg," and a saucer made of a ruby as broad as the +palm of the hand. + +In the ascent from Gampola to Adam's Peak, he speaks of the monkeys with +beards like a man (_Presbytes ursinus_, or _P. cephalopterus_), and of +the "fierce leech," which lurks in the trees and damp grass, and springs +on the passers by. He describes the trees with leaves that never fall, +and the "red roses" of the rhododendrons which still characterise that +lofty region. At the foot of the last pinnacle which crowns the summit +of the peak, he found a minaret named after Alexander the Great[1]; +steps hewn out of the rock, and "iron pins to which chains are appended" +to assist the pilgrims in their ascent; a well filled with fish, and +last of all, on the loftiest point of the mountain, the sacred +foot-print of the First Man, into the hollow of which the pilgrims drop +their offerings of gems and gold. + +[Footnote 1: In oriental tradition, Alexander is believed to have +visited Ceylon in company with the "philosopher Bolinus," by whom De +Sacy believes that the Arabs meant Apollonius of Tyana. There is a +Persian poem by ASHREP, the _Zaffer Namah Skendari_, which describes the +conqueror's voyage to Serendib, and his devotions at the foot-mark of +Adam, for reaching which, he and Bolinus caused steps to be hewn in the +rock, and the ascent secured by rivets and chains.--See OUSELEY'S +_Travels_, vol. i. p. 58. ] + +In descending the mountain, Ibn Batuta passed through the village of +Kalanga, near which was a tomb, said to be that of Abu Abd Allah Ibn +Khalif[1]; he visited the temple of Dinaur (Devi-Neuera, or Dondera +Head), and returned to Putlam by way of Kale (Galle), and Kolambu +(Colombo), "the finest and largest city in Serendib." + +[Footnote 1: Abu Abd Allah was the first who led the Mahometan pilgrims +to Ceylon. The tomb alluded to was probably a _cenotaph_ in his honour; +as Ibn Batuta had previously visited his tomb at Shiraz.] + + + + +CHAP. III. + +CEYLON AS KNOWN TO THE CHINESE. + + +Although the intimate knowledge of Ceylon acquired by the Chinese at an +early period, is distinctly ascribable to the sympathy and intercourse +promoted by community of religion, there is traditional, if not +historical evidence that its origin, in a remote age, may be traced to +the love of gain and their eagerness for the extension of commerce. The +Singhalese ambassadors who arrived at Rome in the reign of the Emperor +Clandius, stated that their ancestors had reached China by traversing +India and the Himalayan mountains long before ships had attempted the +voyage by sea[1], and as late as the fifth century of the Christian era, +the King of Ceylon[2], in an address delivered by his envoy to the +Emperor of China, shows that both routes were then in use.[3] + +[Footnote 1: PLINY, b. vi. ch. xxiv.] + +[Footnote 2: Maha Naama, A.D. 428; _Sung-shoo_, a "History of the +Northern Sung Dynasty," b. xcvii, p. 5.] + +[Footnote 3: It was probably the knowledge of the overland route that +led the Chinese to establish their military colonies in Kashgar, +Yarkhand and the countries lying between their own frontier and the +north-east boundary of India.--_Journ. Asiat._ 1. vi. p. 343. An embassy +from China to Ceylon, A.D. 607, was entrusted to _Chang-Tsuen_, +"Director of the Military Lands."--_Suy-shoo_; b. lxxxi. p. 3.] + +It is not, however, till after the third century of the Christian era +that we find authentic records of such journeys in the literature of +China. The Buddhist pilgrims, who at that time resorted to India, +published on their return itineraries and descriptions of the distant +countries they had visited, and officers, both military and civil, +brought back memoirs and statistical statements for the information of +the government and the guidance of commerce.[1] + +[Footnote 1: REINAUD, _Memoir sur l'Inde_, p. 9. STANISLAS JULIEN, +preface to his translation of _Hiouen-Thsang_, Paris, 1853, p. 1. A +bibliographical notice of the most important Chinese works which contain +descriptions of India, by M.S. JULIEN, will be found in the _Journ. +Asiat._ for October, 1832, p. 264.] + +It was reasonable to anticipate that in such records information would +be found regarding the condition of Ceylon as it presented itself from +time to time to the eyes of the Chinese; but unfortunately numbers of +the original works have long since perished, or exist only in extracts +preserved in dynastic histories and encyclopaedias, or in a class of +books almost peculiar to China, called "tsung-shoo," consisting of +excerpts reproduced from the most ancient writers. M. Stanislas Julien +discovered in the _Pien-i-tien_, ("a History of Foreign Nations," of +which there is a copy in the Imperial Library of Paris,) a collection of +fragments from Chinese authors who had treated of Ceylon; but as the +intention of that eminent Sinologue to translate them[1] has not yet +been carried into effect, they are not available to me for consultation. +In this difficulty I turned for assistance to China; and through the +assiduous kindness of Mr. Wylie, of the London Mission at Shanghai, I +have received extracts from twenty-four Chinese writers between the +fifth and eighteenth centuries, from which and from translations of +Chinese travels and topographies made by Remusat, Klaproth, Landresse, +Pauthier, Stanislas Julien, and others, I have been enabled to collect +the following facts relative to the knowledge of Ceylon possessed by the +Chinese in the middle ages.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Journ. Asiat._ t. xxix. p. 39. M. Stanislas Julien is at +present engaged in the translation of the _Si-yu-ki_, or "Memoires des +Contrees Occidentales," the eleventh chapter of which contains an +account of Ceylon in the eighth century.] + +[Footnote 2: The Chinese works referred to in the following pages +are.--_Sung-shoo_, the "History of the Northern Sung Dynasty," A.D. +417-473, by CHIN-Y[)O], written about A.D. 487,--_Wei-shoo_, "a History +of the Wei Tartar Dynasty," A.D. 386-556, by WEI-SHOW, A.D. +590.--_Fo[)e]-Kou[)e] Ki_, an "Account of the Buddhist Kingdoms," by +CH[)Y]-F[)A]-HIAN, A.D. 399-414, French transl., by Remusat, Klaproth, +and Landresse. Paris, 1836.--_Leang-shoo_, "History of the Leang +Dynasty," A.D. 502-557, by YAOU-SZE-LEEN, A.D. 630.--_Suy-shoo_, +"History of the Suy Dynasty," A.D. 581-617, by WEI-CHING, A.D. +633.--HIOUEN-THSANG. His Life and Travels, A.D. 645, French, transl., by +Stanislas Julien. Paris, 1853.--_Nan-she_, "History of the Southern +Empire," A.D. 317-589, by LE-YEN-SHOW, A.D. 650,--_Tung-teen_, +"Cyclopaedia of History," by TOO-YEW, A.D. 740.--KE-NE[)E] _si-y[)i]h +hing-Ching_, "Itinerary of KE-NE[)E]'s Travels in the Western Regions," +from A.D. 964-979.--_Tae-ping yu-lan_, "The Tae-ping Digest of History," +compiled by Imperial Command, A.D. 983.--_Ts[)i]h-foo yuen-Kwei_, "Great +Depository of the National Archives," compiled by Imperial Command, A.D. +1012.--_Sin-Tang-shoo_, "A New History of the Tang Dynasty," A.D. +618-906, by GOW-YANG-SEW and SING-KE, A.D. 1060.--_Tung-che_, "National +Annals," by CHING-TSEAOU, A.D. 1150.--_W[)a]n-heen tung-kaou_, +"Antiquarian Researches," by MA-TWAN-LIN, A.D. 1319. Of this remarkable +work there is an admirable analysis by Klaproth in the _Asiatic Journal_ +for 1832, vol. xxxv. p. 110, and one still more complete in the _Journal +Asiatique_, vol. xxi. p. 3. The portion relating to Ceylon has been +translated into French by M. Pauthier in the _Journal Asiatique_ for +April, 1836, and again by M. Stanislas Julien in the same Journal for +July, 1836, t. xxix, p. 36.--_Y[)u]h-hae_, "The Ocean of Gems," by +WANG-YANG-LIN, A.D. 1338.--_Taou-e chele[)o]_, "A General Account of +Island Foreigners," by WANG-TA-YOUEN, A.D. 1350.--_Ts[)i]h-ke_, +"Miscellaneous Record;" written at the end of the Yuen dynasty, about +the close of the fourteenth century.--_Po-w[)u]h yaou-lan_, +"Philosophical Examiner;" written during the Ming dynasty, about the +beginning of the fifteenth century.--_Se-y[)i]h-ke foo-choo_, "A +Description of Western Countries," A.D. 1450. This is the important work +of which M. Stanislas Julien has recently published the first volume of +his French translation, _Memoires des Contrees Occidentales_, Paris, +1857; and of which he has been so obliging as to send me those sheets of +the second volume, now preparing for the press, which contain the +notices of Ceylon by HIOUEN-THSANG. They, however, add very little to +the information already given in the _Life and Travels of +Hiouen-Thsang.--Woo-he[)o]-peen_, "Records of the Ming Dynasty," by +CHING-HEAOU, A.D. 1522.--_S[)u]h-wan-heen tung-kaou_, "Supplement to the +Antiquarian Researches," by WANG-KE, A.D. 1603.--_S[)u]h-Hung keen-luh_, +"Supplement to the History of the Middle Ages," by SHAOU-YUEN-PING, A.D. +1706.--_Ming-she_, "History of the Ming Dynasty," A.D. 1638-1643, by +CHANG-TING-Y[)U]H, A.D. 1739.--_Ta-tsing y[)i]h-tung_, "A Topographical +Account of the Manchoo Dynasty," of which there is a copy in the British +Museum.] + +Like the Greek geographers, the earliest Chinese authorities grossly +exaggerated the size of Ceylon: they represented it as lying "cross-wise" +in the Indian Ocean[1], and extending in width from east to west one +third more than in depth from north to south.[2] They were struck by the +altitude of its hills, and, above all, by the lofty crest of Adam's +Peak, which served as the land-mark for ships approaching the island. +They speak reverentially of the sacred foot-mark[3] impressed by the +first created man, who, in their mythology, bears the name of Pawn-koo; +and the gems which are found upon the mountain they believe to be his +"crystallised tears, which accounts for their singular lustre and +marvellous tints."[4] The country they admired for its fertility and +singular beauty; the climate they compared to that of Siam[5], with +slight alterations of seasons; refreshing showers in every period of the +year, and the earth consequently teeming with fertility.[6] + +[Footnote 1: _Taou-e che-le[)o]_, quoted in the _Hae-kw[)o]-too che_, +Foreign Geography, b. xviii. p. 15.] + +[Footnote 2: _Leang-shoo_, b. liv. p. 10; _Nan-she_, b. lxxiii. p. 13; +_Tung-teen_, b. clxxxviii. p. 17.] + +[Footnote 3: The Chinese books repeat the popular belief that the hollow +of the sacred footstep contains water "which does not dry up all the +year round;" and that invalids recover by drinking from the well at the +foot of the mountain; into which "the sea-water enters free from salt." +_Taou-e che-le[)o]_, quoted in the _Hae-kw[)o]-too-che_, or Foreign +Geography, b. xxviii. p. 15.] + +[Footnote 4: _Po-w[)u]h Yaou-lan_, b. xxxiii. p. 1. WANG-KE, +_S[)u]-Wan-heentung-kaou_, b. ccxxxvi. p. 19.] + +[Footnote 5: _Tung-teen_, b. clxxxviii. p. 17. _Tae-ping_, b. dcclxxxvii +p. 5.] + +[Footnote 6: _Leang-shoo_, b. liv. p. 10.] + +The names by which Ceylon was known to them were either adapted from the +Singhalese, as nearly as the Chinese characters would supply equivalents +for the Sanskrit and Pali letters, or else they are translations of the +sense implied by each designation. Thus, Sinhala was either rendered +"_Seng-kia-lo_,"[1] or "_Sze-tseu-kw[)o]_," the latter name as well as +the original, meaning "the kingdom of lions."