Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and Topographical with Notices of Its Natural History Part 9

[Ill.u.s.tration: DIAGRAM EXHIBITING THE COMPARATIVE FALL OF RAIN ON THE SEABORDE OF THE DEEKAN, AND AT COLOMBO, IN THE WESTERN PROVINCE OF CEYLON.

One maximum at the spring change of the monsoon antic.i.p.ating a little that on the West coast of India; another at the autumnal change corresponding more exactly with that of the East coast. The entire fall through the year more equably distributed at Columbo.]

On the east coast, on the other hand, the fall, during the north-east monsoon, is very similar in degree to that on the coast of Coromandel, as the mountains are lower and more remote from the sea, the clouds are carried farther inland and it rains simultaneously on both sides of the island, though much less on the west than during the other monsoon.

_The climate of Galle_, as already stated, resembles in its general characteristics that of Colombo, but, being further to the south, and more equally exposed to the influence of both the monsoons, the temperature is not quite so high; and, during the cold season, it falls some degrees lower, especially in the evening and early morning.[1]

[Footnote 1: At Point-de-Galle, in 1854, the number of rainy days was as follows:

Days.

January 12 February 7 March 16 April 12 May 23 June 18 July 11 August 21 September 16 October 20 November 15 December 13]

_Kandy_, from its position, shares in the climate of the western coast; but, from the frequency of the mountain showers, and its situation, at an elevation of upwards of sixteen hundred feet above the level of the sea, it enjoys a much cooler temperature. It differs from the low country in one particular, which is very striking--the early period of the day at which the maximum heat is attained. This at Colombo is generally between two and three o'clock in the afternoon, whereas at Kandy the thermometer shows the highest temperature of the day between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning.

In the low country, ingenuity has devised so many expedients for defence from the excessive heat of the forenoon, that the languor it induces is chiefly experienced after sunset, and the coolness of the night is insufficient to compensate for the exhaustion of the day; but, in Kandy, the nights are so cool that it is seldom that warm covering can be altogether dispensed with. In the colder months, the daily range of the thermometer is considerable--approaching 30; in the others, it differs little from 15. The average mean, however, of each month throughout the year is nearly identical, deviating only a degree from 76, the mean annual temperature.[1]

[Footnote 1: The following Table appeared in the _Colombo Observer_, and is valuable from the care taken by Mr. Caley in its preparation;

_a.n.a.lysis of the Climate at Peradenia, from 1851 to 1858 inclusive._

Months. Temperature. Rainfall. Remarks. Aver- Average Max. Min. Mean. age In. of of Years / Years / January 85.0 52.5 74.06 6 4.04 6 Fine, sunny, heavy dew at night, hot days, and cold nights and mornings. February 87.75 55.0 75.76 7 1.625 6 Fine, sunny, dewy nights, foggy mornings, days hot, nights and mornings cold. March 89.5 59.5 77.42 7 3.669 6 Generally a very hot and oppressive month. April 89.5 67.5 77.91 7 7.759 6 Showery, sultry, and oppressive weather. May 88.0 66.0 77.7 8 8.022 6 Cloudy, windy, rainy; monsoon generally changes. June 86.0 71.0 76.69 8 7.155 6 A very wet and stormy month. July 86.0 67.0 75.64 8 5.72 6 Ditto ditto August 85.5 67.0 75.81 8 8.55 6 Showery, but sometimes more moderate, variable September 85.5 67.0 76.13 8 6.318 6 Pretty dry weather, compared with the next two months. October 85.73 68.2 75.1 8 15.46 6 Wind variable, much rain. November 84.0 62.0 74.79 8 14.732 6 Wind variable, storms from all points of compa.s.s, wet; monsoon generally changes. December 82.75 57.0 74.05 7 7.72 5 Sometimes wet, but generally more moderate; towards end of year like January weather.

Mean yearly Temperature, Mean yearly Nov. 29, 1858 75.92 Rainfall, 91.75 J.A. CALEY.

in. nearly.]

