Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and Topographical with Notices of Its Natural History Part 11

[Footnote 1: The cultivation of tea was attempted by the Dutch, but without success.]

Still ascending, at an elevation of 6500 feet, as we approach the mountain plateau of Neuera-ellia, the dimensions of the trees again diminish, the stems and branches are covered with orchideae and mosses, and around them spring up herbaceous plants and balsams, with here and there broad expanses covered with _Acanthaceae_, whose seeds are the favourite food of the jungle fowl, which are always in perfection during the ripening of the Nilloo.[1] It is in these regions that the tree-ferns (_Alsophila gigantea_) rise from the damp hollows, and carry their gracefully plumed heads sometimes to the height of twenty feet.

[Footnote 1: There are said to be fourteen species of the Nilloo (_Strobilanthes_) in Ceylon. They form a complete under-growth in the forest five or six feet in height, and sometimes extending for miles.

When in bloom, their red and blue flowers are a singularly beautiful feature in the landscape, and are eagerly searched by the honey bees.

Some species are said to flower only once in five, seven, or nine years; and after ripening their seed they die. This is one reason a.s.signed for the sudden appearance of the rats, which have been elsewhere alluded to (vol. i. p. 149, ii. p. 234) as invading the coffee estates, when deprived of their ordinary food by the decay of the nilloo. It has been observed that the jungle fowl, after feeding on the nilloo, have their eyes so affected by it, as to be partially blinded, and permit themselves to be taken by the hand. Are the seeds of this plant narcotic like some of the _Solanaceaae_? or do they cause dilatation of the pupil, like those of the _Atropa Belladonna_?]

At length in the loftiest range of the hills the Rhododendrons are discovered; no longer delicate bushes, as in Europe, but timber trees of considerable height, and corresponding dimensions, and every branch covered with a blaze of crimson flowers. In these forests are also to be met with some species of _Michelia_, the Indian representatives of the Magnolias of North America, several arboreous _myrtaceae_ and _ternstromiaceae_, the most common of which is the camelia-like _Gordonia Ceylanica_.[1] These and _Vaccinia, Gaultheria, Symploci, Goughia_, and _Gomphandra_, establish the affinity between the vegetation of this region and that of the Malabar ranges, the Khasia and Lower Himalaya.[2]

[Footnote 1: Dr. Gardner.]

[Footnote 2: _Introduction to the Flora Indica_ of Dr. HOOKER and Dr.

THOMSON, p. 120. London, 1855.]

Generally speaking, the timber on the high mountains is of little value for oeconomic purposes. Though of considerable dimensions, it is too unsubstantial to be serviceable for building or domestic uses; and perhaps, it may be regarded as an evidence of its perishable nature, that dead timber is rarely to be seen in any quant.i.ty enc.u.mbering the ground, in the heart of the deepest forests. It seems to go to dust almost immediately after its fall, and although the process of destruction is infinitely accelerated by the ravages of insects, especially the white ants (_termites_) and beetles, which instantly seize on every fallen branch: still, one would expect that the harder woods would, more or less, resist their attacks till natural decomposition should have facilitated their operations and would thus exhibit more leisurely the progress of decay. But here decay is comparatively instantaneous, and it is seldom that fallen timber is to be found, except in the last stage of conversion into dust.

Some of the trees in the higher ranges are remarkable for the prodigious height to which they struggle upwards from the dense jungle towards the air and light; and one of the most curious of nature's devices, is the singular expedient by which some families of these very tall and top-heavy trees throw out b.u.t.tresses like walls of wood, to support themselves from beneath. Five or six of these b.u.t.tresses project like rays from all sides of the trunk: they are from six to twelve inches thick, and advance from five to fifteen feet outward; and as they ascend, gradually sink into the hole and disappear at the height of from ten to twenty feet from the ground. By the firm resistance which they offer below, the trees are effectually steadied, and protected from the leverage of the crown, by which they would otherwise be uprooted. Some of these b.u.t.tresses are so smooth and flat, as almost to resemble sawn planks.

The greatest ornaments of the forest in these higher regions are the large flowering trees; the most striking of which is the Rhododendron, which in Ceylon forms a forest in the mountains, and when covered with flowers, it seems from a distance as though the hills were strewn with vermilion. This is the princ.i.p.al tree on the summit of Adam's Peak, and grows to the foot of the rock on which rests the little temple that covers the sacred footstep on its crest. Dr. Hooker states that the honey of its flowers is believed to be poisonous in some parts of Sikkim; but I never heard it so regarded in Ceylon.

