The Press.
London, England, 1857-04-11 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

youth of this generation. But no such at-
tempt is made here, and there is a lack of art
in the presentation of the matter. At the
end of the volume there is an alarming appen-
dix, which must be familiarised to the little
reader of the book before its contents can be
properly understood. We shall select a scrap
from it by way of specimen :
_ _

Garm—The dog with bloody breast and jaws who gnarled
the way to Helheint. From gerr, " voracious," a word
probably cognate with English " gorge."
Gerd, Gerda, or Gender—From gero, " to do—make," as
in akrgerd, " agriculture.'
Gimh—Name of the heavenly city which existed after
the destruction and renewal of the world. Signifies
" fire," or " gem."
Ginnungagap—The space between Nillheim and Mus-
pellheitn. Literally, " the gap of gaps, the abysm of
abysses, the yawning, gaping abyss."
Gjallar•bru—The sounding river leading from the abodes
of the living to those of the dead.
Gjallar-horn From gjalla, " to resound, to clang."
Cognate with the English, " to yell."

We should be surprised if a book of this
nature could become a favourite ; but the
name of one of its authors, who is a practised
writer, might help it into circulation.

Ceylon, Past and Present. By Sir George
Barrow, Bart. London : Murray.

THE contents of this work are more literary
than topographical, and it scarcely realises its
title. It is a volume composed upon another
work,—" Robert Knox's captivity in Ceylon
" from 1659 till his escape in 1670," and Sir
George Barrow's composition reads like patch-
work. We have extracts not only from Knox,
but from Sirr, Pridham, Cordiner, Sir Har-
dinge Giffard, and, last, not least, from Sir
Emerson Tennent. The volume is c irious in
some respects, but it wants completeness,
solidity, and definite result We are distracted
while reading it with the variety of vistas
opened before the imagination. Material
objects, and metaphysical considerations of
the Ceylonese superstitions, are mingled toge-
ther too rapidly; some subjects are glanced
at in the most summary style, and undue pro-
minence is given to others.

It would be difficult, however, to produce a
volume on Ce)lon which would not have
much interest. Histories of Ceylon have been
published by Percival in 1805, Cordiner in
1807, Bertolacci in 1817, Davy in 1821, Forbes
in 1840, Pridham in 1849, ant Slur in 1850.
Sir George Barrow gives the preference to the
account published by Knox in 1681.
There is certainly some pleasure in reading
old books of travels. The wonders of nature
beheld for the first time, or when they are not
generally familiarised, produce sensations of
freshness, and powerfully influence a writer's
composition ; and after the lapse of time a new
effect is added by the antique air. The earliest
accounts of all countries have always an inde-
finable charm.

The preface to Knox's work was penned by
Robert Hooke the mathematician, curator and
secretary to the Royal Society, and it reads
quaintly:—

After a general view of the seacoasts he• will lead you
into the country by the watches, through the thorny gates,
then conduct you round upon the mountains that eneom-
pass and fortify the whole kingdom, and, by the way,
carry you to the top of Hommalet, or Adam's Peak ; from
those he will descend with you and show you their chief
cities and towns, and pass through them into the country,
and there acquaint you with their husbandry ; then enter-
tain you with the fruits, flowers, herbs, roots, plants, and
trees ; and by the way shelter you from sun and rain with
a fmn made of the talipat leaf. Then show you their beasts,
birds, fish, serpents, insects, and, last of all, their commo•
(Mies. From hence he will carry yon to Court, and show
you the King in the several estates of his life ; and acquaint
you with his way of governing, revennes,treasures, officers,
governors, military strength, wars ; and by the way enter-
tain you with an account of the late rebellion against him ;
after which he will bring you acquainted with the inhabi-
tants themselves, whence you may know their different
hiuncurs, ranks, and qualities. _ _

This is like the ►►ld familiar style of "Walk
" in, ladies and gentlemen, and you shall
" see, &c."
It is just two hundred years ago since the
incidents occurred which led to the captivity
of Knox:--

in January, 16:i7, the Ann frigate, of London, com-
manded by Captain Robert Knox (the author's father),
sailed from the Downs in the service of the East India
Company, bound for Fort St. George, and after trading for
more than a year from port to port in India, the vessel was
biding its goods to return to England in November, '113.59,
in the road of Matlipatan (Masulipatan), when " a mighty

365

storm" arose, which forced them to cut their mainmast
by the board, and so disabled the ship that she could
not proceed on her voyage to England. The agent at
Fort St. George ordered that the ship should take in some
cloth and go to Cotair Bay ( Cottiar, in the great Bay of
Trincomalie), in the Island of Ceylon, to trade, and to set
another mainmast, and repair other damages which it had
sustained by the storm.
The Indian merchants of Porto Novo, to whom the
goods belonged, went on shore on their arrival at Cotair,
lint the captain and crew were ut first cautious in their
communications with the natives ; being well received,
however, they grew more confident and went on shore
whenever it pleased them.