In all the mountain valleys, the soil being warmer than the air, vapour abounds in the early morning for the most part of the year. It greatly adds to the chilliness of travelling before dawn; but, generally speaking, it is not wetting, as it is charged with the same electricity as the surface of the earth and the human body. When seen from the heights, it is a singular object, as it lies compact and white as snow in the hollows beneath, but it is soon put in motion by the morning currents, and wafted in the direction of the coast, where it is dissipated by the sunbeams.

_Snow_ is unknown in Ceylon; _Hail_ occasionally falls in the Kandyan hills at the change of the monsoon,[1] but more frequently during that from the north-east. As observed at Kornegalle, the clouds, after collecting as usual for a few evenings, and gradually becoming more dense, advanced in a wedge-like form, with a well-defined outline. The first fall of rain was preceded by a downward blast of cold air, accompanied by hailstones which outstripped the rain in their descent.

Rain and hail then poured down together, and, eventually, the latter only spread its deluge far and wide, In 1852, the hail which thus fell at Kornegalle was of such a size that half-a-dozen lumps filled a tumbler, In shape, they were oval and compressed, but the ma.s.s appeared to have formed an hexagonal pyramid, the base of which was two inches in diameter, and about half-an-inch thick, gradually thinning towards the edge. They were tolerably solid internally, each containing about the size of a pea of clear ice at the centre, but the sides and angles were spongy and flocculent, as if the particles had been driven together by the force of the wind, and had coalesced at the instant of contact. A phenomenon so striking as the fall of ice, at the moment of the most intense atmospherical heat, naturally attracts the wonder of the natives, who hasten to collect the pieces, and preserve them, when dissolved, in bottles, from a belief in their medicinal properties. Mr.

Morris, who has repeatedly observed hailstones in the Seven Korles, is under the impression that their occurrence always happens at the first outburst of the monsoon, and that they fall at the moment, which is marked by the first flash of lightning.

[Footnote 1: It is stated in the _Physical Atlas_ of KEITH JOHNSTON, that hail in India has not been noticed south of Madras. But in Ceylon it has fallen very recently at Korngalle, at Badulla, at Kaduganawa; and I have heard of a hail storm at Jaffna. On 1 the 24th of Sept. 1857, during a thunder-storm, hail fell near Matelle in such quant.i.ty that in places it formed drifts upwards of a foot in depth.]

According to Professor Stevelly, of Belfast, the rationale of their appearance on such occasions seems to be that, on the sudden formation and descent of the first drops, the air expanding and rus.h.i.+ng into the void s.p.a.ces, robs the succeeding drops of their caloric so effectually as to send them to the earth frozen into ice-b.a.l.l.s.

These descriptions, it will be observed, apply exclusively to the southern regions on the east and west of Ceylon; and, in many particulars, they are inapplicable to the northern portions of the island. At Trincomalie, the climate bears a general resemblance to that of the Indian peninsula south of Madras: showers are frequent, but light, and the rain throughout the year does not exceed forty inches.

With moist winds and plentiful dew, this sustains a vigorous vegetation near the coast; but in the interior it would be insufficient for the culture of grain, were not the water husbanded in tanks; and, for this reason, the bulk of the population are settled along the banks of the great rivers.

The temperature of this part of Ceylon follows the course of the sun, and ranges from a minimum of 70 in December and January, to a maximum of 94 in May and June; but the heat is rendered tolerable at all seasons by the steadiness of the land and sea breezes.[1]

[Footnote 1: The following facts regarding the climate of Trincomalie have been, arranged from elaborate returns furnished by Mr. Higgs, the master-attendant of the port, and published under the authority of the meteorological department of the Board of Trade:--

_Trincomalie_.

Extreme Mean Mean Range Highest Days 1854 Maximum Minimum for the Temperature of Temperature Temperature Month Noted Rain Jan. 81.3 74.7 14 83 10 Feb. 83.8 75.8 14 86 7 Mar. 85.9 76.1 16 88 3 April 89.6 78.9 16 92 3 May 89.1 79.3 19 93 3 June 90.0 79.5 19 94 3 July 87.7 77.7 16 90 5 Aug. 87.9 77.4 16 91 4 Sept. 89.3 77.8 18 93 2 Oct. 85.2 75.8 15 89 14 Nov. 81.O 74.9 11 83 15 Dec. 80.1 74.3 11 82 15 Mean temperature for the year 81.4.]

