tainly, the institution that most resembled the levying of a tax in personal labour was that by which, in feudal times, the attendance of vassals was required by their lord, particularly during war. This fact corroborates the conjecture, that this manner of levying taxes, as well as the first establishment of casts in India, was probably owing to the nature of the governments that there prevailed.

As to the multiplicity of distinctions in their casts, the Ceylonese can boast of being as abundant as any other Indian nation, if not more so; for almost every profession forms a particular cast, under the guidance of separate head-men. Gold and silversmiths-fishermen-barbers

washermen-manufacturers of jagery, or country sugar-the drawers of toddythe makers of lime or mortar, and, in fact, every other occupation-all form distinct casts. As it is not my object, however, to enter into an endless, and not very diverting, enumeration of these casts, their privileges, and their duties, -I will refer the most curious of my readers to Valentine; where they will be informed of the ranks and privileges granted to them, and of the duties which they are bound to perform.

We cannot resist the inclination we feel to allow the author to give his opinion respecting the character of the Ceylonese in his own

terms:

Of the character of the Ceylonese I conceive it to be a difficult task to give a faithful delineation. They are, in general, very reserved in their address, and mild in their manners: but whether that reserve may not be the restraint imposed by suspicion; and that mildness, in some degree, the consequence of a want of feeling; are questions which, notwithstanding my residence of sixteen years in their country, I will not attempt to decide. Certain it is, that crimes of the deepest dye have occasionally been perpetrated among the lower casts. The conduct, however, of the better casts is principally decorous and correct. A Ceylonese cannot very easily be roused to resentment and bloodshed; yet, if he be impelled, by passion or avidity, to determine on violence, he cannot be diverted from his purpose by the thought or presence of those objects which, in others, by acting upon the imagination, would agitate the miud, shake it from its intent, and arrest the hand of the murderer when he had prepared to strike the blow,

The defect of feeling which they have, in some degree, în common with other Indians, secures to them great advantages in all their transactions with Euroropeans; and we cannot deny them a

masterly address in working upon the feelings of others, while they can keep themselves entirely free from every emotion. They also know, to perfection, the art of insinuating themselves into the good opiuion and favour of their superiors. Among the Modilears, this art is accounted a necessary part of their education; they are courteous and guarded in their speech; and so ready to coincide in whatever may be wished by a superior, that they actually acquire, by that means, a very decided and strong influence on his mind. Even such undertakings as they know to be beyond their reach, they will seldom decline in a direct manner, but rather trust to time and reflection to convince their master of the impossibility of accomplishing what he desires. However reluctant the different British collectors may be to admit the assertion, I can, nevertheless, state with confidence, that I have met with very few indeed who were not strongly influenced in their public conduct by the native head-men that were immediately under their command, and nearest to their persons. Collectors, and even governors, of the most distinguished talents, have been under that influence. Governor Vander Graaff, who was by all acknowledged to bear a superior character among those who have ruled Ceylon, was most grossly deceived by his first modilear, Abesinga. This man was carrying on a false correspondence between the Governor and Pelime Talao, first Adigar of Candy, in whose name Abesinga was fabricating letters addressed to the Governor. During this correspondence, on matters of great weight, which were, naturally, never brought to a conclusion, sides. Those from the Governor were, as many presents were interchanged on both customary, always the most costly. When the expectations of Mr. Vander Graaff were raised to the highest, waiting the conclusion of a very favourable treaty, Abesinga happened to die; and, to the great surprise and mortification of the Governor, the whole of his correspondence with the Candian minister was found in Abesinga's desk, and the presents in his

chest.

The following narrative will give an instance of the arts practised by the natives of Ceylon, high and low, to work upon the feelings of Europeans in order to effect which purpose upon their present superiors, there is good reason to believe that they are by no means under the necessity of using the same exertions that were requisite to move their more sedate and less irascible Dutch masters.

An English gentleman, holding a high public situation in the colony, had been conducted in bis palanquin to an evening party; and after remaining there for some time, the bearers became late, and their master had no manner_of_wish to anxious to return home. It was, however, not retire from the pleasant society he was in. The first step they took to effect their purpose, was, to bring the palanquin in front of the door, full in their master's view, and then retire. He saw

Our author informs us, that under the denomination of burghers are comprehended Europeans, and descendants of Europeans, not being Englishmen in the service of government, descendants of Eu ropeans and native women, children of Ceylonese or Malabars, who have become Christians, and have changed their dress, assuming that of Europeans; and lastly, descendants of slaves, made free by their masters. These burghers are chiefly established in the prin cipal towns, Colombo, Jaffnapatam, Point de Galle, Trincomalé, Matura, Caltura, Negombo, and Manar. They are, for the most part, concerned in trade. Some are employed as clerks in the public offices. Few of them are possess ed of land. Their number of males and females does not exceed five or six thousand.