[2] The classical Lanka is +preserved in the Chinese "_Lang-kea_" and "_Lang-ya-seu_" In the epithet +"_Ch[)i]h-too_," the _Red Land_[3], we have a simple rendering of the +Pali _Tambapanni_, the "Copper-palmed," from the colour of the soil.[4] +_Paou-choo_[5] is a translation of the Sanskrit Ratna-dwipa, the "Island +of Gems," and _Ts[)i]h-e-lan, Se[)i]h-lan_, and _Se-lung_, are all +modern modifications of the European "Ceylon." + +[Footnote 1: _Hiouen-Thsang_, b. iv. p. 194. Transl. M.S. Julien.] + +[Footnote 2: This, M. Stanislas Julien says, should be "the kingdom of +_the lion_," in allusion to the mythical ancestry of Wijayo.--_Journ. +Asiat_, tom. xxix. p. 37. And in a note to the tenth book of +HIOUEN-THSANG'S _Voyages des Pelerins Bouddhistes_, vol. ii. p. 124, he +says one name for Ceylon in Chinese is "Tchi-sse-tseu" "(le royaume de +celui qui) a pris un lion."] + +[Footnote 3: _Suy-shoo_, b. lxxx. p. 3. In the _Se-y[)i]h-ke foo-choo_, +or "Descriptions of Western Countries," Ceylon is called +_Woo-yew-kw[(o]_, "the sorrowless kingdom."] + +[Footnote 4: _Mahawanso_, ch. vii. p. 50.] + +[Footnote 5: _Se-y[)i]h-ke foo-choo_, quoted in the _Hae-kw[)o]-too +che_, or "Foreign Geography," l. xviii. p. 15; HIOUEN-THSANG; _Voyages +des Peler. Boudd_. lib. xi. vol. ii. p. 125; 130 n.] + +The ideas of the Chinese regarding the mythical period of Singhalese +history, and the first peopling of the island, are embodied in a very +few sentences which are repeated throughout the series of authors, and +with which we are made familiar in the following passage from F[)A] +HIAN:--" Sze-tseu-kw[)o], the kingdom of lions[1], was inhabited +originally not by men but by demons and dragons.[2] Merchants were +attracted to the island, by the prospect of trade; but the demons +remained unseen, merely exposing the precious articles which they wished +to barter: with a price marked for each, at which the foreign traders +were at liberty to take them, depositing the equivalents indicated in +exchange. From the resort of these dealers, the inhabitants of other +countries, hearing of the attractions of the island, resorted to it in +large numbers, and thus eventually a great kingdom was formed."[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Wan-heen tung-kaou_, b. cccxxxviii. p. 24.] + +[Footnote 2: The Yakkhos and Nagas ("devils" and "serpents") of the +_Mahawanso_.] + +[Footnote 3: _Fo[)e]-Kou[)e] Ki_, ch. xxxviii. p. 333. Transl. REMUSAT. +This account of Ceylon is repeated almost verbatim in the _Tung-teen_, +and in numerous other Chinese works, with the addition that the +newly-formed kingdom of Sinhala, "Sze-tseu-kw[)o]," took its name from +the "skill of the natives in training lions."--B. cxciii. pp. 8, 9; +_Tae-ping_, b. dccxciii. p. 9; _Sin-Tang-shoo_, b. cxlvi. part ii. p. +10. A very accurate translation of the passage as it is given by +MA-TOUAN-LIN is published by M. Stanislas Julien in the _Journ. Asiat._ +for July, 1836, tom. xxix. p. 36.] + +The Chinese were aware of two separate races, one occupying the northern +and the other the southern extremity of the island, and were struck with +the resemblance of the Tamils to the Hoo, a people of Central Asia, and +of the Singhalese to the Leaou, a mountain tribe of Western China.[1] +The latter they describe as having "large ears, long eyes, purple faces, +black bodies, moist and strong hands and feet, and living to one hundred +years and upwards.[2] Their hair was worn long and flowing, not only by +the women but by the men." In these details there are particulars that +closely resemble the description of the natives of the island visited by +Jambulus, as related in the story told by Diodorus.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Too-Hiouen_, quoted in the _Tung-teen_, b. cxciii. p. 8.] + +[Footnote 2: _Taou-e che-le[)o]_, quoted in the _Hae-kw[)o]-too che_, or +"Foreign Geography," b. xviii p. 15.] + +[Footnote 3: DIODORUS SICULUS, lib. ii. ch. liii. See _ante_, Vol. I. P. +v. ch. 1. p. 153.] + +The Chinese in the seventh century found the Singhalese dressed in a +costume which appears to be nearly identical with that of the present +day.[1] Both males and females had their hair long and flowing, but the +heads of children were closely shaven, a practice which still partially +prevails. The jackets of the girls were occasionally ornamented with +gems.[2] "The men," says the _Tung-teen_, "have the upper part of the +body naked, but cover their limbs with a cloth, called _Kan-man,_ made +of _Koo-pei_, 'Cotton,' a word in which we may recognise the term +'Comboy,' used to designate the cotton cloth universally worn at the +present day by the Singhalese of both sexes in the maritime +provinces.[3] For their vests, the kings and nobles made use of a +substance which is described as 'cloud cloth,'[4] probably from its +being very transparent, and gathered (as is still the costume of the +chiefs of Kandy) into very large folds. It was fastened with golden +cord. Men of rank were decorated with earrings. The dead were burned, +not buried." And the following passage from the _S[)u]h-wan-heen +tung-kaou_, or the "Supplement to Antiquarian Researches," is strikingly +descriptive of what may be constantly witnessed in Ceylon;--"the females +who live near the family of the dead assemble in the house, beat their +breasts with both hands, howl and weep, which constitutes their +appropriate rite."[5] + +[Footnote 1: _Leang-shoo_, b. liv. p. 10; _Nan-she_, b. lxxviii. pp. 13, +14.] + +[Footnote 2: _Nan-she_, A.D. 650, b. lxxviii. p. 13; _Leang-shoo_, A.D. +670; b. liv. p. 11. Such is still the dress of the Singhalese females. + +[Illustration: A MOODLIAR AND HIS WIFE.]] + +[Footnote 3: _Tung-teen_, b. clxxxviii. p. 17; _Nan-she_, b. lxxviii. p. +13; _Sin-tang-shoo_, b. cxcviii p. 25. See p. iv. ch. iv, vol. i. p. +450.] + +[Footnote 4: The Chinese term is "yun-hae-poo."--_Leang-shoo_, b. liv. +p. 10.] + +[Footnote 5: B. ccxxxvi. p. 19.] + +The natural riches of Ceylon, and its productive capabilities, speedily +impressed the Chinese, who were bent upon the discovery of outlets for +their commerce, with the conviction of its importance as an emporium of +trade. So remote was the age at which strangers frequented it, that in +the "_Account of Island Foreigners,"_ written by WANG-TA-YUEN[1] in the +fourteenth century, it is stated that the origin of trade in the island +was coeval with the visit of Buddha, who, "taking compassion on the +aborigines, who were poor and addicted to robbery, turned their +disposition to virtue, by sprinkling the land with sweet dew, which +caused it to produce red gems, and thus gave them wherewith to trade," +and hence it became the resort of traders from every country.[2] Though +aware of the unsuitability of the climate to ripen wheat, the Chinese +were struck with admiration at the wonderful appliances of the +Singhalese for irrigation, and the cultivation of rice.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Taou-e che-le[)o]_, quoted in the Foreign Geography, b. +xviii. p. 15.] + +[Footnote 2: The rapid peopling of Ceylon at a very remote age is +accounted for in the following terms in a passage of MA-TWAN-LIN, as +translated by M. Stanislas Julien;--"Les habitants des autres royaumes +entendirent parler de ce pays fortune; c'est pourquoi ils y accoururent +a l'envi."--_Journ. Asiat._ t. xxix. p. 42.] + +[Footnote 3: Records of the Ming Dynasty, by CHING-HEAOU, b. lxviii. p. +5.] + +According to the _Tung-teen_, the intercourse between them and the +Singhalese, began during the Eastern Tsin dynasty, A.D. 317--419[1]; and +one remarkable island still retains a name which is commemorative of +their presence. Salang, to the north of Penang, lay in the direct course +of the Chinese junks on their way to and from Ceylon, through the +Straits of Malacca, and, in addition to its harbour, was attractive from +its valuable mines of tin. Here the Chinese fleets called on both +voyages; and the fact of their resort is indicated by the popular name +"Ajung-Selan," or "Junk-Ceylon;" by which the place is still known, +_Ajung_, in the language of the Malays, being the term for "large +shipping," and _Selan_, their name for Ceylon.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Tung-teen_, A.D. 740, b. clxxxviii. p. 17.] + +[Footnote 2: _Sincapore Chronicle_, 1836.] + +The port in Ceylon which the Chinese vessels made their rendezvous, was +Lo-le (Galle), "where," it is said, "ships anchor, and people land."[1] + +[Footnote 1: WANG-KE, _Suh-wan-heen tung-kaou_, b. ccxxxvi p. 19.] + +Besides rice, the vegetable productions of the island enumerated by the +various Chinese authorities were aloes-wood, sandal-wood[1], and ebony; +camphor[2], areca-nuts, beans, sesamum, coco-nuts (and arrack distilled +from the coco-nut palm) pepper, sugar-cane, myrrh, frankincense, oil and +drugs.[3] An odoriferous extract, called by the Chinese _Shoo-heang_, is +likewise particularised, but it is not possible now to identify it. + +[Footnote 1: The mention of sandal-wood is suggestive. It does not, so +far as I could ever learn, exist in Ceylon; yet it is mentioned with +particular care amongst its exports in the Chinese books. Can it be +that, like the calamander, or Coromandel-wood, which is rapidly +approaching extinction, sandal-wood was extirpated from the island by +injudicious cutting, unaccompanied by any precautions for the +reproduction of the tree?] + +[Footnote 2: _Nan-she_, b. lxxviii. p. 13.] + +[Footnote 3: _Suh-Hung keen-luh_, b. xlii. p. 52.] + +Elephants and ivory were in request; and the only manufactures alluded +to for export were woven cotton[1], gold ornaments, and jewelry; +including models of the shrines in which were deposited the sacred +relics of Buddha.[2] Statues of Buddha were frequently sent as royal +presents, and so great was the fame of Ceylon for their production in +the fourth and fifth centuries, that according to the historian of the +Wei Tartar dynasty, A.D. 386-556, people "from the countries of Central +Asia, and the kings of those nations, emulated each other in sending +artisans to procure copies, but none could rival the productions of +Nan-te.[3] On standing about ten paces distant they appeared truly +brilliant, but the lineaments gradually disappeared on a nearer +approach."[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Tsih-foo yuen-kwei_, A.D. 1012, b. dcccclxxi. p. 15. At a +later period "Western cloth" is mentioned among the exports of Ceylon, +but the reference must be to cloth previously imported either from India +or Persia.--_Ming-she History of the Ming Dynasty,_ A.D. 1368--1643, b. +cccxxvi. p. 7.] + +[Footnote 2: A model of the shrine containing the sacred tooth was sent +to the Emperor of China in the fifth century by the King of Ceylon; +"_Chacha Mo-ho-nan,"_ a name which appears to coincide with Raja Maha +Nama, who reigned A.D. 410--433.