t
the curious anomaly, that whilst the tanks and reservoirs of the
interior diffuse a healthful coolness around, the running water of the
rivers is prolific of fevers; and in some seasons so deadly is the
pestilence that the Malabar coolies, as well as the native peasantry,
betake themselves to precipitate flight.[1]

[Footnote 1: It has been remarked along the Mahawelli-ganga, a few miles
from Kandy, that during the deadly season, after the subsidence of the
rains, the jungle fever generally attacks one face of the hills through
which it winds, leading the opposite side entirely exempted, as if the
poisonous vapour, being carried by the current of air, affected only
those aspects against which it directly impinged.]

Few of the larger rivers have been bridged, except those which intersect
the great high roads from Point-de-Galle to Colombo, and thence to
Kandy. Near the sea this has been effected by timber platforms,
sustained by piles sufficiently strong to withstand the force of the
floods at the change of each monsoon. A bridge of boats connects each
side of the Kalany, and on reaching the Mahawelli-ganga at Peradenia,
one of the most picturesque structures on the island is a noble bridge
of a single arch, 205 feet in span, chiefly constructed of satin-wood,
and thrown across the river by General Fraser in 1832.

On reaching the margin of the sea, an appearance is presented by the
outline of the coast, near the embouchures of the principal rivers,
which is very remarkable. It is common to both sides of the island,
though it has attained its greatest development on the east. In order to
comprehend its formation, it is necessary to observe that Ceylon lies in
the course of the ocean currents in the Bay of Bengal, which run north
or south according to the prevalence of the monsoon, and with greater or
less velocity in proportion to its force at particular periods.

[Illustration: CURRENT IN THE NE MONSOON.]

In the beginning and during the strength of the northeast monsoon the
current sets strongly along the coast of Coromandel to the southward, a
portion of it frequently entering Palks Bay to the north of Ceylon; but
the main stream keeping invariably to the east of the island, runs with
a velocity of from one and a half to two miles an hour, and after
passing the Great Bass, it keeps its course seaward. At other times,
after the monsoon has spent its violence, the current is weak, and
follows the line of the lan