[Footnote 78: The ten precepts of the moral code of Buddhism are as follows:--Kill no living creature--do not steal--follow no unclean occupation--tell no lies or untruths--drink no fermented liquors--live exclusively on vegetables--anoint neither the head nor the body--go to no singing parties or spectacles--do not sleep on a raised nor on a wide bed-- eat but once a day, and before noon.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: BUDDHA TEMPLE NEAR GALLE.]

On the day of our arrival we at once set off to visit one of these Buddhist temples, in the vicinity of Galle. The edifice is small and insignificant, only the carved woodwork of the door presenting any object of interest as a work of art. In the interior is a gigantic figure of Buddha, carved in wood, and in a reclining position; it is 20 feet long, and painted yellow and red, with long flaps to the ears, and a lotus flower on the head; while on the walls around, richly decorated with scrollwork, dragons and lions, part painted, part sculptured, various interesting episodes are represented in the history of Buddhism. Right in front of the figure are placed a number of offerings of the most miscellaneous description, beneath which are flowers and fruits; a small tin box is also particularly conspicuous, into which every stranger is expected to drop a piece of silver by way of present. Adjoining such a temple are always to be found the _wiharas_, or residences of the priests (_hamaduruhs_), and the spot where preaching and teaching are carried on.

The priests wear long wide vestures, yellow or white according to their rank, or else only a single yellow outer garment, which falls in the form of graceful drapery over the naked shoulders; their heads are shaved, and they walk about quite barefoot, with a parasol of Talipot palm in their hand, and observe with strangers a reserved, distrustful demeanour.

We were conducted all round by a young priest, of about 20 years of age, who spoke a little English, which is not a very common accomplishment, since the Buddhists have a great dislike for all that is foreign. Only at the conclusion of our visit did the old, grey, half-blind superior priest make his appearance, saluted us, but immediately left us to s.n.a.t.c.h from a boy a shaddock (_Citrus dec.u.mana_), which is especially prized by the Cingalese on account of the refreshing qualities of its juice.

The priestly office, however, does not deter a native from indulging the disgusting habit of chewing the betel-nut, and this aged _hamaduruh_ became much more sociable on receiving some.

Adjoining the temple, which stands in a charming cocoa-nut grove, we first got an idea of the extraordinary luxuriance of the vegetation of this island. In a single enclosure, not much larger than an ordinary house-garden, we saw coffee-trees, cinnamon-bushes, clove-trees, nutmeg-trees, (_Areca catechu_), oranges, lemons, pine-apples, and bread-fruit trees (_Arctocarpus incisa_), flourishing in wildest profusion.

A second temple, which we also visited, was the Dadale Panzela, the largest in the province, and the seat of the high-priest of the Buddhists.

This worthy personage, a septuagenary, is named Na.n.a.langara Seresumana Mahdamaradjiguru Ganatchari-Naikunangi, and is surrounded by a staff of priests of the temple who are reputed holy, and who apparently venerate him as a superior being. This temple did not differ much in construction and arrangement from the first; but the place set apart for instruction, where, at the time of our visit, some youths were busily engaged in copying the sacred books upon palm leaves, as also the residences of the priests, made a much more imposing impression, and spoke of a certain degree of opulence. In the midst of a piece of ground laid out like a garden was planted the sacred Bo-tree, which is looked upon as holy by the Buddhists, because, according to an ancient tradition, Buddha was in the habit of reposing under the shadow of its branches, as often as he visited the earth. Towering above everything wherever a Buddhist temple is raised, there a Bo-tree is planted; but the particular sacred tree, the original plant from which the legend took its rise, grows at Anaradnapura, in the northern part of the former kingdom of Kandi, whither it had been suddenly translated from a far-distant land, and spontaneously took root in the spot where it at present stands, in order to serve as a protection and shelter for Buddha.[79] Ninety Cingalese monarchs are interred around it, all of whom, by the temples and statues they erected to Buddha, are deemed worthy of this pre-eminent mark of distinction.

