3.:ï? H I.N D O S T A N.
V o K i i i i wkjeh terminated 1766, by the fubmiffion o f the latter, who furrendered
all the'coafls, and agreed to deliver yearly a quantity of cinnamon at
a low' rate." From the fordid domination of the Dutch it has recently
„ pafled under -the more liberal banner of Britifh power ; . and it is to be
1 hoped that pun ingenious countrymen wiM u rmfh us with more precife
accounts.of tire formerly Dutch poffeffions in .general, which mercantile
- jealoufy concealed-in profound obfcurity;
Jtdigu?n. ^ - The religion of Ceylon is the ancient worfhip of Boodh, whofc
linages appear with flioft and crifped hair, hCcTufe it is. fabled that he
cfit it with a golden fword, which produced that cfFedt.3 In Me-Afiatic
Refearches may be found prints of fome antiquities aud idols,'' difcoV'ered
on the fouthern and weftern eoalts of Ceylon, among which- the linage
of Boodh is predominant; and an old; king called Coutta Raja is fculp-
tured in granite, and celebrated in the Singalefetraditions. The worfhip
of "Boodh is fuppofed to have originated in Ceylon and thence to have
fprcad to ancient Hiadoftan, to exterior India, Tibet, arid even to
China and- Japan. :,Such are the -traditions in Siam, Pegu^&'c: which
fupppfc that Bo©dhT probably a kind of Confucius or deified phi-
lofopher, flo.uriflied about 540 years before the Chriftian sera 5 and as
the Boodhis in general {hew a prodigious fupcriorit-y of good fenfe to
the vifiopary Bramipsj their accounts deferve more credit than the 'idle
dreams and millionary chronology of the Pundits-. Others: however
fuppofc that the worfliip of Boodh originated in exterior India.?5 However
this be, there feems no ground to infer that th£' puerile mythpldgy'
of the Hindttos was derived from- Egypt- -though the fimilarity of the
countries inJrflpje:g g annual inundations, and feveral natural produdts
occasioned a faint refemblan'ce in fome refpe£ts, merely becaufe human
. Tears and wifhes are the fame -in Similar fituatidns.. The great number
and variety-df headsulnd arms of- the ‘Hindoo jdbls. feem unrivalled ,.by-
the more fober Egyptians, who had v ery different - m odes'^ o f exjpreffing
* There are th'rec'chief. difti'naions between the?priefts of Boodh and the Br ami t he former
may lay doiwn the -priefthood:; they eat flclh,,but wijfnbt.' kill, .the .anij.na'l.; and they form no
caft nor tribe, hut are from the maw of the people.
power,
C E Y L O N.
i power,’ or be’aüty t a Ad; reafon.J| yUL > .fin;d. more c^ufe to.difcnminate,
than fancy to affimilate, thertyp -fylfetn'S."{ .
There does not’ yet<appear1 tolfbeianyautjientic ipt^iigenc'e concerning
• th?:p®Pu^ad°n fl^Ceyld&’j' butaa it Teems To penfahvalmoft in a(ftate of
inature 'the inhabitant's *cSnnot bê’'■ inferred tol' bfe;'numerous. The hundreds
of cities mentioned by ancient writer is are now efteémed completely
fabulous; nor does there feem to bc':::.one place deferving thé
name of a city, mentioned either hi. ancient or modern record; This
ifland is only important in a^ Gbmme’reial 'vfewj fijdm its celebrated pro-
dlifts ó f cinnamon ahdlg'èmsfs The harbour, of THneomali, „oef the eaft,
is to us of great cpnfequence, becaufe there is: none ou . the cafterri coaft
of ITindoftan: and it has even Been fuggelted that in cafe any revolution,
to -which all human affairs are fubjeut, ’flidiild expel’ us from the Continent
of Hindoftan, this' ifland might afford an èxtenfive and grand
ajyfum, -where the JBritifh name, and' dpöimerqe mi^ht be perpetuated!
The natives bf Ceylon, called ISmgalefp, /either from a native of ‘PÖrtu-
guefe term, are not fo black as thole o f Malabar, a tó have few; manners
and* cufioms -diftindt from other Hindopfftf ït ihl Tii§ that fevqrAl
brothers may have one wife incommon, a's in Tibet; but the poiygaiAy
of males is *lfo flowed.4 In general [chattily’ is Tittle feftfeemed in die
oriental\dountries; and the morality ©f many nations'is lb flax in this
rèfpêfl: that the intercom fe of ” the Texes Is1 confide red as fa y mb^e] indifferent
Than the ufe of certain foods.. The* language is; father peculiar;
liut' fome of the natives undferftand- both the Tamulit ,’ahd that bf
Malabar.
The native-town' Kandi, in the centre o f the *if|e|TéernS tobber @f
fmall fi.ze and eonfequence, and probably only. ;di|linguifhed’-i -by.;|af
palifade and a few temples.4 It was taken by the Portuguefe in
but no recenV" traveller appears to'have vifited this deep-’ -recefs- of
favêreignpoweir.
Th.Q. chief töwn.'öf the1 Poftuguefe, Dutch, and' Eugliflrpqffeffiorrs,
as Colombo, a hand fome' place, and Well fortified; the refidence of the
, 3 Wcfdin, 435;
¥.öi„. n .
■* ■ Mahdelflo, 279, ■ who give's a lift of the other town$.
R e l i g io n .
Population.-
Manners and.
Cuftoms.-
■ Towns?
KandL -
Colombo--