One of the most magnificent of the flowering trees, is the coral tree[1], which is also the most familiar to Europeans, as the natives of the low country and the coast, from the circ.u.mstance of its stem being covered with thorns, plant it largely for fences, and grow it in the vicinity of their dwellings. It derives its English name from the resemblance which its scarlet flowers present to red coral, and as these clothe the branches before the leaves appear, their splendour attracts the eye from a distance, especially when lighted by the full blaze of the sun.

[Footnote 1: _Erythrina Indica_. It belongs to the pea tribe, and must not be confounded with the _Jatropha multifida_ which has also acquired the name of the _coral tree_. Its wood is so light and spongy, that it is used in Ceylon to form corks for preserve jars; and both there and at Madras the natives make from it models of their implements of husbandry, and of their sailing boats and canoes.]

The Murutu[1] is another flowering tree which may vie with the Coral, the Rhododendron, or the Asoca, the favourite of Sanskrit poetry. It grows to a considerable height, especially in damp places and the neighbourhood of streams, and pains have been taken, from appreciation of its attractions, to plant it by the road side and in other conspicuous positions. From the points of the branches panicles are produced, two or three feet in length, composed of flowers, each the size of a rose and of all shades, from a delicate pink to the deepest purple. It abounds in the south-west of the island.

[Footnote 1: Lagerstroemia Reginae.]

The magnificent Asoca[1] is found in the interior, and is cultivated, though not successfully, in the Peradenia Garden, and in that attached to Elie House at Colombo. But in Toompane, and in the valley of Doombera, its loveliness vindicates all the praises bestowed on it by the poets of the East. Its orange and crimson flowers grow in graceful racemes, and the Singhalese, who have given the rhododendron the pre-eminent appellation of the "great red flower," (_maha-rat-mal_,) have called the Asoca the _diya-rat-mal_ to indicate its partiality for "moisture," combined with its prevailing hue.

[Footnote 1: Jonesia Asoca.]

But the tree which will most frequently attract the eye of the traveller, is the kattoo-imbul of the Singhalese[1], one of which produces the silky cotton which, though incapable of being spun, owing to the shortness of its delicate fibre, makes the most luxurious stuffing for sofas and pillows. It is a tall tree covered with formidable thorns; and being deciduous, the fresh leaves, like those of the coral tree, do not make their appearance till after the crimson flowers have covered the branches with their bright tulip-like petals.

So profuse are these gorgeous flowers, that when they fall, the ground for many roods on all sides is a carpet of scarlet. They are succeeded by large oblong pods, in which the black polished seeds are deeply embedded in the floss which is so much prized by the natives. The trunk is of an unusually bright green colour, and the branches issue horizontally from the stem, in whorls of threes with a distance of six or seven feet between each whorl.

[Footnote 1: _Bombax Malabaricus_. As the genus Bombax is confined to tropical America, the German botanists, Schott and Endlicher, have a.s.signed to the imbul its ancient Sanskrit name, and described it as _Salmalia Malabarica_.]

Near every Buddhist temple the priests plant the Iron tree (_Messua ferrea_)[1] for the sake of its flowers, with which they decorate the images of Buddha. They resemble white roses, and form a singular contrast with the buds and shoots of the tree, which are of the deepest crimson. Along with its flowers the priests use likewise those of the Champac (_Michelia Champaca_), belonging to the family of magnoliaceae.

They have a pale yellow tint, with the sweet oppressive perfume which is celebrated in the poetry of the Hindus. From the wood of the champac the images of Buddha are carved for the temples.

[Footnote 1: Dr. Gardner supposed the ironwood tree of Ceylon to have been confounded with the _Messua ferrea_ of Linnaeus. He a.s.serted it to be a distinct species, and a.s.signed to it the well-known Singhalese name "_nagaha_," or _iron-wood tree_. But this conjecture has since proved erroneous.]

