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THE FOUR COURTS. A Country Dance.

1796.

An Account of the land of Geylon, in the Eaft Indies, and of the Town and Harbour of Trincomale.

EYLON, one of the most delight

is fituated between 79 and 828 of eaft longitude, and 6 and 10° of north latitude. Its northern extremity, Point Pedro, is feparated from Point Calymere, on the continent of India, by a ftrait called Palk's Paffage, which is not more than fifteen leagues acrofs. It is about 250 miles in length from north to fouth, and near 100 broad from eaft to weft. The Dutch affert that its fhape refembles a Weftphalia ham; but major Rennell confiders its fhape as ftill doubtful.

This fine ifland is faid, by fome, to be the Taprobane of the antients, mentioned by Strabo and Ovid; and by others it has been fuppofed to be the Ophir of Holy Writ. Thus Dyer:

Ceylon's gray peaks, from whofe vol

canos rife,

Dark fmoke and ruddy flame, and glaring rocks

Darting in air aloft; around whofe feet Blue cliffs afcend, and aromatic groves, In various profpect; Ceylon alfo deem'd The ancient Ophir.

THE FLEECE, Book IV.

Ceylon was difcovered, in the year 1506, by the Portuguefe, who, when they landed here, found it a very populous illand, inhabited by two diftin&t nations, widely differing from each other in their manners, government, and religion. The northern part is now thinly inhabited by a nation called the Bedas or Weddas, and is much efs fertile than the country fouthward, which is poffeffed by a numerous and powerful people called the Cinglaffes. In the middle part of the ifland is the Kingdom of Candy, whofe late capital is of the fame name, and whofe fovereign has abfolute power over the lives and properties of his fubjects.

In 1602, Ceylon began to be vifited by the Dutch, who, encouraged and

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attempted to fettle on this island, and the king of Candy, defirous of employing them against the Dutch, as he had formerly employed the Dutch againft the Portuguefe, ceded to them by treaty the part of Gottiar, fituate at the bottom of the bay of Trincomale, on the eaft fide of the island; but the enterprise failing, the Dutch remained fole mafters of the coaft, and of the cinnamon trade: they were fill, however, on bad terms with the natives, who continually reproached them with their knavery, and would place no confidence in them. The Dutch, on their fide, were inceffantly bent on oppreffing and enflaving the natives. At laft, in 1761, their repeated cruelties caufed the natives to rife, a great flaughter of the Dutch enfued; and moft of their plantations were deftroyed. The latter, however, have fince regained the afcendancy, and a war, which had proved equally deftructive on both fides, was terminated, in 1766, by a formal peace, from which great advantages were derived by the Dutch colonifts. Their fovereignty over the dif tricts of the island in their poffeffion was acknowledged by the king of Candy, who had before recognized them only by the title of Guardians of his Coaft.' The Dutch commiffaries, moreover, were authorized to extend their trade to all parts of the island, without reftriction; and it was ftipu lated, that the natives fhould carry on no foreign commerce with any other nation. In return for all thefe effential advantages, the Dutch agreed to pay annually to the king the value of the produce of the ceded coafts, and to fupply the Cinglaffes, gratis, with a quantity of falt fufficient for their own confumption.

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The famous M. de Bougainville, who vifited Ceylon in 1768, has ftated thefe particulars; and from him the abbé Raynal has derived his information.

The

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Cinglaffes are perfuaded, that it is a
veftige of the firft man, and therefore,
have called the mountain Hammalelia,
or Adam's Mount, which the Portuguese
have tranflated Pica de Adam, that is
Adam's Peak. Some tradition, mingled
with fable, muft have been received
from the difperfed commercial Jews,
concerning the firft ancestors of the
human race; for the natives believe
that the firft man was created here;
that the lake arofe from the tears thed ***
by Eve on the death of Abel; and that
Ceylon was part of the terreftrial pa-
radife.

The monfoons and feafons are the fame in Ceylon as on the adjacent continent; for the rains begin to fall much fooner on the coaft of Malabar than on that of Coromandel; which, probably, proceeds from the fame caufe, Ceylon, as well as the great peninfula of Hindooftan, being divided by ex ceedingly high mountains. The northern part of the inland is fubject to great droughts, of very long continuance; an affliction, which is the more fenfibly felt, as there are fcarce any rivers or fprings in that part of the island, and the inhabitants are obliged to be fupplied with water, as well as food, from the fouth.-There are, however, feveral rivers on the island, which fall down from the mountains, but are generally fo rapid and full of rocks, as not to be navigable. The largest is that of Mavillagonga, which has its fource in a mountain called Adam's Peak, and, running north eaft, falls into the Indian ocean.