[Footnote 79: The sacred Bo-tree (_Ficus religiosa_) of the Buddhists is frequently confounded with the Banyan Tree (_Ficus Indica_), held in such honour by the Brahmins, from which latter it differs in this, that it does not throw out from its branches numberless twigs which take root again in the earth. The incessant waving and rustling of the leaves and branches, which is common to both species of _Ficus_, is regarded by the faithful Buddhists as the effect of a fear-instilling scene of which the sage was once witness under the Bo-tree; just as the Syrian Christians deduce, from the fact that the Holy Cross was manufactured out of aspen-wood, that this tree is trembling, even in our days, with anguish and terror. Singular, what an important part the fig-tree seems to play in all religions, including the Christian and the Mahometan!]

The grey-headed high-priest permitted the library of the temple to be shown to us, which consists of a large number of Pali ma.n.u.scripts, inscribed on Talipot leaves, each of which was enclosed between two elegant boards made of calamander wood (_Diopyrus hirsuta_), fastened with strings, and enveloped in numerous folds of cloth, the whole guarded with singular reverence, in lofty, broad, wooden cupboards, richly carved. When we returned, the chief priest requested us to give him our names, and that of the country we came from, upon which a young priest carefully wrote down with a goose quill on a sheet of paper, in Cingalese language, apparently with the view of showing us civility, some superficial remarks respecting the _Novara_ Expedition.

Besides the pure Cingalese, the island is also inhabited by Hindoos from the Malabar coast, Moors (the descendants of wandering Arabs and Mahometans from northern India, who at present carry on the greater part of the trade of the island), Malays, Javanese; then Portuguese, Dutch, British of the various nationalities comprised under that t.i.tle; and, lastly, Negroes from Mozambique and Madagascar, who have formed alliances with the Cingalese, and are rearing a numerous mixed race.[80]

[Footnote 80: What is related by various writers of the practice of "running a muck" (a custom that seems to recall the frightful blood-feuds of the Corsicans), long supposed to be peculiar to Ceylon, in which a Malay thirsting for revenge, and armed with a naked "_kreese_," or dagger, rushes through the streets like a madman, yelling "_Amock, Amock_" (kill, kill), and runs the fearful weapon through the body of the very first person he meets,--seems to be founded on a mistake. No one could give us any particulars on the subject from personal observation. Sir Emerson Tennant too, in his work on Ceylon, pa.s.ses over this custom of "running a muck," without a syllable of mention. Evidently the custom is not naturalized in this island. It now prevails among the Malays of the Sunda archipelago, while in Ceylon no instance has occurred within the memory of man. That this tendency to murder is caused by the use of opium likewise appears improbable. Crawford, in his most excellent descriptive dictionary of the Indian islands, speaking of "running a muck," pretends it results frequently from a monomania taking this particular form, and originating in disorders of the digestive organs.]

Deep in the interior of the island, in the province of Bintang, N.E. from Kandi, and towards Trincomalee and Batacalva, in holes in the earth, or under the palm-leaves, reside the tribe of the Weddahs or Veddahs, the most savage race in the island, traditionally said to be the aborigines proper, who go about naked, with the exception of a girdle round the loins, and use only bows and javelins, which however they manufacture and handle with great dexterity.

According to one of the various Cingalese traditions, these Weddahs are the descendants of a very bloodthirsty, cannibal monarch, who, deposed by his people, was only permitted the alternative of death, or of withdrawing with the ministers of his cruelty to roam for ever amid the solitudes of the forest. The dethroned king chose the latter alternative, and thus became the little-to-be-envied progenitor of this rude savage race. At any rate it seems worthy of note, that these Weddahs, dest.i.tute though they are of the remotest traces of civilization, are still regarded as belonging to the privileged caste.

Owing to the shortness of our stay, we unfortunately had no opportunity of visiting the interior of the island, or of seeing these Weddahs. With difficulty did we tear ourselves from the zone of the cocoa-nut growth, and therefore only got acquainted with two places on the island, Galle and Colombo, the latter the seat of government.

[Ill.u.s.tration: INTERIOR OF A HOUSE AT GALLE.]

