OUR colonies, we believe, never before presented so many topics of interest as they now afford-never was it more desirable that these should be well considered, and the home-public enabled to form an enlightened opinion upon some of the great questions connected with them; as, for example, the commercial value of these national offsets, the pending difficulties of their government, and the advantages which they respectively offer for emigration. Im pressed with this view, we are much disposed to welcome any work which promises to contribute even a little honest aid towards so important an object, and therefore gladly take up the two tempting volumes now before us.

Of all the daughter-lands of England, none is to fair, and hardly one so precious to us, as that isle of palms, Ceylon. The beauty of this dependency is more generally known than its political importance; we shall therefore commence by adverting to the latter subject. It is well understood by all who have to do with India, that the tenure of our empire there cannot be yet regarded as safe or certain. Very many are the imperfections of our rule, both in regard to fiscal arrangements and to the administration of justice; and were we in these, and in some other matters of equal moment, altogether blameless, we should still be exposed to the malignant influence of that hatred which every nation feels against a foreign yoke. Our power hangs, as Warren Hastings observed, by a thread so fine, that the touch of chance may break, or the breath of opinion dissolve it; and should this disastrous contingency ever take place, Ceylon would be not only the most favourable point whence to attempt the regaining of our lost domi

nion, but might, together with Bombay and the Mauritius, at once, and in any case, secure to us the commerce of the Malabar and the Coromandel coasts, as well as the command of the Indian seas. That its value in these respects was appreciated by the Portuguese, is attested by the well-known saying of one of their kings: "Let all India be lost so that Ceylon is saved." These considerations may suffice to show the paramount importance of our holding this oriental possession, which, we may add, is likely very soon to become the great depot of our commerce, and the centre of our steam-navigation in the East, connecting us with China, with that vast archipelago which, through the devoted energies of one whom, alas, no services can save from slander,† is now opening to receive us, with, perhaps, the far-off empire of Japan, with Australia, with the countries around the Persian Gulf, with Egypt, and, by the double courses of the Euphratest and the Red Sea, with the Mediterranean. A railway, some fifty miles long, made from a little below Antioch, on the Orontes, may henceforth, as we have in a former number suggested, facili. tate communication with the Mediterranean, and Ceylon would then become the connecting point between Asia, Australia, Africa, and Europe.

It is not, however, for its prospective advantages alone that we are to prize Ceylon. The wealth of its resources, although they are but imperfectly developed, renders its present commerce of the utmost importance, while it offers to some classes of our redundant population a hopeful field for emigration. It is mainly with the purpose of exhibiting its capabilities in the last-mentioned respects, that Mr. Sirr has brought out his work; and

before we proceed to show how well he has performed the task, we must endeavour to make our readers a little better acquainted with the island itself.

The primary steps towards a knowledge of a country are, first, an acquaintance with its geographical bearings, and next, with its geological formations. After glancing at these characteristics of Ceylon, we may, with the aid of the work before us, touch upon its history, its resources, and the advantages which it offers to settlers, together with some of the many traits of popular interest or amusement which are connected with it.

Ceylon is, in size, about one-sixth less than Ireland; in form resembling the section of a divided pear, having the larger end toward the south. It lies between 5° 56′ and 9° 50' north latitude, and between 80° and 82° east longitude. Its extreme length is about 276 miles, and greatest breadth 103. Its superficial area is 24,000 square miles, with a population of about a million and-a-half, which, for what we may consider the most fertile country in the world, is little better than desolation. The island is, on the northeast, separated from the mainland by the Gulf of Mannar, and the Indian Ocean washes its other shores.

In regard to its geology, primitive rock is the main constituent of the island; the only recent formations are limestone and sandstone, which are only found in a particular neighbourhood, that of Jaffanapatam. "The varieties of primitive rock are innumerable, but the species are ill-defined and few. Granite is the most dominant species, while dormolite, quartz, and hornblend are less frequently to be met with." Iron and manganese are the only metallic ores. Nitrate of lime and nitre are not uncommon. lakes exist to a large extent in the district called Nugampattoo; and the salt monopoly brings into the government a yearly revenue of £42,000. "If," adds Mr. Sirr, "this portion of the government property were superintended, and conducted upon scientific principles, there can be little doubt that the revenue would be twice, if not three times the present amount."

Salt

"All the soils of the island appear to have originated from decomposed granite rock,

gneiss, or clay-iron stone, and in the majority of cases quartz is the largest, and frequently nearly the sole ingredient. It is very remarkable that the natural soils of Lanka-diva do not contain more than between one and three per cent. of vegetable substance, which may be attributed to the rapid decomposition occasioned by a high degree of temperature and heavy falls of rain.

"The most abundant crops are produced in the dark-brown loam, which is formed from decomposed granite and gneiss, or in reddish loam, which is formed from kabook stone, or clay-iron stone. The soils which have been found to produce inferior crops are those in which a large proportion of quartz is contained. The soil derived from clay-iron stone is of a reddish brown colour, and has the property of retaining water for a very long time, to which may be attributed its productive quality. To the practical and scientific agriculturists, Lanka-diva affords abundant opportunity for experiment and investigation, where the soil is in a state of nature, and unimproved by the intermixture of any description of manure."-V. i., p. 142.

Ceylon is well supplied with spring and river water, and from the magnificent remains of tanks and artificial lakes, it is evident that the ancient inhabitants knew how to avail themselves of the advantages of irrigation. It is much to be regretted that no effectual effort has yet been made to repair those gigantic tanks, and re-adapt them to their useful objects. The consequence is, that large tracts, which might be paddy-fields, are now neglected. Sir Thomas Maitland, Sir Robert Brownrigg, and Sir Robert W. Horton-all active governors-had caused inqui ries to be made with a view to the restoration of the tanks, and they all arrive at the same conclusion, that the undertaking should be carried out by government. But they never advanced beyond good intentions, and the tanks, to our reproach, remain in ruins. We are happy to learn that Sir Emerson Tennent, the present Colonial Secretary of Ceylon, whose energy and distinguished talents are well known, has directed his attention to this subject, and we may hope that he will be enabled to overcome the difficulties which proved so repulsive to his predecessors. The importance of this question may be estimated from the fact, that while in the high-lands, where the appliances for irrigation are attainable, the farmer grows two, and often three crops every year from the same field, in the low grounds; where he is depending on the