Slavery is still acknowledged and sanctioned by law, in consequence of the capitulation of Colombo, in the year 1796; by which,

it, and took it in good part, as a mark of attention in his bearers; in the mean time, the sight

of the palanquin being connected with the recul

lection that he was to return home, made him re

flect that the time was approaching for retiring ers went to seat themselves, apparently in a negligent manner, by the side of the palanquin. This began to produce in the mind of the master, who observed it, a kind of uneasiness, and caused

from the party. Shortly after, some of the bear

doubt to arise whether he should or not remain much longer. Now the bearers watched the mo

tions of every person in the party, and his in par

a

ticular. Whenever he moved from his chair, or passed from one part of the room to another, the bearers would start up, as if they thought he was

coming out, and then, appearing to have discovered put their master in a state of perfect uneasiness; he could no longer speak, or attend to the con

their mistake, would again sit down. This manœuvre

versation that surrounded him; the doubt whether he should go or stay had made him quite uncomfortable, and he took no pleasure in the society which had before appeared to him so agreeable, But the bearers, observing that even this had not the desired effect of bringing him away, lighted up the lamps of the palanquin; and one of them, taking up a hand-lantern, began to pace in front of it, so that his master could not help observing it; and this actually threw him into a state of greater uneasiness; yet he felt too much reluctance to quit his friends to be entirely moved away. But, at last, all the bearers stood up, and arranged themselves, each at their post, by the sides of the poles of the palanquin; while the one with the lantern, pacing up and down, gave a fuil view of the whole apparatus. Who could resist it? It acted like an electric shock. The master, in an instant, found himself in his palanquin, without being aware how he got into it. The bearers took it up, gave a loud shout, ant Fan away with it in triumph,The fact was related to the author by the gentleman on whom this trick was practised.

although the importation of slaves into the island is forbidden, and the purchase of slaves by a British European in the service of Government, renders them free, yet all those who were slaves of the Dutch or natives, at the time of that capitulation, were considered as private property, and doomed to continue in servitude themselves, and their children and children's children, to all future generations, with a right in their masters to dispose of them to Dutchmen, burghers, or natives. The number of female slaves is equal, or nearly so, to that of the males. They may together amount to eight or ten thousand. Unless some steps are taken to prevent it, slavery must be perpetuated in Ceylon, by the very act of the existing laws of that island, instituted by our government at the time of the capitulation of Colombo.-The author conceives either of the following methods might be adopted to put an end to the slavery in Ceylon. One would be to grant to the owners of slaves a moderate compensation: the other to fix a day, at the distant period of sixty or eighty years, when slavery should be abolished. The value of the slaves, in the latter case, would begin to decline, but very gradually, from the day on which such a law should be enacted. And this act of natural justice, good policy, and humanity, could hardly be felt as a grievance by the present possessors of slaves.

From the views which have been taken of the different ranks and classes of the population of Ceylon, the author proceeds to make some general reflections on the collective number of the inhabitants. On this subject he confides in the statement of Mr. Bournand, a gentleman of the Dutch government, employed in the civil department, and who had resided upwards of twenty-five years in the island. He thus expresses him self:

The common opinion of those that I have conversed with is, that the population of Ceylon amounts to two millions

of inhabitants: one million in the territory that is now in the possession of the British Government, and another in that which belongs to the King of Candy. This estimate, however, is likely to be exaggerated. An enumeration, as correct as possible, was made in the year 1789, by the order of Governor Vander Graaff, of

all the inhabitants in the territory of the Dutch East-India Company; and that reckoning gave 817,000 inhabitants, of both sexes, and all ages. In the villages (and they were many), where no regular registers of the population had been kept, the numbers were taken by approximation, and consequently very incorrectly.

With regard to the Candian provinces, the population is numerous in those that are cultivated: but it must be remarked, that, with the exception of the country immediately surrounding the town of Candy, and the provinces of Ouva and Mattele, all the interior of Ceylon is, in the proportion of seven-eighths, covered with woods and forests; and therefore it may be concluded, that this part of the territory of the King of Candy is, in proportion to its extent, even more thinly peopled than the country under the Bri

tish Government.

The Wannyships of Soerlie and Nogerie, and the whole of the great forest occupied by the Weddas, from Maagame in the south, to the Coklay river at the northern side of the island, does not contain ten thousand inhabitants. These re

flections will lead to a conclusion, that Ceylon does not contain more than one million and a half of inhabitants.