The celebrated Upas tree of Java (_Antiaris toxicaria_) which has been the subject of so many romances, exploded by Dr. Horsfield[1], was supposed by Dr. Gardner to exist in Ceylon, but more recent scrutiny has shown that what he mistook for it, was an allied species, the _A.

saccidora_, which grows at Kornegalle, and in other parts of the island; and is scarcely less remarkable, though for very different characteristics. The Ceylon species was first brought to public notice by E. Rawdon Power, Esq., government agent of the Kandyan province, who sent specimens of it, and of the sacks which it furnishes, to the branch of the Asiatic Society at Colombo. It is known to the Singhalese by the name of "ritigaha," and is identical with the _Lepurandra saccidora_, from which the natives of Coorg, like those of Ceylon, manufacture an ingenious subst.i.tute for sacks by a process which is described by Mr.

Nimmo.[2] "A branch is cut corresponding to the length and breadth of the bag required, it is soaked and then beaten with clubs till the liber separates from the timber. This done, the sack which is thus formed out of the bark is turned inside out, and drawn downwards to permit the wood to be sawn off, leaving a portion to form the bottom which is kept firmly in its place by the natural attachment of the bark."

[Footnote 1: The vegetable poisons, the use of which is ascribed to the Singhalese, are chiefly the seeds of the _Datura_, which act as a powerful narcotic, and those of the _Croton tiglium_, the excessive effect of which ends in death. The root of the _Nerium odorum_ is equally fatal, as is likewise the exquisitely beautiful _Gloriosa superba_, whose brilliant flowers festoon the jungle in the plains of the low country. See Bennett's account of the _Antiaris_, in HORSFIELD'S _Plantae Javanicae_.]

[Footnote 2: Catalogue of Bombay Plants, p. 193. The process in Ceylon is thus described in Sir W. HOOKER'S _Report on the Vegetable Products_ exhibited in Paris in 1855: "The trees chosen for the purpose measure above a foot in diameter. The felled trunks are cut into lengths, and the bark is well beaten with a stone or a club till the parenchymatous part comes off, leaving only the inner bark attached to the wood; which is thus easily drawn out by the hand. The bark thus obtained is fibrous and tough, resembling a woven fabric: it is sewn at one end into a sack, which is filled with sand, and dried in the sun."]

As we descend the hills the banyans[1] and a variety of figs make their appearance. They are the Thugs of the vegetable world, for although not necessarily epiphytic, it may be said that in point of fact no single plant comes to perfection, or acquires even partial development, without the destruction of some other on which to fix itself as its supporter.

The family generally make their first appearance as slender roots hanging from the crown or trunk of some other tree, generally a palm, among the moist bases of whose leaves the seed carried thither by some bird which had fed upon the fig, begins to germinate. This root branching as it descends, envelopes the trunk of the supporting tree with a network of wood, and at length penetrating the ground, attains the dimensions of a stem. But unlike a _stem_ it throws out no buds, leaves, or flowers; the true stem, with its branches, its foliage, and fruit, springs upwards from the crown of the tree whence the root is seen descending; and from it issue the pendulous rootlets, which, on reaching the earth, fix themselves firmly and form the marvellous growth for which the banyan is so celebrated.[2] In the depth of this grove, the original tree is incarcerated till, literally strangled by the folds and weight of its resistless companion, it dies and leaves the fig in undisturbed possession of its place. It is not unusual in the forest to find a fig-tree which had been thus upborne till it became a standard, now forming a hollow cylinder, the centre of which was once filled by the sustaining tree: but the empty walls form a circular network of interlaced roots and branches; firmly agglutinated under pressure, and admitting the light through interstices that look like loopholes in a turret.

[Footnote 1: Ficus Indica.]

[Footnote 2: I do not remember to have seen the following pa.s.sage from Pliny referred to as the original of Milton's description of this marvellous tree:--

"Ipsa se serens, vastis diffunditur ramis: quorum imi adeo in terram curvantur, ut annuo spatio infigantur, novamque sibi _propaginem faciant circa parentem in orbem._ Intra septem eam _aestivant pastores_, opacam pariter et munitam vallo arboris, decora specie subter intuenti, proculve, _fornicato_ arbore. Foliorum lat.i.tudo _peltae effigiem Amazonicae_ habet," &c.--PLINY, 1. xii. c. 11.

"The fig-tree--not that kind for fruit renowned, But such as at this day to Indians known, In Malabar or Dekkan spreads her arms, Branching so broad and long, that on the ground The bended twigs take root, and _daughters grow About the mother tree: a pillar'd_ shade High over arched and echoing walks between.

