The jack, the bread-fruit, the jamboo, and the cashew-tree, weave their spreading branches into an agreeable shade, amidst the stems of the areka and cocoa-nut. The black pepper and betel plants creep up the sides of the lofty trunks: coffee, cinnamon, and an immense variety of flowering shrubs, fill the intermediate spaces; and the mass of charming foliage is blended together with a degree of richness that beggars the powers of description. All the beautiful productions of the island are here concentrated in one exuberant spot: and, as Ceylon has been termed the garden of India, this province may be styled the herbarium of Ceylon.

About eleven miles from Negombo we crossed a small river on a raft, and proceeding one mile farther, halted at the rest-house of Jaellé. The road, in general, is bounded by rows of lofty fruit-trees, and hedges enclosing gardens: but in some places the country is open, presenting rich corn fields and meadows, enlivened with cattle, and beautified by the windings of a fertilizing stream. Wooden bridges are thrown across the rivulets: the province seems well cultivated and the inhabitants, who are of a chesnut colour, wear an air of comfort.

The rest-house at Jaellé is large and well built; having been erected under the Dutch administration, as a residence for an agent of revenue. It is now only occupied by passing travellers, and persons who proceed there from Columbo on

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parties of pleasure. At this place we were regaled with a feast of the most delicious fruits which India produces. These abound here in great profusion, and are sold at prices which may be still accounted moderate, although they have been tripled since the arrival of the English in the island. Pine-apples are purchased at the rate of two for three halfpence, pumplemoses (the shaddock of the West Indies) from threepence to fourpence a piece, oranges fourpence per dozen, jacks (the largest species of artocarpus, or bread-fruit) fourpence a piece, and all other productions of the soil at corresponding prices.

The road from Jaellé to Columbo presents the same luxuriant aspect as the former stage. Cocoas, intermixed with other trees, appear flourishing in great perfection and abundance all the way. The country becomes populous: neat houses with white walls and tiled roofs are frequently seen on each side, surrounded with numerous groups of children. The jack-fruit, a principal article of the food of the inhabitants, is said to possess an extremely nourishing and prolific quality. While nature seems here to have exerted all her powers to satisfy abundantly the wants of a savage life, she has at the same time poured forth a richness of scenery capable of affording exquisite delight to the most cultivated mind.

Nine miles from Jaellé, and three miles from Columbo, we crossed the Calāny ganga, a broad, deep, and rapid river.

The ferry is called the grand pass: and the boat which conveyed us over had a spacious deck, of dimensions sufficient to contain a coach and four horses without being unyoked. All the way from this ferry to the fort of Columbo the road is lined on each side with excellent houses, and a busy multitude is seen passing and repassing, animated with various pursuits.

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CHAPTER XII.

VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS-TREES-FRUITS-FLOWERS-GRAIN..

ALL the trees and fruits common to Hindoostan flourish in great perfection in Ceylon; and it boasts of some productions which are not found, at least of an equal quality, in any other part of India. An exuberance of vegetation is one of its distinguishing characteristics. In the district of Columbo alone there have been enumerated upwards of three hundred species of plants. In a general sketch of the country, however, drawn by a person ignorant of the science of botany, it is impossible to exhibit any other than a very imperfect view of the treasures of the forests. But although a correct delineation of the various tribes of plants be impracticable, a rude outline of the most common and rẻmarkable productions shall be here attempted.

The tree which holds the first rank in point of utility to the inhabitants is the cocoa-nut, or "cocos nucifera, inermis, frondibus pinnatis: foliolis replicatis ensiformibus." It grows

in great fertility and abundance along almost all parts of the sea coasts; and is likewise cultivated in many of the interior districts, though not with the same success.

It is the tree, the remarkable appearance of which most forcibly strikes a stranger on his arrival in India. A bare stem, less than one foot in diameter, rises to the height of from seventy to eighty feet. It is marked with circular notches, and is of an equal thickness throughout, but bulges towards the root, where it is covered with a fibrous bark similar to oakum. Pinnated leaves, twelve feet in length, and from three to four feet in breadth, radiate from the top of the tree. These are about twelve in number, and form a circle around its summit like the spokes of a wheel. One ligneous elastic bough is the stalk and centre nerve of the leaf; and a great number of long narrow slips spring from it opposite to one another, in the manner of fern. These too have each a strong centre nerve, half the thickness of a crow's quill. Of them the natives make excellent brooms, or besoms; and when an European asks a toothpick, they supply him with the end of one of those fibres. The finest of them are likewise manufactured into mats, which cover the floors in the houses of the higher ranks of people.

The nuts grow in clusters at the top of the tree, amongst the leaves: and one tree produces from two to three dozen. The nut, when pulled from the tree, is nearly