rations of vegetable and animal food, their spirituous and intoxicating liquors. Here, however, we meet with nothing sufficiently new and important to detain us; we shall therefore proceed to the next chapter, in which the African towns are described. The villages belonging to the Pagan negroes on the coast, who are the least civilized, are small, crowded, and unhealthy, from being situated, for the sake of security, in the most intricate and impenetrable recesses of the woods. The Mahometan tribes, on the contrary, being in a much more advanced state of society, are distinguished from the rest by the neatness and superior size of their brick houses, and the greater populousness of their towns; Teembo, the capital of the Foola kingdom, being reckoned to contain about 8000 inhabitants.

The arts, manufactures, dress and amusements, government and political institutions of the negroes, are succes sively described by Dr. Winterbottom, with a needless minuteness, since no additional information of the smallest consequence is communicated. same may be said of the chapter relative to the state of the women, and the old question concerning the influence of polygamy on population.

The

The moral character and mental powers of the negroes are vindicated by the author, with considerable success; and this being the most original and interesting, and the best written part of his book, we shall here select our speci

mens.

They (the negroes) are in general of mild external manners; but they possess a great share of pride, and are easily affected by an insult: they cannot hear even a harsh expression, or a raised tone of voice, without shewing that they feel it, As a proof that they are not deficient in natural affec

tion, one of the severest insults which can

be offered to an African is to speak disrespectfully of his mother, which is called cursiig her;" that they do not feel so very acutely an insult offered to their father is natural consequence of polygamy.

"The hospitality of the Africans has been noticed by almost every traveller who has been much among them. When the colony of Sierra Leone was destroyed by those who styled themselves the friends of

liberty, and the inhabitants were stripped in the most wanton manner of the comforts they were enjoying, when their houses* were burnt, their provisions and even meduced by this cruel treatment to the prospect dicines destroyed, and they themselves reof disease, famine, and misery, quæque ipse miserrima vidi; they were all, whites as well as blacks, most hospitably received by the natives, into whose villages they were obliged to fly for shelter. In travelling through many parts of their country, when overpowered with heat, fatigue, and hunger,

have ever met with a welcome and hospitable reception on arriving at their villages friends to repose on; and if it happened to mats have been brought out for myself and be meal-time, we have been at liberty to join them without ceremony, or to wait till something better could be provided. If we intended to spend the night there, a house has been set apart for us, and, on taking leave in the morning, a guide has generally Indeed, so offered to shew us on our way. far does this spirit of hospitality prevail, that a traveller or stranger, as they call him, is scarcely accountable for any faults which he may commit, whether through inadvertency or design, he host being considered as responsible the actions of his stranger."

The negroes upon the coast, from their habitual intercourse with the European slave-factors, are, as may naturally be expected, much inferior in every thing, except the art of making a bargain, to those who reside higher up the country: and of all the tribes, those who have em

braced Mahometanism are the most ci

vilized and respectable. In this part of Africa the religion of Mahomet has lost much of its ferocity, and instead of being propagated by the edge of the sword, appears as the benign patroness of arts, civilization, and literature: its influence seems to be rapidly extending, and the national character of the negroes is rising in exact proportion. The honour that is attached to the arts of reading and writing in this country, may be judged of by the following extract:

"Those who have visited the schools instituted by the Mahommedans, for the instruction of children in Arabic literature, must have admired the industry and perseverance of the scholars, at the same time that he lamented the great loss of time spent in acquiring a knowledge of the Arabic,

ANN. RIP. VOL. II.

D

which would have been so much more profitably employed in learning to read their own or some European language. In these schools the boys read, or rather shout, their lessons as loud as possible: the same is observed by Dr. Russell, speaking of the Mahommedan schools at Aleppo!

as

they read aloud all together, the noise they Inake in getting their lessons may be heard at some distance." This noise is rendered still more grating to the ear by their harsh and guttural pronunciation. Such, however, is their quickness of perception, that, amidst this confused clamour, if a word be wrong pronounced, or falsely accented, it is immediately noticed by the master, or corrected by one of the scholars, among whom a strong spirit of emulation prevails. The boys begin their studies at least an hour before day-light in the morning, and protract them till late at night, taking-some respite during the middle of the day. In the dry season, before sun-rise and after sun-set, they generally sit in the open air round a large fire, which affords them light, and for its support each scholar brings a bundle of faggots. Their lessons are written with ink which washes out, by means of a reed cut in form of a pen, upon thin smooth picces of wood of a close grain like beech; the letters are first written, then the combinations of letters, and lastly passages of the Koran. When they can read and write with facility, the master receives as his reward, for each scholar, a slave, or the value of but if he fails in this point, he receives no recompence for his trouble. As writing

