ical feature of the island is
the profusion of gneiss, overlaid in many places in the interior by
extensive beds of dolomitic limestone. This formation appears to be of
great thickness; and when, as is not often the case, the under-surface
of the gneiss series is exposed, it is invariably found resting on
granite. Veins of pure quartz and felspar of considerable extent have
been frequently met with in the gneiss; while in the elevated lands of
the interior in the Galle districts may be seen copious deposits of
disintegrated felspar, or _kaolin_, commonly known as porcelain clay. At
various elevations the gneiss may be found intersected by veins of trap
rock, upheaved whilst in a state of fusion subsequent to the
consolidation of the former. In some localities on the seashore these
veins assume the character of pitch-stone porphyry highly impregnated
with iron. Hornblende and primitive greenstone are found in the vicinity
of Adam's Peak and in the Pussellava district. Laterite, known in Ceylon
as _kabuk_, a product of disintegrated gneiss, exists in vast quantities
in many parts, and is quarried for building purposes.

_Climate._--The seasons in Ceylon differ very slightly from those
prevailing along the coasts of the Indian peninsula. The two
distinctive monsoons of the year are called, from the winds which
accompany them, the south-west and the north-east. The former is very
regular in its approach, and may be looked for along the south-west
coast between the 10th and 20th of May; the latter reaches the
north-east coast between the end of October and the middle of November.
There is a striking contrast in the influence which the south-west
monsoon exerts on the one side of the island and on the other. The
clouds are driven against the lofty mountains that overhang the western
and southern coasts, and their condensed vapours descend there in
copious showers. But the rains do not reach the opposite side of the
island: while the south-west is deluged, the east and north are
sometimes exhausted with dryness; and it not unfrequently happens that
different sides of the same mountain present at the same moment the
opposite extreme of droughts and moisture. The influence of the
north-east monsoon is more general. The mountains which face the
north-east are lower and more remote from the sea than those on the
south-west; the clouds are carried farther inland, and it rains
simultaneously on both sides of the island.

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