Galle is, from its position, as also from its configuration, indisputably the best and most important harbour in the south and west of the island, as Colombo can only be regarded as an open, insecure roadstead. Founded in the sixteenth century by the Portuguese, conquered at a later period by the Dutch, and finally, at the peace of Amiens, transferred to the English, Galle displays singularly few traces of its different masters.

The streets are narrow, but cleanly; the houses are for the most part constructed of earth, with verandahs, or airy colonnades towards the street, and rooms within, plastered to imitate stone, of s.p.a.cious dimensions, as is desirable, considering the heat of the climate. As one enters from the roadway at once into the sitting apartment, and as the door stands wide open all day to admit a free current of air, a sort of open screen-work is usually put up before the entrance, to prevent a too minute inspection of the interior, by the prying eyes of inquisitive pa.s.sers-by. At Galle we, for the first time, saw the "Punkah," a sort of fan peculiar to India, which stretches from one end of the roof of the room to the other, and being swung to and fro by a servant produces a refreshing coolness. Here, too, we first became acquainted with the "Gecko" (_Hemidactylus maculatus_), an elegant little house-lizard, which, with graceful agility, runs to and fro upon the walls, windows, and roofs, and speedily becomes as familiar with man as a pet-dog or kitten. They usually make their appearance towards evening, when, without the slightest symptoms of timidity, they begin their surprising evolutions, during which they catch gnats with astonishing dexterity, and although they are disagreeable objects to all new comers, one speedily becomes accustomed to these harmless, innocuous, playful little animals, of which the Ceylonese are in the habit of relating many interesting and amusing anecdotes.

Of late years, during which Galle has risen into considerable importance, as the converging point of the lines of steamers to Eastern India, China, and Australia, the number of substantial houses has greatly increased, and several large hotels are found here replete with every comfort. Like most European settlements in India, the Cape, and China, Galle possesses a fort in which, at an earlier period, the European colonists dwelt with their wives and families apart from the natives, and has also a "Pettah," or Black Town, a sort of Cingalese Ghetto, exclusively inhabited by the black population. At present this separation is not so strenuously enforced as in earlier times, but whoever would seek to form a more accurate idea of the various races of this population, its mode of life and its demeanour, must leave the so-called "Fort," and wander through the native or Cingalese quarter. Here are the fruit and vegetable markets; here all was devoted to buying and selling, which seemed to excite the otherwise listless little covetous disposition of the Cingalese; here jugglers and snake-charmers exhibit, who excite interest rather by the horrible nature and the foolhardiness of the performances, than by their executing any surprising feats. A belief is prevalent among the people that this singular cla.s.s of men, greatly resembling our own gipsies, possess the art of depriving a poisonous serpent of its venom, and rendering it innocuous. And, in fact, one does see them produce from a white cloth the dreaded Cobra di Capello, 4 or 5 feet long, and exquisitely marked, irritate it violently, and go through all manner of unpleasant performances with it on their naked bodies. Frequently the serpent, weary of being constantly brought out for exhibition, endeavours to escape from its tormentor, whereupon a general scramble for escape takes place among the spectators. Every one hurries off to a safe distance, and the unfortunate charmer is left alone on the scene with his eminently intractable pupil, and has, into the bargain, given his exhibition in vain. As, however, it not unfrequently happens that the bite of the Cobra di Capello is followed by fatal consequences to the snake-charmer himself, it is highly probable that the whole mystery resolves itself into courage, and the shrewdness with which, availing themselves of the uncommon dread and aversion with which this animal is regarded, they are able at once to prevent him from making use of his deadly poison fang, and to put forth their own sleight of hand. This explanation seems also to account for the very remarkable fact that men have ventured to domesticate this dangerous reptile in more places than Ceylon. Indeed, within the experience of Major Skinner, a thoroughly trustworthy personage, who has resided for many years on the island, and to whom the naturalists of the Expedition are indebted for many acts of kindness, an instance actually occurred in the neighbourhood of Negombo, in which a wealthy man, who keeps large sums of specie in his house, bethought him of the singular precaution of having several deadly cobras to watch the treasure in lieu of dogs. Day and night they glide about, a terror to thieves, while they are quite harmless to the inmates who feed them and attend to them!