one;

constitutes one of their chief amusements, they are anxious to excel in it, and many of them write with great expedition and a tolerable degree of elegance. They procure paper from Europeans, but use a reed instead of a pen. They procure a very excellent ink by boiling the leaves of a tree called bullanta in water: this is generally done in an iron pot, containing some scoria of iron from a smith's forge. After it has boiled for a considerable time, the liquor is set aside to cool, and is then strained for use: it is of a dark purple colour, and is extremely dura ble. They generally make use of a large snail-shell to keep it in, to which a little cotton is added to absorb the ink. A similar receptacle is also used for their oint

which they are tolerably proficient; and it is to be ascribed partly to the shackles imposed by their religion, and partly to the debasing effects of the slave trade and the obstructions it presents to improvement, rather than to a want of genius, that they have made so little progress in other sciences.

"Niebuhr observes, that he has often shewn to the Arabs books printed in their own language which they could scarce read. I have, however, more than once seen the Africans read Arabic books; one in parti cular read several chapters of the New Testament in Arabic, and of which he appeared to have a just comprehension. Several others explained passages in Arabic books, particularly Richardson's Arabic Dictionary, giving the sound of the words very nearly as they are there written, and in general explaining the meaning of them very exactly.”

The appendix to the work before us consists of five parts: the first is a meagre description, in eight pages, of the colony of Sierra Leone, in which we do not find a single word of the state of morals and manners, of the government, and the influence among the natives of an establishment so perfectly unique in its objects, and so truly honorable to its the state of the missions, which no doubt patrons. We expected to have learnt must by this time have extended themselves over the whole neighbourhood; with what degree of success they have arrested the progress of Mahometanism, or rivalled that religion, by bestowing on the barbarous and pagan tribes the invaluable blessings of British legisla tion and christian morals. We knew from the reports already published how the settlement was established, that its black population consisted principally of the Nova Scotia free negroes, that it was nearly ruined by the French in 1794, and from its situation in a tropical climate, near the mouth of a river, and could easily conceive the general chaat the foot of a ridge of mountains, we racter of its scenery. cumstances are detailed by Dr. Winterbottom, and the really interesting information concerning the degree of success which has attended this new experiment of colonization and proselytism, is whol ly withheld.

But all these cir

The second part of the appendix is the meteorological history of the colony for the year 1793, already mentioned. The third, and by far the longest part, is a republication from the Philosophical Transactions, of Mr. Smeathnan's account of the Termites, inserted here merely for the sake of eking out the

volume. The fourth and fifth parts are vocabularies of the Timmanee, Bullom and Soosoo languages.

The two maps are tolerably well executed. Of the other engravings, the less that is said the better.

CIVILIZATION, like charity, begins at home: it cannot be expected that a government should extend towards the colonies it has established, or the countries it has subdued, that unfettered freedom and enlightened policy, which it withholds from its own subjects. But the long-neglected truth now begins to be attended to, that the loyalty, and fidelity, and attachment of a people are better secured by a system of conciliation than by a system of terror; and that a liberal policy is more conducive to the interests of both parties than an oppressive one. We have reason to hope that this wise and humane system will be adopted throughout our vast empire in the east; the college, which has recently been established at Calcutta under the auspices of Marquis Wellesley, is intended to promote the study of the oriental languages, and by that means to facilitate an intimate acquaintance with the genius, the character, the manners, the usages, the prejudices, and propensities of the different people submitted to our governance, as being essential to the enactment of wise laws, and the administration of equal justice.

In this career of conquest, whether in America or the east, the Portugueze adventurers had no other object in view than to aggrandize their nation, and enrich themselves in the shortest and most summary manner. When Albuquerque succeeded in the conquest of Ceylon, instead of maintaining a friendly intercourse with the natives, and inducing them to assist in the cultivation of the island, every species of insult and barbarity was practised towards them. Not only was any little wealth they possessed seized by the rapacious grasp of avarice; but their manners and customs were trampled upon, and their religious opinions were not merely insulted, but even persecuted with the most wanton cruelty. A desultory, but sanguinary warfare continued for nearly a century; and the unhappy natives found, that their struggles against the discipline and concerted plans of the Portugueze, who

derived every advantage from the mu tual animosities of the petty princes of the island, were fruitless and without hope.