--_Shunshoo_, A.D. 487, b. xlvii. p. 6.] + +[Footnote 3: Nan-te was a Buddhist priest, who in the year A.D. 456 was +sent on an embassy to the Emperor of China, and was made the bearer of +three statues of his own making.--_Ts[)i]h-foo yuen-kwei,_ b. li. p. 7.] + +[Footnote 4: _Wei-shoo,_ A.D. 590, b. cxiv. p. 9.] + +Pearls, corals, and crystals were eagerly sought after; but of all +articles the gems of Ceylon were in the greatest request. The business +of collecting and selling them seems from the earliest time to have +fallen into the hands of the Arabs, and hence they bore in China the +designation of "Mahometan stones."[1] They consisted of rubies, +sapphires, amethysts, carbuncles (the "red precious stone, the lustre of +which serves instead of a lamp at night")[2]; and topazes of four +distinct tints, "those the colour of wine; the delicate tint of young +goslings, the deep amber, like bees'-wax, and the pale tinge resembling +the opening bud of the pine."[3] It will not fail to be observed that +throughout all these historical and topographical works of the Chinese, +extending over a period of twelve centuries, from the year A.D. 487, +there is no mention whatever of _cinnamon_ as a production of Ceylon; +although cassia, described under the name of kwei, is mentioned as +indigenous in China and Cochin-China. In exchange for these commodities +the Chinese traders brought with them silk, variegated lute strings, +blue porcelain, enamelled dishes and cups, and quantities of copper cash +wanted for adjusting the balances of trade.[4] + +[Footnote 1: _Tsih-ke,_ quoted in the Chinese _Mirror of Sciences,_ b. +xxxiii. p. 1.] + +[Footnote 2: _Po-w[)u]h yaou-lan,_ b. xxxiii. p. 2.] + +[Footnote 3: _Ibid_.] + +[Footnote 4: _Suy-shoo_, "History of the Suy Dynasty," A.D. 633, b. +lxxxi. p. 3.] + +Of the religion of the people, the earliest account recorded by the +Chinese is that of F[)A] HIAN, in the fourth century[1], when Buddhism +was signally in the ascendant. But in the century which followed, +travellers returning from Ceylon brought back accounts of the growing +power of the Tamils, and of the consequent eclipse of the national +worship. The _Yung-teen_ and the _Tae-ping_ describe at that early +period the prevalence of Brahmanical customs, but coupled with "greater +reverence for the Buddhistical faith."[2] In process of time, however, +they are forced to admit the gradual decline of the latter, and the +attachment of the Singhalese kings to the Hindu ritual, exhibiting an +equal reverence to the ox and to the images of Buddha.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Fo[)e]-Kou[)e] Ki_, ch. xxxviii.] + +[Footnote 2: _Tae-ping_, b. dccxciii, p. 9.] + +[Footnote 3: _Woo-he[)o]-peen_, "Records of the Ming Dynasty," b. +lxviii. p. 4; _Tung-ne[)e]_, b. cxcvi. pp. 79, 80.] + +The Chinese trace to Ceylon the first foundation of monasteries, and of +dwelling-houses for the priests, and in this they are corroborated by +the _Mahawanso_.[1] From these pious communities, the Emperors of China +were accustomed from time to time to solicit transcripts of theological +works[2], and their envoys, returning from such missions, appear to have +brought glowing accounts of the Singhalese temples, the costly shrines +for relics, and the fervid devotion of the people to the national +worship.[3] + +[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. xv. p. 99; ch. xx. p. 123. In the +Itinerary of KE-NE[)E]'s _Travels in the Western Kingdoms in the tenth +Century_ he mentions having seen a monastery of Singhalese on the +continent of India.--KE-NE[)E], _Se-y[)i]h hing-ching_, A.D. 964--976.] + +[Footnote 2: _Tae-ping_, b. dcclxxxvii. p. 5.] + +[Footnote 3: _Taou-e che-le[)o]_. "Account of Island Foreigners," quoted +in the "_Foreign Geography_" b. xviii. p. 15. _Se-y[)i]-ke foo-choo_. +Ib. "At daybreak every morning the people are summoned, and exhorted to +repeat the passages of Buddha, in order to remove ignorance and open the +minds of the multitude. Discourses are delivered upon the principles of +vacancy (nirwana?) and abstraction from all material objects, in order +that truth maybe studied in solitude and silence, and the unfathomable +point of principle attained free from the distracting influences of +sound or smell."--_Ts[)i]h-foo yaen-kwei_, A.D. 1012, b. dcccclxi. p. +5.] + +The cities of Ceylon in the sixth century are stated, in the "_History +of the Leang Dynasty_," to have been encompassed by walls built of +brick, with double gates, and the houses within were constructed with +upper stories.[1] The palace of the king, at Anarajapoora, in the +eleventh century, was sufficiently splendid to excite the admiration of +these visitants, "the precious articles with which it was decorated +being reflected in the thoroughfares."[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Leang-shoo_, A.D. 630, b. liv. p 11.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ts[)i]h-foo yaen-kwei_, b. dcccclxi. p. 5.] + +The Chinese authors, like the Greeks and Arabians, are warm in their +praises of the patriotism of the Singhalese sovereigns, and their active +exertions for the improvement of the country, and the prosperity of the +people.[1] On state occasions, the king, "carried on an elephant, and +accompanied by banners, streamers, and tom-toms, rode under a canopy[2], +attended by a military guard."[3] + +[Footnote 1: Ibid.] + +[Footnote 2: The "chatta," or umbrella, emblematic of royalty.] + +[Footnote 3: _Leang-shoo_. b. liv. p. 10.] + +Throughout all the Chinese accounts, from the very earliest period, +there are notices of the manners of the Singhalese, and even minute +particulars of their domestic habits, which attest a continued +intercourse and an intimate familiarity between the people of the two +countries.[1] In this important feature the narratives of the Arabs, +who, with the exception of the pilgrimage made with difficulty to Adam's +Peak, appear to have known only the sea-coast and the mercantile +communities established there, exhibit a marked difference when compared +with those of the Chinese; as the latter, in addition to their trading +operations in the south of the island, made their way into the interior, +and penetrated to the cities in the northern districts. The explanation +is to be found in the identity of the national worship attracting as it +did the people of China to the sacred island, which had become the great +metropolis of their common faith, and to the sympathy and hospitality +with which the Singhalese welcomed the frequent visits of their distant +co-religionists. + +[Footnote 1: This is apparent from the fact that their statements are +not confined to descriptions of the customs and character of the male +Singhalese, but exhibit internal evidence that they had been introduced +to their families, and had had opportunities of noting peculiarities in +the customs of the females. They describe their dress, their mode of +tying their hair, their treatment of infants and children, the fact that +the women as well as the men were addicted to chewing betel, and that +they did not sit down to meals with their husbands, but "retired to some +private apartments to eat their food."] + +This interchange of courtesies was eagerly encouraged by the sovereigns +of the two countries. The emperors of China were accustomed to send +ambassadors, both laymen and theologians, to obtain images and relics of +Buddha, and to collect transcripts of the sacred books, which contained +the exposition of his doctrines[1];--and the kings of Ceylon despatched +embassies in return, authorised to reciprocate these religious +sympathies and do homage to the imperial majesty of China. + +[Footnote 1: _Hiouen-Thsang_, Introd. STANISLAS JULIEN, p. 1.] + +The historical notices of the island by the Chinese relative to the +period immediately preceding the fourteenth century, are meagre, and +confined to a native tradition that "about 400 years after the +establishment of the kingdom, the Great Dynasty fell into decay, when +there was but one man of wisdom and virtue belonging to the royal house +to whom the people became attached: the monarch thereupon caused him to +be thrown into prison; but the lock opened of its own accord, and the +king thus satisfied of his sacred character did not venture to take his +life, but drove him into banishment to India (Teen chuh), whence, after +marrying a royal princess, he was recalled to Ceylon on the death of the +tyrant, where he reigned twenty years, and was succeeded by his son, +_Po-kea Ta-To_."[l] In this story may probably be traced the extinction +of the "Great Dynasty" of Ceylon, on the demise of Maha-Sen, and the +succession of the Sulu-wanse, or Lower Dynasty, in the person of Kitsiri +Maiwan, A.D. 301, whose son, Detu Tissa, may possibly be the _Po-kea +Ta-to_ of the Chinese Chronicle.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Leang-shoo_, "History of the Leang Dynasty," b. liv. p. +10.] + +[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, c. xxxvii. p 242. TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, &c., p. +24.] + +The visit of Fa Hian, the zealous Buddhist pilgrim, in the fifth century +of our era, has been already frequently adverted to.[1] He landed in +Ceylon A.D. 412, and remained for two years at Anarajapoora, engaged in +transcribing the sacred books. Hence his descriptions are confined +almost exclusively to the capital; and he appears to have seen little of +the rest of the island. He dwells with delight on the magnificence of +the Buddhist buildings, the richness of their jewelled statues, and the +prodigious dimensions of the dagobas, one of which, from its altitude +and solidity, was called the "_Mountain without fear_."[2] But what most +excited his admiration was his finding no less than 5000 Buddhist +priests at the capital, 2000 in a single monastery on a mountain +(probably Mihintala), and between 50,000 and 60,000 dispersed throughout +the rest of the island.[3] Pearls and gems were the wealth of Ceylon; +and from the latter the king derived a royalty of three out of every ten +discovered.[4] + +[Footnote 1: The _Fo[)e]-Kou[)e] Ki_, or "Description of Buddhist +Kingdoms," by FA-HIAN, has been translated by Remusat, and edited by +Klaproth and Landresse, 4to. Paris, 1836.] + +[Footnote 2: In Chinese, _Woo-wei_.] + +[Footnote 3: _Fo[)e]-Kou[)e] Ki_, c. xxxviii. pp. 333, 334.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ibid._, c. xxxvii. p. 328.] + +The earliest embassy from Ceylon recorded in the Chinese[1] annals at +the beginning of the fifth century, appears to have proceeded overland +by way of India, and was ten years before reaching the capital of China. +It was the bearer of "a jade-stone image of Buddha, exhibiting every +colour in purity and richness, in workmanship unique, and appearing to +be beyond human art[2]." + +[Footnote 1: A.D. 405. Gibbon alludes with natural surprise to his +discovery of the fact, that prior to the reign of Justinian, the +"monarch of China had actually received an embassy from the Island of +Ceylon."