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Abbé Raynal imagines that Ceylon. at a very remote period of time, was united to the continent, and fevered from it by fome violent concuffion of nature; but the fame obfervation has been made refpecting England and France, the cliffs of Dover and Calais.. having a correfpondent appearance; and as Ceylon contains numerous volcanoes, it is equally probable that this island is of volcanic origin.

The country, for the most part, is covered with fragrant woods and groves; The principal product of Ceylon and between the mountains are little is cinnamon. Befide cinnamon, Ceyfertile vallies watered by fine fprings. lon produces many things with which In the fouthern part, about twenty the inhabitants might carry on a f leagues from the fea, is a vaft plain, in the middle of which is the abovementioned mountain, covered with a fine turf. It rifes a rugged rock, of a pyra-, midical form. It is fuppofed to be two leagues from the plain to the higheft fummit; but the way is fo bad, that fetting out early in the morning, it cannot be gained till two hours after mid-day; and the height is fo prodigious, that the failors begin to defcry it twenty leagues at fea. Though the fummit of the rock, when viewed from the bottom in the plain, appears like a point, it forms a terrace 203 paces in diameter, in the center of which is a large and deep lake of fome of the best water in the world. Thence proceed feveral ftreams, which fall in torrents down the fides of the mountain, and, uniting, form three great rivers in the plain. Near the lake is a large ftone, on which is the print of a man's foot, as perfectly engraved as if the impreffion had been made on wax. The Hib. Mag. March, 1796.

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great trade; fuch as long pepper, feveral drugs and roots useful in lying and in medicine, cardamom, mirabolans, filk, tobacco, ebony, excellent timber for building, lead ore, betel, wild honey, mufk, wax, cryftal, faltpetre, fulphur, fugar, (of which the Dutch carry great quantities to the coaft of Coromandel) iron, fteel, copper, gold and filver, all forts of precious ftones, except diamonds, and laftly, elephants. The mines of gold and filver, indeed, are prohibited to be worked; the precious stones are all referved for the king; and fulphur and faltpetre are not allowed to be exported, but are refined on the island. Hence, the commerce of the Dutch may be faid to be confined to cinnamon; and even for this they trade only with the natives adjoining to their fettlements, who are kept under fubjection by the awe of their garrifons. The Dutch, however, export a confiderable number of ele phants from Ceylon to India, where Ee

they

they are much valued, the fmalleft fell- of preparing and curing the cinnamon, is taken from Thunberg's travels.

ing for upward of forty guineas, and the largest for about feventy pounds fterling. Their teeth are larger, whit er, and of a finer grain than any that come from India' or Africa. Before the Europeans appeared in India, the Chinese were mafters of the trade of Ceylon; afterward the Perfians, Arabians, and Ethiopians, came in for a fhare of it; and fince the Portuguefe were expelled from the ifland, the Dutch have excluded all other nations from any share in its trade.

In the inland country of Ceylon are reckoned five capital cities; namely, Candy, the metropolis of the ifland, and the refidence of moft of the kings, till it was taken and burnt by the Por tuguese; but it being found to be too much expofed, the royal feat was removed to Nellembyneur, a city more in the heart of the country. The third city is Alloutneur, which lies to the north-east of Candy. The fourth is Batoula, which is between fixty and feventy miles to the eaft of Candy; and the fifth is Digligineur, fituate between Candy and Batoula.

The Dutch Eaft India company are poffeffed, not only of the whole coaft of Ceylon, but of ten or twelve leagues within land. Their principal harbours lie on the eastern coaft. Trincomale is reckoned the best and finest harbour in the Eaft Indies; that of Batacola, more to the fouthward, is lefs reforted to, and little or no trade is carried on thence. At the promontory, called Point de Galle, on the fouth-weft coaft, the Dutch have the ftrength of their government, and here their fhips take in their cargoes for Europe. Colombo and Negambo, lie on the weft fide of the island, in the part called the Cinnamon coaft: the former is the principal ftation in the colony at the latter the finest cinnamon is procured. The company have introduced the culture of pepper and coffee, the chief of which is drawn from the country about Matara..

The following account of the method

The fuperfine cinnamon is known by the following properties, viz. in the firft place, it is thin, and rather pliable; it ought commonly to be about the fubftance of royal paper, or fomewhat thicker. Secondly, it is of a light colour, and rather inclinable to yellow, bordering but little upon the brown. Thirdly, it poffeffes a sweetish tafte, and at the fame time is not ftronger than can be borne without pain, and is not fucceeded by any after-tafte.

