The Sun.
London, England, 1801-10-20 00:00:00

CEYLON.

THE following accothit of our PosseSsion in the
East, which has been confirmed to us by.the Pre.
liminaries of the first of OCtoher, is extracted from
the _Preface to Mr. HUGH Boyb's Account of his
Embassy to Candy. , The authorities to "which the
Editor of that Work refers, and on which he has
chiefly relied, are the works of KNOX, TinTitugkG,
and PENNANT, and the verbal account6' of Mr.
BOYD.

•: The Island of Ceylon is 'situated between s*
to" and 9°,50' 4o" of not th lat4ude, and between
79° 36' so" and 82° so' oo" longitude, east from
Greenwich. The length of the Island from Dondra.
head, -south, to Tellipeli, north, is 270 toes ; the
greatesobreadth is from Coluinho to Trincolee, 160
miles. From Donclea head, as fir north as Trincomal-
lee; its dire Lion is due north and south, from the
latitude of Trincomalree to that of Tei)ipeli, it runs
north by west, and south by east. T!ie shores of Cey-
lon ate washed on the north and north-east, by the
Bay of Bengal, and on the ea4t_south-east, south
and south-west, by the great Indian Octem : on the
west it is boimde ' by the Gulph of Man&ir, which •
separates it from Cape Cornoren and the Coast of
Madura ; and on the north-west, it is divided from
the Coast of Tanjore and' Mara oar, by Palk's Pas-
sage. This straight is celebrated for the extensive
pearl fishery which was carried on in it, on both
shores, by the Dutch; and which is now carried on
by Great Britain. It is only navigable for small
vessels ; and at"the narrowest place, called-Adam's-
brier, from the small Island of • Mannar, on the
Coast of Ceylon, to the still smaller one. on the op-
posite Coast of Ramisuram, about twenty miles
across, can only be passed by the boats employed in
the fishery, or vessels of nearly the same size.
The northern part of the Island is flat, and in
some places swampy ; but on that account extreme-
ly favourable to the growth of rice, large fields of
which are divided by lofty woods, covered with.
perpetual foliage, abounding with all the fruits
common to tropical countries, and plentifully stock-
ed with all the animals that are to. be found in the
forests of India. The north and north-west shores
of the Island, from Point Pedro to Negomba, are
indented by inlets of the sea, some of.which, were
it not for the shallowness of the water, would form
commodious harbours. The largest of these arms
of the sea extends almost across the island, from
Mulipattie on the east side, to the ToWn of Jaffna-
patnam, on the West, and forms that Distrid, which
takes the name of the latter place. But all the other
shores of the Islaild are bold and rocky ; and ex-
cepting a few reefs on the south-east side, present
no dangers to the mariner. Sailing along the south_
ern, 'shores of Ceyl on, from Trincomailie to Ne-
gombo, the face of the country exhibits to the eye
of taste, a variety of landscapes, at once beautiful
and grand. With a good telescope you distindly
perceive the land in some parts rising gradually,' in
others abruptly from theshore—every where clothed
in verdure, interspersed with villages, shaded by
stately trees-7divided into corn fields in nuny
places, inclosed with quickset heliges—garthcr back
in the country you behold plantations of coffee, and
whole woods of cinnamon, and 'various other aro-
matics, frequently overtopped by the lofty tama-
rind and the palm, occasionally giving way to the
majeeoic banyan, and intermixed ihroughoot. with
trees bearing their Nov.:ems 'and their fruit toge-
thee. The ec eat length, ,oses sight of these woods
on the acclivities of stupendous mountains, whose
broken precipices, tufted with old trees, overlook
the plains, and whose shaggy tops tower aboye the
clouds. It is scarcely possible for the imagination
to pidure scenery more magnificent and delightful.
The territory which the Dutch acquired in Cey-
lon, and which now belongs to Great Britain, ex-
tends along the whole of the seaecoasts of the Island,
except about ten miles of the eastern'coast, in the
Distrid of Seavara, which. the King of Candy still
retains-. -In the cinnamon country, on the .west and
soutti:,west- side of the Island, from Columbo to
NlVitz, our pos. essions stretch about twenty-four
miles iniancj where they border on the King of
Candy's Dominions. On the east side at Ran-icqa
and Trincomallee, they do not ,extend into the
coontry•above twelve miles. On the north side at
jaffnapatnam and Marrua, about the same distance.

Columbo, the principal Town in the EngliSh ter-
ritory, and the residence of the Governor, .is pret-
tily situated, in one of the most fertile, .though not
the most populous, parts of the Island; which
rice-ficlds, meadow-ground, and .cinnamon groves;
are beautifully mingled. The Town of Colombo is
neatly built, large, populous, and extremely clean.
It was tolerably 'well' fortified by the• Dutch, but
fr6m h ;:atural advac;tagesie capable (A:being made
a very strong place. There is a school here, for.
the propagation of the Christian religion. And the
rlative Christians, Roman Catholics,. and Protest,
ants, alone, have been computed by .the Dutch, to
amount to no less than 300,000. Adrniitiog, how-
ever, this calculation u be just, these Christians.
unquestionably- consist of the descendants of the Por,
tugueze, :he offspring of the Dutch by. Malabar
women, and perhaps a few conv.erts fregn among the
Parriaths or Chandalos, .a class of people rendered
infamous in every country where the. Hiodil reli-
gion prevails, from being Hindu, who have been
driven from' society, and4Riebarred all intercourse
With their several seas, for haying violated th
sanaity of those customs which the faith of Brahma
enjoins. There is no evidence whatever,. of either
Mahomedan or Cbrist.an zeal, having .ever made
any considerable. number of..proselytes from any of
the great established tribes of the Hindi' race.

(To be twitinuca'.)