--_Decline and Fall_, c. xl.] + +[Footnote 2: _Leang-shoo,_ A.D. 630, b. liv. p. 13. The ultimate fate of +this renowned work of art is related in the _Leang-shoo,_ and several +other of the Chinese chronicles. Throughout the | Tsin and Sung +dynasties it was preserved in the Wa-kwan monastery at Nankin, along +with five other statues and three paintings which were esteemed +chefs-d'oeuvre. The jade-stone image was at length destroyed in the time +of Tung-hwan, of the Tse dynasty; first, the arm was broken off, and +eventually the body taken to make hair-pins and armlets for the +emperor's favourite consort Pwan. _Nan-she,_ b. lxxviii. p. 13. +_Tung-teen,_ b. cxciii. p. 8. _Tae-ping,_ &c., b. dcclxxxvii. p. 6.] + +During the same century there were four other embassies from Ceylon. One +A.D. 428, when the King Cha-cha Mo-ho-nan (Raja Maha Naama) sent an +address to the emperor, which will be found in the history of the +Northern Sung dynasty[1], together with a "model of the shrine of the +tooth," as a token of fidelity;--two in A.D. 430 and A.D. 435; and a +fourth A.D. 456, when five priests, of whom one was Nante, the +celebrated sculptor, brought as a gift to the emperor a "three-fold +image of Buddha."[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Sung-shoo,_ A.D. 487, b. xcvii. p. 5.] + +[Footnote 2: Probably one in each of the three orthodox +attitudes,--sitting in meditation, standing to preach, and reposing in +"nirwana." _Wei-shoo,_ "History of the Wei Tartar Dynasty," A.D. 590, b. +cxiv. p. 9.] + +According to the Chinese annalists, the kings of Ceylon, in the sixth +century, acknowledged themselves vassals of the Emperor of China, and in +the year 515, on the occasion of Kumara Das raising the chatta, an envoy +was despatched with tribute to China, together with an address, +announcing the royal accession, in which the king intimates that he "had +been desirous to go in person, but was deterred by fear of winds and +waves."[1] + +[Footnote 1: _Leang-shoo,_ b. liv. p. 10. _Y[(u]h-hae,_ "Ocean of Gems," +A.D. 1331, b. clii. p. 33. The latter authority announces in like terms +two other embassies with tribute to China, one in A.D. 523, and another +in the reign of Kirti Sena, A.D. 527. The _Tsih-foo yuen-kwei_ mentions +a similar mission in A.D. 531, b. dcccclxviii. p. 20.] + +But although all these embassies are recorded in the Chinese chronicles +as so many instances of acknowledged subjection, there is every reason +to believe that the magniloquent terms in which they are described are +by no means to be taken in a literal sense, and that the offerings +enumerated were merely in recognition of the privilege of commercial +intercourse subsisting between the two nations: but as the Chinese +_literati_ affect a lofty contempt for commerce, all allusion to trade +is omitted; and beyond an incidental remark in some works of secondary +importance, the literature of China observes a dignified silence on the +subject. + +Only one embassy is mentioned in the seventh century, when Dalu-piatissa +despatched "a memorial and offerings of native productions;"[1] but +there were four in the century following[2], after which there occurs an +interval of above five hundred years, during which the Chinese writers +are singularly silent regarding Ceylon; but the Singhalese historians +incidentally mention that swords and musical instruments were then +imported from China, for the use of the native forces, and that Chinese +soldiers took service in the army of Prakrama III. A.D. 1266.[3] + +[Footnote 1: A.D. 670. _Ts[)i]h-foo yuen-kwei_, b. dcccclxx. p. 16. It +was in the early part of this century, during a period of intestine +commotion, when the native princes were overawed by the Malabars, that +_Hiouen-Thsang_ met on the coast of India fugitives from Ceylon, from +whom he derived his information as to the internal condition of the +island, A.D. 629--633. See Transl. by STANISLAS JULIEN, "_La Vie de +Hiouen-Thsang_," Paris, 1853, pp. 192--198.] + +[Footnote 2: A.D. 711, A.D. 746, A.D. 750, and A.D. 762. _Ts[)i]h-foo +yuen-kwei,_ b. dcccclxxi. p. 17. On the second occasion (A.D. 746) the +king, who despatched the embassy, is described as sending as his envoy a +"Brahman priest, the anointed graduate of the threefold repository, +bearing as offerings head-ornaments of gold, precious neck-pendants, a +copy of the great Prajna Sutra, and forty webs of fine cotton cloth."] + +[Footnote 3: See the _Kawia-sakara_, written about A.D. 1410.] + +In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the only records of +intercourse relate to the occasional despatch of public officers by the +emperor of China to collect gems and medical drugs, and on three +successive occasions during the earlier part of the Yuen dynasty, envoys +were empowered to negotiate the purchase of the sacred alms-dish of +Buddha.[1] + +[Footnote 1: "In front of the image of Buddha there is a sacred bowl +which is neither made of jade, nor copper, nor iron; it is of a purple +colour and glossy, and when struck it sounds like glass. At the +commencement of the Yuen dynasty, three separate envoys were sent to +obtain it."--_Taou-e che-leo_ "Account of Island Foreigners," A.D. 1350, +quoted in the "_Foreign Geography_", b. xviii. p. 15. This statement of +the Chinese authorities corroborates the story told by MARCO POLO, +possibly from personal knowledge, that "the Grand Khan Kublai sent +ambassadors to Ceylon with a request that the king would yield to him +possession of 'the great ruby' in return for the 'value of a +city.'"--(_Travels,_ ch. xix.) The MS. of MARCO POLO, which contains the +Latin version of his Travels, is deposited in the Imperial Library of +Paris, and it is remarkable that a passage in it, which seems to be +wanting in the Italian and other MSS., confirms this account of the +Chinese annalists, and states that the alms-dish of Buddha was at length +yielded by the King of Ceylon as a gift to Kublai Khan, and carried with +signal honour to China. MARCO POLO describes the scene as something +within his own knowledge:--"Quando autem magnus Kaan scivit quod isti +ambaxiatores redibant cum reliquis istis, et erant prope terram ubi ipse +tune erat, scilicet in Cambalu (Pekin), fecit mitti bandum quod omnes de +terra obviarent reliquis istis (quia credebat quod essent reliquiae de +Adam) et istud fuit A.D. 1284."] + +The beginning of the fifteenth century was, however, signalised by an +occurrence, the details of which throw light over the internal condition +of the island, at a period regarding which the native historians are +more than usually obscure. At this time the glory of Buddhism had +declined, and the political ascendency of the Tamils had enabled the +Brahmans to taint the national worship by an infusion of Hindu +observances. The _Se-yih-ke foo-choo,_ or "Description of Western +Countries," says that in 1405 A.D. the reigning king, A-lee-koo-nae-wurh +(Wijaya-bahu VI.), a native of Sollee, and "an adherent of the heterodox +faith, so far from honouring Buddha, tyrannised over his followers."[1] +He maltreated strangers resorting to the island, and plundered their +vessels, "so that the envoys from other lands, in passing to and fro, +were much annoyed by him."[2] + +[Footnote 1: B. xviii. p. 15.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ming-she_, b. cccxxvi, p. 7.] + +In that year a mission from China, sent with incense and offerings to +the shrine of the tooth, was insulted and waylaid, and with difficulty +effected an escape from Ceylon.[1] According to the _Ming-she_, or +History of the Ming Dynasty, "the Emperor _Ching-tsoo_, indignant at +this outrage on his people; and apprehensive lest the influence of China +in other countries besides Ceylon had declined during the reign of his +predecessors, sent _Ching-Ho_, a soldier of distinction, with a fleet of +sixty-two ships and a large military escort, on an expedition to visit +the western kingdoms, furnished with proper credentials and rich +presents of silk and gold. Ching-Ho touched at Cochin-China, Sumatra, +Java, Cambodia, Siam, and other places, proclaiming at each the +Imperial edict, and conferring Imperial gifts." If any of the princes +refused submission, they were subdued by force; and the expedition +returned to China in A.D. 1407, accompanied by envoys from the several +nations, who came to pay court to the Emperor. + +[Footnote 1: _Se-y[)i]h-ke foo-choo_, b. xviii. p. 15. This Chinese +invasion of Ceylon has been already adverted to in the sketch of the +domestic history of the island, Vol. I. Part IV. ch xii. p. 417.] + +In the following year Ching-Ho, having been despatched on a similar +mission to Ceylon, the king, A-lee-ko-nae-wah, decoyed his party into +the interior, threw up stockades with a view to their capture, in the +hope of a ransom, and ordered soldiers to the coast to plunder the +Chinese junks. But Ching-Ho, by a dexterous movement, avoided the +attack, and invested the capital[1], made a prisoner of the king, +succeeded in conveying him on board his fleet, and carried him captive +to China, together with his queen, his children, his officers of state, +and his attendants. He brought away with him spoils, which were long +afterwards exhibited in the Tsing-hae monastery at Nankin[2], and one of +the commentaries on the _Si-yu-ke_ of Hiouen Thseng, states that amongst +the articles carried away, was the sacred tooth of Buddha.[3] "In the +sixth month of the year 1411," says the author of the _Ming-She_, "the +prisoners were presented at court. The Chinese ministers pressed for +their execution, but the emperor, in pity for their ignorance, set them +at liberty, but commanded them to select a virtuous man from the same +family to occupy the throne. All the captives declared in favour of +Seay-pa-nae-na, whereupon an envoy was sent with a seal to invest him +with the royal dignity, as a vassal of the empire," and in that capacity +he was restored to Ceylon, the former king being at the same time sent +back to the island.[4] It would be difficult to identify the names in +this story with the kings of the period, were it not stated in another +chronicle, the _Woo-he[)o]-peen_, or Record of the Ming Dynasty, that +Seay-pa-nae-na was afterwards named _Pu-la-ko-ma Ba-zae La-cha_, in +which it is not difficult to recognise "Sri Prakrama Bahu Raja," the +sixth of his name, who transferred the seat of government from Gampola +to Cotta, and reigned from A.D. 1410 to 1462.[5] + +[Footnote 1: Gampola.] + +[Footnote 2: _S[)u]h-Wan-heen tung-kaou_, book ccxxxvi p. 12.] + +[Footnote 3: See note at the end of this chapter.] + +[Footnote 4: _Ming-she,_ b. cccxxvi. p. 5. M. STANISLAS JULIEN intimates +that the forthcoming volume of his version of the _Si-yu-ki_ will +contain the eleventh book, in which an account will be given of the +expedition of Ching Ho.