The Sun.
London, England, 1850-05-13 00:00:00

MONDAY EVENING, MAY 13, 1850.

when Polycerp sat yet in Smyrna,—a legend which
we feel satisfied will prove as new to the majority
as it did to ourselves. The rest of the papers in the
current number of the Edinburgh are of various
merit and miscellaneous character. The one on "Hun-
garian Literature" will be read just now with inte-
rest; the "Agricultural Complaints" have elicited an
article from the quarterly organ of the Whigs, which
we most earnestly commend to our most excellent
and obtuse friends the Protectionists; the contribution
regarding Germany is well-timed and able ; but the
most remarkable paper among those not enumerated
is unquestionably the one relating to the extinction of
the Polynesians.

CEYLON and the CINGALESE. By H. C.
Sirr, late Deputy Queen's Advocate for the Southern
Circuit in the Island of Ceylon. 2 Vols.

Mr. Sirr, whose professional residence in the island
has well qualified him for the task, has just published
(through the instrumentality of Mr. Shoberl) two
most interesting and most delightful volumes, pur-
porting to give a faithful picture of Ceylon and the
Cingalese, "their history, government, and religion ;
the antiquities, institutions, produce, revenue, and capa-
bilities of the island, with anecdotes illustrating the
manners and customs of the people." Seldom has the
promise on a title-page been so accurately and so
pleasantly redeemed as in this case. The pecu-
liarities of Ceylon, natural, national, and historical,
are most vividly set before us. In regard
to the first mentioned—the natural beauties
of the island—thoroughly does the reader of the
opening chapters of the first volume coincide with
the quotation from Byron on the first page—
" It is a goodly sight to see
What Heaven bath done for this delicious land!
What fruits of fragrance blush on every tree,
What goodly prospects o'er the hills expand."
Ceylon, with its clear atmosphere, fertile vallies, cin-
namon groves and rice plantations, and the abundant
variety of rich foliage presented by its magnificent
trees, is apparently a very Paradise of picturesque
beauty. in one place we read of a glorious tamarind
tree, very appropriately surnamed " the giant's tree,"
of which the height is ninety-eight feet, and the solid
stem (seven feet from the root) is thirty-nine feet in
diameter. But yet more attractive than this is the
talapat tree.
This magnificent tree," writes Mr. Sirr, " towers
above all the other gigantic monarchs of the vegetable
world, and it is utterly impossible to find words ade-
quate to describe its splendid beauty. It (the talapat,
or great fan palm) varies in height from seventy to one
hundred feet. Tne leaves frequently measure, from the
extremity of the stalk to the point, more than twenty-
four feet, and the width varies from twelve to seventeen,
and these are used by the natives for fans and um-
brellas. Under the native Kings none, save those be-
longing to the highest caste, were allowed to use these
leaves, and the number was fixed that Each chief, ac-
cording to his rank, was to have borne before him.
The flowers spring from the diadem of graceful
verdure that crowns the palm, the blossoms being of a
most exquisite pale yellow, and continuing in bloom for
the space of three months, when they gradually disap-
pear as the fruit forms. Near this gigantic tree are to
be seen the banian-tree, the myrtle, the bay-tree, and
the tick-seed sunflower, which bears an immense num-
ber of golden-coloured blossoms, whilst on the opposite
side fragments of yellow rock are clothed with luxuriant
balsams, whose delicate white and brilliant red blos-
soms stand out in bold relief from the shining foliage."
While peru.sing these and other passages so richly
descriptive of the beauties of the island, we can
hardly wonder at the ready offer of the heroine of
The Belle's Stratagem," to listen "to the soft
breathings of the flute in the cinnamon groves of
Ceylon." The chapters containing these pictures of
the country are happy specimens of pen and ink
painting, but matter of deeper interest is not wanting
as we advance further in the work. Tne historical
anecdotes and legends read in some instances like
chapters from the " Arabian Nights," and are occa-
sionally of a very tragic and romantic character. As
a specimen of this, which will doubtless prove
to some readers the most attractive por-
tion of the work, we, were about to relate a mo-
dern tragedy founded on the deathful antipathy of
castes, which has been sadly prevalent in Ceylon; but
the following old legend is even more romantic, and
will perhaps, in consequenc, prove more acceptable :

STRANGER THAN FICTION.