At this period, however, they had the offer of very powerful assistance from the Dutch, who had "no sooner sueceeded in throwing off the Spanish yoke, than their commercial and enterprising spirit led them to explore every coast in the known world iarch of opulence." In the year 1603, the Dutch admiral, Spilberg, approached their coasts, and the natives, from their hatred of the Portugueze, gave him a very favourable reception. During the constant wars in which the princes of the island had been engaged, the king of Candy had acquired such a superiority, that at the arrival of the Dutch, he was looked upon as emperor of Ceylon. He accepted the proffered alliance, and offered every facility to the Dutch, who, after a long continued siege, took possession of Columbo, in the year 1656. Thus ended the dominion of the Portugueze in Ceylon, exactly a century and a half after the first arrival of their countrymen in the island.

So great was the joy of the Ceylonese at their deliverance, that the king of Candy willingly paid the Dutch the expences of their armaments in cinnamon, and conferred upon them the principal possessions from which they had expelled the Portugueze; "among these, were the port of Trincomalee, and the fortress of Columbo: the former of these, which lies on the north-east part of the island, is that harbour which renders Ceylon the most valuable station in the Indian ocean." Columbo was built originally by the Portugueze, in the southwest part of the island, in the heart of that tract most celebrated for the production of cinnamon, as the most commodious station for collecting that staple production of the country. It is now he European capital of Ceylon.

For some time, the Dutch bore their honours so meekly, that the Ceylonese looked upon them without jealousy, and

were eager, by their good offices, to shew their gratitude to the guardians of their coasts, for such was the humble appellation which the Dutch assumed. The most friendly intercourse was kept up with the natives, who parted with the natural productions of the island on very easy terms, affording the greatest commercial advantages to the new settlers. Ere long, however, the cloven-foot of avarice appeared: the Dutch began not only to push their posts farther and farther into the interior, and to scize upon every spot which appeared well adapted to cultivation; they also encreased their demands upon the king for the protection they afforded him, and he soon found that all the cinnamon which grew in his dominions was insufficient to gratify the guardians of his coasts. Enraged at their repeated extortions, he at last fell suddenly upon their settlements, where he committed the greatest devastations. This breach was followed by a long course of hostilities, in which the Dutch, though generally victorious, were the greatest losers; for the incursions of the natives into their cultivated possessions on the coast frequently destroyed the labours of years, The Dutch governors saw the ruinous system they were pursuing, and endea voured to restore tranquillity; but the calm was of no long duration. The renewed oppressions on the part of the Dutch were the constant signal for the renewal of hostilities between them and the natives, who, in the course of a long warfare, became brave and dexterous, and often repulsed their enemies even in close combat. Twice, indeed, the king was driven from his capital of Candy, but he found refuge and security in the impenetrable mountains of Digliggy, whence he could, with impunity, surprise and cut off the enemy's stores and convoys of provision ti they should, of their own accord, abandon is dominions.

Mr. Percival, from whose brief introductory account of the successive changes which the island has undergone since it came into the possession of Europeans, we are selecting these particulars in common with many others, at first felt surprise, that a tract of land, cut off from all external supplies, and every where surrounded by European settlements, should have defied every attack of its enemies. But the whole country is high, and mountainous; the

approaches are steep, narrow, and scarcely accessible, except by persons on foot. The thick jungles and woods every where obstruct the view, and they are only penetrable by narrow and intricate paths, known but to the natives themselves, whose conscious inferiority to the Europeans in the open field, leads them to concealment among the bushes, whence they fall suddenly upon the enemy, and hastily retreat from one position to another before he has an opportunity of observing the course they have taken. By this mode of warfare, the Dutch suffered as much after their victory as before; the effects of the climate too, which, in the interior, is very unwholesome to Europeans, in consequence of the immense woods which cover the whole face of the country, the heavy dews of night, and the intense heat of day, unrefreshed by seabreezes, were severely felt by the Dutch troops.

These causes, together with the enthusiastic attachment of the Ceylonese to their own mountains, and their deeprooted antipathy to the foreign nations who had successively invaded their antient territory, combined to frustrate the attempts of the Dutch at forming a settlement in the interior of the island.