In former times snake worship (_Nagas_) was universal throughout Ceylon, and, as in India, the cobra received divine honours from the natives, because it was supposed to be a metamorphosed king. This serpent, however, is so singularly and wonderfully endowed by nature, its appearance and motions are so peculiar, that an imaginative people like the Cingalese may well be excused for a.s.sociating the idea of metempsychosis with its aspect of mystery.

From Galle, an excellent road, following the coast-line the entire distance, leads to Colombo, the seat of government, 75 English miles distant. Every morning there starts from Galle for that destination, the "Royal Mail" coach, an uncomfortable, somewhat dangerous, mode of conveyance, in which this distance is traversed in from 8 to 10 hours. In order to travel more at our ease, we engaged an extra waggon. In Ceylon people usually employ, on long excursions, but one horse, which is changed at distances varying from 6 to 10 miles. We had some difficulty in reconciling this custom with our predilection for travelling at our leisure. The first few hours of our journey pa.s.sed away very pleasantly; the road was excellent, and the country magnificent and charming. We seemed as though driving through a park inhabited by thousands of men, and planted with cocoa-nut palms--amidst which occasionally the white dome of a Buddhist temple, or the minarets of a Mahometan mosque, shooting up above the summits of the palms, imparted an aspect of life to the landscape--while in the gay bazaars that fringed the road, the few necessaries of life required by the exceedingly frugal natives were exposed for sale, temptingly arranged on palm or plantain leaves. The whole south-western coast district is so populous that the huts of the natives were continually in sight, right and left, under the forest shade, and the scenery in consequence seemed as full of life and careless enjoyment as though the people had nothing else to do but walk about under palm-trees. This impression was the more strengthened, that we rarely perceived a man with anything else in his hand than a Talipot leaf, or a Chinese parasol, to protect himself against the burning rays of the sun, which shone almost directly overhead. Of the women, on whom for the most part fall all the troubles and hardships of life among the Cingalese, we only saw a few carrying to the city heavy baskets balanced on their heads.

The luxuriant, widely-extending cocoa-nut forests, which on the south and west sides of the island stretch down to the sea-sh.o.r.e (whereas on the eastern coast they are altogether absent), seem independently of the necessity of paying all due care to the maintenance of one of the necessaries of life, to be specially indebted for their existence to the circ.u.mstance that additional planting of this tree, as also its careful cultivation, is one of the religious observances and duties of the servants of Buddha. Whoever plants a cocoa-nut, palm, or bread-fruit tree, performs a work agreeable to Buddha. At the birth of a son, or on any similar festive occasion, it is customary to plant a few cocoa-nut shoots in the earth. Cocoa-nut palms form a very important part of the property of a family. The father divides them as heritable property into equal portions for bequest to his children. Not one single palm but has an owner, though instances occasionally occur in which several families are supported by the produce of a single palm!

This peculiar phenomenon has been followed by most remarkable results bearing upon the social condition of the native population. Increasing poverty, and the ever present grinding necessity of preventing any further subdivision of the joint property, have impelled the natives to resort to the unnatural remedy of the brothers of a family having but one wife among them! The fact that there are in Ceylon fully one-tenth more men than women, was the cause of the rapid spread of this custom, and upheld Polyandria, or plurality of husbands, as a desirable invention for remedying the deficient supply of females. Many a female has three, four, or even seven husbands, and all children that are born of such a wedlock have equal rights, and are (differing in this respect from the law of Hindostan, by which only the children of the eldest brothers are registered, as the entire property belongs to him, while all the younger brothers serve him as va.s.sals, and can be driven by him out of the house), the _lawful_, recognized heirs of the different fathers. In order to guard against the rise of law-suits respecting birth and heritage among the Cingalese, in consequence of their local customs, the British courts of justice, singular to say, find themselves constrained to recognize this disgraceful custom, and to interpret the law with reference to it.

