Then think of visiting Anajapoora, the city of rubies,
the sacred capital of the kingdom of ruins, on whose splendours even
the Chinese travellers of the early ages used to expatiate with
fervour. From this point it would be easy to reach the peninsula of
Jaffna, which has been peopled with Tammils for more than two thousand
years. It is the country _par excellence_ of gardens exquisitely kept,
and skilfully irrigated on the old Moorish system. Here are grown all
the ingredients for the making of curry, which are sent to all parts
of this island and to Southern India. The most important crop of all,
however, is tobacco, whose excellence is famed throughout India, and
of which the Rajah of Travancore holds the monopoly.
Then one might go southward from Jaffna, past Aripo, and the Gulf of
Calpentyn, until the curious reef of Adam's Bridge was reached, which
almost connects Ceylon with India. People say it has been separated by
some convulsion of nature in former days, and that the passage is
gradually deepening; but recent examinations have shown that instead
of being a remnant of the original rock by which Ceylon is supposed to
have been once connected with the Indian continent, it is in reality a
comparatively recent ridge of conglomerate and ironstone, covered with
alluvial deposits carried by the current and heaped up at this
particular point; whilst the gradual rising of the coast has
contributed to give the reef its present altitude.
Pages:
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584