an excrescence from
the end of the apple.

Many are the varieties and uses of vegetable productions in Ceylon, but
of these none are more singular and interesting than the "sack tree,"
the Riti Gaha of the Cingalese. From the bark of this tree an infinite
number of excellent sacks are procured, with very little trouble or
preparation. The tree being felled, the branches are cut into logs of
the length required, and sometimes these are soaked in water; but this
is not always necessary. The balk is then well beaten with a wooden
mallet, until it is loosened from the wood; it is then stripped off the
log as a stocking is drawn off the leg. It is subsequently bleached,
and one end being sewn lip, completes a perfect sack of a thick fibrous
texture, somewhat similar to felt.

These sacks are in general use among the natives, and are preferred by
them to any other, as their durability is such that they sometimes
descend from father to son. By constant use they stretch and increase
their original size nearly one half. The texture necessarily becomes
thinner, but the strength does not appear to be materially decreased.

There are many fibrous barks in Ceylon, some which are so strong that
thin strips require a great amount of strength to break them, but none
of these have yet been reduced to a marketable fibre. Several barks
are more or less aromatic; others would be valuable to the tanners;
several are highly esteemed by the natives as most valuable
astringents, but hitherto none have received much notice from
Europeans. This may be caused by the general want of success of all
experiments with indigenous produce. Although the jungles of Ceylon
produce a long list of articles of much interest, still their value
chiefly lies in their curiosity; they are useful to the native, but
comparatively of little worth to the European. In fact, few things will
actually pay for the trouble and expense of collecting and
transporting. Throughout the vast forests and jungles of Ceylon,
although the varieties of trees are endless, there is not one valuable
gum known to exist. There is a great variety of coarse, unmarketable
productions, about equal to the gum of the cherry tree, etc., but there
is no such thing as a high-priced gum in the island.

The export of dammer is a mere trifle--four tons in 1852, twelve tons
in 1853. This is a coarse and comparatively valueless commodity. No
other tree but the doom tree produces any gu