st of any rivers of great volume. The rains which
usher in each monsoon or change of season are indeed heavy, and during
their fall swell the streams to torrents and impetuous rivers. But when
these cease the water-courses fall back to their original state, and
there are few of the rivers which cannot generally be passed on
horseback. The largest river, the Mahaweliganga, has a course of 206 m.,
draining about one-sixth of the area of the island before it reaches the
sea at Trincomalee on the east coast. There are twelve other
considerable rivers, running to the west, east and south, but none of
these exceeds 90 m. in length. The rivers are not favourable for
navigation, except near the sea, where they expand into backwaters,
which were used by the Dutch for the construction of their system of
canals all round the western and southern coasts. Steamers ply between
Colombo and Negombo along this narrow canal and lake. A similar service
on the Kaluganga did not prove a success. There are no inland lakes
except the remains of magnificent artificial lakes in the north and east
of the island, and the backwaters on the coast. The lakes which add to
the beauty of Colombo, Kandy, Lake Gregory, Nuwara Eliya and Kurunegala
are artificial or partly so. Giant's Tank is said to have an area of
6380 acres, and Minneri and Kalawewa each exceed 4000 acres.

The magnificent basin of Trincomalee, situated on the east coast of
Ceylon, is perhaps unsurpassed in extent, security and beauty by any
haven in the world. The admiralty had a dockyard here which was closed
in 1905.

_Geology._--Ceylon may be said to have been for ages slowly rising from
the sea, as appears from the terraces abounding in marine shells, which
occur in situations far above high-water mark, and at some miles
distance from the sea. A great portion of the north of the island may be
regarded as the joint production of the coral polyps and the currents,
which for the greater part of the year set impetuously towards the
south; coming laden with alluvial matter collected along the coast of
Coromandel, and meeting with obstacles south of Point Calimere, they
have deposited their burdens on the coral reefs round Point Pedro; and
these, raised above the sea-level and covered deeply by sand drifts,
have formed the peninsula of Jaffna, and the plains that trend westward
till they unite with the narrow causeway of Adam's Bridge. Tertiary
rocks are almost unknown. The great geolog