Although in the maritime provinces plurality of husbands has been signally on the decrease, owing to foreign influences, it still prevails to a great extent in the interior of the island. The submissiveness of the Cingalese to their superiors and their monarchs is a.s.signed as the origin of this in other respects very ancient custom, which seems to have been universally in use among the various races of the mainland of India from time immemorial. Constrained to apply their own manual labour in cultivating the land of their tyrants, and frequently to accompany them on distant journeys, they thought they could, during their absence, most surely protect their own fields and crops against utter ruin, by apportioning wife and chattels among brothers and nearest relatives, and thence the family tie was gradually converted into a socialist community.

The almost endless cocoa forests, which we were traversing by splendid, broad, level roads, not alone provide the native with, to him, the most important necessary for supporting existence, but the fruit itself forms at the same time so important and valuable an article of produce, that the cultivation of the cocoa-nut has been regularly and systematically carried on by European enterprise since 1841--at present covering an area of 23,000 English acres--while the proportion of native land on which this, the most useful growth of the tropics, is cultivated, amounts to about 100,000 acres. Formerly, the nuts were shipped to foreign parts for the extraction of their oil; but for this purpose there are now on the island itself, especially in Colombo and Galle, a considerable number of manufactories, at which the oil already expressed from the nuts is usually at once put into casks for exportation. The quant.i.ty of oil thus exported annually is estimated at from 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 gallons, worth from 100,000 to 150,000. Besides this, the elastic fibre of the outer husk of the cocoa-nut is used in the manufacture of ropes, door-mats, &c., and, under the name of Coir, forms an important article of export, the annual consumption averaging between 30,000 and 40,000 quintals (centner weight), worth from 20,000 to 25,000.

The first station on leaving Galle for Colombo is Bentotte, where, as is the custom all through the country, there is a "resting-house" open to all travellers, similar to the "Choultries" in India, the "Caravanserais," or lodgings for pilgrims, in Eastern countries, or the "Pasangrahans," of Java. These resting-houses, which all through the interior of the island are found on the highways and forest roads, are among the oldest inst.i.tutions of the country, and were formerly maintained at the expense of private individuals. The resting-houses, which have been erected under the English rule on the main roads of the island, are in all respects of a far higher cla.s.s, and strongly resemble the waiting-rooms of our own (German) railroads. One is not merely provided in these with shelter, but also with food and drink, at a fixed tariff. A special committee (the Provincial Road Committee) is appointed to superintend the management of these resting-houses.

Here we partook of a luxurious "tiffin," as the customary meal between breakfast and dinner is called in Ceylon, as well as throughout India; and in so doing, made acquaintance for the first time with the renowned Indian dish "Curry," which consists of flesh or fish prepared with a powder compounded of spices. It tastes so hot that the European palate only gets accustomed to it by degrees; but in these countries it is looked on as the favourite dish, which must never be absent from any meal, because the cayenne pepper plentifully sprinkled over it, stimulates the stomach and promotes digestion. Hence the curry-powder is in immense request, and is largely exported. The a.s.sertion that this dish was first invented by the Portuguese is quite erroneous, as the chronicles of the country establish that it was in request in Ceylon in the second century before Christ.[81]

[Footnote 81: According to Professor Wilson, "Curry" is but a corruption of the Carnatic term _Majkki-Kari_, a dish composed of rice, sour milk, spices, and red pepper.]