The King of Kandv (Raja Singha) hearing of their
arrival, despatched a dinativa or general, with his army,
who immediately sent a messenger on board to desire the
captain to come on shore, pretending that he was the
bearer of a letter from the • King. They saluted the
message with tiring of guns, and the captain ordered his
son, Robert Knox, with Mr. John Loveland, the merchant
of the ship, to go on shore and wait on him.

The diasaurainquired who they were, and how long they
would stay. He was told they were English, that they
would not stay above twenty or thirty days, and that they
desired permission to trade in his Majesty's port. He re•
plied that the King was glad to hear that the English had
come to his country, had commanded him to assist them,
and had sent a letter, but it was to be delivered to no one
save the captain.
The party who had previously gone ashore were
about twelve miles up the country. They told the
digusurce that the captain could not leave his ship to
come so far, but if he would come down to the shore, the
captain would immediately wait upon him to receive the
letter.

The dissaura desired them to stay that day, and on the
morrow he would go down with them. Their suspicions,
however, were raised that evening by his stating that he
intended to send the captain a present in the night ; and

accordingly they wrote to warn the captain, but the letter
we; not delivered to him. The result was, that in the
morning the captain came ashore to receive the present,
and was told that his son and Mr. Loveland, with the
dimaura, were on their way from the interior bearing a
letter from the King.
The native soldiers then seized the captain and seven
men, but without violence or plunder, and brought them
up to the otner party, carrying the captain in a hammock
on their shoulders. The next day the long-boat's crew,
not knowing what had happened, came ashore, and were
also made prisoners.
This reads with romantic effect; and there is
certainly much freshness in the account of
Robert Knox. But we are bound to say that
in its republished form wo have had it before.
In the year 1817 a history of Ceylon (as ad-
mitted by Sir• G. Barrow) was published by
" Philab3thes, A.M. Oxon." The work was a
learned compilation, in which free use was
made of the contents of the Dutch work of
Valentyn. The compiler was the Rev. Mr.
Biesett, and he republished in it " Robert
Knox's Relation of the Island of Ceylon " Sir
George Barrow gives some excerpts from Knox,
and adds to them choice passages from various
other writers on Ceylon, interspersing the
whole with comments of his own.

The scenery in Ceylon must be of the most
gorgeous description, and we have ourselves
heard persons who sojourned there speak with
raptures of the magnificence of the land-
scapes. Nor was it ignorant enthusiasm which
inspired 'lose descriptions, for our informa.uts
had beheld Swiss and Italian scenery. Here,
for example, is a description of the Kadaga-
nawa Pass, in approaching Kandy. The writer
is Sirr

A series of views, of the most magnificent and varied
character, open forth as the mountain is ascended ; on
either side appear cultivated lands, bounded by dense
forests and rucks, whilst the clearness of the atmosphere
enables the traveller to see the undulating lowlands
stretching far into the distance. As the steep sides of
the mountain are climbed, ravines and fissures are wound
round, and often a perpendicular mountain rears its lofty
crest on one aide, and descends in the same manner on
the opposite. Sometimes a brawling waterfall appears
over the traveller's head, as if threatening instant annihi-
lation by hurling him into the deep abyss below ; then
the road will become so narrow, that there appears to be
scarcely room for the vehicle to stand on, and the strongest
nerves may be shaken, as the eye glances below at the
steep precipice down which some crumbling earth is
rolling, loosened by.the coach•wheels. To this circum-
scribed path, upon turning the next angle, succeeds a wide
road and view of the surrounding couutry, terminated by
the Blue Mountains in the distance, whose towering heads
blend with the azure shy, Adam's Peak tearing his lofty
head above his fellows. The cc Tabulation of sublime and
beautiful scenery brought under notice during the ascent
of the Kadaganawa Pass is nearly incredible; roaring
torrents dashing down frightful abysses, from whose side%
spring enormous trees, and at whose base are lands teeming
with grain. Terrine chasms, and overhanging masses of
rock, where bright-coloured flowering shrubs have taken
root, rapidly succeed each other ; and when the summit
of the mountain is attained, and the boundless extent and
beauty of the prospect fully perceptible, many beholders
of this magnificent scene carrot find utterance to express
their sense of the might, maicsty, and glory of the Al-