In the extreme north of the island, the peninsula of Jaffna, and the vast plains of Neura-kalawa and the Wanny, form a third climatic division, which, from the geological structure and peculiar configuration of the district, differs essentially from the rest of Ceylon. This region, which is dest.i.tute of mountains, is undulating in a very slight degree; the dry and parching north-east wind desiccates the soil in its pa.s.sage, and the sandy plains are covered with a low and scanty vegetation, chiefly fed by the night dews and whatever moisture is brought by the on-sh.o.r.e wind. The total rain of the year does not exceed thirty inches; and the inhabitants live in frequent apprehension of droughts and famines. These conditions attain their utmost manifestation at the extreme north and in the Jaffna peninsula: there the temperature is the highest[1] in the island, and, owing to the humidity of the situation and the total absence of hills, it is but little affected by the changes of the monsoons; and the thermometer keeps a regulated pace with the progress of the sun to and from the solstices. The soil, except in particular spots, is porous and sandy, formed from the detritus of the coral rocks which it overlays. It is subject to droughts sometimes of a whole year's continuance; and rain, when it falls, is so speedily absorbed, that it renders but slight service to cultivation, which is entirely carried on by means of tanks and artificial irrigation, in the practice of which the Tamil population of this district exhibits singular perseverance and ingenuity.[2] In the dry season, when scarcely any verdure is discernible above ground, the sheep and goats feed on their knees--sc.r.a.ping away the sand, in order to reach the wiry and succulent roots of the gra.s.ses. From the constancy of this practice h.o.r.n.y callosities are produced, by which these hardy creatures may be distinguished.

[Footnote 1: The mean lowest temperature at Jaffna is 70, the mean highest 90; but in 1845-6 the thermometer rose to 90 and 100.]

[Footnote 2: For an account of the Jaffna wells, and the theory of their supply with fresh water, see ch. i. p. 21.]

Water-spouts are frequent on the coast of Ceylon, owing to the different temperature of the currents of air pa.s.sing across the heated earth and the cooler sea, but instances are very rare of their bursting over land, or of accidents in consequence.[1]

[Footnote 1: CAMOENS, who had opportunities of observing the phenomena of these seas during his service on board the fleet of Cabral, off the coast of Malabar and Ceylon, has introduced into the _Lusiad_ the episode of a water-spout in the Indian Ocean; but, under the belief that the water which descends had been previously drawn up by suction from the ocean, he exclaims:--

"But say, ye sages, who can weigh the cause, And trace the secret springs of Nature's laws; Say why the wave, of bitter brine erewhile, Should be the bosom of the deep recoil, Robbed of its salt, and from the cloud distil, Sweet as the waters of the limpid rill?"

(Book v.)

But the truth appears to be that the torrent which descends from a water-spout, is but the condensed acc.u.mulation of its own vapour, and, though in the hollow of the lower cone which rests upon the surface of the sea, salt water may possibly ascend in the partial vacuum caused by revolution; or spray may be caught up and collected by the wind, still these cannot be raised by it beyond a very limited height, and what Camoens saw descend was, as he truly says, the sweet water distilled from the cloud.]

A curious phenomenon, to which the name of "anthelia" has been given, and which may probably have suggested to the early painters the idea of the glory surrounding the heads of beatified saints, is to be seen in singular beauty, at early morning, in Ceylon. When the light is intense, and the shadows proportionally dark--when the sun is near the horizon, and the shadow of a person walking is thrown on the dewy gra.s.s--each particle of dew furnishes a double reflection from its concave and convex surfaces; and to the spectator his own figure, but more particularly the head, appears surrounded by a halo as vivid as if radiated from diamonds.[1] The Buddhists may possibly have taken from this beautiful object their idea of the _agni_ or emblem of the sun, with which the head of Buddha is surmounted. But unable to express a _halo_ in sculpture, they concentrated it into a _flame_.