--_Memoires sur les Contrees Occidentales_, tom. +i. p. 26. In anticipation of its publication, M. JULIEN has been so +obliging as to make for me a translation of the passage regarding +Ceylon, but it proves to be an annotation of the fifteenth century, +which, by the inadvertence of transcribers, has become interpolated in +the text of _Hiouen-Thsang_. It contains, however, no additional facts +or statements beyond the questionable one before alluded to, that the +sacred tooth of Buddha was amongst the spoils carried to Pekin by Ching +Ho.] + +[Footnote 5: _Woo-he[)o]-peen_, b. lxviii p. 5. See also the _Ta-tsing +y[)i]h-tung_, a topographical account of the Manchoo empire, a copy of +which is among the Chinese books in the British Museum. In the very +imperfect version of the _Rajavali_, published by Upham, this important +passage is rendered unintelligible by the want of fidelity of the +translator, who has transformed the conqueror into a "Malabar," and +ante-dated the event by a century. (_Rajavali_, p. 263.) I am indebted +to Mr. De Alwis, of Colombo, for a correct translation of the original, +which is as follows: "In the reign of King Wijayo-bahu, the King of Maha +(great) China landed in Ceylon with an army, pretending that he was +bringing tribute; King Wijayo-bahu, believing his professions (because +it had been customary in the time of King Prakrama-bahu for foreign +countries to pay tribute to Ceylon), acted incautiously, and he was +treacherously taken prisoner by the foreign king. His four brothers were +killed, and with them fell many people, and the king himself was carried +captive to China." DE COUTO, in his continuation of DE BARROS, has +introduced the story of the capture of the king by the Chinese; but he +has confounded the dates, mystified the facts, and altered the name of +the new sovereign to Pandar, which is probably only a corruption of the +Singhalese _Banda_, "a prince."--DE COUTO, _Asia, &c_., dec. v. lib. i. +c. vi. vol. ii. part i. p. 51. PURCHAS says: "The Singhalese language is +thought to have been left there by the Chinois, some time Lord of +Zeilan."--_Pilgrimage_, c. xviii. p. 552. The adventures of Ching Ho, in +his embassy to the nations of the Southern Ocean, have been made the +ground-work of a novel, the _Se-yung-ke_, which contains an enlarged +account of his exploits in Ceylon; but fact is so overlaid with fiction +that the passages are not worth extracting.] + +For fifty years after this untoward event the subjection of Ceylon to +China appears to have been humbly and periodically acknowledged; tribute +was punctually paid to the emperor, and on two occasions, in 1416 A.D., +and 1421 A.D., the kings of Ceylon were the bearers of it in person.[1] +In 1430 A.D., at a period of intestine commotion, "Ching-Ho issued a +proclamation for the pacification of Ceylon," and, at a somewhat later +period, edicts were promulgated by the Emperor of China for the +government of the island.[2] In 1459 A.D., however, the series of +humiliations appears to have come abruptly to a close; for, "in that +year," says the _Ming-she_, "the King of Ceylon for the last time sent +an envoy with tribute, and after that none ever came again." + +[Footnote 1: _Ming-she_, b. vii. pp. 4, 8.] + +[Footnote 2: _Ibid_., b. cccxxvii. p. 7.] + +On their arrival in Ceylon early in the sixteenth century[1], the +Portuguese found many evidences still existing of the intercourse and +influence of the Chinese. They learned that at a former period they had +established themselves in the south of the island; and both De Barros +and De Couto ventured to state that the Singhalese were so called from +the inter-marriage of the Chinese with the Gallas or Chalias, the caste +who in great numbers still inhabit the country to the north of Point de +Galle.[2] But the conjecture is erroneous, the derivation of Singhala is +clearly traced to the Sanskrit "_Singha_;" besides which, in the +alphabet of the Singhalese, _n_ and _g_ combine to form a single and +insoluble letter. + +[Footnote 1: A.D. 1565.] + +[Footnote 2: "Serem os Chijis senhores da costa Choromandel, parte do +Malabar e desta Ilha Ceilao. Na qual Ilha leixaram huma lingua, a que +elles chamam Chingalla, e aos proprios povos Chingallas, principalmente +os que vivem da ponta de Galle por diante na face da terra contra o Sul, +e Oriente: e por ser pegada neste Cabo Galle, chamou a outra gente, que +vivia do meio da ilha pera cima, aos que aqui habitavam _Chingilla_ e a +lingua delles tambem, _quasi como se dissessem lingua ou gente dos Chijo +de Galle"_--DE BARROS, _Asia, &c._, Dec. iii. lib. ii. c. i. DE COUTO'S +account is as follows: "E como os Chins formam os primeiros que +navegaram pelo Oriente, tendo noticia da canella, acudiram muitos +'juncos' aquella Ilha a carregar della, e dalli a levaram aos portos de +Persia, e da Arabia donde passou a Europa--de que se deixaram ficar +muitos Chins na terra, e se misturaram por casamentos com os naturaes; +_dantre quem nasceram huns mistcos que se ficaram chamando Cim-Gallas; +ajuntando o nome dos naturaes, que eram Gallas aos dos Chins_, que +vieram por tempos a ser tao famosos, que deram o seu nome a todos os da +Ilha."--_Asia, &c._ Dec. v. lib. ch. v.] + +In process of time, every trace disappeared of the former presence of +the Chinese in Ceylon--embassies ceased to arrive from the "Flowery +Kingdom," Chinese vessels deserted the harbours of the island, pilgrims +no longer repaired to the shrines of Buddha; and even the inscriptions +became obliterated in which the imperial offerings to the temples were +recorded on the rocks.[1] The only mementos which remain at the present +day to recall their ancient domestication in the island, is the +occasional appearance in the mountain villages of an itinerant vender of +sweetmeats, or a hut in the solitary forest near some cave, from which +an impoverished Chinese renter annually gathers the edible nest of the +swallow. + +[Footnote 1: _S[)u]h-Wan-heen tung-kaou_, book ccxxxvi. p. 12.] + + * * * * * + +NOTE. + +As it may be interesting to learn the opinions of the Chinese at the +present day regarding Ceylon, the following account of the island has +been translated for me by Dr. Lockhart, of Shanghae, from a popular work +on geography, written by the late lieutenant-governor of the province of +Fokhien, assisted by some foreigners. The book is called +Ying-hw[)a]n-che-ke, or "The General Account of the Encircling Ocean." + +"Se[)i]h-lan is situated in Southern India, and is a large island in the +sea, on the south-east coast, its circumference being about 1000 le (300 +miles), having in the centre lofty mountains; on the coast the land is +low and marshy. The country is characterised by much rain and constant +thunder. The hills and valleys are beautifully ornamented with flowers +and trees of great variety and beauty, the cries of the animals +rejoicing together fill the air with gladness, and the landscape abounds +with splendour. In the forests are many elephants, and the natives use +them instead of draught oxen or horses. The people are all of the +Buddhistic religion; it is said that Buddha was born here: he was born +with an excessive number of teeth. The grain is not sufficient for the +inhabitants, and they depend for food on the various districts of India. +Gems are found in the hills, and pearls on the sea coast; the cinnamon +that is produced in the country is excellent, and much superior to that +of Kwang-se. In the middle of the Ming dynasty, the Portuguese seized +upon Se[)i]h-lan and established marts on the sea coast, which by +schemes the Hollanders took from them. In the first year of Kia-King +(1795), the English drove out the Hollanders and took possession of the +sea coast. At this time the people of Se[)i]h-lan, on account of their +various calamities or invasions, lost heart. Their city on the coast, +called Colombo, was attacked by the English, and the inhabitants were +dispersed or driven away; then the whole island fell into the hands of +the English, who eventually subjected it. The harbour for rendezvous on +the coast is called Ting-ko-ma-le." + +To this the Chinese commentator adds, on the authority of a work, from +which he quotes, entitled, "A Treatise on the Diseases of all the +Kingdoms of the Earth:"-- + +"The Kingdom of Se[)i]h-lan was anciently called Lang-ya-sew; the +passage from Soo-mun-ta-che (Sumatra), with a favourable wind, is twelve +days and nights; the country is extensive, and the people numerous, and +the products abundant, but inferior to Kiva-wa (Java). In the centre are +lofty mountains, which yield the A-k[)u]h (crow and pigeon) gems; after +every storm of rain they are washed down from the hills, and gathered +among the sand. From Chang-tsun, Lin-yih in the extreme west, can be +seen. In the foreign language, the high mountain is called Se[)i]h-lan; +hence the name of the island. It is said Buddha (Sh[)i]h-ka) came from +the island of Ka-lon (the gardens of Buddha), and ascended this +mountain, on which remains the trace of his foot. Below the hill there +is a monastery, in which they preserve the nee-pwan (a Buddhistic +phrase, signifying the world; literally rendered, his defiling or +defiled vessel) and the Shay-le-tsze, or relics of Buddha. + +"In the sixth year of his reign (1407), Yung-l[)o], of the Ming dynasty, +sent an ambassador extraordinary, Ching-Ho and others, to transmit the +Imperial mandate to the King A-l[)e]e-j[)o]-nai-wah, ordering him to +present numerous and valuable offerings and banners to the monastery, +and to erect a stone tablet, and rewarding him by his appointment as +tribute bearer; A-l[)e]e-j[)o]-nai-wurh ungratefully refusing to comply, +they seized him, in order to bring him to terms, and chose from among +his nearest of kin A-pa-nae-na, and set him on the throne. For fourteen +years, Teen-ching, Kwa-wa (Java), Mwan-che-kea, Soo-mun-ta-che +(Sumatra), and other countries, sent tribute in the tenth year of +Chin-tung, and the third year of Teen-shun they again sent tribute."[1] + +[Footnote 1: There is here some confusion in the chronology; as +Teen-shun reigned before Ching-tung.] + +"I have heard from an American, A-pe-le[1], that Se[)i]h-lan was the +original country of Teen-chuh (India), and that which is now called +Woo-yin-too was Teen-ch[)u]h, but in the course of time the names have +become confused. According to the records of the later Han dynasty, +Teen-ch[)u]h was considered the Shin-t[)u]h, and that the name is not +that of an island, but of the whole country. I do not know what proof +there is for A-pe-le's statement." + +[Footnote 1: Mr. Abeel, an American missionary.] + + + + +CHAP. IV. + +CEYLON AS KNOWN TO THE MOORS, GENOESE, AND VENETIANS. + + +The rapid survey of the commerce of India during the middle ages, which +it has been necessary to introduce into the preceding narrative, will +also serve to throw light on a subject hitherto but imperfectly +investigated. + +The most remarkable of the many tribes which inhabit Ceylon are the +Mahometans, or, as they are generally called on the island, the +"Moor-men," energetic and industrious communities of whom are found on +all parts of the coast, but whose origin, adventures, and arrival are +amongst the historical mysteries of Ceylon. + +The meaningless designation of "Moors," applied to them, is the generic +term by which it was customary at one time, in Europe, to describe a +Mahometan, from whatsoever country he came, as the word Gentoo[1] was +formerly applied in England to the inhabitants of Hindustan, without +distinction of race. The practice probably originated from the Spaniards +having given that name to the followers of the Prophet, who, traversing +Morocco, overran the peninsula in the seventh and eighth centuries.