The last great war which was carried on with the natives was about the middle of the last century; Candy was taken, and a treaty was agreed on in the year 1766; by which, the king was virtually a prisoner in his own dominions: the tributes which he paid were so va. rious and oppressive, that the Dutch had a monopoly of all the valuable productions of the island. The terms, indeed, were so harsh and degrading, that the Candians were exasperated against their oppressors, and nourished the most inveterate hatred.

Such was the situation in which affairs stood between the Dutch and the native Ceylonese towards the commencement of the late war; no other European power had acquired permanent footing in the island since the expulsion of the Portugueze, about one hundred and forty years before. The attempt which we made to reduce the island under Sir Edward Hughes, at the latter end of the American war, was unsuccessful, but the importance of it to Great Britain is so great, that on the first rupture with the Dutch, there could be no doubt but that we should attempt the reduction of

it. The junction of the Dutch with the French republic in the late war, was the signal for the commencement of our operations against their colonies in the east; a body of troops was detached for the conquest of Ceylon, in 1795, and the enterprise was crowned with success. It is to be hoped, that we shall profit by the severe lessons received by the Portugueze and Dutch: their system of rapacity and oppression must, by its inefficacy, teach us to adopt a more liberal and humane policy; and as their relaxation of military discipline was fatal to their interests, it will warn us by no means to neglect any requisite measures of defence.

"The island of Ceylon lies between 50 40 and 10° 30' north latitude; and between 79 and 8 east longitude. It is situated at the entrance of the bay of Bengal, by which it is bounded on the north. On the north west it is separated from the Coromandel coast by the gulph of Manaar, a narrow strait full of shoals, and impassable by large ships. It is distant about sixty leagues from Cape Comorin, the southern point of the peninsula of India, which divides the Coromandel and Malabar coasts. Its circumference is computed to be about nine hundred miles; and its length from Point Pedro at the northern extremity to Donderhead at the southern is about three hundred miles. Its Lreadth is very unequal, being in some parts only from forty to fifty miles, while in others it extends to sixty, seventy, and even one hundred."

The island of Ceylon is of the first consequence to Great Britain, whether considered in a commercial or political point of view; its internal produce presents several rich articles to commerce; and it is remarkable, that with the exception of Bombay, it contains the only harbour either on the Coromandel, or the Malabar Coasts, in which ships can moor in safety at all seasons of the year. As the whole of that large tract which we possess along the Coromandel coast presents nothing but open roads, all vessels are obliged on the approach of the monscons to stand out into the open seas; and there are many parts of the coast that can only be approached during a few months of the year. The harbour of Trincomalee is equally secure at all times of the year: the next to this is Point de Galle: large ships, however, moor securely at certain seasons of the year, in the roads of Columbo. There are several inferior ports distributed around the island, which afford shelter

to the small coasting vessels. The rivers which intersect the island, are for the most part broad and deep, but seldom navigable for any considerable distance: as soon as they enter the mountains which cover the native kingdom of Candy, they become rocky and rapid, and tumble down with such a headlong course, that it is impossible for the smallest canoe to navigate them. The internal communication by land is bad the roads are in many places rugged and steep, and not only difficult, but dange rous, from the numbers of wild hogs, buffaloes, and elephants, which infest them. Since the island has been in the possession of the English, the roads, however, have been greatly improved.

divides the island nearly into two parts, The most lofty range of mountains and so completely separates them from each other, that both the climate and seasons on either side are essentially dif ferent. These mountains also terminate completely the effect of the mon soons which set in periodically from opposite sides; so that not only the seacoast, but the whole country in the inte rior suffers very little from these storms. Though Ceylon lies so near the equator, the climate upon the whole is more temperate than on the continent of India; this, Mr. Percival attributes to the constant sea-breezes, by which it is fanned, without being subject to the hot and suffocating land-winds, which so frequently annoy the continent. This tem, perate climate, however, is chiefly confined to the coast where the sea- breezes have room to circulate: in the interior, the climate is often extremely sultry and unhealthy. This inconvenience, however, says Mr. P. might be in a great degree obviated by cutting down the woods, and clearing the jungles, and draining the swamps and marshes, as has been proved by a large tract in the neighbourhood of Trincomalee, cleared and drained by colonel Champagne since it came into our possession, and thus rendered much less noxious to Europeans. The garrison has suffered very little since from the climate.

The British dominions in Ceylon, skirt the coasts quite round, so that the territories of the king of Candy are com pletely inclose within a circle. Mr. Percival follows the same direction, and leads his readers completely round the island in the same course he travelled it, setting off from Trincomalee, on which