[Footnote 1: SCORESBY describes the occurrence of a similar phenomenon in the Arctic Seas in July, 1813, the luminous circle being produced on the particles of fog which rested on the calm water. "The lower part of the circle descended beneath my feet to the side of the s.h.i.+p, and although it could not be a hundred feet from the eye, it was perfect, and the colours distinct. The centre of the coloured circle was distinguished by my own shadow, the head of which, enveloped by a halo, was most conspicuously pourtrayed. The halo or glory evidently impressed on the fog, but the figure appeared to be a shadow on the water; the different parts became obscure in proportion to their remoteness from the head, so that the lower extremities were not perceptible."--_Account of the Arctic Regions_, vol. i. ch. v. sec. vi. p. 394. A similar phenomenon occurs in the Khasia Hills, in the north-east of Bengal.--_Asiat. Soc. Journ. Beng._ vol. xiii. p. 616.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ANTHELIA AS IT APPEARS TO THE PERSON HIMSELF]

Another luminous phenomenon which sometimes appears in the hill country, consists of beams of light, which intersect the sky, whilst the sun is yet in the ascendant; sometimes horizontally, accompanied by intermitting movements, and sometimes vertically, a broad belt of the blue sky interposing between them.[1]

[Footnote 1: VIGNE mentions an appearance of this kind in the valley of Kashmir: "Whilst the rest of the horizon was glowing golden over the mountain tops, a broad well-defined ray-shaped streak of indigo was shooting upwards in the zenith: it remained nearly stationary about an hour, and was then blended into the sky around it, and disappeared with the day. It was, no doubt, owing to the presence of some particular mountains which intercepted the red rays, and threw a blue shadow, by causing so much of the sky above Kashmir to remain unaffected by them."--_Travels in Kashmir_, vol. ii. ch. x. p. 115.]

In Ceylon this is doubtless owing to the air holding in suspension a large quant.i.ty of vapour, which receives shadows and reflects rays of light. The natives, who designate them "Buddha's rays," attach a superst.i.tious dread to their appearance, and believe them to be portentous of misfortune--in every month, with the exception of _May_, which, for some unexplained reason, is exempted.

HEALTH.--In connection with the subject of "Climate," one of the most important inquiries is the probable effect on the health and const.i.tution of a European produced by a prolonged exposure to an unvarying temperature, upwards of 30 degrees higher than the average of Great Britain. But to this the most tranquillising reply is the a.s.surance that _mere heat, even to a degree beyond that of Ceylon, is not unhealthy in itself_. Aden, enclosed in a crater of an extinct volcano, is not considered insalubrious; and the hot season in India, when the thermometer stands at 100 at midnight, is comparatively a healthy period of the year. In fact, in numerous cases heat may be the means of removing the immediate sources of disease. Its first perceptible effect is a slight increase, of the normal bodily temperature beyond 98, and, simultaneously, an increased activity of all the vital functions. To this everything contributes an exciting sympathy--the glad surprise of the natural scenery, the luxury of verdure, the tempting novelty of fruits and food, and all the unaccustomed attractions of a tropical home. Under these combined influences the nervous sensibility is considerably excited, and the circulation acquires greater velocity, with somewhat diminished force.

This is soon followed, however, by the disagreeable evidences of the effort made by the system to accommodate itself to the new atmospheric condition. The skin often becomes fretted by "p.r.i.c.kly heat," or tormented by a profusion of boils, but relief being speedily obtained through these resources, the new comer is seldom afterwards annoyed by a recurrence of the process, unless under circ.u.mstances of impaired tone, the result of weakened digestion or climatic derangement.

_Malaria_.--Compared with Bengal and the Dekkan, the climate of Ceylon presents a striking superiority in mildness and exemption from all the extremes of atmospheric disturbance; and, except in particular localities, all of which are well known and avoided[1], from being liable after the rains to malaria, or infested at particular seasons with agues and fever, a lengthened residence in the island may be contemplated, without the slightest apprehension of prejudicial results.