" The following enigma in verse was composed by one
of the native kings, Kumara Dhas, a prince of great
learning, who reigned A.D. M 7, and both riddle and
answer ire looked upan as masterpieces, as the number
and position of the letters in the original, in both enigma
and reply, strictly agree, the latter being written by
Kalidhas, the celebrated poet and friend of the Mounter'.
Naturally in translation the , peculiar beauty is lost
but we give it as a curious and interesting poetical
specimen.
" The riddle of Kumara Dhas—
"' By beauty's grasp in turmoil, uneomposed
He is kept a prisoner, but with eyes unclosed.'

" The elucidation by the poet Kalidhai—
" 4 Although closed at night, the lotus keeps the bee
The dawn will see him gay, unhurt, and tree.'

" The circumstance which occasioned these lines is
thus recorded in the native annals; the King was in the
habit of visiting a courtesan, celebrated alike for her wit,
beauty, and captivating manners, and one evening, whilst
in her company, remarked a bee alight on a pink lotus,
closed upon, and imprisoned the insect. The Monarch
immediately wrote the two lines on the wall, intending
to compare his own situation with that of the captive
bee, as he was enthralled by the woman's wiles; stat-
ing that whoever would complete the stanza should
have any request granted which they might choose to
prefer.
" Shortly after the Monarch quitted the courtezan's
abode, and Kalidhas, who was also in the habit of visiting
the woman, entered the house, and, seeing the writing
on the wall, immediately concluded the verse in the same
style. Tho wretched woman, to obtain the promised re-
ward, murdered the poet, and buried him under the
floor; but when the Monarch saw the reply, he imme-
diately recognised the style and writing of his favourite
Kalidhas.

" The murder was discovered, the corpse disinterred,
and, by order of the King, a most magnificent pile was
prepared, whereon the body was to be burned with all
the rites and ceremonies which belonged solely to roy-
alty. When the funeral pyre was ignited, the grief and
mental agony of Kumara Dhas, at the loss cf his friend,
overcame all other feelings, and he rushed into the flames,
and was consumed with the body of the poet, Kllidhas.
History also recorded that the five queens of Kumara
Dhas voluntarily immolated themselves on the same spot
shortly afterwards, and we believe this to be the only
record of royal widows in Ceylon sacrificing themselves
at the tombs of their spouses."
_ .

The manners and customs of the modern Cingalese
are, many of them, of a most extraordinary character,
and these are related by Mr. Sirr in a copious
and anecdotal style which renders them fully as
interesting as (being another chapter of the "proper
study of mankind") they are valuable. These curi-
ous customs of the Cingalese are too numerous to
permit of more than a cursory mention of them here ;
so we must refer our readers to Mr. Sirr for an ac-
count of the various baptismal, marriage, and other
ceremonies of the modern inhabitants of the island,
as, for example, how, in addition to his or-
dinary appellation, every child receives a rice-
name, breathed in his ear while his mother is
feeding him with rice, and never known to
any persons but the child's father and an astrologer.
"It is remarkable," says Mr. Sirr, " but all Cinga-
lese believe that ill-luck and misfortune would attend
a child if the rice-name were known to any one save
the astrologer and father, and we have never yet met
with a native who could affirm what his rice-name was."
In addition to their numerous strange marriage cus-
toms there are it appears in this country two distinct
classes of marriages, the one is called "Beene " and
the other "Deep." In the first of these the husband
resides at the wife's home and she shares
the family inheritance with her brothers. In the
Deega marriage, as in the ordinary unions of other
nations, the wile leaves her paternal home to dwell
with her husband. From his historical researches,
Mr. Sirr infers that the forefathers of the Cingalese
people, " whom for a lengthened period we looked
upon as savages, were a civilized and a comparatively
refined nation at a period anterior to the discovery of
Great Britain and her then semi-barbarous denizens."
The Kandian Cingalese, had, it seems, a tradi-
tion that " the island of Lanka-diva never could
be conquered and retained by a foreign power, except
two impossible things were performed, namely, a road
bored through the bowels of the rocky mountains,
and the Maha-welle-ganga spanned by a single arch "
—impossibilities which have been accomplished by a
tunnel recently pierced through the mountain, and a
bridge whose single arch measures two hundred and
1 figavenaleae:t,
Tthhreowtnunancerlo,sssatshes wmatre.rssiorfr, ~ was the
construc-
tedMaha-vvelle-
by order of Sir Edward Barnes, to consolidate, so
to speak, the British power after Kandy (the ancient
capital of Ceylon) came into our possession," on
account of the legend above-mentioned, and,
adds Mr. Sirr, " a chief told us that
bowels of !frutlehde
when his countrymen beheld this task commenced,
tundermine
their hearts failed them, but when they saw it com-
ibepnayl
mountains."
com-
pleted
n, t andaathi
tsy.
ion , m.
then
we
hn
‘ov walking
couldnamel kl
uvi
sn
it
tgp:wasiel
oree,throughhowever,
theirvrerocks
cidst
al
eel:
aet
ni btdoyw
leave
of
Mr.
Sirr, for his volumes so abound with interesting inci-
dents that an attempt to mention even the greater
part would be impracticable. We took up the work
expecting to find it valuable from its historical and
geographical information ; in this we were not disap-
ir ted but we found it moreover as richly coloured
Ip o i ,
as a picture gallery and as attractive as a romance.