[2] +The epithet was borrowed by the Portuguese, who, after their discovery +of the passage by the Cape of Good Hope, bestowed it indiscriminately +upon the Arabs and their descendants, whom, in the sixteenth century, +they found established as traders in every port on the Asian and African +coast, and whom they had good reason to regard as their most formidable +competitors for the commerce of the East. + +[Footnote 1: The practice originated with the Portuguese, who applied to +any unconverted native of India the term _gentio_, "idolator" or +"barbarian."] + +[Footnote 2: The Spanish word "_Moro_" and the Portuguese, "_Mouro_" may +be traced either to the "Mauri," the ancient people of Mauritania, now +Morocco, or to the modern name of "Moghrib," by which the inhabitants, +the Moghribins, designate their country.] + +Particular events have been assumed as marking the probable date of +their first appearance in Ceylon. Sir Alexander Johnston, on the +authority of a tradition current amongst their descendants, says, that +"the first Mahometans who settled there were driven from Arabia in the +early part of the eighth century, and established themselves at Jaffna, +Manaar, Koodramali, Putlam, Colombo, Barberyn, Point de Galle, and +Trincomalie."[1] The Dutch authorities, on the other hand, hold that the +Moors were Moslemin only by profession, that by birth they were +descendants of a mean and detestable Malabar caste, who in remote times +had been converted to Islam through intercourse with the Arabs of +Bassora and the Red Sea; that they had frequented the coasts of India as +seamen, and then infested them as pirates; and that their first +appearance in Ceylon was not earlier than the century preceding the +landing of the Portuguese.[2] + +[Footnote 1: _Trans. Roy. Asiat. Society_, 1827, A.D. vol. i. 538. The +Moors, who were the informants of Sir Alexander Johnston, probably spoke +on the equivocal authority of the _Tohfut-ul-mujahideen_, which is +generally, but erroneously, described as a narrative of the settlement +of the Mahometans in Malabar. Its second chapter gives an account of +"the manner in which the Mahometan religion was first propagated" there; +and states that its earliest apostles were a Sheikh and his companions, +who touched at Cranganore about 822 A.D., when on their journey as +pilgrims to the sacred foot-print on Adam's Peak. (ROWLANDSON, _Orient. +Transl. Fund_, pp. 47. 55.) But the introduction of the new faith into +this part of India was subsequent to the arrival of the Arabs +themselves, who had long before formed establishments at numerous places +on the coast.] + +[Footnote 2: VALENTYN, ch. xv. p. 214.] + +The truth, however, is, that there were Arabs in Ceylon ages before the +earliest date named in these conjectures[1]; they were known there as +traders centuries before Mahomet was born, and such was their passion +for enterprise, that at one and the same moment they were pursuing +commerce in the Indian Ocean[2], and manning the galleys of Marc Antony +in the fatal sea-fight at Actium.[3] The author of the _Periplus_ found +them in Ceylon about the first Christian century, Cosmas Indico-pleustes +in the sixth; and they had become so numerous in China in the eighth, as +to cause a tumult at Canton.[4] From the tenth till the fifteenth +century, the Arabs, as merchants, were the undisputed masters of the +East; they formed commercial establishments in every country that had +productions to export, and their vessels sailed between every sea-port +from Sofala to Bab-el-Mandeb, and from Aden to Sumatra.[5] The "Moors," +who at the present day inhabit the coasts of Ceylon, are the descendants +of these active adventurers; they are not purely Arabs in blood, but +descendants from Arabian ancestors by intermarriage with the native +races who embraced the religion of the Prophet.[6] The Singhalese +epithet of "_Marak-kala-minisu_" or "Mariners," describes at once their +origin and occupation; but during the middle ages, when Ceylon was the +Tyre of Asia, these immigrant traders became traders in all the products +of the island, and the brokers through whose hands they passed in +exchange for the wares of foreign countries. At no period were they +either manufacturers or producers in any department; their genius was +purely commercial, and their attention was exclusively devoted to buying +and selling what had been previously produced by the industry and +ingenuity of others. They were dealers in jewelry, connoisseurs in gems, +and collectors of pearls; and whilst the contented and apathetic +Singhalese in the villages and forests of the interior passed their +lives in the cultivation of their rice-lands, and sought no other +excitement than the pomp and ceremonial of their temples; the busy and +ambitious Mahometans on the coast built their warehouses at the ports, +crowded the harbours with their shipping, and collected the wealth and +luxuries of the island, its precious stones, its dye-woods, its spices +and ivory, to be forwarded to China and the Persian Gulf. + +[Footnote 1: MOUNTSTUART ELPHINSTONE, on the authority of Agatharchidos +(as quoted by Diodorus and Photius), says, that "from all that appears +in that author, we should conclude that two centuries before the +Christian era, the trade (between India and the ports of Sabaea) was +entirely in the hands of the Arabs."--_Hist. India_, b. iii. c. x. p. +167.] + +[Footnote 2: Pliny, b. vi. c. 22.] + +[Footnote 3: + + "Omnis eo terrore AEgyptus et Indi + Omnes Arabes vertebant terga Sabaei." + +VIRGIL, _AEn._ viii. 705.] + +[Footnote 4: ABOU-ZEYD, vol. i. p. xlii. cix.] + +[Footnote 5: VINCENT, vol. ii. p. 451. The Moors of Ceylon are identical +in race with "the Mopillees of the Malabar coast."--McKENZIE, _Asiat. +Res._, vol. vi. p. 430.] + +[Footnote 6: In a former work, "_Christianity in Ceylon_," I was led, by +incorrect information, to describe a section of the Moors as belonging +to the sect of the Shiahs, and using the Persian language in the service +of their mosques (c. i. note, p. 34). There is reason to believe that at +a former period there were Mahometans in Ceylon to whom this description +would apply; but at the present day the Moors throughout the island are, +I believe, universally Sonnees, belonging to one of the four orthodox +sects called _Shafees_, and using Arabic as their ritual dialect. Their +vernacular is Tamil, mixed with a number of Arabic words; and all their +religious books, except the Koran, are in that dialect. Casie Chitty, +the erudite District Judge of Chilaw, writes to me that "the Moors of +Ceylon believe themselves to be of the posterity of Hashem; and, +according to one tradition, their progenitors were driven from Arabia by +Mahomet himself, as a punishment for their cowardice at the battle of +Ohod. But according to another version, they fled from the tyranny of +the Khalif Abu al Malek ben Merivan, in the early part of the eighth +century. Their first settlement in India was formed at Kail-patam, to +the east of Cape Comorin, whence that place is still regarded as the +'father-land of the Moors.'" + +Another of their traditions is, that their first landing-place in Ceylon +was at Barberyn, south of Caltura, in the 402nd year of the Hejira, +(A.D. 1024.) These legends would seem to refer to the arrival of some +important section of the Moors, but not to the first appearance of this +remarkable people in Ceylon. The _Ceylon Gazetteer_, Cotta, 1834, p. +254, contains a valuable paper by Casie Chitty on "the Manners and +Customs of the Moors of Ceylon."] + +MARCO POLO, in the thirteenth century, found the Moors in uncontested +possession of this busy and lucrative trade, and BARBOSA, in his account +of the island, A.D. 1519, says, that not only were they to be found in +every sea-port and city, conducting and monopolising its commerce, but +Moors from the coast of Malabar were continually arriving to swell their +numbers, allured by the facilities of commerce and the unrestrained +freedom enjoyed under the government.[1] In process of time their +prosperity invested them with political influence, and in the decline of +the Singhalese monarchy they took advantage of the feebleness of the +king of Cotta, to direct armed expeditions against parts of the coast, +to plunder the inhabitants, and supply themselves with elephants and +pearls.[2] They engaged in conspiracies against the native princes; and +Wijayo Bahu VII., who was murdered in 1534, was slain by a turbulent +Moorish leader called Soleyman, whom his eldest son and successor had +instigated to the crime.[3] + +[Footnote 1: "Molti Mori Malabari vengono a stantiare in questa isola +per esser in grandissima liberta, oltra tutte le commodita e delitie del +mondo," etc.--ODOARDO BARBOSA, _Sommario delle Indie Orientale_, in +_Ramusio_, vol. i. p. 313.] + +[Footnote 2: _Rajavali_, p. 274.] + +[Footnote 3: Ib., p. 284. PORCACCHI, in his _Isolario_, written at +Venice A.D. 1576, thus records the traditional reputation of the Moors +of Ceylon:--"I Mori ch' habitano hoggi la Taprobana fanno grandissimi +traffichi, nauigando per tutto: et piu anchora vengono da diverse parte +molte mercantie, massimamente dal paese di Cambaia, con coralli, +cinabrio, et argento vivo. Ma son questi Mori perfidi et ammazzono +spesse, volte i lor Re; et ne creano degli altri."--Page 188.] + +The appearance of the Portuguese in Ceylon at this critical period, +served not only to check the career of the Moors, but to extinguish the +independence of the native princes; and looking to the facility with +which the former had previously superseded the Malabars, and were fast +acquiring an ascendency over the Singhalese chiefs, it is not an +unreasonable conjecture that, but for this timely appearance of a +Christian power in the Island, Ceylon, instead of a possession of the +British crown, might at the present day have been a Mahometan kingdom, +under the rule of some Arabian adventurer. + +But although the position of the Arabs in relation to the commerce of +the East underwent no unfavourable change prior to the arrival of the +Portuguese in the Indian seas, numerous circumstances combined in the +early part of the sixteenth century to bring other European nations into +communication with the East. + +The productions of India, whether they passed by the Oxus to the +Caspian, or were transported in caravans from the Tigris to the shores +of the Black Sea, were poured into the magazines of Constantinople, the +merchants of which, previous to the fall of the Lower Empire, were the +most opulent in the world. During the same period, Egypt commanded the +trade of the Red Sea; and received, through Aden, the luxuries of the +far East, with which she supplied the Moorish princes of Spain, and the +countries bordering on the Mediterranean.