As we mounted into our vehicle again, after a short halt at Bentotte, in order to resume our journey to Colombo with a fresh horse, we perceived that our driver, a negro, had been too free of his visits to the brandy-bottle, and occasionally took to rolling on the box. In the hope that he might become sober by the way, we ventured to proceed, but ere long he lost his balance, and fell to the ground, compelling us, to avoid further mishap, to retrace our steps on foot to the nearest village--thus reversing the order of matters, and, so to speak, escorting our horse, coach, and driver. This occurrence, unimportant and hardly worth mentioning in itself, was the occasion of an interesting adventure. As it was only with much difficulty that we could make ourselves intelligible to the natives, we resolved to apply to the authorities in the very first place we came to. It turned out that we were in the vicinity of the Catholic mission of St. Sebastian de Makun, whose superior was a Benedictine from Rome. The church is situated amid the rich vegetation of the primeval forests, the gigantic trunks of whose trees, supporting a huge diadem of luxuriant foliage, are arched into a natural dome of the most graceful proportions. With curiosity whetted to the uttermost, we advanced along a beautiful path, beneath cocoa-palms, cabbage trees, bread-fruit trees, screw pines, tree-like ferns, and broad-leaved bananas, till we reached the dwelling-house of the Mission, and introduced ourselves to the missionary. Forthwith the latter, a tall, stately figure, with handsome features and cultivated manners, and dressed in a woollen robe, ushered us into a darkened chamber opposite, and received us most cordially. This worthy priest, by the name of Miliani, was not less surprised at being visited at this solitary mission by Austrian travellers, and with the most lively satisfaction and the utmost readiness to oblige, offered us all the a.s.sistance in his power. In spite of our hurry, we had to take a cup of coffee _a la Romagna_, with our hospitable missionary, and to promise to visit him on our return journey. Father Miliani has already lived many years in this country, and ministers to a Christian community of more than 1000 souls. Altogether there are in Ceylon about 50 Catholic missionaries under a Bishop whose residence is in Colombo. Our priestly host was greatly respected by the Cingalese, but he evidently was overjoyed at being able once more to express his thoughts and feelings in his native Italian.

It was evening ere, with many a hearty shake of the hand, we tore ourselves away from the cordial hospitality of St. Sebastian de Makun.

Horse and driver this time gave hope of faster progress. But we were doomed once more to experience a severe disappointment, and although we were only about 10 or 12 miles distant from Colombo, which was our destination, it took us five long hours to get over the ground. The night was very dark, but the road was continually illuminated with torches of palm, carried by the homeward plodding natives, which emitted a gloomy light alternating with showers of sparks.

When at last we got to Colombo about midnight, pretty well knocked-up, we comforted ourselves with the reflection that the inconveniences attending personal transport between Galle and the seat of government, can by no means be cla.s.sed among events of rare occurrence; since, in consequence of the inveterate obstinacy of the native horse, one must have recourse to the most incredible expedients to get the carriage under weigh. For instance, at every station the ears of the post-horse were twisted together and then suddenly relaxed in order to set the vehicle in motion; and, when this torture failed, a pole, or thick stick, was inserted under the tail of the recalcitrant, and rubbed up and down till the poor animal, smarting under this painful operation, took to the collar. Once the carriage is started in this extraordinary fashion, the coachman swings to and fro at the peril of his life, and endeavours by continually "pitching into" the horse, to keep him at the gallop. Thus between whooping and whipping the next station is reached, where the same trial of patience awaits the traveller, and a similar martyrdom for the next horse.

Our first business the following morning was to take a walk through Colombo, which, like Galle, consists of "The Fort," or White City, and the "Pettah," or Black Quarter, in the latter of which are situated the houses and shops of the natives, and where the chief traffic and the greatest activity are combined. Here one rarely encounters a white man, for even the soldiers and police belong to the brown and black races. The natives, however, manifest, outwardly at least, a great respect for the whites, and everywhere draw aside reverentially when one makes his appearance.

In the middle of the main street are some Buddhist temples. We were not, however, permitted to enter, unless we consented to take off our shoes. At several of the natives' houses the entrance porch and windows were gaily adorned with plantain leaves. On inquiring of our Cingalese attendant what was the occasion of this manifestation, he replied in broken English that the inmates were celebrating "Christmas," wishing probably to express that the natives celebrated a feast a.n.a.logous to our Christmas.

The filth and unsavoury odours which prevail in the Black Quarter, and the noise and yelling of the natives, speedily drive visitors back to the European portion of the city, which altogether, with its gloomy, decayed aspect, makes anything but a favourable impression. The public buildings, the houses of the mercantile community, the warehouses, and fortifications, all bear the impress of the Portuguese settlement of bygone centuries; and as its commerce is attracted more and more every year to Galle,[82] there remains but faint hope that this quaint type will not ere long be effaced by a new style of building, albeit the inhabitants of the capital promise themselves a restored reign of activity and energy, as the result of railway communication with Galle.

