s
entirely to remove the outer cuticle. One strip is then laid within
the other, which, upon becoming dry, contract, and form a series of
enclosed pipes. It is subsequently packed in bales, and carefully sewed
up in double sacks for exportation.

The essential oil of cinnamon is usually made from the refuse of the
crop; but the quantity produced, in proportion to the weight of
cinnamon, is exceedingly small, being about five ounces of oil to half
a hundred-weight of the spice.

Although the cinnamon appears to require no more than a common quartz
sand for its production, it is always cultivated with the greatest
success where the subsoil is light, dry and of a loamy quality.

The appearance of the surface soil is frequently very deceitful. It is
not uncommon to see a forest of magnificent trees growing in soil of
apparently pure sand, which will not even produce the underwood with
which Ceylon forests are generally choked. In such an instance the
appearance of the trees is unusually grand as their whole length and
dimensions are exposed to view, and their uniting crowns throw a sombre
shade over the barren ground beneath. It is not to be supposed that
these mighty specimens of vegetation are supported by the poor sandy
soil upon the surface; their tap-roots strike down into some richer
stratum, from which their nourishment is derived.

These forests are not common in Ceylon; their rarity accordingly
enhances their beauty. The largest English oak would be a mere pigmy
among the giants of these wilds, whose stature is so wonderful that the
eye never becomes tired of admiration. Often have I halted on my
journey to ride around and admire the prodigious height and girth of
these trees. Their beautiful proportions render them the more
striking; there are no gnarled and knotty stems, such as we are
accustomed to admire in the ancient oaks and beeches of England, but
every trunk rises like a mast from the earth, perfectly free from
branches for ninety or a hundred feet, straight as an arrow, each tree
forming a dark pillar to support its share of the rich canopy above,
which constitutes a roof perfectly impervious to the sun. It is
difficult to guess the actual height of these forest trees; but I have
frequently noticed that it is impossible to shoot a bird on the higher
branches with No. 5 shot.

It is much to be regretted that the want of the means of transport
renders the timber of these forests perfectly valuel