Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/376

Rh 304 CEYLON ravages of which are most destructive, are at once ubiquitous and innumerable in every place where the climate is not too chilly, or the soil too sandy for them to construct their domed dwellings. They make their way through walls and floors, and in a few hours destroy every vegetable substance within their reach. Of all the insect pests that beset an unseasoned European the most annoying are the mosquitoes. Ticks are also an intolerable nuisance; they are exceedingly minute, and burrow under the skin. In the lower ranges of the hill country land leeches are found in tormenting profusion Fishes. Of the lish in ordinary use for the table the finest is the seir, a species of scomber (Cybium guttatum). Mackerel, dories, carp, whitings, mullet (red and striped), soles, and sardines are abundant. Sharks appear on all parts of the coast, and the huge saw fish (Pristis antiquorum) infests the eastern coast of the island, where it attains a length of from 12 to 15 feet. There are also several fishes remarkable for the brilliancy of their colouring; e.g., the Red sea perch (Holocentrum rubrani), of the deepest scarlet, and the great fire fish (Scorpcena miles), of a brilliant red. Some are purple, others yellow, and numbers with scales of a lustrous green are called &quot;parrots &quot;by the natives; of these one (Xparus Hardwickii) is called the &quot; flower parrot,&quot; from its exquisite colouring irregular bauds of blue, crimson, and purple, green, yellow and grey, crossed by perpendicular stripes of black. Pearl Fishery. Pearl oysters are found in the Tambala- gam bay, near Trincomalee, but the great banks on which these oysters are usually found lie near Arippu, off the northern part of the west coast of Ceylon, at a distance of from 16 to 20 miles from the shore. They extend for many miles north and south, varying considerably in their size and productiveness. A naturalist was recently employed by the Government for five years to study the habits of the pearl oysters, but no information of any value has been obtained. It is, however, generally believed that the oyster arrives at maturity in its seventh year, that the pearl is then of full size and perfect lustre, and that if the oyster be not then secured it will shortly die, and the pearl be lost It is certain that from some unexplained cause the oysters disappear from their known beds for years together. The Dutch had no fishery from 1732 to 1746, and it failed them again for 27 years from 1768 to 1796. The fishery was again interrupted between 1820 and 1828, also from 1833 to 1854, and from 1864 to 1873. In 1797 and 1798 the Government sold the privilege of fishing the oyster-beds for 123,982 and 142,780 respectively. Since that time the fishery has been conducted by the Government itself, which sells the oysters iu heaps of 1000 as they are landed from the boats. Under this system, however, receipts have not exceeded 87,000 in any year, and have fallen as low as 7200, which was the net revenue from the fishery of 1874. The fishery immediately preceding (that of 1863) yielded a net revenue of 46,000. The small oyster found at Tambalagam is the Placuna placenta; the pearl- oyster of the Arippu banks is the Mdeagrina margaritifera. History. The island of Ceylon was known to the Greeks and Romans under the name of Taprobane, and in later times Serendib, Sirinduil, and Zeylan have been employed to designate it by writers of the Western and Eastern Worlds. Serendib i^ a corruption of the Sanskrit SinhaladvTpa. Like most Oriental countries, Ceylon possesses a great mass of antiquarian records, in which the real is so intimately and largely blended with the ideal that the student finds it difficult to determine the respective limits of history and fable. The labours of Tumour have, however, helped to dissipate much of what was before confused and con tradictory, and in his admirable translation of the &quot; Maha- wanso&quot; we may trace the true current of Sinhalese history. Of the first colonization of Ceylon but little is known. In the great Hindu epic, the Ramayana, we have the fable of the conquest of a part of Ceylon by the hero Rama and his followers, who, as the poem tells, besieged and took the capital of its king Rawana. No permanent occupation of the country took place at this time, nor until the advent, in 543 B.C., of Vijaya an Indian prince, who, arriving from the mainland with a small band of followers, succeeded in establishing himself as sole ruler of the country. To this king is attributed the introduction of caste into Ceylon, an institution which, although far less rigorously observed than on the continent, is still maintained. Under him and his successors Ceylon attained a degree of civilization scarcely to be looked for in that remote age of Oriental despotism. The purity of the religious and moral code, the strict administration of justice, and the well-defined and carefully protected rights of the king and his many classes of subjects excite our admiration not less than our astonishment. It is impossible, however, to follow the subsequent current of Sinhalese history through its many intricate windings. It must suffice to say that the descendants of Vijaya the conqueror continued to hold the reins of government with varied ability and unequal success. Some of them were distinguished for their learning, their military prowess, their benevolence, and the length of their reigns. Others lived amidst civil dissensions and foreign invasions, which not unfrequently cost them their lives. The incursions of the Malabars upon their territories were not less frequent and fatal than those of the Danes in Britain. During a period of four or five centuries, these marauders continued to pour their bands of armed men into the island; and so far had the country fallen off from its ancient prosperity and strength that when, in the year 1505, the Portuguese adventurer Almeida landed at Colombo, he found the island divided into seven separate kingdoms. The first settlement of the Portuguese was effected in 1517, when Albergaria succeeded in obtaining permission from the king of Kotta, whose territories closely adjoined Colombo, to erect a small factory on the latter spot for purposes of trade. Once established, the new-comers lost no opportunity of strengthening their position and extend ing their intercourse with the natives. Stone walls quickly took the place of palisades; the factory became a fort; whilst bristling cannon commanded alike the approaches by laud and the entrance by sea. Alarmed at these unequivocal signs of military possession, the Sin halese kings attempted to expel their new friends from the island, in which they were joined by the Moorish and other traders opposed to the progress of the Portuguese. But their efforts were too late, and proved ineffectual; and after a series of unequal and sanguinary conflicts, the Europeans found themselves in secure possession of the west coast of Ceylon. The fanatical zeal and remorseless cruelty of the Portuguese were a constant source of dissension with the natives; and when, in the year 1602, the Dutch, under Admiral Spilberg, landed on the east coast and sought the alliance of the king of Kandy in the interior of the island, every encouragement was held out to them with the view of inducing them to aid in expelling the Portuguese. Nothing seems to have come of this until 1638-9, when a Dutch expedition attacked and razed the Portuguese forts on the east coast. In the following year they landed at Negombo, without, however, establishing themselves in any strong post. In 1644 Negombo was captured and fortified by the Dutch, while in 1656 they took Colombo, and in 1658 they drove the Portuguese from Jaffna, their last stronghold in Ceylon. Pursuing a wiser policy than their predecessors, th.6