[Footnote 82: The value of the produce exported annually from the island (chiefly cocoa-nuts, coir, cinnamon, and coffee), is above 2,000,000, and the imports of European manufactures are about the same amount.]

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

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

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

[Footnote 83: Sir Emerson Tennent, in his work (vol. i. p. 599), challenges the a.s.sertion that Ceylon is the native country of the cinnamon-tree. In no European or Asiatic chronicles is any mention made of cinnamon as a product or article of commerce in Ceylon up to the end of the thirteenth century. Although it was from the earliest times imported into Europe from Africa through Arabia, the natives trading with Ceylon first knew of the existence on the island of this important shrub about the twelfth or thirteenth century. Hence Sir Emerson looks upon Africa as the native country of the cinnamon-tree.]

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

The Cinnamon Gardens in the neighbourhood of Colombo, although for the most part gone to decay, nevertheless impart to the whole scene a singularly cheerful, agreeable aspect. The bushes, from 4 to 6 feet in height, with their smooth, beautiful, light green leaves, resembling those of the bay-tree, and their pale, yellow flower-stamens shoot up doubly fresh and succulent, from the snow-white quartz soil in which they best thrive. The flowering season of the cinnamon is in January, and the fruit ripens in April, when the sap is richest in the shrub. In May the boughs are begun to be "barked," which process continues till October. The pruning and gathering of the yearling shoots, which are about the thickness of a man's thumb, is very laborious, and employs many hands.

Each labourer cuts off as many as he can conveniently carry in a bundle, then, with the point of a crooked knife, made for the express purpose, strips the entire rind from the wood, carefully sc.r.a.pes off the exterior corticle and innermost layer, and lays the stripped-off cinnamon rind, now reduced to the thickness of parchment, in the sun, where it dries and curls together. All round the hut, in which the peeling of the rind is carried on, is diffused a most exquisite aroma, caused by the breaking of the leaves or twigs. What is related, however, by various travellers of the fragrance of the cinnamon forests, which they have scented at a great distance seaward, would seem to indicate that this delicious odour emanates from various other aromatic plants in which Ceylon is so rich, rather than the cinnamon groves, the aroma of which, indeed, is not perceptible beyond the immediate vicinity. The best description of cinnamon is not so thick as stout paper, and is fine-grained, flexible, light brown, or golden yellow, sweet and pungent; the coa.r.s.er qualities are thick-skinned, dark brown, acrid, stinging, and leaves a bitter after-taste. In the warehouses, the cinnamon rinds and canes sorted for shipping are piled upon each other, packed in bales of about 90 lbs.

weight each, and carefully sewed. In all cavities and s.p.a.ces between each layer an immense quant.i.ty of pepper is strewn, to preserve the cinnamon during its sea-voyage, by which both spices are benefited, the black pepper absorbing all the superfluous moisture, and gaining by the fragrance of the cinnamon.

Consequent on the diminution of cinnamon cultivation, which undoubtedly has resulted in great measure from the altered taste of mankind and the consequent extraordinary falling off in the demand for this once highly-prized spice, the cultivation of coffee in Ceylon has, during the last 20 years, increased tenfold; and it is solely owing to the dearth of available labour that this branch of produce, considering the splendid profits it returns, is not even more extensively carried on. In 27 districts there are 404 coffee plantations, covering a surface of 80,950 acres, of which, however, only 63,771 acres are really productive. These produced last year, 347,100 cwt., or 5-1/2 centners per acre. To this must be added the quant.i.ty under cultivation by the natives, who possess about 36,000 acres of coffee plantations, and in the year 1859 alone, exported 180,000 cwt. We may safely a.s.sume, therefore, that the cultivation of coffee is on the eve of transforming this island of Ceylon, from a mere military station of England, into one of the most flourishing colonies of the British Empire. Twenty years ago there were exported barely 60,000 centners, worth 180,000. In September, 1858, the export exceeded 600,000 cwt., which represented on the spot a value of 1,500,000 sterling. "When capital and labour shall have become more plentiful," remarked to us a by no means over-sanguine resident, "Ceylon will have in its mountain districts 240,000 acres planted with coffee trees, yielding at the lowest estimate, 1,680,000 cwt. of coffee annually." Here, as among the high table-lands of Guatemala and Costa Rica, we have the rea.s.suring evidence how one of the most important plants for the civilized man can be profitably cultivated, without having recourse to the blighting influences of slave-labour, at the same time making the lands in which it is produced both rich and prosperous.[84]

