•3ï-4
T owns.
Trincomali,
Matura.
Manufactures.
H I N D O S T >A N."
I WM but
receive the cool air5. * Ceylon being expofed on all fidfes to the fea^
breezes the climate is not fo hot as that of Hindoftan; far lefs pefti-
ferous, like themarlhy exhalations of Batavia. At Colombo there ts
| printing P & , where the Dutch publifhed religious books m the
Tamhlic, Malabar, and Singalefe languages. The name Q^Cobrnbo
feems indigenous, as well as that ofNigombo, a fortrefs a few miles t
W lM M m Ceylon are chiefly left to the K
town of Tafnapatam, or Jafna. was a Dutch.
ifle. The grand pearl fifhery is conduaed m the gulf o f Manar, near
Condatchev a miferable place iu a fandy diftnft M M f l i
brought from Aripoo; a village four miles to the foutht he Ihoals
near Rama’s bridge fupply inexhauftible (lores of th.s valued piod”
o u pm-ffing the fltore towards the eaft it is moftly guarded.by fand-
banks Por rocks j but the noble harbour of Trmcomah opens at the
mouth o f the Mowil Ganga, the Gauge's of M em y s of
Taprobanasaud was defended by a ftrong fortrefs. Batacola is an
inferior haven, on the fame file of the ifland. "
-But the fouthem fide of Ceylon has been chiefly vifited, abounding
with gems and' other rich produffions. Matura was a Dutch faftory
near rhe moft fouthem p r o m o n t o r y lolled Dondra, where, excellent
kind, of- cinnamon were c o lM e d ! and varieties of precious tones
abound in the vicinity.' Not far to the W. of Mature is Gale, o.
Galle, near a point fo called, a hgad feme town ftrongly ferriSed»
th T ^ t f « l f £ l n ^ y tnanufaftu'res conduaed in this ifland;
, but the natives item not unflrilled in the common works m gold,atld
• “ „ The Dutch ihip. nfed to fail fromGalle ~ ,
pepper, and other fpices; nor mnft pearl, and precious ftone be fo -
gotten among.the articles o f export.. The Colombo, wood, a Bftter in
* Thunberg, i
’ Thunberg, :
* Af. Ref- v. 397.
• lb. 194.. ifëcent
C E Y L O N,
recent- ufe, receives its name from the capital; but its native country Manupac-
or diftriót.feems ftill unknown..
Thé climaté.andrfea&ns correfpónd in fome degr.eejwith the adjacent Climate. .
continent; yet the expofure on all'fides to the flé^renderg/the air mor,e_
cool and faliibridus.- The general- afpe^t of the,country fomewhat re-
femhles tha‘t of fouthern Hindoftan;. a - high table land, in the centre,
being fürroundéd with low ftiörésj about fix or. eight leagues in breadth.
High' mountains, prodigious forefts, full-of aromatic trees -and plants,
and many pleafant rivers and -ftreams diver,fify this country, which by
the Hindoos is .efteemed a.fecond paradife. The va’lesLaie' of a rich fat
fpll; and,' whën ,cSearefl, amazingly rCTnllfum nee, "and omfe ‘uféful
vegetables'.?'
There are five corifiderable rfl^prk >uefcribed by Ptolemy which Rivers,-
the4 'ch ief' is' TnoMowibGanga ,5 on , which* flood*’ IVlaagramum, thé
capital in his time, and mödern Kandi ftandslbïi?riih lamè^ftreató'p'dhe
ofthe; 'royal palaces being on an ifle in that river, where the monarch ' ■
keeps,a treafure of gems ; and his officers, like TBofe'of'exterior India,
are decorated with jHgnt.chains o f göT'd.
The Phafls of Ptolemy running N. is perhaps the ftream which
paffes to the N. W. by Ackpol. His weftern ftream o f Soana is perhaps
that which enters the fea in that diredjtion, near the centre o f the ifle. .
The Azanus S. W. feems that near the point of Galle; while his
Baracus E. is the IJ^rpkan. .
. Thé chain,, or.,chains of mountains run N. and S. the fouthern part Mountains, •
being-called Malea by the Greek geographer; a mere native term, for -
a mountain, as Ganga.for a river.. The northern, part is jby Ptolemy
called óalibe; Thefe mountains, feems granitic; and are peculiarly
rich in precious ffion.es imbedded in primitive1 quartz. What the Mahometans
have termed Adam’s Peak is, efteemed’.the higheft; and is in
Sanfcret called Salmala, Boodh being fabled to haye afeended from it
to heaven.
The forefts are numerous and large, the haunts of innumerable Forefts.
elephants, like the Gauts o f fouthern Hindoftan. An ample account ■
1 1 1 ® - ' ' i 1 J of