Our author informs us, that he has not, from his own observations, found reason to contradict this opinion of Mr. Bournand; and that, if he were inclined to differ materially from it, he would state the population of Ceylon a little below this calculation, rating that which is attached to our own dominions, at 700,000 inhabitants. He says, however, that the state of the population is, at this time, very unprosperous; for it has of late evidently increased so fast (owing in his opinion to the introduction of vaccination) that it presses hard upon the means of subsistence. He gives a statement of the persons who have undergone the vaccine inoculation in the British territories in Ceylon from

the year 1802 to 1812, amounting to 221,082. Our government was particularly active in promoting this relief from the miseries of humanity; and its exertions have been crowned with complete success; for the small1-pox has actually, for several years, been entirely expelled from Ceylon.

The author of this interesting work has deemed it necessary to call the attention of his readers to these preliminary statements, in order to give them the means of duly appreciating the value of the succeeding parts of his publication. We cannot resist giving his concluding remarks in a compressed form.

He informs us, that it is not land that is wanted to the population of the country; as there is a sufficiency to maintain four times the number of its present inhabitants, if there were capital to put into cultivation all the land that is capable of being applied to the support of man. Capital is wanted to give employment to labourers, either in agriculture or manufactures. All manufactures are exceedingly wanted in Ceylon, even those that are most necessary. Cotton grows with the greatest facility, and produces abundantly. The Nankin, Bourbon, and Brazil cottons, all succeed; and the buds are ripe within four months after the seed has been put into the ground. Notwithstanding this, little cotton has been hitherto produced; and even the most common cloths, for the use of the natives, are imported from the continent of India. Under this view of the subject, it appears doubtful whether the restrictions, which have, since the year 1805, been adopted for preventing the civil servants of the British Government in Ceylon, from being concerned in commercial speculations, are productive of more advantage or injury to the great interests of the island; for they are almost the only persons

there who possess the means to call labour into action, and to encourage cultivation, manufactures, and trade. A subsequent order of Government has allowed colonization to British subjects, which had been prohibited at our first taking possession of the island. Civil servants are allowed to possess land, which, on application, is granted to them by government upon the most liberal terms, to encourage colonization; but the restrictions with regard to commerce still remain in full force. If the public servant may have land, and make it useful, he ought certainly to be allowed also the liberty of manufacturing, selling, bartering, or exporting its productions in any way that may be most lucrative.

Thus have we briefly analized all those preliminary materials which have been deemed necessary to the complete view and comprehension of the great object of this valuable work. In introducing this object, the author observes, that having resided sixteen years on the island, and having, during that time, been actively employed as one of his Majesty's civil servants, it frequently occurred to him, that a work upon the resources of the country, and the general system of its administration, would not only prove acceptable to the curious, but would promote that public interest in the welfare of the colony, and that spirit of investigation, which must evidently tend to improve its condition. And he states his confidence, that this island, when better known, will appear to be a possession worthy of greater attention than it has hitherto obtained from the mother country.

Book I. contains an account of the coin and currency of Ceylon, depressed state of the exchange, and plans for its improvement.

Our author says that no vestige remains of the Portuguese curren, cy; and that an investigation of that subject would throw no light on the present currency.

Under the Dutch, the various coins which were used in Holland were also current in Ceylon, namely, the silver stiver, the schelling, the guilder or florin, and the ducatoon. But the coin peculiar to the colony, and which formed the government currency, was the Ceylon copper coin, in stivers, now called pices. The standing value of that copper coin was dependent on the regulation of government, that made eighty of them always equal to one silver ducatoon. Thirty-six of those weighed one Dutch pound of the best copper.

Almost every thing required for the Dutch settlement in Ceylon, besides what the island produced, was imported in the ships of the East India Company from Holland or Batavia direct. Their trade with the continent was not extensive. The Ceylon government drew no bills on the settlements of that continent, and the remittances to it, beyond what the island could afford, were made in specie. All remittances to Holland, on the contrary, either by public servants or merchants, were effected in government bills. From these bills government derived a fixed profit. It made the applicant pay into the treasury eighty stivers for each ducatoon (which was the par), besides a premium equal to eleven per cent. Gold pagodas were coined at Totecoreen, in the Dutch mint established there, under the control of the Ceylon government. A small number of silver rupees were coined by Governors Falck and Vandergraff, and were current for thirty-six stivers each. A great variety of foreign coins were also current in Ceylon, as the Spanish dollar or piastre, the star and Porto Novo pagodas, the Surat or Sicca rupee, &c. Their prices were also regulated by their intrinsic value, compared with the silver ducatoon; and keeping the exchange of the island currency to eighty stivers for each ducatoon, those different coins bore a price