[Footnote 84: The coffee-tree frequently suffers, especially in Ceylon, from an insect called the coffee-bug (_Lecanium Coffeae_); as, however, this troublesome insect has only infested the coffee plantations since 1848, and this branch of cultivation has nevertheless increased so surprisingly since then, there seems no reason to dread that the coffee plant will suffer by these bugs, in the same manner or to the same extent as the vine by the ravages of the _fungus_.]

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

On the other hand, the island possesses two natural products in which but few spots on the globe are qualified to enter the lists with her, and which may be expected to increase in value and importance in proportion as science a.s.sumes her share in their exploration. These products are PEARLS and PRECIOUS STONES.

The most productive pearl banks lie on the west coast of Ceylon, between the 8th and 9th degrees of North lat.i.tude, near the level, dreary beach of Condatchy, Aripo, and Manaar. The pearl fisheries are a monopoly, and, therefore, under the inspection of the Government. Former governors had counted too much on the abundance of this natural treasure, and in their blind haste to fill the coffers of the State, had so exhausted the banks, that suddenly, from a source of revenue they became an item of considerable deficiency, and, from 1838 to 1854, could no longer be dredged. From a net annual return of 120,000 sterling, the yearly return had sunk to 10,000, of which nearly one-half was consumed in the attendant expenses. Now-a-days the work is gone about more circ.u.mspectly, a scientific examination having been made by a native naturalist, Dr.

Kelaart, of all the oyster banks on the west coast. We had the pleasure, while at Colombo, of becoming personally acquainted with this very able, una.s.suming gentleman, who presented us with several memoirs of his own, touching upon the latest facts that had been ascertained with reference to the pearl oyster. One special result of his various researches has been the demonstration of two facts of the utmost importance to the pearl fishery, and which hitherto had not been fully ascertained--that this mollusc possesses locomotive powers; that its occasional disappearance is perfectly natural; and that, moreover, the pearl oyster may, without any injury, be transplanted from one locality to another--nay, even from salt to brackish water. The first-named observation explains the occasional disappearance of the pearl oyster from certain beds,[85] even when they have not been inordinately thinned by too keen a quest after gain; the latter opens up the pleasing antic.i.p.ation of the pearl oyster being susceptible of very extensive propagation, by a process similar to that of pisciculture, or artificial breeding of fish (such as the colonies of edible oysters which are met with in the South of France), by transplanting them to such places as seem best suited to the conditions necessary to their highest development. What a splendid conception it were to plant the sea-coasts of Ceylon with pearls, and thus throw the wealth of the island in precious stones into the shade, by the treasures she would possess in the depths of the sea!

[Footnote 85: This singular property of the oyster, in virtue of which it can be fed to as confirmed obesity as a prize-ox, and admits of nearly as much dexterity in "crossing," if we are to trust the palates of "gourmets," as the Southdown and Leicester breeds of sheep, has received its most extraordinary development in the vicinity of New York, where the amount of capital sunk in the oyster trade considerably exceeds 1,000,000! The finest of these are transferred as sp.a.w.n from the beds in the East River, or Long Island Sound, to the "nurseries," which are situated in the brackish water near the head of the tide-way, just below the "Highlands of the Hudson." Here they are carefully tended for some months, till, their education being completed, they are re-transferred to their native beds, and fed there with oatmeal daily; while, by some mystery of the craft, the sp.a.w.ning season is postponed, except in the case of those that are selected for propagating the race.]

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

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