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The more the cinnamon departs from thefe characteristics, the coarfer and lefs ferviceable it is esteemed; as for inftance, in the firft place, if it be hard and as thick as a half-crown piece: fecondly, if it be very dark or brown: thirdly, if it be very pungent and hot upon the tongue, with a tafte bordering upon that of cloves, fo that one cannot fuffer it without pain, and fo that the mucus upon the tongue is confumed by it, when one makes several trials of it: fourthly, if it has any aftertafte, fuch as to be harth, bitter, or mucilaginous.

Such are the forts of cinnamon, when they are felected from the ftorehoufes, and forted for exportation; but the barkers, who examine the cinnamont trees in the woods, and ftrip off the bark, fpeak of more and different forts of cinnamon, the leaves of which in their external appearance, bear fome refemblance to each other, and are not all used indifcriminately for barking, but are picked and pointed out by thofe that are judges of the matter. Thefe cinnamon-barkers are called in the Cingalefe language Schjalias.

'The forts of cinnamon which the Schjalias reckon are the following ten:

1. Raffe Curundu, or Penni Curundu, i.e. Honey Cinnamon, which is the best and moft agreeable, and has large, broad, and thick leaves.

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flavour, (although it does not abfolutely arrive at the fame degree) and has alfo large leaves.

3. Capuru Gurundu, or CamphorCinnamon; this fort is only to be found in the King's lands, and from its root camphor is diftilled.

4. Cabatte Gurundu, that is, aftringent or auftere Cinnamon; it has rather fmaller leaves than the former forts. Thefe four forts, which are all together from one and the fame fpecies of Laurus Cinnamomum, are nothing more than varieties, nearly refembling each other, which are diftinguished by the Schjalias merely by the tafte, and are the only ones, which ought to be barked, and indeed can be barked, for good cinna

mon.

The following forts, on the other hand, are never barked at all.

5. Savel Gurundu, that is mucilaginous Cinnamon, the bark of which, when chewed, has a mucous flimy after-tafte, like a Mucilage. The bark of this is foft, and of a fibrous or ftringy texture, and not fo compact nor firm as that of the others: it is likewife tough, and bends eafily, without.ediately breaking. This is likewife a variety of the Laurus Cinnamomum.

6. Dawul Gurundu, that is flat, or board Cinnamon; which name it bears, because the bark, in drying, does not roll itfelf up together, but remains flat. This fort is from the Laurus Caffia.

7. Nica Gurundu, i. e. Cinnamon with leaves which refemble the Nicacol, or Vitex negundo, viz. in being lanceol ate, or long and narrow. This feems to be a variety of the Laurus Camphora.

Befides these seven forts, they yet reckon three more, which obviously differ from the genuine Cinnamon. And indeed one may immediately fee, that they can in no wife with juftice be reckoned among the cinnamon trees. Of thefe I have feen one fort only, viz. the Thorn Cinnamon: the other forts are very rare, and are found only in the Emperor's domains.

8: Catura Curundu, i. e. Thorn-Cinnamon (Dorn Canel): this is of a quite different genus from the Laurus, and the bark has not theleaft tafte of Cin

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10. Tompat Curundu, i. e. TrefoilCinnamon because the leaves are faid to divide towards the top into three lacinæ.

'Cinnamon is barked in the wood, at two different feafons of the years The first is termed the Grand Harveft. and lafts from April to Auguft; the fecond is the Small Harvest, and lafts from November to the month of January.

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It is in the woods on the Com pany's own domains, that the Schjalias feek and peel the cinnamon bark; although it fometimes happens that they fteal into the Emperor's woods, and at times go as far as within half a league of Candy, in order to fetch it : but if they chance in the latter case to be difcovered and taken, they must expect to have their nofe and ears cut off.

'Each diftrict or hamlet in the Company's dominions, is bound to bark and furnish yearly a certain ftated quantity of cinnamon; whereas the Cingalefe there have a certain portion of land rent-free, to cultivate and inhabit, with other privileges. Over a certain num ber of Schjalias are placed other fuperior officers, who have the infpection over them and the cinnamon, and are likewife authorized to punish small of fences. Over all together is placed a European, who is called their Captain (Hoofd der Mahabadde), or frequent ly in common difcourfe, Captain Cinnamon, who receives and is anfwerable to the Company for all the cinnamon. He is likewife vefted with authority tot try and punish offences of a deeper die.

The barking of cinnamon is performed in the following manner: Firft, a good cinnamon tree is looked out for, and chofen by the leaves and other characteristics: thofe branches which are three years old are lopped off with a common crooked pruning knife. * Secondly, from the twigs that have been lopped off, the outfide pellicle (epidermis

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