These pestilential localities are chiefly at the foot of mountains, and, strange to say, in the vicinity of some active rivers, whilst the vast level plains, whose stagnant waters are made available for the cultivation of rice, are seldom or never productive of disease. It is even believed that the deadly air is deprived of its poison in pa.s.sing over an expanse of still water; and one of the most remarkable circ.u.mstances is, that the points fronting the aerial currents are those exposed to danger, whilst projecting cliffs, belts of forest, and even moderately high walls, serve to protect all behind them from attack.[2]

In traversing districts suspected of malaria, experience has dictated certain precautions, which, with ordinary prudence and firmness, serve to neutralise the risk--retiring punctually at sunset, generous diet, moderate stimulants, and the daily use of quinine both before and after exposure. These, and the precaution, at whatever sacrifice of comfort, to sleep under mosquito curtains, have been proved in long journeys to be valuable prophylactics against fever and the pestilence of the jungle.

[Footnote 1: Notwithstanding this general condition, fevers of a very serious kind have been occasionally known to attack persons on the coast, who had never exposed themselves to the miasma of the jungle.

Such instances have occurred at Galle, and more rarely at Colombo. The characteristics of places in this regard have, in some instances, changed unaccountably; thus at Persadenia, close to Kandy, it was at one time regarded as dangerous to sleep.]

[Footnote 2: Generally speaking, a flat open country is healthy, either when flooded deeply by rains, or when dried to hardness by the sun; but in the process of dessication, its exhalations are perilous. The wooded slopes at the base of mountains are notorious for fevers; such as the _terrai_ of the Nepal hills, the Wynaad jungle, at the foot of the Ghauts, and the eastern side of the mountains of Ceylon.]

_Food_.--Always bearing in mind that of the quant.i.ty of food habitually taken in a temperate climate, a certain proportion is consumed to sustain the animal heat, it is obvious that in the glow of the tropics, where the heat is already in excess, this portion of the ingesta not only becomes superfluous so far as this office is concerned, but occasions disturbance of the other functions both of digestion and elimination. Over-indulgence in food, equally with intemperance in wine, is one fruitful source of disease amongst Europeans in Ceylon; and maladies and mortality are often the result of the former, in patients who would repel as an insult the imputation of the latter.

So well have national habits conformed to instinctive promptings in this regard, that the natives of hot countries have unconsciously sought to heighten the enjoyment of food by taking their princ.i.p.al repast _after sunset_[1]; and the European in the East will speedily discover for himself the prudence, not only of reducing the quant.i.ty, but in regard to the quality of his meals, of adopting those articles which nature has bountifully supplied as best suited to the climate. With a moderate use of flesh meat, vegetables, and especially farinaceous food, are chiefly to be commended.

[Footnote 1: The prohibition of swine, which has formed an item in the dietetic ritual of the Egyptians, the Hebrews, and Mahometans, has been defended in all ages, from Manetho and Herodotus downwards, on the ground that the flesh of an animal so foully fed has a tendency to promote cutaneous disorders, a belief which, though held as a fallacy in northern climates, may have a truthful basis in the East.--aeLIAN, _Hist.

Anim._ 1. X. 16. In a recent general order Lord Clyde has prohibited its use in the Indian army. Camel's flesh, which is also declared unclean in Leviticus, is said to produce in the Arabs serious derangement of the stomach.]

The latter is rendered attractive by the unrivalled excellence of the Singhalese in the preparation of innumerable curries[1], each tempered by the delicate creamy juice expressed from the flesh of the coco-nut after it has been reduced to a pulp. Nothing of the same cla.s.s in India can bear a comparison with the piquant delicacy of a curry in Ceylon, composed of fresh condiments and compounded by the skilful hand of a native.

[Footnote 1: The popular error of thinking curry to be an invention of the Portuguese in India is disproved by the mention in the _Rajavali_ of its use in Ceylon in the second century before the Christian era, and in the _Mahawanso_ in the fifth century of it. This subject is mentioned elsewhere: see chapter on the Arts and Sciences of the Singhalese.]

_The use of fruit_--Fruits are abundant and wholesome; but with the exception of oranges, pineapples, the luscious mango and the indescribable "rambutan," for want of horticultural attention they are inferior in flavour, and soon cease to be alluring.