apricot, and is extremely rich in its produce; but
the oil is of a coarse description, and is simply used by the natives
for their rude lamps. Kenar oil and meeheeria oil are equally coarse,
and are quite unfit for any but native purposes.

Lemon-grass oil, which is known in commerce as citronella oil, is a
delightful extract from the rank lemon grass, which covers most of' the
hillsides in the more open districts of Ceylon. An infusion of the
grass is subsequently distilled; the oil is then discovered on the
surface. This is remarkably pure, with a most pungent aroma. If
rubbed upon the skin, it will prevent the attacks of insects while its
perfume remains; but the oil is so volatile that the scent quickly
evaporates and the spell is broken.

Clove oil is extracted from the leaves of the cinnamon tree, and not
from cloves, as its name would imply. The process is very similar to
that employed in the manufacture of citronella oil.

Cinnamon is indigenous throughout the jungles of Ceylon. Even at the
high elevation of Newera Ellia, it is one of the most common woods, and
it grows to the dimensions of a forest tree, the trunk being usually
about three feet in circumference. At Newera Ellia it loses much of
its fine flavor, although it is still highly aromatic.

This tree flourishes in a white quartz sandy soil, and in its
cultivated state is never allowed to exceed the dimensions of a bush,
being pruned down close to the ground every year. This system of close
cutting induces the growth of a large number of shoots, in the same
manner that withes are produced in England.

Every twelve months these shoots attain the length of six or seven
feet, and the thickness of a man's finger. In the interim, the only
cultivation required is repeated cleaning. The whole plantation is cut
down at the proper period, and the sticks are then stripped of their
bark by the peelers. These men are called "chalias," and their labor
is confined to this particular branch. The season being over, they pass
the remaining portion of the year in idleness, their earnings during
one crop being sufficient to supply their trifling wants until the
ensuing harvest.

Their practice in this employment naturally renders them particularly
expert, and in far less time than is occupied in the description they
run a sharp knife longitudinally along a stick, and at once divest it
of the bark. On the following day the strips of bark are scraped so a