Ceylon in 1893 Author:John Ferguson Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II. THE ISLAND IN 1796, 1815, AND SEVENTY-EIGHT YEARS LATER. Extent and topographical features—Condition of the island previous to, and after, s... more »eventy-eight years of British rule contrasted. HAVING now arrived at the British period, it may be well to give some idea of the condition of Ceylon and its people in the early part of this century, and to compare the same with what is realised after British government has been established for seventy-eight years throughout the whole island. The position of Ceylon as a " pearl-drop on the brow of India," with which continent it is almost connected by the island of Ramisseram and the coral reef called Adam's Bridge, is familiar to all who have ever glanced at a map of Asia. To that great continent it may be said to be related as Great Britain is to Europe, or Madagascar to Africa. In extent it comprises nearly sixteen million acres, or 24,702 square miles, apart from certain dependent islands, such as the Maldives. The total area is about five-sixths of that of Ireland, but is equal to nearly thirty-seven times the superficial extent of the island of Mauritins, which sometimes contests with Ceylon the title of the " Gem of the Indian Ocea: One-sixth of this area, or about 4,000 square miles, is comprised in the hilly and mountainous zone which is situated about the centre of the south of the island,while the maritime districts are generally level, and the northern end of the island is broken up into a flat, narrow peninsula and small islets. Within the central zone there ace 150 mountains or ranges between 3,000 and 7,000 feet in altitude, with ten peaks rising over the latter limit. The highest mountain is P1durutalagala (8,296 feet, or nearly 1,000 feet higher than Adam's Peak, 7,353 feet), which was long considered...« less