Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1860-04-06
THE ISLAND OF CEYLoN.

Comparatively htiie hss pee" s"~""
concerning this great island. once 50
popnloas and wealthy, bat the recrnt
publication Of an elaborate wnrk by Sir
Emerson Teurrut, long a resident there,
ha. awakened singular interest in Eng
land. We hope It may be republished
in this country, sor ii reveals marvel
lsas past, hardly surpassed on the banks
Of the Nile or the Euphra,es. The
Ealabtsrga lgitasss, ia long article,
furnishe. a large smoun, Of valuable in
formation. We make single extract:
Crylon ha. nearly the area OF Scotland.
aud ia number almost one-half OF our
population; yet it. records say that. four
or Eve centuries sincr, when our anees-
tors were bent down by struggles for ma
tioual independence, Cey lon had million
and half OF viIIages. The statement
resembles laueiiul exaggrration, until
We learn tha, il might bear million and
a half Of farms, and that each farm
town" would be reekoned a village, in
the language Of the chron cles. Even
with that information. as many of the
villages might contain a considerable
population, the number tries the dispo-
sition Of the reader to credit these old
chronicles, until he farther le4rns that
this small island may have contained,
/ four or I've centuries ago, forty TO City
millions Of people, whose commerce. ex-
+ tended from the extreme east Of China
TO the great sea ard even TO the eastern
parts Of the Atlantic and lis cities IT,
vailed Babylon OF Nineveh OF old IN their
magnitude aud wealth. aud stretched
farther along the banks Of artificial lakes
than the London Of the present time.
The lines Of sirrels are sill traeeable
through ,he jungle, but the proinse veg
citation Of their sites, aud the nature OF
their material, have left lrw traces Of the
private dwellings Of their citizens yet
the runs of thrir public monuments,
their palace. and temples, indicate a de-
gree Vi wealth. and skill, and patient iu-
dusiry, not surpassed in A>syria or
Egypt The labor bestowed on some of
. these public works appears almost incr'd-
ibIe, especially when we remember that
Cryloa had no single Nsle spreading over
its lauds, aud bestowing on them the
eeaseless fertility Of the land Of the Pha-
raohs. Large and numerous tanks.
formed AT gr~at expense, and preserved
by eq1al care, we're the substitutes for
I" the A-syrian rivers and The Egyptian
L Nile, ia irrigation; and the sustenauce Of
= this great population depended on their
% security. Their Craven images equal
e those o. Nneveh or - Thrhes" in beauty
and size. Tbrir temples were more ex-
tensiye and magnificent, and their pala-
ces were more splendid than any o.her
remains excsvatrd from the ruin, of the
past. Yyl they have otly been diseov-
- ered--thry have not been excavaied.-
fhry we're unknown, until within conl-
paralively lex years, 70 Europeans, who
=. stumbled upon them. and, as ii by aeci-
., dent, drew aside the screens ol wondrous
Il foliage that Ind the deserted and fallen
.d cities, until the time arrived shen they
would be appreciated, aud would assist
- 10 tracing tie secrets Of dark and mel
h. anehuly laie.--a history that must have
-. been not less dismal in it, delail., nor less
terrible ia les aggregate, than any judg-
b, meut recorded ia ancient ages on tie sin-
on fal followers Of a perverted faith; fDr
=. these grral eeuires Of p3puiaiion ihe
3. irasrsi. tor centuries siucs. on the rarth
4, mu-t have beru depnPalalrd and ruined
il, 10y ste conversion uf ihe waterworks, al
once their pride and the means of .heil
=. sippors, into Ihsir destruction. when they
j.. spTraI over their lsnds. and raised MAS
na from every 6eld, until dvalh va
-. borne Oh every breeze, and the pesiilene'
49,. poisoaed ihe atmosphere, and the sol
. thrt~ Hs screen Of flowers over thei
Ia tombs.