CEYLON' (the taprobane of the Greeks and Romans, and the serendib of the Arabian ffigh,ts), a valuable island and British colony in the Indian ocean, to the s.e. of the peninsula of Hindustan, from which it is separated by the gulf of ilIanaar and Palk's strait. Recent observations have shown its true place to be between 5° 55' and 9' 51' n. let., and 79° 42' and 81° 55' e. long. Extreme length from n. to s., from Point Palmyra to Dondera Head, 271} rn.; greatest width, from Colombo to Sangemankande, 137f miles. Area, including dependent islands, 24,454 sq.miles.
Physical Features.—In natural scenery, C. can vie with any part of the world; and as it rises from the ocean, clothed with the rich luxuriance of a tropical vegetation, it .seems to the voyager like some enchanted island of eastern story. Its hills, " draped with forests of perennial green," tower grandly from height to height, till they are lost in clouds and mist. Near at hand, a sea of sapphire blue dashes against jhe battle mented rocks that occur at isolated points, and the yellow strands are shaded by groves -of noble palms. In shape, C. resembles a pear, but its inhabitants more poetically com pare it to one of their elongated pearls. Undulating plains cover about four parts of the island, and the fifth is occupied by the mountain-zone of the central s., which has an elevation of _from 6,000 to 8,000 ft. above the sea-level. Pedrotallagalla, the highest mountain in the range, attains the height of 8,280 ft.; the celebrated mountain of Adam's peak, 7,420 ft.; and the table-land of Nenera Ellia, 6,210 feet.
mountain system is mainly composed of metamorphic rocks, chiefly gneiss, frequently broken up by intruded granite. With the exception of some local beds of dolomitic limestone, the gniess is everywhere the surface rock, and soil is composed of its disintegrated materials. No fossils, as was to be expected, have been noticed in C., if we except the semi-fossil remains of mollusca, crustacea, and corals, belonging to living species, which occur in the rude breccias of the xi. in the neighbor
hood of the sea. The northern part of the island is rising, and there also the land is making encroachments on the sea from another agency. The immense masses of corals continually increasing, retain the debris brought from the Indian continent by the cur rents of the sea, and thus form a flat, ever-increasing madrepore plain.
Of metals and minerals, iron, in the form of a carbonate, can be obtained in great quantities, and of such purity as to resemble silver. Tin is found in the alluvium at the base of the mountains, and on the heights the rare metal tellurium has been discov ered. Nickel and cobalt are scarce. Anthracite and rich veins of plumbago exist on the southern range of hills. The gems of C. have been celebrated from time imme morial, and they are most plentiful in the alluvial plains at the foot of the hills of Sal. fragam. Sapphires, rubies, the oriental topaz, garnets, amethysts, cinnamon stone, and cat's-eye, are the principal gems and precious stones of the island. The most valuable is the sapphire; and one of these, found in the year 1853, was worth more than £4,000. The value of the precious stones annually found in the island is estimated at £10,000. The pearl fisheries of C. have long been famous, and since the beginning of the century are conducted directly for behoof of the government. But sometimes fishing operations have to be suspended for a considerable period; thus there was no fishery from 1863, when the value obtained was £46,000, till 1874, when pearls worth £9,500, were secured.
Ilium—The most important river in C. is the Mahawelli-ganga. It has its source in the vicinity of Adam's peak, and after draining more than 4,000 sq.m., it separates into several branches, and enters the ocean near Trincomalee. The s. side of the island is watered by 10 rivers of considerable size, which flow into the sea between Point de Galle and Manaar. On the e. coast, the rivers are smaller, but still more numerous, and many others traverse the northern and eastern provinces.