[1] + +[Footnote 1: ODOARDO BARBOSA, In Ramusio, vol. i. p. 292. BALDELLI BONI, +_Relazione dell' Europa e dell' Asia,_ lib. ix. ch. xlvii FARIA Y SOUSA; +_Portug. Asia,_ part i. ch. viii.] + +Even when the dominion of the Khalifs was threatened by the rising power +of the Turks, and long after the subsidence of the commotions and +vicissitudes which marked the period of the Crusades, part of this +lucrative commerce was still carried to Alexandria, by the Nile and its +canals. The Genoese and Venetians, each eager to engross the supply of +Europe, sought permission from the Emperors to form establishments on +the shores of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. The former advanced +their fortified factories as far eastward as Tabriz, to meet the +caravans returning from the Persian Gulf[1], and the latter, in addition +to the formation of settlements at Tyre, Beyrout, and Acre[2], acquired +after the fourth crusade, succeeded (in defiance of the interdict of the +Popes against trading with the infidel) in negotiating a treaty with the +Mamelukes for a share in the trade of Alexandria.[3] It was through +Venice that England and the western nations obtained the delicacies of +India and China, down to the period when the overland route and the Red +Sea were deserted for the grander passage by the Cape of Good Hope.[4] + +[Footnote 1: GIBBON, _Decl. and Fall,_ ch. lxiii.] + +[Footnote 2: DARU, _Hist. de Venise_ lib. xix. vol. iv. p. 74. +MACPHERSON'S _Annals of Commerce,_ vol. i. p. 370.] + +[Footnote 3: So impatient were the Venetians to grasp the trade of +Alexandria that Marino Sanuto, about the year 1321 A.D., endeavoured to +excite a new crusade in order to wrest it from the Sultan of Egypt by +force of arms, _Secreta Fidelium Crucis,_ in BONGARS, _Gesta Dei per +Francos,_ Hanau, 1611. ADAM SMITH, _Wealth of Nations,_ b. iv. ch, vii +DARU, _Hist. de Venise,_ lib. xix, vol. iv, p. 88.] + +[Footnote 4: GIBBON, _Decl. and Fall_, ch. lx. The last of the Venetion +"argosies" which reached the shores of England was cast away on the Isle +of Wight, A.D. 1587.] + +Another great event which stimulated the commercial activity of the +Italians in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, was the +extraordinary progress of the Mongols, who in an incredibly short space +of time absorbed Central Asia into one powerful empire, overthrew the +ancient monarchy of China, penetrated to the heart of Russia, and +directed their arms with equal success both against Poland and Japan. +The popes and the sovereigns of Europe, alike alarmed for their +dominions and their faith, despatched ambassadors to the Great Khan; the +mission resulted in allaying apprehension for the further advance of +their formidable neighbours towards the west, and the vigilant merchants +of Venice addressed themselves to effect an opening for trade in the new +domains of the Tartar princes. + +It is to this commercial enterprise that we are indebted for the first +authentic information regarding China and India, that reached Europe +after the silence of the middle ages; and the voyages of the Venetians, +in some of which the realities of travel appear as extra-ordinary as the +incidents of romance, contain accounts of Ceylon equally interesting and +reliable. + +MARCO POLO, who left Venice as a youth, in the year 1271, and resided +seventeen years at the court of Kubla Khan, was the first European who +penetrated to China Proper; whence he embarked in A.D. 1291, at Fo-Kien, +and passing through the Straits of Malacca, rested at Ceylon, on his +homeward route by Ormuz. + +He does not name the port in Ceylon at which he landed, but he calls the +king _Sender-naz,_ a name which may possibly be identified with the +Malay Chandra-banu, who twice invaded the island during the reign of +Pandita Prakrama-bahu III.[1] + +[Footnote 1: Pandita Prakrama Bahoo III. was also called Kalikalla +Saahitya Sargwajnya,--TURNOUR'S _Epitome_, p. 44.] + +He repeats the former exaggerated account as to the dimensions of +Ceylon; he says that it was believed to have been anciently larger +still, and he shows incidentally that as early as the thirteenth +century, the Arab sailors possessed charts of the island which they used +in navigating the Indian seas.[1] Then, as now, the universal costume of +the Singhalese was the cotton "comboy," worn only on the lower half of +the body[2], their grains were sesamum and rice; their food the latter +with milk and flesh-meat; and their drink coco-nut toddy, which Marco +calls "wine drawn from the trees." He dwells with rapture on the gems +and costly stones, and, above all, on the great ruby, a span long, for +which Kubla Khan offered the value of a city. With singular truth he +says, "the people are averse to a military life, abject and timid, and +when they have occasion to employ soldiers, they procure them from other +countries in the vicinity of the Mahometans." From this it would seem +that six hundred years ago, it was the practice in Ceylon, as it is at +the present day, to recruit the forces of the island from the Malays. + +[Footnote 1: I have seen with the sailors of the Maldives, who resort to +Ceylon at the present day, charts evidently copied from very ancient +originals.] + +[Footnote 2: See the drawing, page 612.] + +The next Venetian whose travels qualified him to speak of Ceylon was the +Minorite friar ODORIC, of Portenau in Friuli[1], who, setting out from +the Black Sea in 1318, traversed the Asian continent to China, and +returned to Italy after a journey of twelve years. In Ceylon he was +struck by the number of serpents, and the multitude of wild animals, +lions (leopards?), bears, and elephants. "In it he saw the mountain on +which Adam for the space of 500 years mourned the death of Abel, and on +which his tears and those of Eve formed, as men believed, a fountain;" +but this Odoric discovered to be a delusion, as he saw the spring +gushing from the earth, and its waters "flowing over jewels, but +abounding with leeches and blood-suckers." The natives were permitted by +the king to collect the gems; and in doing so they smear their bodies +with the juice of lemons to protect them from the leeches. The wild +creatures, they said, however dangerous to the inhabitants of the +island, were harmless to strangers. In that island Odoric saw "birds +with two heads," which possibly implies that he saw the hornbill[2], +whose huge and double casque may explain the expression. + +[Footnote 1: _Itinerarium_ Fratris ODORICI de Foro Julii de +Portu-Vahonis.] + +[Footnote 2: _Buceros Pica_. See _ante_, Part II. ch. ii. p. 167.] + +In the succeeding century[1] the most authentic account of Ceylon is +given by NICOLO DI CONTI, another Venetian, who, though of noble family, +had settled as a merchant at Damascus, whence he had travelled over +Persia, India, the Eastern Archipelago, and China. Returning by way of +Arabia and the Red Sea, in 1444, he fell into danger amongst some +fanatical Mahometans, and was compelled to renounce the faith of a +Christian, less from regard for his own safety than apprehension for +that of his children and wife. For this apostacy he besought the pardon +of Pope Eugenius IV., who absolved him from guilt on condition that he +should recount his adventures to the apostolic secretary, Poggio +Bracciolini, by whom they have been preserved in his dissertation on +"_The Vicissitudes of Fortune_."[2] + +[Footnote 1: Among the writers on India in the 14th century, A.D. 1323, +was the Dominican missionary JOURDAIN CATALANI, or "Jordan de Severac," +regarding whose title of _Bishop of Colombo_, "Episcopus Columbensis," +it is somewhat uncertain whether his see was in Ceylon, or at Coulam +(Quilon), on the Malabar coast. The probability in favour of the latter +is sustained by the fact of the very limited accounts of the island +contained in his _Mirabilia_, a work in which he has recorded his +observations on the Dekkan. _Cinnamon he describes as a production of +Malabar_, and Ceylon he extols only for its gems, pre-eminent among +which were two rubies, one worn by the king, suspended round his neck, +and the other which, when grasped in the hand could not be covered, by +the fingers, "Non credo mundum habere universum tales duo lapides, nec +tanti pretii." The MS. of Fra. JORDANUS'S _Mirabilia_ has been printed +in the _Recueil des Voyages_ of the Societe Geogr. of Paris, vol. i. p. +49. GIOVANNI DE MARIGNOLA, a Florentine and Legate of Clement VI., +landed in Ceylon in 1349 A.D., at which time the legitimate king was +driven away and the supreme power left in the hands of a eunuch whom he +calls _Coja-Joan_, "pessimus Saracenus." The legate's attention was +chiefly directed to "the mountain opposite Paradise."--DOBNER, _Monum. +Histor. Boemiae._ Pragae, 1764-85. + +JOHN OF HESSE in his "Itinerary" (in which occurs the date A.D. 1398) +says, "Adsunt et in quadam insula nomine Taprobanes viri crudelissimi et +moribus asperi: permagnas habent aures, et illas plurimis gemmis ornare +dicuntur. _Hi carnes humanas pro summis deliciis comedunt_."--JOHANNIS +DE HESSE, Presbyteri _Itinerarium_, etc.] + +[Footnote 2: _De Varietate Fortunae_, Basil, 1538. An admirable +translation of the narrative of DI CONTI has recently been made by R.H. +Major, Esq., for the Hakluyt Society. London, 1857.] + +Di Conti is, I believe, the first European who speaks of cinnamon as a +production of Ceylon. "It is a tree," he says, "which grows there in +abundance, and which very much resembles our thick willows, excepting +that the branches do not grow upwards, but spread horizontally; the +leaves are like those of the laurel, but somewhat larger; the bark of +the branches is thinnest and best, that of the trunk thick and inferior +in flavour. The fruit resembles the berries of the laurel; the Indians +extract from it an odoriferous oil, and the wood, after the bark has +been stripped from it, is used by them for fuel."[1] + +[Footnote 1: POGGIO makes Nicolo di Conti say that the island contains a +lake, in the middle of which is a city three miles in circumference; but +this is evidently an amplification of his own, borrowed from the passage +in which Pliny (whom Poggio elsewhere quotes) alludes to the fabulous +Lake Megisba.--PLINY, lib. vi. ch. xxiv.] + +The narrative of Di Conti, as it is printed by Ramusio, from a +Portuguese version, contains a passage not found in Poggio, in which it +is alleged that a river of Ceylon, called Arotan, has a fish somewhat +like the torpedo, but whose touch, instead of electrifying, produces a +fever so long as it is held in the hand, relief being instantaneous on +letting it go.