There oft the Indian herdsman, shunning heat, Shelters in cool and _tends his pasturing flocks_ At loop-holes cut through thickest shade. These leaves They gathered; broad as _Amazonian targe:_ And with what skill they had, together sewed To gird their waist," &c.

_Par. Lost_, ix. 1100.

Pliny's description is borrowed, with some embellishments, from THEOPHRASTUS _de. Nat. Plant._ l. i. 7. iv. 4.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: MARRIAGE OF THE FIG-TREE AND THE PALM.]

Another species of the same genus, _F. repens,_ is a fitting representative of the English ivy, and is constantly to be seen clambering over rocks, turning through heaps of stones, or ascending some tall tree to the height of thirty or forty feet, while the thickness of its own stem does not exceed a quarter of an inch.

The facility with which the seeds of the fig-tree take root where there is a sufficiency of moisture to permit of germination, has rendered them formidable a.s.sailants of the ancient monuments throughout Ceylon. The vast mounds of brickwork which const.i.tute the remains of the Dagobas at Anaraj.a.poora and Pollanarrua are covered densely with trees, among which the figs are always conspicuous. One, which has fixed itself on the walls of a ruined edifice at the latter city, forms one of the most remarkable objects of the place--its roots streaming downwards over the walls as if their wood had once been fluid, follow every sinuosity of the building and terraces till they reach the earth.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A FIG TREE ON THE RUINS OF POLLANARRUA.]

To this genus belongs the Sacred Bo-tree of the Buddhists, _Ficus religiosa,_ which is planted close to every temple, and attracts almost as much veneration as the statue of the G.o.d himself. At Anaraj.a.poora is still preserved the identical tree said to have been planted 288 years before the Christian era.[1]

[Footnote 1: For a memoir of this celebrated tree, see the account of Anaraj.a.poora, Vol. II. p. 10.]

Although the India-rubber tree (_F. elastica_) is not indigenous to Ceylon, it is now very widely diffused over the island. It is remarkable for the pink leathery covering which envelopes the leaves before expansion, and for the delicate tracing of the nerves which run in equi-distant rows at right angles from the mid-rib. But its most striking feature is the exposure of its roots, ma.s.ses of which appear above ground, extending on all sides from the base, and writhing over the surface in undulations--

"Like snakes in wild festoon, In ramous wrestlings interlaced, A forest Laoc.o.o.n."[1]

[Footnote 1: HOOD's poem of _The Elm Tree._]

So strong, in fact, is the resemblance, that the villagers give it the name of the "Snake-tree." One, which grows close to Cotta, at the Church Missionary establishment within a few miles of Colombo, affords a remarkable ill.u.s.tration of this peculiarity.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SNAKE-TREE.]

There is an avenue of these trees leading to the Gardens of Peradenia, the roots of which meet from either side of the road, and have so covered the surface by their agglutinated reticulations as to form a wooden framework, the interstices of which retain the materials that form the roadway.[1]

[Footnote 1: Mr. Ferguson of the Surveyor-General's Department, a.s.sures me that he once measured the root of a small wild fig-tree, growing in a patena at Hewahette, and found it upwards of 140 feet in length, whilst the tree itself was not 30 feet high.]

The k.u.mbuk of the Singhalese (called by the Tamils Maratha-maram)[1] is one of the n.o.blest and most widely distributed trees in the island; it delights in the banks of rivers and moist borders of tanks and ca.n.a.ls; it overshadows the stream of the Mahawelli-ganga, almost from Kandy to the sea; and it stretches its great arms above the still water of the lakes on the eastern side of the island.

[Footnote 1: Pentaptera tomentosa _(Rox.)_.]

One venerable patriarch of this species, which grows at Mutwal, within three miles of Colombo, towers to so great a height above the surrounding forests of coconut palms, that it forms a landmark for the native boatmen, and is discernible from Negombo, more than twenty miles distant. The circ.u.mference of its stem, as measured by Mr. W. Ferguson, in 1850, was forty-five feet close to the earth, and seven yards at twelve feet above the ground.

The timber, which is durable, is applied to the carving of idols for the temples, besides being extensively used for less dignified purposes; but it is chiefly prized for the bark, which is sold as a medicine, and, in addition to yielding a black dye, it is so charged with calcareous matter that its ashes, when burnt, afford a subst.i.tute for the lime which the natives chew with their betel.