ROYAL SAPPERS AND MINERS - WOOLWICH,
MAY 11.—The 18th company, recently returned to head-
quarters at Woolwich from Portsmouth, under the command
of Captain Barry, Royal Engineers, have been placed under
orders of readiness to embark in the Resistance, troop-ship,
for a parsage to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to relieve the sth
Company under the command of Captain Bermester, Royal
Engineers, at that station since May, 1843. The Resistance
is to call at Cork on her way to North America, to receive
on board detachments of the line to fill up the head-quarters
of the regiments serving in Canada.

NAVAL IN TELLIGENCE.

PORTSMOUTH, SUNDAY.—Sevcral of the Lords of
the Admiralty, with Sir B. W. Walker, the surveyor
of the navy, ale expected at Portsmouth to-morrow
to inspect the Ajax, and probably the Dauntless.
Commander Moorsotn's percussion shells are also to
be on board the Excellent to morrow, and, probably the
Admiralty may go on board her and see them thrown.
These shells have been undergoing a series of trials,
and they have been proved to be tar more correct in
their bursting than any shell hitherto invented. Other
shells burst at uncertain periods—some directly they
leave the gun—but Commander Moorsom's shells
have scarcely ever burst till they struck the object.
The Rolle, tender to the Victory, has remained at
Spithead this day, instead of, as customary, coming
into harbour for the Sunday. She is kept out to be
in readiness to embark the Admiralty to-morrow,
should they think proper to go on board her.
The Dauntless will be ready to proceed again on
her trial along the measured mile in Stokes Bay to-
morrow, at half-past nine o'clock.
Major-General Lord Frederick Fitzclarence, Lieu-
tenant Governor of Portsmouth, has proceeded on
three weeks' leave of absence.
Her Majesty's birth-day will be kept at Ports-
mouth on Wednesday, when there will be the usual
dockyard and Government office holidays.
The last stone cf a new graving-dock at the north
corner of this yard, abutting on the entrance to the
steam-basin, built by Mr. Benjamin Bramble, form-
ing the chief of those fabrics of which we now have
several magnificent specimens at this station, was laid
yesterday afternoon by Captain James, R.E., F.R.S.,
&c. This dock is 305 feet long, and 88 feet broad.
The entrance, which is closed with a caisson, is 65
feet.

Captain James has resigned the appointment of
Director of IVorks in connexion with the Admiralty
establishments at this port, and was to have been re-
lieved by Captain Mould, R E., from Chatham, but,
in consepuence of some important questions having
been raised, he was requested to continue to hold his
office a short time longer, which term lapsed yes-
terday.
Lieutenant-Colonel Jebb, C. 8., and Lieutenant-
Colonel Greene, the director of Admiralty works to
the board, inspected the old laboratory on Wednes-
day, in company with Captain James, to decide on
the plan of the ground to be given for a
convict barrack, for which 1.5,0001. has been voted
this year. The experience of the Portland convict
establishment has shown how much more efficiently
the discipline of convicts can be carried out on shore
than in hulks.

The Megara steam-frigate, at Sheerness, is ordered
to be fitted immediately for commission as the Com-
modore's ship for the East India station, to relieve the
Cambrian, 40-gun sailing frigate.
The schooner yacht Fernandez sailed from this
harbour for Cherbourg last evening.
The schooner yacht Dolphin came out of the Cor-
porate Camber yesterday to be commissioned.
Commodore Martin's sqadron was at Lisbon on the
Ist inst., on which day the Superb, 80, Captain Pur-
cell, arrived from England.
The following acting mates passed the College in
navigation last week :—Messrs. E. Chambers, J. A.
Close, and F. liurion. Second Masters R. W. Ward
(late in command of the Harpy steam-vessel on the
Brazil station), and Mr. Thomas Kerr, also passed at
the sane time for the rank of the master, which they
have since been promoted to.