[1] + +[Footnote 1: DI CONTI in _Ramusio_, vol. i. p. 344. There are two other +Italian travellers of this century who touched at Ceylon; one a +"GENTLEMAN OF FLORENCE," whose story is printed by Ramusio (but without +the author's name), who accompanied Vasco de Gama, in the year 1479, in +his voyage to Calicut, and who speaks of the trees "che fanno la canella +in molta perfettione."--Vol. i. p. 120. The other is GIROLAMO DI SANTO +STEFANO, a Genoese, who, in pursuit of commerce, made a journey to India +which he described on his return in 1499, in a letter inserted by +Ramusio in his collection of voyages. He stayed but one day in the +island, and saw only its coco-nuts, jewels, and cinnamon.--Vol. i. p. +345.] + +The sixteenth century was prolific in navigators, the accounts of whose +adventures served to diffuse throughout Europe a general knowledge of +Ceylon, at least as it was known superficially before the arrival of the +Portuguese. Ludovico Barthema, or Varthema, a Bolognese[1], remained at +a port on the west coast[2] for some days in 1506. The four kings of the +island being busily engaged in civil war[3], he found it difficult to +land, but he learned that permission to search for jewels at the foot of +Adam's Peak might be obtained by the payment of five ducats, and +restoring as a royalty all gems over ten carats. Fruit was delicious and +abundant, especially artichokes and oranges[4], but rice was so +insufficiently cultivated that the sovereigns of the island were +dependent for their supplies upon the King of Narsingha, on the +continent of India.[5] This statement of Barthema is without +qualification; there can be little doubt that it applied chiefly to the +southern parts of the island, and that the north was still able to +produce food sufficient for the wants of the inhabitants. + +[Footnote 1: _Itinerario de_ LUDOVICO DE VARTHEMA, _Bolognese, no lo +Egypto, ne la Suria, ne la Arabia Deserta e Felice, ne la Persia, ne la +India, e ne la, AEthiopia--la fede el vivere e costume de tutte le +prefatte provincie._ Roma. 1511, A.D.] + +[Footnote 2: Probably Colombo.] + +[Footnote 3: These conflicts and the actors in them are described in the +_Rajavali_, p. 274.] + +[Footnote 4: "Carzofoli megliori che li nostri, melangoli dolci, li +megiiori credo, che siano nel mondo."--_Varthema_, pt. xxvii.] + +[Footnote 5: "In questo paese non nasce riso; ma ne li viene da terra +ferma. Li re de quella isola sono tributarii d'il re de Narsinga per +repetto del riso."--_Itin_., pt. xxvii. See also BARBOSA, in _Ramusio_, +vol. i p. 312.] + +Barthema found the supply of cinnamon small, and so precarious that the +cutting took place but once in three years. The Singhalese were at that +time ignorant of the use of gunpowder[1], and their arms were swords and +lance-heads mounted on shafts of bamboo; "with these they fought, but +their battles were not bloody." The Moors were in possession of the +trade, and the king sent a message to Varthema and his companions, +expressive of his desire to purchase their commodities; but in +consequence of a hint that payment would be regulated by the royal +discretion, the Italians weighed anchor at nightfall and bade a sudden +adieu to Ceylon. + +[Footnote 1: The _Rajavali_, p. 279, describes the wonder of the +Singhalese on witnessing for the first time the discharge of a cannon by +the Portuguese who had landed at Colombo, A.D. 1517. "A ball shot from +one of them, after flying some leagues, will break a castle of marble, +or even of iron."] + +Early in the sixteenth century, ODOARDO BARBOSA, a Portuguese captain, +who had sailed in the Indian seas, compiled a _summary_ of all that was +then known concerning the countries of the East[1], with which the +people of Portugal had been brought into connection by their recent +discovery of the passage round the Cape of Good Hope. Writing partly +from personal observation, but chiefly from information obtained from +the previous accounts of Di Conti, Barthema and Corsali[2], he speaks of +that "grandest and most lovely island, which the Moors of Arabia, +Persia, and Syria call Zeilam, but the Indians, _Tenarisim_, or the +_land of delights_." Its ports were crowded with Moors, who monopolised +commerce, and its inhabitants, whose complexions were fair and their +stature robust and stately, were altogether devoted to pleasure and +indifferent to arms. + +[Footnote 1: _Il Sommario delle Inde Orientale di_ ODOARDO BARBOSA, +Lisbon, 1519. A sketch of the life of BARBOSA is given in CRAWFURD'S +_Dictionary of the Indian Islands_, p. 39.] + +[Footnote 2: Two letters written by ANDREA CORSALI, a Florentine, dated +from Cochin, A.D. 1515, and addressed to the Grand Duke Julian de +Medicis.] + +Barbosa appears to have associated chiefly with the Moors, whose +character and customs he describes almost as they exist at the present +day. He speaks of their heads, covered with the finest handkerchiefs; of +their ear-rings, so heavy with jewels that they hang down to their +shoulders; of the upper parts of their bodies exposed, but the lower +portions enveloped in silks and rich cloths, secured by an embroidered +girdle. He describes their language as a mixture of Arabic and Malabar, +and states that numbers of their co-religionists from the Indian coast +resorted constantly to Ceylon, and established themselves there as +traders, attracted by the delights of the climate, and the luxury and +abundance of the island, but above all by the unlimited freedom which +they enjoyed under its government. The duration of life was longer in +Ceylon than in any country of India. With a profusion of fruits of every +kind, and of animals fit for food, grain alone was deficient; rice was +largely imported from the Coromandel coast, and sugar from Bengal. + +Di Conti and Barthema had ascertained the existence of cinnamon as a +production of the island, but Barbosa was the first European who +asserted its superiority over that of all other countries. Elephants +captured by order of the King, were tamed, trained, and sold to the +princes of India, whose agents arrived annually in quest of them. The +pearls of Manaar and the gems of Adam's Peak were the principal riches +of Ceylon. The cats-eye, according to Barbosa, was as highly valued as +the ruby by the dealers in India; and the rubies themselves were +preferred to those of Pegu on account of their density[1]; but, compared +with those of Ava, they were inferior in colour, a defect which the +Moors were skilled in correcting by the of fire. + +[Footnote 1: CESARE DE FREDERICI, a Venetian merchant, whose travels in +India, A.D. 1563, have been translated by HICKOCKE, says of Zeilan, +that, "they find there some rubies, but I have sold rubies well there +that I brought with me from Pegu."--In Hakluyt, vol. i. p. 226.] + +The residence of the King was at "Colmucho" (Colombo), whither vessels +coming for elephants, cinnamon, and gems brought fine cloths from +Cambay, together with saffron, coral, quicksilver, vermilion, and +specie, and above all silver, which was more in demand than all the +rest. + +Such is the sum of intelligence concerning Ceylon recorded by the +Genoese and Venetians during the three centuries in which they were +conversant with the commerce of India. Their interest in the island had +been rendered paramount by the events of the first Crusades, but it was +extinguished by the discovery of the passage round the Cape of Good +Hope. In the period which intervened the word _traveller_ may be said to +have been synonymous with merchant[1], and when the occupation of the +latter was withdrawn, the adventures of the other were suspended. The +vessels of the strangers, in a very few years after their first +appearance in the Indian seas, began to divert from its accustomed +channel, the stream of commerce which for so many ages had flowed in the +direction of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf; and the galleons of +Portugal superseded the caravans of Arabia and the argosies of Venice. + +[Footnote 1: CAESAR, FREDERICK opens the account of his wanderings in +India, A.D. 1563, as follows:--"Having for the space of eighteen years +continually coasted and travelled in many countries beyond the Indies, +_wherein I have had both good and ill success in my travels"_ &c. He may +be regarded as the last of the merchant voyagers of Venice, His book was +translated into English almost simultaneously with its appearance in +Italian, under the title of "_The Voyages and Travaile of M. Caesar +Fredrick, Merchant of Venice, into the East Indies, and beyond the +Indies,_ written at sea, in the Hercules of London, the 25th March, +1588, and translated out of Italian by Mr. THOMAS HICKOCKE, Lond, 4to. +1588." The author, who left Venice in 1563, crossed over from Cape +Comorin to Chilaw, to be present at the fishery of pearls, which he +describes almost as it is practised at the present time. The divers +engaged in it were all Christians (see _Christianity in Ceylon,_ ch. i. +p. 11), under the care of friars of the order of St. Paul. Colombo was +then a hold of the Portuguese, but without "walles or enemies;" and +thence "to see how they gather the sinnamon, or take it from the tree +that it groweth on (because the time that I was there, was the season +that they gather it, in the moneth of Aprill) I, to satisfie my desire, +went into a wood three miles from the citie, although in great danger, +the Portugals being in arms, and in the field with the king of the +country." Here he gives with great accuracy the particulars of the +process of peeling cinnamon, as it is still practised by the Chalias.] + +In his dismay the Sultan of Egypt threatened to demolish the sacred +remains of Jerusalem, should the infidels of Europe persist in +annihilating the trade of the Desert. Stimulated by the Doge, he +attacked the Portuguese merchantmen in the Indian seas, and destroyed a +convoy off the coast of Cochin; an outrage for which Albuquerque +meditated a splendid revenge by an expedition to plunder Mecca and +Medina, and to consummate the desolation of Egypt by diverting the Nile +to the Red Sea, across Nubia or Abyssinia![1] + +[Footnote 1: DARU, _Hist, de Venise,_ lib. xix. p. 114. RAYNAL, _Hist. +des Deux Indes_, vol. i. p. 156. FARIA Y SOUZA, _Portug. Asia_, pt. i. +ch. viii. vol i. pp. 64, 83, 107, 137.] + +But the catastrophe was inevitable; the rich freights of India and China +were carried round the "Cape of Storms," and no longer slowly borne on +the Tigris and the Nile. The harbours of Ormus and of Bassora became +deserted; and on the shores of Asia Minor, where the commerce of Italy +had intrenched itself in castles of almost feudal pretension, the +rivalries of Genoa and Venice were extinguished in the same calamitous +decay. + + + +END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CEYLON; AN ACCOUNT OF THE ISLAND +PHYSICAL, HISTORICAL, AND TOPOGRAPHICAL WITH NOTICES OF ITS NATURAL +HISTORY, ANTIQUITIES AND PRODUCTIONS, VOLUME 1 (OF 2)*** + + +******* This file should be named 13552.txt or 13552.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/5/5/13552 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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